Giovanni's 'grant in error' story | “...honestly…the worst 3 weeks of my life. And I was like, every day wishing and praying that I receive any kind of updates..”

Giovanni is a dual Brazilian and Italian citizen who grew up in Brazil and moved to the UK before Brexit. An Italian by birth through his grandfather, his pre-settled status was approved by the Home Office five years ago.

He is warm, articulate and upbeat and it’s easy to see how he has built a successful career in the hospitality industry here. He has a degree in journalism but initially took a job in the sector to polish his English. “It wasn't the best job, but I developed myself.” Since arriving he worked his way up through the industry. “I honestly work a lot. I have paid all my taxes.”

Aside from work and sport, his passion for family is clearly the most important thing in his life: he lives with his girlfriend, and both her family and his brother’s family with his two-year-old niece are nearby. He talks with emotion about his parents and relatives in Brazil: “I send money back home to Brazil to my parents to take care of them”, saying they and his uncles deserve some of the fruits of his life here and his hard work.

While he misses his family he is overwhelmingly positive about the last five years and reflects on it philosophically. “When you're alone, when you miss home, you still need to remember that you were the one who took this decision.”

As he is entitled to do after 5 years in the UK, Gio recently applied for settled status. After a long delay he was asked “to prove that I was Italian before 2020”. After resending his birth certificate, something he believed would be enough to prove his Italian nationality, he was repeatedly asked for more supporting documentation. Despite having a copy of his birth certificate, issued by the Italian government, with his name, date of birth and confirming information included, he was told in April 2026 that his application for settled status was refused, and that his pre-settled status, valid until September 2026, had been granted in error and would simply be left to expire. “They end up just refusing my visa, saying that…they couldn't guarantee that I was Italian before 2021.”

He had the right to appeal the refusal of his settled status, and he did so promptly. The decision to allow his pre-settled status to expire has no right of appeal however, and the Home Office does not have to consider whether it’s reasonable to strip him of his rights in the UK.  He approached the Italian embassy who supplied him with a (further) certificate which states that he has been an Italian citizen since his birth in 1997 and which he has submitted in support of his appeal. Even so, he is still waiting on a decision. Despite initially expecting a response in March, in April he was told that the Home Office would get back to him by May. “They didn't… they never get back to me.”

He struggles with not knowing what is going to happen. In the lead up to his pre-settled status expiring at the start of September, “...honestly…the worst 3 weeks of my life. And I was like, every day wishing and praying that I receive any kind of updates..”

It was only after hearing from the3million that he made a second application, just days before his expiry date, to protect his rights while he tries to fight his case.

Incredibly and despite the seriousness of his situation, Gio remains calm and good humoured. It is only after sharing his story for an hour that some fear and anger and sheer frustration start to show. “I would be proud of the future me, you know what I mean? And I know that if the government or the home office doesn't take this right away from me, I know that I could be even more.”

As he explained, if he had been told five years ago that he would be unable to get settled status he would have been sad, but he would have been able to move on from it. Instead for the last five years he has built a life here, a life which risks now being pulled apart. “But then 5 years… 5 years later, they're saying that their own decision was wrong, because probably it was a different caseworker taking my case…and that person decided my whole life for me.”

'Granted in Error'

the3million is challenging the Home Office ‘granted in error’ policy - see here for more information. We have launched a crowdfunder for our legal costs, please support us.