Fundraising for my immigration status renewal

This is a fundraiser to support me to pay my home office renewal fees and maintain lawful status in the UK

My name is Michelle Ezeuko and I'm an artist, facilitator and activist. I've been organising around resisting the hostile environment for over 8 years now. I work to support those whose lives have been harmed and impacted by this brutal home office policy. My work includes and is not limited to; organising arts-based healing workshops for those impacted by the hostile environment, raising awareness about the impact of the hostile environment, creating resources to support migrants, and organising healing travelling experiences for young migrants as well as supporting those who are in immigration detention.

I am spurred on and motivated by my own experiences of 'The Hostile Environment'. Despite living in the UK for most of my life (18 years) I've had to pay over 14k in this period to maintain lawful status. When I was 18 despite paying loads of money for my renewal, an administrative error by my lawyer rendered my application useless and it was rejected. This left me undocumented for some years as I did not have the funds to make a second application. I am now back on track and have been able to regain my status and maintain it. However, my renewal is coming up again and whilst I have survived the pandemic and a cost of living crisis with no access to state support. I need immediate support to afford this renewal. Working freelance with an inconsistent income during a cost-of-living crisis has rendered me unable to save money for this.

The home office hikes the fees every year to keep migrants in a state of insecurity and poverty. Donating to this fund will therefore enable me to maintain lawful status which I need to work, exist and survive in the UK. It will also be an investment in my life and my work as I can continue to make art, pursue my dreams, create healing spaces for marginalised communities and resist and fight the injustice of this policy as well as the increasing slow violence impacting so many marginalised communities.

Time is of the essence as I need the money as soon as possible so any and every donation would be much appreciated. The cost breakdown is listed below, whilst I am doing the application myself to save paying high legal fees, the rest of the money raised will support me financially in lieu of freelance income lost in the interim period whilst I am awaiting a decision.

Money should never be a barrier to accessing your human rights so please support this fundraiser and share with others if you're not able to donate. Thank you so much for reading this and for your support.

Cost breakdown

Priority service -£1,548

Nhs surcharge- £1560

Processing fee- £92.00

Living costs- £1,300

Total - £4,500

Below are some links about the wider effects of the hostile environment on vulnerable migrant communities during a cost of living crisis.

Families on 10 year route struggle to buy food

The effects of no recourse to public funds

The myth of migration Ted X Talk.