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An asylum seeker who 'deceived' officials after entering Britain 26 years ago has won the right to stay in the UK.
In what is thought to be one of the longest-running immigration cases, Albanian-born Gentian Hoti, 41, has gained the right to be a British citizen after first launching his claim in 1999.
The asylum court heard that Mr Hoti falsely told British officials in 1999 that he was a year younger than he was and that he had 'suffered at the hands of the Serbian-dominated Yugoslavian authorities in Kosovo'.
The Albanian, who first arrived to the UK aged 15, was awarded citizenship shortly after arriving but it was deprived in 2019 after the Secretary of State discovered he had relied on a 'false identity'.
They said that while Mr Hoti should not be held accountable for relying upon a false identity when he was a minor, he had 'intended to deceive' the Home Office in his applications afterwards.
After a long-drawn legal battle, Mr Hoti's immigration case has finally concluded with him having succeeded in a bid to claim British citizenship.
Upon arrival, Mr Hoti claimed asylum under an 'assumed identity' in which he said he was born in 1985 rather than 1984. He also falsely said he was a citizen of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
It was said that Mr Hoti's family had consequently arranged for their family to leave Kosovo and that the teen had lost contact with them as they moved across the border.
In November of that year, the Secretary of State refused Mr Hoti's claim for international protection, but granted him exceptional leave to remain until November 2003. He was then placed into local authority care.
In October 2003, Mr Hoti applied for indefinite leave to remain, which was granted the following year.
'At this date, Mr Hoti was still aged 18 under his false identity and 19 in his true identity,' the judgement states.
In 2005, Mr Hoti's application to to naturalise as a British citizen was granted. But five years later, the Secretary of State sent Mr Hoti an investigation letter regarding his British citizenship.
In February 2013, he was sent a notice of decision advising him that his 'naturalisation as a British citizen was null and void'.
Communication over his British citizen status continued over the following years and in June 2019 the Secretary of State issued a notice of decision to deprive Mr Hoti of British nationality.
They had observed that 'in every application made to the Secretary of State since his arrival in the United Kingdom, Mr Hoti had maintained or left uncorrected that he had been born in 1985 and that he was a Kosovan national'.
The Home Office accepted that Mr Hoti could not properly be 'held accountable' for relying upon a false identity when he was a minor, but the view was taken that he 'had intended to deceive her in each of his applications after his initial application'.
Mr Hoti appealed the decision in 2019 which a judge allowed in 2020. The Secretary of State further contested this decision to the Upper Tribunal where it was decided that the case should be heard afresh.
A first-tier tribunal judge found that since his application for judicial review in 2013, Mr Hoti had not and continued not to maintain that he was born in Kosovo.
Since that time, he has accepted that he was born in Albania, the judgement stated.
The judge found that Mr Hoti 'probably' told his legal representatives in 2010 that he was born in Albania.
They said that he may have been advised by friends that this might 'cause problems for him as it was inconsistent with the identity he had previously informed the Secretary of State'.
It was also found that Mr Hoti was placed in 'limbo' between the nullity decision of 2013 and the grant of his indefinite leave to remain in 2017.
During this time, it was heard that Mr Hoti had lost both his employment and accommodation and was being supported by his wife.
The first-tier tribunal judge referred to the potential of him losing his employment and accommodation for a second time and found this to be a 'sufficiently grave interference with his private and family life'.
His appeal was allowed Mr Hoti's appeal under the British Nationality Act 1981, which the Secretary of State appealed yet again.
A fresh upper tribunal ruling found that the previous judge had made an error of law and dismissed Mr Hoti's earlier appeal.
Aggrieved by this decision, Mr Hoti further appealed the case and the Court of Appeal allowed it.
In the most recent hearing, the Upper Tribunal said it was accepted by Mr Hoti - who is a father of three - that there had been 'false representation' of facts in relation to his country of nationality and his date of birth.
Upper Tribunal Judge Declan O'Callaghan dismissed the Secretary of State's appeal in relation to the judgement made by Judge Shaerf.
He said: 'Having weighed the evidence with care, and placed into his assessment the public interest, we are satisfied that the Judge properly directed himself and his conclusion as to proportionality was reasonably open to him.'