A Nigerian student in the United Kingdom, Enyi Onyinye Grace, has been ordered to leave the country after breaching the working-hour restrictions placed on international students.
Grace, who moved to the UK in 2022 for her studies, shared her ordeal in a tearful video on her TikTok page, @stasha253, describing her experience over the past three years as “a hell, a hell of three years.”
She said her situation deteriorated in 2023 following the death of her father, who had been her primary financial sponsor.
“It’s been a hell of three years. I came in 2022, and in 2023, my dad passed away. I still had to work to pay my school fees despite everything I was going through,” she said.
Grace recalled being unable to travel home for the funeral, saying she was forced to watch the burial through a video call.
“It was so hard. I was devastated,” she said in tears.
Following her father’s death, Grace began working extra hours to sustain herself and cover tuition, inadvertently exceeding the number of work hours allowed under UK visa rules.
“I had to work to make a living and pay for my school fees,” she explained. “I made a mistake — I overworked unknowingly.”
Her actions, however, put her in violation of the student visa policy, which restricts international students to a maximum of 20 working hours per week during academic sessions.
“I thought everything was fine, but they didn’t listen to me. They asked me to leave the country with immediate effect, without even allowing me to complete my studies,” she lamented.
Grace said her attempts to continue her studies remotely from Nigeria were rejected by her university.
“I asked if they would allow me to finish my course online after returning home, but they said no,” she said.
As of press time, she has been instructed to vacate the United Kingdom immediately.
