A 101-year-old Italian man living in London since 1966 was asked by British authorities to get his parents to confirm his identity after he applied to remain in the country post-Brexit, according to a report.
As a result of an apparent computer glitch, the Home Office thought Giovanni Palmiero was a 1-year-old, according to the Guardian.
The centenarian was told he needed his mom and dad to be present when he made his application at an advice centre in Islington, north London.
The mix-up was caused when a worker helped the great-grandfather to scan his passport into the EU settled status app to share his biometric data with the Home Office.
His birth year was interpreted as 2019 instead of 1919.
“I immediately noticed that something was wrong because when I scanned in his passport, it imported his biometric data not as 1919 but as 2019,” said Dimitri Scarlato, an activist with the group the3million who also works for Inca Cgil, an organization that helps people of Italian descent.
“It then skipped the face recognition section which is what it does with under-12s,” he added.
Scarlato was then asked whether he wanted to put in the residence details of the man’s parents.
“I was surprised. I phoned the Home Office and it took two calls and a half an hour for them to understand it was the app’s fault, not mine,” he said.
The Home Office finally took Palmiero’s identity details over the phone and he was told he could resume his application as a bona fide 101-year-old.
What's happening in Tunisia?
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for updates.
