The Home Office has been urged to intervene in the case of nine-year-old “future world champion” Shreyas Royal.
Royal, a nine-year-old chess prodigy from India has been told he must leave the UK when his father’s work visa expires, prompting calls from members of parliament for the Home Office to intervene to avoid losing an exceptional talent. Royal has lived in the UK since he was three. His parents, Jitendra and Anju Singh, moved to south-east London from India in 2012. They have been in the UK legally under a tier 2 long-term work permit however in order to renew his visa, Royal’s father must earn more than £120,000 a year, which he does not. The young chess prodigy and his family have been told they must leave by 10 September.
The couple appealed to the Home Office on the grounds that Royal is a national asset, but received a letter this week saying that while the boy showed “immense promise” it did not mean he could remain in the country. The decision prompted MPs to urge the Home Office to reconsider. The Labour MPs Rachel Reeves, a former junior chess champion, and Matthew Pennycook, who represents Greenwich and Woolwich where the Royals live – have written to the home secretary Sajid Javid and Jeremy Wright, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, urging them to let the child stay as he attempts to become England’s first world chess champion.
Royal started playing chess at the age of six having learned the game at an after-school club. He went on to become the world’s youngest “candidate master”. In August 2017 he was ranked joint fourth in his age group at the World Cadets Chess Championships in Brazil. In his short time playing the sport he has won multiple awards. He has been hailed as the country’s greatest prospect in a generation.
