A MOTHER-of-four who was born in the UK was shocked after being ordered to leave the UK and go to America – where she’s never been.

Despite living in Scotland her whole life, Anne Devlin, 33, received a letter from the Home Office last Saturday telling her to make arrangements to exit the country.

On Home Office records, the full-time mum was listed as American but was born and raised in the Drumchapel area.

Anne attended primary and secondary school in Scotland and went to college in Clydebank before working as a carer in Glasgow.

She married a Scottish man, has four Scottish children and has paid taxes in the country all of her life.

But despite all of that, the 33-year-old mum was ordered to go to America – where she’s never been and doesn’t know a single person.

Anne said: “I’ve never been to America. I don’t have any family or any friends there. I don’t know a single soul. I’ve lived in Scotland my whole life, I was born in Glasgow and lived there most of my life.

“My mother moved to Scotland from North Carolina in America when she was just one year old, which is why I have American nationality.”

The law in 1984 stated that Anne had to take her mother’s nationality because she was not married to Anne’s father.

The 33-year-old was given 10 days from the day she received her deportation notice to ‘prove she was allowed to be in the UK’.

Anne said: “It has been terrifying for our young family, we were shocked by it all.”

The full-time mum appealed the letter and got in touch with local MP Michael Docherty-Hughes, who contacted the Home Office.

In the wake of the appeal, the Home Office responded to Anne.

The 33-year-old was told to ignore the deportation letter and she was assured she would remain in the country.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We have spoken to Mrs Devlin and laid out the options for her which include outlining the required documentation for an automatic claim to citizenship.

“She will not face any enforcement action by the Home Office.

“Mrs Devlin applied for Biometric Residence Permit in the summer but the required paperwork was received three weeks after the deadline for submitting it. She was advised at the time that she could reapply. No further application was received.”

In March, the mum-of-four applied for a biometric residence permit which would grant her the right to remain in the UK.

She applied to the council for council tax receipts – as evidence she could use to prove she had been living in the UK since before 2003.

However she was only given 14 days to collect her documents and apply for her residence permit.

Anne claims she missed the deadline by one day and was told she could not reapply.

Anne said she had been contacted by the Home Office to confirm that she now has British Citizenship.