A PROMISING young art student faces an uncertain future and risks being removed from his university course due to the slow processing of vital documents that has left him without any student finance.

Moussa Haydar, 20, is in his first year studying fine art practice at Barnsley College. He paints in the style of abstract expressionism and has had his work displayed at Cannon Hall and The Cooper Gallery.

While he now lives in Kendray, Moussa was born in Lebanon and came to England with his family in 2007 to escape conflict that had arisen at the time. He and his family have applied for their ‘indefinite leave to remain’ documents which would allow them to stay in England indefinitely, to gain an English passport, and to be able to access loans.

“I’ve been in England for 11 years and right now I don’t have the correct documentation to be granted any student finance for my university course,” said Moussa. “We had to pay over £20,000 to the Home Office to get the papers and right now it’s taken over a year, when it should take six months.”

Moussa has been unable to apply for student finance to pay for his art degree which has put him at risk of being removed from his course.

“Student finance can’t give me any help because of my leave to remain status and without the loan I can’t pay my tuition.

“Obviously the university can’t allow me to study for free so I have had to find a way to pay for my tuition by June and if I don’t make the fees then I will be suspended and won’t be allowed to continue with my course.

“I’m in limbo. There’s nothing I can do to speed up the process but I can’t pay for my tuition myself. I tried to pay from the money I earned at my weekend job but I didn’t earn enough to make a dent in what I needed to pay.”

In a bid to help Moussa to stay on his course, his friends began raising money to pay for his tuition. They set up a fundraising page and donated whatever they could.

Hannah Parrot, 30, also studies fine art practice at the university and donated money so Moussa could continue with his studies.

She said: “I wanted to make sure that Moussa stayed at the university. I believe in his work and he is an amazing artist and it would be such a shame for him to have to leave because he hasn’t got the support he needed.

“All the students banded together because that’s what communities should do. If we don’t support each other then we won’t get through.

“It’s annoying because this isn’t Moussa’s fault, he has done everything he can to try and sort this out and we all believe he can do so much.”

Through their fundraising efforts, the students raised over £5,000 which is enough money to help Moussa to pay for one year of his course.

“I really do appreciate what everyone has done for me and I don’t know how I will ever repay them. I’d love to do a small painting for everyone to say thank you and for allowing me to continue my passion.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “We have been in touch with Mr Haydar to apologise for the delay in processing his application which was due to an administrative error around payment processing. The application is now being progressed as quickly as possible.”

Moussa is now appealing for a business to sponsor him to enable him to continue with the rest of his university degree.

“I’d love to continue my degree but if I don’t have a fixed financial plan of how I’m going to pay for my course, I will be in the same position next year.

“I don’t want to rely on my friends to use their loan to pay for my course.

“If a business sponsors me then they will guarantee my education which would mean the world to me.”

To donate to Moussa’s GoFundMe page here. If you are a business and would like to sponsor Moussa contact moussahaydar10@icloud.com.