Boyfriend caught by British Transport Police

[goonergirl88]

Hi,

My Albanian boyfriend has been living here illegally for the past 3 years ( we have been together for 2 years and living together for 14 months ).

he was picked up this morning by the British Transport Police and has been taken to a police station in London. i have spoken to someone at the BTP and they have said they will release him on bail this afternoon pending some enquiries they are making. he confirmed his address with me and that he is registered there ( we are both on the council tax bill ) but said he couldnt give me any further information or the exact reason he has been taken into custody ( even though it's pretty obvious! ).

My boyfriend should be able to call me soon once they have finished checking him in.

i would like to ask if anyone knows what the usual process is nowadays once he has been released on bail? i am surprised they will release him on bail as i thought they would send him home?

any idea what will we have to do in order for him to be able to stay here, what will they ask of us?

we were in the process of talking to a solicitor this week ( we were waiting for a call back with an appointment ) to start the ball rolling on applying for his visa.

any information or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

i am going out of my mind with worry right now just waiting for him to call.

thank you.

[Wanderer]

What visa you considering apply for, there are none that seem to fit the circumstances?

Also what was arrested for, it's not obvious to me!!

[goonergirl88]

An unmarried partner visa, and i am assuming he was picked up for being here illegally after a random check, there's nothing else he could get into trouble for.

sorry i tried to give as much information as possible but my head is a bit all over the place at the moment! i still havent heard from him.

[Wanderer]

An unmarried partner visa, and i am assuming he was picked up for being here illegally after a random check, there's nothing else he could get into trouble for.

sorry i tried to give as much information as possible but my head is a bit all over the place at the moment! i still havent heard from him.

Unmarried partner visa needs 24 months proven cohabitation, only option is marriage on the face of it, and he'd need to apply from his home country.

Also as his prospective sponsor there is a financial test to pass...

[goonergirl88]

That is what i thought to be honest.

i am aware of the financial requirement though this may have changed since i last checked ( was £18,600 PA income? ).

i'm just confused as to why they would release him today even though he is here ilegally, i thought if he ever got caught they would deport him straight away!

i guess i will have to wait until i hear from him and take it from there.

thanks for your replies.

[MPH80]

Any removal order immediately gives a right of appeal - and almost everyone does ...

They have a limited number of places to hold people - so for someone who will, seemly, remain where they know he is (girlfriend etc) - it's easier to release and re-take later.

[Amber]

BTP was he trying to steal metal or not paying the fare or public order offences. There could be lots of reasons. Unless they check the Border Force system they'll not know he's illegal, if they find out the Border Force will likely come to the police station to interview/arrest him.

[theprideofpak]

Amber is quite right. btp wouldn't have arrested him for nothing unless he commited something...
They are only concerned about anything related to railways. ...

[goonergirl88]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

He is currently released on bail, someone matching his description had been reported for an incident on the tube a couple of months ago. I am 100% certain that they have the wrong guy, he has never been in trouble in his life and he would never do anything to risk being sent home. His solicitor given to him at the police station has said the allegation is very low down on the 'seriousness' scale if you like ( can't remember his exact words! ) so i am keeping everything crossed that nothing will come of it.

At the moment he has got to return at the end of the month and we will then find out if it will be taken any further.

At this time i don't think they are aware of his immigration status as nothing has been mentioned. But he is terrified that if they do find out that they will come and take him away. His friends have told him that as they know his address if immigration / border force find out he is here illegally they will come very early one morning and take him away...do they do this???

Neither of us have eaten or slept properly for days now, i am so scared he will be sent home It's so frustrating that we had made contact with a solicitor to give us advice on applying for his visa and now this has happened before we have had a chance to sort it!

[Casa]

Applying for a visa wouldn't have changed anything as it stands as he doesn't qualify for an Unmarried Partner Visa (as Wanderer has already advised). Assuming you don't have children together the only option to legalise his stay would be either to marry here (and risk him being detained at the Registry officer) or marry in Albania and apply for a spouse visa to re-enter as your husband. Both options require him to return to his home country before submitting a visa application. This is assuming that you meet all the standard requirements, including you as the sponsor having minimum annual earnings of £18,600 and that he hasn't 'frustrated Immigration Rules)...working with false papers or under a false name etc.
The Transport police are likely to make a full check and realistically will uncover the fact that he's here illegally. Border police usually arrive at the home when they believe the person they are looking for is most likely to be there. You really need to attend an appointment with his solicitor as a matter of urgency, not to submit an Unmarried Partner visa application, but to seek advice on appealing deportation.

[goonergirl88]

No we don't have any children and yes i do meet the financial requirement.

His solicitor is away on holiday until tomorrow but i will be arranging an appointment for as soon as possible.

thank you so much for the advice.

[Amber]

Also, possible, but difficult application under FLR(FP) with reference to EX. 1 (click):

(b) the applicant has a genuine and subsisting relationship with a partner
who is in the UK and is a British citizen, settled in the UK, or in the UK with
refugee leave or humanitarian protection; and there are insurmountable
obstacles to family life continuing outside the UK.

[goonergirl88]

Hi Amber,

Thanks so much for the information I will have a read through that now.

I have also managed to book an appointment with a solicitor for tomorrow afternoon so will be good to talk to someone in person and know exactly what our options are.

Thanks again I really appreciate the advice and assistance.

[goonergirl88]

Hi,

So we ended up seeing 2 solicitors yesterday and both said completely different things!

The first said if we apply from the UK we will have about 6 months whilst they make a decision and they won't deport him whilst he has 'live' application.. once we have applied we could get married here and then we would not require the proof of cohabiting for 2 years, just proof that we are in a genuine relationship.

the second said that we need to wait for the outcome of this incident the British Transport Police are investigating and once he is clear of that he should return to Albania, get married and apply from there..

Any thoughts guys? I tend to believe the second one more as this is what i have been told by various other people.

the second solicitor also said that the fact he is Albanian will go against him in this incident with the BTP because Albania has such a poor reputation ( even though there is no evidence and the incident they are claiming happened is so minor! ) .

i hope this is not the case as it could affect our chances of getting his visa when we do apply

[Rayking]

I suggest you calm down and not make hasty decision, like you said in your post that you know him well and won't do whatever he's accused of,why not wait for him to be cleared first,so it doesn't end up looking like it's because of what he's done that you're rushing the application?
As long as he hasn't done it,you really don't need to worry,they won't deport him,you need to be positive.

[goonergirl88]

Hi Rayking,

No we won't do anything hasty and we both think it's best we wait for him to be cleared before we start the application process. It was just the first solicitor we saw as soon as we told them about this incident they started saying 'you need to get an application in straight away!' and it panicked us a bit.. but we don't want to do anything that could jeopardise our chances of the visa being approved. We also don't want to rush it when we do apply as we want to be sure we have submitted all of the information required to give us the best chance of approval.

I am trying to stay positive and i know he hasn't done this so should be cleared but it is hard not to worry as the waiting and not knowing is so difficult! It's almost impossible to carry on as normal and not think about it. If he had his visa i wouldn't be worried at all!

Thank you for your reply.