UK settlement visa (Nigeria FLR FM umarried partner)

[Pharmgirl]

hi guys

i had started a previous thread relating to a fiance visa but our circumstances have CHANGED hence a new topic

my partner and i are now considering applying for an FLR FP as a partner. To recap, He is Nigerian and i am British citizen. He applied for an entrepreneurship visa (had previously been granted one) which was refused in November 2016. We hired a lawyer who has submitted a judiciary review but has suggested we apply for this visa because apparently we cannot use FLR(M) as he is an over-stayer now. We meet all the unmarried partner visa requirements otherwise. My worry is the FLR FP states that there must be "insurmountable obstacles to family life". It seems the majority of people who have been granted this visa are parents?. Below are reasons we would want to continue life in the UK;

Family- He has never been close to his parents even as a child.his only sister now lives in the USA. He has been in the UK since 2009 as he did a bachelors and then a masters degree here. Been back home only on 3 occasions between 2009 and now.

Work- no job prospects on arrival to Nigeria so no source of income hence will be forced to live with parents as he will need to complete NYSC (Nigerian Graduates are ineligible for employment till they have completed the mandatory one year service).
Job- his degree focused on technology and there is currently no market in Nigeria for what he is qualified to do, hence will be difficult to have a successful career. He already started a business in the UK (his entrepreneurship visa second year was refused because of missing paperwork hence the judicial review) which he cannot run from Nigeria.

Religion- family very religious but he and I no longer share those beliefs (we have a letter showing ex-communication from church). Returning home means being forced to practice those beliefs if he moves back into his parents house.

Me- i work as a pharmacist here and in order to do the same job in Nigeria i will be required to compete additional training and possibly unpaid internships .I am is not Nigerian therefore it will be difficult to work in either a hospital setting or community setting as i do not speak the language and my job requires me to interact with patients substantially. Any job will be hard to get without being able to speak at least one of the languages hence he will have to be main/sole earner or we will be forced separate with me staying the uK. Also my entire family is in the UK hence i will have to leave everyone behind to make a life in a country will both will not have a good life.

please if anyone can let me know what they think. i am not familiar with the FLR FP application success rates but it seems slim given we have no children!

thank you in advance

[CR001]

i am not familiar with the FLR FP application success rates but it seems slim given we have no children!

Yes very slim given no children and the fact that you are not married.

Why was his Tier 1 Ent visa refused?

Why did he not apply for FLR(M) as unmarried partner before his last visa expired?

How long have you been living together and do you have documentary evidence for a full 24 months?

[Pharmgirl]

It had to do with the accounting paperwork that they deem insufficient (he had new investment funds for his business).

He applied for the tier 1 before his valid visa expired, but it did expire during the application as they took months to process. He applied for that instead of the FLR(M) because he had been successful the year before with tier 1 and did not think it would be rejected esp with the new investment. At the time we did not have enough 2 year living together evidence.

we have 25 months cohabitation evidence now and qualify for unmarried partner.

so we definitely cannot apply for FLR(M)?
any thoughts on our evidence to stay in the UK with the FLR FP?
any couples out there who have this visa approved with no children?

[CR001]

so we definitely cannot apply for FLR(M)? Not as an overstayer no.

any thoughts on our evidence to stay in the UK with the FLR FP? Very slim. HO may well take the view that he can return home and apply for a visa in the normal way instead of trying to circumvent the immigration rules.

any couples out there who have this visa approved with no children? No, hardly any.

How long has he been in the UK and on what visas?

[Pharmgirl]

He was on a student visa (tier 4) from 2009 until 2015. then he went unto a graduate entrepreneur visa.

[Pharmgirl]

it is worth applying then? our case seems almost too straightforward to me, we just want to stay together! i know of course they don't care.

his immigration history is also straightforward (compared to some of the posts I've seen here)

have the home office ever granted approval for marriage if we requested? is there a way for them to send his passport to a registry office so that we can give notice and maybe get married THEN apply for FLR FP as a married couple (that may give us more grounds to remain)

[Wanderer]

it is worth applying then? our case seems almost too straightforward to me, we just want to stay together! i know of course they don't care.

his immigration history is also straightforward (compared to some of the posts I've seen here)

have the home office ever granted approval for marriage if we requested? is there a way for them to send his passport to a registry office so that we can give notice and maybe get married THEN apply for FLR FP as a married couple (that may give us more grounds to remain)

The rules are there for everybody, he'll have to apply from home before the removal/deportation process starts, that's a can of Surströmming you do not want to open....

Your case is straightforward true, straightforward abuse of the immigration rules....

[Casa]

What's preventing him from returning to his home country and applying for an Unmarried Partner visa from there?

[Pharmgirl]

it is worth applying then? our case seems almost too straightforward to me, we just want to stay together! i know of course they don't care.

his immigration history is also straightforward (compared to some of the posts I've seen here)

have the home office ever granted approval for marriage if we requested? is there a way for them to send his passport to a registry office so that we can give notice and maybe get married THEN apply for FLR FP as a married couple (that may give us more grounds to remain)

The rules are there for everybody, he'll have to apply from home before the removal/deportation process starts, that's a can of Surströmming you do not want to open....

Your case is straightforward true, straightforward abuse of the immigration rules....

yes, thank you, i am fully aware of the situation. when i say our case it too straightforward i mean there are no extremely extenuating circumstances to be granted a visa under private life compared to some others, which is exactly i am just seeking some advice

[CR001]

The easiest and simplest way is for him to return to his home country and apply from there.

[Pharmgirl]

What's preventing him from returning to his home country and applying for an Unmarried Partner visa from there?

please see some of the reasons i listed above regarding his current relationship with family + religious issues back home.

but mostly because he is classed an over stayer now i think the fear is always that HO will find any excuse to block his return if he leaves (as supported by hundreds of threads on this forum) hence why most people try what they can while in the UK. we are no different.

[noajthan]

Rather than living in denial, the best way to regularise an overstayer is to leave and come back as a spouse/partner.

Unless there had been a frivolous or calculated attempt to vex immigration regulations.
And then the prognosis is not good at all.

[Pharmgirl]

The easiest and simplest way is for him to return to his home country and apply from there.

as i said, because he is classed an over stayer now i think the fear is always that HO will find any excuse to block his return if he leaves (as supported by hundreds of threads on this forum)

[Pharmgirl]

Rather than living in denial, the best way to regularise an overstayer is to leave and come back as a spouse/partner.

Unless there had been a frivolous or calculated attempt to vex immigration regulations.
And then the prognosis is not good at all.

no denial about our situation at all, but i understand what you mean, thank you. there has been no attempt at deception so perhaps our fear of him being denied return is irrational. we will discuss with lawyer etc thanks x

[noajthan]

And you will find other overstayers celebrating their legitimisation by return to UK and whatever passes for normality for them;
sometimes after years of living beyond the pale in what is now an increasingly criminalised kind of shadowland.
Good luck.

[Casa]

When applying as a spouse or unmarried partner visa from outside of the UK, the application can't be refused under 320(7b) but it can fail under 320(11) if there has been frustration of the Immigration Rules.

Read through the guidance for Immigration Officers in the link below giving grounds for refusal:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... raph-32011

[Pharmgirl]

And you will find other overstayers celebrating their legitimisation by return to UK and whatever passes for normality for them;
sometimes after years of living beyond the pale in what is now an increasingly criminalised kind of shadowland.
Good luck.

thank you for your responses

[Pharmgirl]

When applying as a spouse or unmarried partner visa from outside of the UK, the application can't be refused under 320(7b) but it can fail under 320(11) if there has been frustration of the Immigration Rules.

Read through the guidance for Immigration Officers in the link below giving grounds for refusal:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... raph-32011

thank you , will definitely read through and discuss our options again with lawyer

[Pharmgirl]

in the spirit of covering all available options, does anyone have any information regarding this question i posted earlier;

-have the home office ever granted approval for marriage if requested when one party is an overstayer? is there a way for them to send his passport to a registry office so that we can give notice and get married.

thank you in advance

[Casa]

In order for a foreign national to marry in the UK (without the appropriate fiance visa), they will have to register their intent to marry with a Home Office designated Registry Office. The Registrar is then legally bound to notify the HO who can then extend the notification period from 28 to 70 days in order to interview the couple separately if they choose to do so, before the wedding can go ahead.

There's the obvious risk of an overstayer being detained during the interview. Marriage doesn't give any right to remain for someone without valid leave.

[noajthan]

Search forum.
Some folks had a wonderful day.
And some (even with permission) have received unexpected visitors at the ceremony.

[Pharmgirl]

In order for a foreign national to marry in the UK (without the appropriate fiance visa), they will have to register their intent to marry with a Home Office designated Registry Office. The Registrar is then legally bound to notify the HO who can then extend the notification period from 28 to 70 days in order to interview the couple separately if they choose to do so, before the wedding can go ahead.

There's the obvious risk of an over-stayer being detained during the interview. Marriage doesn't give any right to remain for someone without valid leave.

thanks. As i understand it, you cannot give notice without a photo ID from both parties i.e passport or residence permit hence the notification to HO cannot be given. Has anyone heard of cases where the HO has allowed a notice to go through without this or have sent a person's photo ID to a registry office to allow the notice to be put through so that HO's 70 day investigation process can be carried out?

i understand that marriage will not guarantee anything and a FLR FP application will still be needed. Just wanted to get all the facts.

[Pharmgirl]

Search forum.
Some folks had a wonderful day.
And some (even with permission) have received unexpected visitors at the ceremony.

thanks. probably a silly question but is there a way to search through forums for a specific topic? i know all topics are in broad categories such as this immigration for family members thread. Is there a way to search specifically for topics with just FLR FP content without checking each single page in the immigration for family members thread (as i have been doing with CTRL F)

[noajthan]

Use Board advanced search feature:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/search.php

And/or use 'search this forum'-field in required subforum of interest.

And/or: google immigrationboards <your query>

[Pharmgirl]

Use Board advanced search feature:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/search.php

And/or use 'search this forum'-field in required subforum of interest.

And/or: google immigrationboards <your query>

thank you but it seems i have no access to the advanced search feature and there is no 'search this forum' option for me google it is then