Applying for spouse visa from Albania

[vulajsv]

Hi ,
I know are many threads here about spouse visa for Albanian etc but I want to get abit more information for my case if anyone can please.

My gf is British Citizien and we have been together about 11 months now, we want to go back to Albania next year at end of january or begginning of feb and to get married there after that we want to apply for spouse visa so I'll bee able to come back again here .
We been told that if I go back to Albania voluntarily with my expenses then I can apply for visa without getting banned for 1 year at least entering UK , thought I'm ilegally here.

My gf have much more income than is sayed to be 18.600 per year so that would not be an issue , also i haven't been working since i've moved in with her on march this year , (i have around 2 years here) and before I haven't work at all just couple months mainly for the reason I do Web Design & Development so I don't need to work elswhere out . So i dont have criminal record in anything except enetering UK ileaglly ,, (no fingerprints nothing )

So we would know some information about thing we'll need with us and to be prepared for also is anych chnace for visa to be refused !?

That ar ewhat we have for now:

We have bills living together since june
Tons of pictures(with family members , friends etc) ,, Texts if si neccesarly .
Much more income than 18,600 ,, around the double of that sum.
Living together in (rent house) just us
She is self-employed
She have prety much support me financialy and everything else
We have letters supporting us from family members , friends
Also others legal documents we would need to get married there etc , but still if someone knows what we will exactly what we need will be much appreciated to tell us.

And do wee need to inform Home Office before we fly bck to albania for this or no , and coz we are doing everything in legal way and we haven't been in any thing more complicated before (trying to gett married here ,, me getting caught here etc) will it make things easier or is same for all JUST LUCK !?

Also we dont wat to hire a solictor for all this we are getting just some correct information and abit help to make things right and want to pay the fee for the advantage visa procedure

I hope I've give enough information and if anyone have been ins same procedure as us without any complicate dcase just everything in right way except being ilegally to give use some info how was the procedure how much time etc ,,, any extra hope for us is a big plus

Best Regards

[Elliewifetoalbanian]

I'm a British citizen married to my Albanian husband in September 2015, he was illelegal since 2011 and finally got his visa in October this year - he's actually off to Albania for two weeks holiday today so it's all worked out in the end

The problem we are finding with family members and friends at the moment is they are trying to do the right thing by going back to Albania but are just getting refused for spouse visa when they meet all the criteria just for entering the uk illelegally in the first place. The issue is they then have no way to get back into the country. Doing the right thing doesn't always pay off!

Honestly a few solicitors told my husband you are so much better to apply from within the UK (showing remorse for entering illelegally) as it is harder for them to get you out the country. Rather then if you are trying to enter it's so easy to say no.

Personally I would seek legal advice (most do free consultations) and see if they think you should leave or if you could possibly put in an application for flr (fp) or even (m) (o) from within the UK but register your intent to marry at the same time - they will refer you to the home office to do checks but if you have an application pending they may or may not decide to interview you!

You do need to regularise your status but deciding between you and your partner, and on the advise of an immigration solicitor is your best option to do it from within the Uk or Albania - The risk is if you leave you may never get back in!

[vulajsv]

I'm a British citizen married to my Albanian husband in September 2015, he was illelegal since 2011 and finally got his visa in October this year - he's actually off to Albania for two weeks holiday today so it's all worked out in the end

The problem we are finding with family members and friends at the moment is they are trying to do the right thing by going back to Albania but are just getting refused for spouse visa when they meet all the criteria just for entering the uk illelegally in the first place. The issue is they then have no way to get back into the country. Doing the right thing doesn't always pay off!

Honestly a few solicitors told my husband you are so much better to apply from within the UK (showing remorse for entering illelegally) as it is harder for them to get you out the country. Rather then if you are trying to enter it's so easy to say no.

Personally I would seek legal advice (most do free consultations) and see if they think you should leave or if you could possibly put in an application for flr (fp) or even (m) (o) from within the UK but register your intent to marry at the same time - they will refer you to the home office to do checks but if you have an application pending they may or may not decide to interview you!

You do need to regularise your status but deciding between you and your partner, and on the advise of an immigration solicitor is your best option to do it from within the Uk or Albania - The risk is if you leave you may never get back in!

So you've get married in UK then !?

We been told that if we apply from UK and it'll be refused I will get banned from enetering UK for at least 1 year so that measn i need to go back and wait 1 year till I'll be able to apply for visa ,, that is also the main reason why we don't want to try from here!!

we been to a solictior and he said us is better to go back there so she is so excited about meeting my family and going back there with me etc , so for that we decide ti apply from there and also to try to save up as much money we can ... (not paying high amount for solictors etc)

Also can you please tell me more detail about procedure you've done !!

Thank you

[vulajsv]

I'm a British citizen married to my Albanian husband in September 2015, he was illelegal since 2011 and finally got his visa in October this year - he's actually off to Albania for two weeks holiday today so it's all worked out in the end

.....

You do need to regularise your status but deciding between you and your partner, and on the advise of an immigration solicitor is your best option to do it from within the Uk or Albania - The risk is if you leave you may never get back in!

Sorry for asking before if u've get married in UK ,,, clearly you have here ,

I've read you case here and seems it wasn't east at all but at least it was succesfull ,
I'm actually having different options from different solictiors , some are saying it can be done here some are saying you can't etc ,
Could you tell me if you have had Albanian solictior or British !? eitherway could you please give me an contact of them . :/

Thank you

[CR001]

Could you tell me if you have had Albanian solictior or British !? eitherway could you please give me an contact of them . :/

Members are not permitted to post details, names or telephone numbers of solicitors. Any such information posted will be deleted and the user issued with a warning.

[Elliewifetoalbanian]

We got married in the UK. We put a flr (fp) application before and as that was pending and the home office knew of my husband which is why they granted permission with no interviews. If you just try get married without no application first you could get detained etc.

We used a British solicitor (well actually Indian) that was in our local area someone we could meet face to face rather than being fobbed off over the phone - there are well known Albanian solicitors in London and they've recently dealt with two of our friends cases and lost on both.

I'd just say look for someone who is a qualified immigration specialist solicitor, who has dealt with previous Albanians, believes in your case and is open and honest with you. Our solicitor told us from the beginning we had a 50/50 chance of success.

We recently know someone granted flr (fp) Albanian marrying British and similar situation to you and didn't get detained. But we also know of 2 couples that have lost and got deported.

[vulajsv]

Hi,
I'm from Albania and currenlty with status ilegal here , I had open a thread before but coz things are abit more complicated now wanted to get some more information if is possible.

In december we find out my fiance is pregnant and that have made things abit more complicated than before (before i wanted to go back to albania to apply for spouse visa) .

We have talked with the vicar and we decited to get married this April 29th (the church have accepted to marry us) however we have been told by him that we need to go to registry office when we need to apply for a marriage certificate and within 28 - 70 days the HO will make a decision for me to let me marry here or no .

My solictor have adviced me to go back to Albania as soon the marriage is done and then to apply for spouse visa which may take up to 3 months max.
He also said that if we want to apply from inside UK i need to wait till baby is born which i dont really want that because I'm looking forward to be able to work here before that because my fiance (future wife) will not be able to work for few months and that means not to be able to pay the fees (living fees ) etc and all she have for the support is me and the only hope for us is that .

The solictor said everything is okay as she meet everything is needed ,, the salary, living together over 1 year etc and for that HO will not have reason why to refuse my application .

My fear is now that we want to do the legit way but sometimes it may be wrong way, so my questions are :

What if I get married here then get back to albania and do the application from there will they refuse my application or worst to ban me from UK up to 1-5-10 years? What could be the reason of refusal when she can meet the 18600£ a year (last year was over 37000£) ?

Will they be able to do that even knowing I'm waiting for a baby which is due in august !?

And if i try to do the application from here will I be able to work before the baby is born ! (I dont need the visa , just the right to work before the baby is born )

Please can somebody help with the questions, I'm really stressed ,, imagine if I'll not be here the time the baby is born ,, imagine if I'll not see him for many years etc ....

PS: apologise for any misspelling

Best wishes

[vinny]

Posts merged.

[Casa]

IMHO opinion, your solicitor has given you good advice. If you are interviewed by the HO before the wedding can take place you are at risk of being detained.

[vulajsv]

@Casa

If I do get interviewed and not get detained by NO. does that mean that I can do the application from in UK or I still will be needed to go back to Albania !?

Also if I get detained is the risk of refusing my visa application from Albania more than leaving voluntary also I keep hearing from other Albanians that there is who you pay and how much you pay (Albania is full of corruption) or the visa application from Albania don't have to do nothing with Albania itself, and all depends from HO ..

Best Regards

[Casa]

@Casa

If I do get interviewed and not get detained by NO. does that mean that I can do the application from in UK or I still will be needed to go back to Albania !? Even if you are given permission to marry (which is unlikely as an overstayer), you will have to apply for a spouse settlement visa from outside the UK.
Marriage alone doesn't give you any legality regarding your immigration status if you have no valid leave.

Also if I get detained is the risk of refusing my visa application from Albania more than leaving voluntary also I keep hearing from other Albanians that there is who you pay and how much you pay (Albania is full of corruption) or the visa application from Albania don't have to do nothing with Albania itself, and all depends from HO .. The decision depends on the Case Worker.

Best Regards

[Frontier Mole]

You will almost certainly be refused permission to marry in the U.K. The best bet is to return home and get married. Immediately apply for a spouse visa and go down that route. Anything else will just prolong the time taken to get back to the UK.
Getting a marriage refusal will not help your case and is more than likely to speed your departure under detained circumstances, something you do not want to experience.
Stress wise fighting UKVI to stay without returning home to regularise your stay is a recipe for disaster.

[Casa]

You will almost certainly be refused permission to marry in the U.K. The best bet is to return home and get married. Immediately apply for a spouse visa and go down that route. Anything else will just prolong the time taken to get back to the UK.
Getting a marriage refusal will not help your case and is more than likely to speed your departure under detained circumstances, something you do not want to experience.
Stress wise fighting UKVI to stay without returning home to regularise your stay is a recipe for disaster.

+1 It would be wise to follow Frontier Mole's advice.

[Olsi]

I was in same situation like you. Before geting permition to marry by home office, both me and my wife had ticked booked to albania. We explained to HO our situation and they let us marry in uk and after 5 days we both went to albania

[vulajsv]

I was in same situation like you. Before geting permition to marry by home office, both me and my wife had ticked booked to albania. We explained to HO our situation and they let us marry in uk and after 5 days we both went to albania

Hello Olsi,

Yeah that's what solictor have sugested to us.
He said that we need to book the tickets before the wedding and show them to HO ,
However how long it takes for you to get the Visa from Albania ?

[Olsi]

I didnt apply for visa becouse my wife was not earning 18.600 /year. We decidet to move in an other eu country for 1 year on 1 year and a half and then will try to come in uk again. We been here for 4 months now, so is a long and a not sure route. Anyway for you (and me) i think the main problem will be just the fact that u have been ilegal in uk. In this case all depend ny the caseworker

[Vini78]

@Casa

If I do get interviewed and not get detained by NO. does that mean that I can do the application from in UK or I still will be needed to go back to Albania !? Even if you are given permission to marry (which is unlikely as an overstayer), you will have to apply for a spouse settlement visa from outside the UK.
Marriage alone doesn't give you any legality regarding your immigration status if you have no valid leave.

Also if I get detained is the risk of refusing my visa application from Albania more than leaving voluntary also I keep hearing from other Albanians that there is who you pay and how much you pay (Albania is full of corruption) or the visa application from Albania don't have to do nothing with Albania itself, and all depends from HO .. The decision depends on the Case Worker.

Best Regards

Hi Casa .
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

Me and my wife did marry in U.K. and we apply to get settled there but they weren't giving me the settlement visa as a overstayed.
Then the judge of the judiciary review told us that it "was best for me to apply from abroad, meaning Albania " in order to get this visa.
That's what I did but unfortunately the visa was refused. We appealed, and fortunately after a long wait, we won the appeal on the 5th of June this year.
The home office recognizes this by sending a letter to my solicitor on the 15th of July and they stated that they intend to implement the judges decision by sending the case to the "post decision casework in Sheffield" .

Now my question is; how long do I have to wait before I get issues this visa? My solicitor told me that it's 90 days from the day the judge made the decision ( 5th of June) .
Therefore the visa should have been issued in the 2nd of September, but no email yet by the Home office.

Do you have any information about this timeline and how long it normally takes after the case pass to this unit "post decision casework" in Sheffield?

I'd really appreciate if you could give me an idea about this.
We also wrote to MP about this, because we've been waiting for so long and getting really desperate about this.

Thanks a lot.

[GeronimoBajramCurri]

Hi Vini,

I was wondering if you could give me an insight into your situation - specifically from the refusal date.

My husband is Albanian. He overstayed and voluntarily returned to Albania but this was after being detained in an Immigration Removal Centre.

After returning to Albania we got married and proceeded with an application. The application was refused on both my financial eligibility and his suitability - Paragraph 320 (11). We are going to do second application to satisfy my financial eligibility knowing the Paragraph 320 (11) will still be applicable. From this we intend to appeal the decision.

Can you explain what happened, including timeframes from lodging the appeal.

We have been advised an Entry Clearance Manager can be asked to review the Entry Clearance Officers decision and potentially overturn it. If this is unsuccessful then you wait for a hearing against the appeal.