Marriage in UK

[vickivickii]

Hi all

I'm engaged to my albanian boyfriend who is living here illegally. he came here illegally and has not had a visa.

We visited a solicitor yesterday because we want to get this sorted as obviously i want him to be here with me.

The solicitor said there is a number of Anglican churches in England who are marrying couples with no visa documents.. and if we find one that means we can apply for a visa while we are in england. We can do it without marriage but obviously marriage will help.. and we plan to get married anyway.

Does anyone know which of the churches are marrying people with no documents? I have printed a list of Anglican churches in London and am going to call them until I find one.. but thought it may be worth a try asking on here?

Thanks...
Vicki

[vinny]

Religious ceremonies

The rules on certificate of approval do not currently apply if you plan to get married at an Anglican Church in England or Wales, after marriage banns or with a religious licence. You should contact a member of the clergy at the church where you plan to get married for more help.

[John]

if we find one that means we can apply for a visa while we are in england

You were actually told that by the Solicitor? That after the marriage the visa application can be made in the UK?

If so I express surprise, given that even if married he would still need to return to his country to apply for the spouse visa.

That being so why doesn't he leave the country voluntarily and the two of you get married in his country, after which he can apply for the needed spouse visa.

No doubt the importance of the 01.10.08 date was explained to you?

[Mr Rusty]

If your solicitor didn't refer you to the following Para of the Immigration Rules, you should ask for your money back:-

"Requirements for an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom
284. The requirements for an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that:

(i) the applicant has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom which was given in accordance with any of the provisions of these Rules..."

You may succeed in finding a C of E vicar to conduct a marriage, but that doesn't mean that UKBA will grant your husband permission to remain.

John's advice above is correct. I see there's a Law Report in today's Times (Chikwamba v S of S Home Dept, House of Lords) which ruled that it was a disproportionate infringement of the right to family life to require someone to return to Zimbabwe to seek an Entry Clearance, but that's hardly surprising, given what's going on there. I doubt whether the same view would be taken about someone returning to Albania.

[vickivickii]

if we find one that means we can apply for a visa while we are in england

You were actually told that by the Solicitor? That after the marriage the visa application can be made in the UK?

If so I express surprise, given that even if married he would still need to return to his country to apply for the spouse visa.

That being so why doesn't he leave the country voluntarily and the two of you get married in his country, after which he can apply for the needed spouse visa.

No doubt the importance of the 01.10.08 date was explained to you?

yes, it was explained to me.

we can apply for the visa from the uk, she said that it is likely he will be sent back but not definitely.

we would like to get married here because all of my family and our friends are here.

i'm prepared for him being sent home, i thought it would happen anyway.

she didn't tell me that if we get married and then apply that we will definitely get the visa, i knew for myself its not that easy these days. she said its pretty likely we will have to appeal.

we are going to instruct the solicitor to make the application.

this whole thing is driving me crazy. honest opinion, what chance do you think we have of getting this visa? i have everything to prove we are together/living togethet etc etc and i'm willing to fight as much as needed..

[hignfu]

Just wanted to add my bit,........

me and my partner wernt to Albania last year to get married, we were living in the UK and went to Albania to get married then applied for a Spouse Visa....the whole process for us took approx 3 months, we got the visa without appeal.

I suggest that you do alot of research about the whole Visa application process, make sure you have all the required documentation and then some more just to back it up....you can never be too prepared for these things!!

If you need any assistance then please private message me and I will try and help!
Kind Regards
E

[vickivickii]

Just wanted to add my bit,........

me and my partner wernt to Albania last year to get married, we were living in the UK and went to Albania to get married then applied for a Spouse Visa....the whole process for us took approx 3 months, we got the visa without appeal.

I suggest that you do alot of research about the whole Visa application process, make sure you have all the required documentation and then some more just to back it up....you can never be too prepared for these things!!

If you need any assistance then please private message me and I will try and help!
Kind Regards
E

thank you so much, i've messaged you.

[John]

we can apply for the visa from the uk, she said that it is likely he will be sent back but not definitely.

In my opinion .... and indeed don't take my word for it .... just read the messages on this Board .... it is a total waste of time and money even making the application in the UK. For starters it will take years for the application to be decided, and even then there is little chance of it succeeding. And all the time he would be waiting he would not be allowed to work. In short, even applying in the UK gives false hope and would be extremely expensive, taking into account the loss of earnings while he would be waiting.

hignfu, thanks for coming in on this matter. This is what this Board is all about. Its strength lies in its members talking from their personal experience.

vickivickii, my recollection is that in order to get married in Albania there is a procedure to follow, but no doubt hignfu will put you right about that.

About 01.10.08, so the Solicitor did explain about that. So you know the importance of him leaving the UK in the near future.

[vickivickii]

we can apply for the visa from the uk, she said that it is likely he will be sent back but not definitely.

In my opinion .... and indeed don't take my word for it .... just read the messages on this Board .... it is a total waste of time and money even making the application in the UK. For starters it will take years for the application to be decided, and even then there is little chance of it succeeding. And all the time he would be waiting he would not be allowed to work. In short, even applying in the UK gives false hope and would be extremely expensive, taking into account the loss of earnings while he would be waiting.

hignfu, thanks for coming in on this matter. This is what this Board is all about. Its strength lies in its members talking from their personal experience.

vickivickii, my recollection is that in order to get married in Albania there is a procedure to follow, but no doubt hignfu will put you right about that.

About 01.10.08, so the Solicitor did explain about that. So you know the importance of him leaving the UK in the near future.

yeah we know we definitely have to be out by then.

i think we will get married here then go to albania to apply, from what i'm hearing tonight it will be easier.

i'm just worried about being away from him while it is taking so long.

[John]

Great decision. Are you having any luck finding a CofE Church to marry you?

[vickivickii]

Great decision. Are you having any luck finding a CofE Church to marry you?

i haven't had a chance to look yet, i've been so busy at work.

i've printed a list of all the anglican churches in london, would calling them be ok?

i'm a little unsure of what i need to ask them, to be honest!

[John]

I think you simply need to explain the situation, that your fiancee is an Albanian overstayer, and the two of you wish to get married in a CofE Church.

I hope I am wrong, but I think you might struggle on this. Certainly I would be amazed if you are lucky enough to find that the first Church you phone says yes. Start with the CofE Church for the Parish in which you live. That is your obviously first choice on your list.

[vickivickii]

I think you simply need to explain the situation, that your fiancee is an Albanian overstayer, and the two of you wish to get married in a CofE Church.

I hope I am wrong, but I think you might struggle on this. Certainly I would be amazed if you are lucky enough to find that the first Church you phone says yes. Start with the CofE Church for the Parish in which you live. That is your obviously first choice on your list.

Oh I don't expect for the first church that I phone will say yes. I have over 200 churches just in London to call. If we have no luck we will have to go to albania but i would like to marry here.

My solicitor did say we could apply as a partnership & she seemed to think we could apply from here instead of going back. I'm assuming he will be sent back anyway. She called them discretionary applications, I don't know if this means anything to you? I'm not too clued up on all of this

My fiancee's cousin has just been granted his visa and returned to england about a week ago. First of all they told him he had to stay in albania for a year and then have another interview.. is this common? His wife went down and demanded to talk to somebody and he got his visa within 2 weeks.

My fiancee has never been registered in England whatsoever, he came here illegally. I'm assuming this is going to affect our chances? He also applied in 2005 but got refused as they didn't believe the relationship was real, which it wasn't. This is going to affect it too isn't it?

My solicitor gave me a list of documents that I will need to prove that the relationship is real & that we are living together, and I am able to get every one of those to back us up, that is a good thing i suppose.

I'm sick of this whole thing, i just want to live a normal life with him.