17 Years in UK but husband dont support visa application

[QSDanik]

Hello Seniors
One behalf of one family friend

I have one family friend, she was married 17 years ago, husband was british National and brought her from Indian to UK on spouse visa( Arranged Marriage by family) but husband was not having relation ship with her and was living in another city, lady lived with her mother-in-law , and mother-in-law was very supportive to her, she still lives with her mother in law at the same house where she came first day in UK after her marriage. her husband comes very rarely to see her mom, once a 6 month or year. Mother support her applying visa/ indedifinate leave for 6-7 times, but always refused (wasted a lot money to solicitors. .. and her case is very complicated now...can any body advise her... she doesnt have children. as Husband was interested in men ( sorry to tell you.. just to tell you exact situation). Lady is very good and had good terms with her mother in law,and also helping her mother in law at home.

Please your valuable advice will be really appriciated, and can bring valueable means in some one's life.

Best regards
QSDanik

[CR001]

Presumably she has not had valid visa for at least 15 years. ILR will always fail in this case and for ILR as a spouse, she would need her husbands support.

She could look to apply for FLR(FP) after 20 years living in the UK. This will be 4 x 2.5 year visas before she can apply for ILR.

As she has no valid visa, she also cannot work, cannot use the NHS and cannot rent.

[QSDanik]

Presumably she has not had valid visa for at least 15 years. ILR will always fail in this case and for ILR as a spouse, she would need her husbands support.

She could look to apply for FLR(FP) after 20 years living in the UK. This will be 4 x 2.5 year visas before she can apply for ILR.

As she has no valid visa, she also cannot work, cannot use the NHS and cannot rent.

Thankyou CR001 for your quick response
Actually she is feed up now, and want to leave his house, as her husband was just using her to lookafter his mother, she want to leave this house...she said she want to complain about her husband and want to apply for divorce as well, is there is any thing like social services/Council can help. Before she leave the house, she just want to know what will be response of social service/council/police if she leave the house, can she get any acceptance by these authorities?
Thanyou in advance for your time
Thankyou
Regards
QSDanik

[CR001]

She can leave if she wants to and return to her home country. Nothing stops her from doing that.

Not sure why you think police, social services or council would be involved or care if she chooses to leave or what you mean by "acceptance"?

As someone with no legal status in the uk, she doesnt have any options really.

It costs money to divorce and wont resolve her immigrstion issues.

She should have tried to sort all this out a very long time ago, before her visa expired

[QSDanik]

She can leave if she wants to and return to her home country. Nothing stops her from doing that.

Not sure why you think police, social services or council would be involved or care if she chooses to leave or what you mean by "acceptance"?

As someone with no legal status in the uk, she doesnt have any options really.

It costs money to divorce and wont resolve her immigrstion issues.

She should have tried to sort all this out a very long time ago, before her visa expired

CR001 . Thankyou for quick response, Thankyou for your time

[New on forum]

She can leave if she wants to and return to her home country. Nothing stops her from doing that.

Not sure why you think police, social services or council would be involved or care if she chooses to leave or what you mean by "acceptance"?

As someone with no legal status in the uk, she doesnt have any options really.

It costs money to divorce and wont resolve her immigrstion issues.

She should have tried to sort all this out a very long time ago, before her visa expired

Probably Just a silly thought from me ,
Do you not think she is possibly a victim of modern slavery ?

[New on forum]

Or does her situation fill within domestic violence?
17 year is a long time and roughly around 2006/7 when this person arrived ilr should have been pretty simple after 2 year of arrival , rendering this person of legal status doesn't look that simple matter of not supporting a visa application.

[Frontier Mole]

She can not readily claim victim of domestic violence unless she has a history of reporting issues to the police, doctors referrals or social services involvement to prove her case.
She is absolutely not a victim of modern slavery, she could have returned home at any point either with or without support from the Home Office.
Unfortunately residing in the UK for such a long period without a visa is not going to help her

[secret.simon]

Could withholding of conjugal affections be counted as domestic violence? Some interpretations of laws are so broad one can sail an aircraft carrier through them.

I agree with @Frontier Mole that it does not qualify as modern slavery. She can up sticks and leave any time she wants. From the circumstance, it sounds like she is willing to stay behind and look after her mother-in-law.

[Casa]

Could withholding of conjugal affections be counted as domestic violence? Some interpretations of laws are so broad one can sail an aircraft carrier through them.

I agree with @Frontier Mole that it does not qualify as modern slavery. She can up sticks and leave any time she wants. From the circumstance, it sounds like she is willing to stay behind and look after her mother-in-law.

I believe the husband's absence would be considered as 'unacceptable behaviour' in the event of a divorce petition by the wife, but I doubt that it would be relevant as domestic violence in a right to remain application. Even more so when it seems she has been without valid leave in the UK for a considerable number of years.

[QSDanik]

Thankyou Casa, Frienter mole,Secret Simon, CR001 and all others.
Yes Casa, she want to apply for divorce now as she is feed up of living there as it has ruined her life as the lady every day was thinking her husband might be changed one day and come back but it never happend....a big part of life was ruined. As husband didnt say to leave his home

Can you guys advise if she want to apply for divorce for husband unacceptable behavior and if Court accept the aligations,or denied ... what are options for her for leave to remain?

[Casa]

Thankyou Casa, Frienter mole,Secret Simon, CR001 and all others.
Yes Casa, she want to apply for divorce now as she is feed up of living there as it has ruined her life as the lady every day was thinking her husband might be changed one day and come back but it never happend....a big part of life was ruined. As husband didnt say to leave his home

Can you guys advise if she want to apply for divorce for husband unacceptable behavior and if Court accept the aligations,or denied ... what are options for her for leave to remain?

The evidence of 'unreasonable behaviour' considered in granting a divorce has no relevance to an application with the Home Office to leave to remain.

[secret.simon]

Now this is some out-of-the-box thinking and it would need a lawyer who is knowledgeable on legacy immigration law. But it may be possible that your friend may be eligible for ILR based on her being granted her original leave to remain before 9th July 2012.

The relevant Immigration Rule is 287(a). And it is possible that it is still applicable under the transitional provisions (A280(c)). There does not, on the face of it, seem to be any requirement for the leave to be extant for Rule 287.

The sticking point are requirements (ii) and (iii) of that Rule;

(ii) the applicant is still the spouse or civil partner of the person he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting; and
(iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner; and

So she will still need the support of the husband to apply for ILR under this section. As she is still living with the mother-in-law, perhaps the mother-in-law can intercede with the son to support the application. Then, once the application is through, they can divorce and move on in their separate ways.

Husband was interested in men

To be honest, I feel for both sides of that marriage. The husband was probably emotionally and psychologically coerced into the marriage, his family thinking that a heterosexual marriage will "cure" him of his preference for men. For all we know, his extant marriage to the woman in question may have prevented him from marrying a guy of his choice.

I think the woman in question should offer a quickie divorce once he helps her ILR application over the line. Then they can move on in their own separate ways.

NB: This is an uninformed view of a non-lawyer. A lawyer experienced in this field may need to cast an eye over it to advise on whether this approach is legally possible.

On a separate note, if her husband refuses to support her or if she is hell-bent on a quick divorce, she has no grounds to remain in the UK at the moment and would need to plan to return back to India.

PS: Obviously if she files for divorce on the grounds of abandonment or something similar, the requirements above aren't met and her ILR application will be thrown out or can be cancelled later on. So her (presumably later) divorce will need to be careful about the grounds for divorce.

[Frontier Mole]

The individual has no extant leave and has not had for a considerable period of time. Trying to anchor her to a previous set of rules is not going to work.
The beneficial possibility that you point out is not going to be available. The transitional rules only apply if they are enacted or is still available to do so. The expiry of leave prevents the transitional rules coming into play in this scenario.
I have tried to find a route that would lead to leave to remain. I am struggling with anything other than Article 8 Human Rights claim. I believe she would have a high likelihood of success.

[secret.simon]

@Frontier Mole, is Leave Outside The Rules an option?

To the OP, also see this thread about somebody on the 20 year illegal residence route, which leads to a further 10 years of FLR(FP) before eventual ILR and then citizenship.

[Frontier Mole]

3. Leave outside the Rules – Article 8 private life

Part 7 of the Immigration Rules covers private life — that is, where the basis of the application is the applicant’s integration and ties to the UK. In similar vein to the above, Part 7 includes a catch-all provision designed to cover applications that would previously have been considered outside the Rules.

In order to qualify, a migrant who has lived here for less than 20 years must show that there are “very significant obstacles” to his or her reintegration into their home country.

If an applicant cannot meet these requirements, however, it may still be possible to apply outside the Rules on a private life basis under paragraph 276BE(2). Thus, leave to remain granted outside the Rules on private life grounds has similarly been incorporated into the Immigration Rules, while retaining the principal characteristics of an outside the Rules application.

Home Office guidance states where an application has been considered solely on the basis of private life in the UK, “you must consider whether there are such exceptional circumstances outside the Immigration Rules” but provides no further information.

The types of cases that might qualify for a grant of leave outside the Rules on this basis include applicants who have lived in the UK for decades but who are ineligible for leave under the Rules because the continuity of their leave was broken by an extended absence.

Similarly, there may be cases where there are no significant obstacles to an applicant’s integration back into their home country but where the strength of their ties to the UK are nevertheless such that it would be disproportionate to remove them from the UK. However, if they have lived in the UK for less than 20 years, it would be rare for the Home Office (or an immigration judge) to consider that removal is disproportionate where there are no significant obstacles to reintegration into the applicant’s country of origin, at least without additional factors such as family in the UK.

These applications are made on form FLR(FP), in common with the family life cases outside the Rules. Like almost all types of leave described here, this application cannot be made from abroad. The usual fees apply, though a fee waiver is possible.

[Frontier Mole]

Article 8 Human Rights - right to a private life. Sorry I should have explained it a bit better

[QSDanik]

Thankyou Frontier Mole, Sceret Simon and Casa for your time.
her previous solisitor told her that he will apply application based on that she is getting depression and stress..? is there any thing like this option?

[Frontier Mole]

Absolutely not - having a mental health condition is not a reason in itself to remain in the U.K.