urgent!!!! COA, spouse visa, marriage for pregnant lady

[porkamovsky]

Hi I would be very grateful for suggestions

I am a British citizen...my Mexican gf and i have been in a relationship since 2004. She has visited UK several times on 6 month visas and I Mexico (and we have travelled to other countries together). I last visited Mexico in June 2009.
As a result of this last visit my gf became pregnant and she came to UK again July 12th. We decided shortly after her arrival to get married, but were informed by the local registry office that we must have a COA from the HO first. Naively I expected this process to be a formality (!)
We sent in COA application on 19th July, and received a letter of acknowledgment on 23rd July.

On 25th August we received a letter requesting affidavits and other documentary evidence - we had a Notary Public witness these and returned them within 14 days as requested. Since we did not have any documents addressed to us jointly at our current address, the proof of address my gf provided was three letters from the NHS notifying dates of pre-natal appointments.

We heard nothing from the HO after this - I called Croydon HO in October and was told they could not say when our case would be decided. In November I asked if there was any way of requesting a decision quickly - they said yes and gave me a fax number to send the reason for my request. In the fax I pointed out that we had postponed our original plan for a wedding from 30th October and asked if they could answer soon because my fiancee is pregnant and we'd like to be married before the baby arrives!

Since then we still have heard nothing. The HO still have both our passports, my gf's Mexican ID card, my divorce decree nisi, photos, etc etc.

My fiancees 6 month visa expires on 11 January 2010. She is currently 29 weeks and will be 34 weeks pregnant when her visa expires.

Obviously it would be very risky for her to travel at that stage of her pregnancy, and anyway we want to have the baby here.

We're considering these courses of action:

1) She overstays her visa, has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

2) She overstays her visa, has the baby, we request our documents back from the HO and we register him here, then we get married in an Anglican church here. Then could we apply for spouse visa from here?

Would the fact that she will have overstayed affect them granting a spouse visa?
Under the circumstances, before her visitor visa runs out, can she request Further Leave To Remain?

Is there some other course of action we could take?

Thanks for reading this, any help much appreciated.

[Wanderer]

Overstay shouldn;t count against but using NHS services on visit visa might so be prepared to shell out for the cost of the birth.

The circumstances don't warrant an in-country switch to FLR I'm afraid.

[Casa]

You didn't explore the option of marrying in an Anglican church before you applied for the COA?
Wanderer is right about the use of NHS being a potential reason for refusal of a spouse visa.

[porkamovsky]

Thanks so much for the replies...we didn't consider marrying in an Anglican church because we were planning to get married in a registry office and didn't think getting a COA would be a problem.
Would we be able to get married in an Anglican church after the birth of the baby, even though her visa would have expired?
Any idea how much cost of the birth could be?
If paid, would we be able to get spouse visa?

[Wanderer]

Thanks so much for the replies...we didn't consider marrying in an Anglican church because we were planning to get married in a registry office and didn't think getting a COA would be a problem.
Would we be able to get married in an Anglican church after the birth of the baby, even though her visa would have expired?
Any idea how much cost of the birth could be?
If paid, would we be able to get spouse visa?

None of these actions would preclude the need for ur other half to return to Mexico for the correct leave I'm afraid.

The ideal situation would be to get her home ASAP, no overstay no problem and have the baby there.

I don't think u'll get a CoA before her visa expires, and realistically the Aglican Church plan is a non-starter, with it being Xmas etc, banns, finding a vicar to do it even if he was ur local one and u regularly attend it would be difficult. Two strangers with a kid due and visa issues would be almost impossible. Plus no doubt she's Roman Catholic....

Leaves u with deliberate overstay and thereby at the mercy of the UKBA, while overstay isn't a barrier the purposeful nature of it might rattle a few HO cages. Plus the cost of the birth, 2k for an easy one, 15k for a difficult one.

After the baby is born ur other half (and kid most likely, too young to leave it here) would have to return to mexico for proper leave. UKBA will have no sympathy, they'll just say go home and take the kid and apply properly.

Just a stream of consciousness there from me, not very well structured...

[porkamovsky]

thank but please could you explain what is 'the correct leave'?

how can HO regard this as deliberate purposeful overstay when they have all our documents while they are considering our COA?

what do you think: She overstays her visa and has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

[ElenaW]

thank but please could you explain what is 'the correct leave'?

how can HO regard this as deliberate purposeful overstay when they have all our documents while they are considering our COA?

what do you think: She overstays her visa and has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

The COA is not a visa. So it's always recommended that people apply for it in good time before their visa expires. I think the best option is not to overstay (like Wanderer said) and then you won't have any problems to deal with, just a straight forward spousal visa application.

[Wanderer]

thank but please could you explain what is 'the correct leave'?

how can HO regard this as deliberate purposeful overstay when they have all our documents while they are considering our COA?

what do you think: She overstays her visa and has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

Correct 'Leave to Remain' - as a spouse/fiancee not a visitor.

Because she entered presumably knowingly pregnant? I dunno - the UKBA never give u the benefit of the doubt - assume the worst, I still feel the UKBA will try and play the deception card re the birth, it's happened before, search the site. They just don't like people entering on visit visas that aren't just visitors....

I could never recommend anyone overstay because although it's not supposed to count against a settlement visa, it doesn't make a difficult process any easier. Have you thought about the spouse visa app? U'll need suitable accom. and disposable income of £160 a week after regular bills for a family of three. Remember no third party support and proof of everything.

Good luck anyway...

[Wanderer]

thank but please could you explain what is 'the correct leave'?

how can HO regard this as deliberate purposeful overstay when they have all our documents while they are considering our COA?

what do you think: She overstays her visa and has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

The COA is not a visa. So it's always recommended that people apply for it in good time before their visa expires. I think the best option is not to overstay (like Wanderer said) and then you won't have any problems to deal with, just a straight forward spousal visa application.

Yes, good point, I forgot that. CoA is only permission to marry, it conveys no visa status or leeave to remain.

[djb123]

thank but please could you explain what is 'the correct leave'?

how can HO regard this as deliberate purposeful overstay when they have all our documents while they are considering our COA?

what do you think: She overstays her visa and has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

Correct 'Leave to Remain' - as a spouse/fiancee not a visitor.

Because she entered presumably knowingly pregnant? I dunno - the UKBA never give u the benefit of the doubt - assume the worst, I still feel the UKBA will try and play the deception card re the birth, it's happened before, search the site. They just don't like people entering on visit visas that aren't just visitors....

I could never recommend anyone overstay because although it's not supposed to count against a settlement visa, it doesn't make a difficult process any easier. Have you thought about the spouse visa app? U'll need suitable accom. and disposable income of £160 a week after regular bills for a family of three. Remember no third party support and proof of everything.

Good luck anyway...

They may also be thinking it was deception on entry (may also be affecting your CoA application). Entering as a visitor and then within a week of arrival making an application for a COA (after visiting a register office..) could suggest you were always planning to get married in the UK but wanted to avoid getting a fiancee visa.

[ajmal]

Hi I would be very grateful for suggestions

I am a British citizen...my Mexican gf and i have been in a relationship since 2004. She has visited UK several times on 6 month visas and I Mexico (and we have travelled to other countries together). I last visited Mexico in June 2009.
As a result of this last visit my gf became pregnant and she came to UK again July 12th. We decided shortly after her arrival to get married, but were informed by the local registry office that we must have a COA from the HO first. Naively I expected this process to be a formality (!)
We sent in COA application on 19th July, and received a letter of acknowledgment on 23rd July.

On 25th August we received a letter requesting affidavits and other documentary evidence - we had a Notary Public witness these and returned them within 14 days as requested. Since we did not have any documents addressed to us jointly at our current address, the proof of address my gf provided was three letters from the NHS notifying dates of pre-natal appointments.

We heard nothing from the HO after this - I called Croydon HO in October and was told they could not say when our case would be decided. In November I asked if there was any way of requesting a decision quickly - they said yes and gave me a fax number to send the reason for my request. In the fax I pointed out that we had postponed our original plan for a wedding from 30th October and asked if they could answer soon because my fiancee is pregnant and we'd like to be married before the baby arrives!

Since then we still have heard nothing. The HO still have both our passports, my gf's Mexican ID card, my divorce decree nisi, photos, etc etc.

My fiancees 6 month visa expires on 11 January 2010. She is currently 29 weeks and will be 34 weeks pregnant when her visa expires.

Obviously it would be very risky for her to travel at that stage of her pregnancy, and anyway we want to have the baby here.

We're considering these courses of action:

1) She overstays her visa, has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

2) She overstays her visa, has the baby, we request our documents back from the HO and we register him here, then we get married in an Anglican church here. Then could we apply for spouse visa from here?

Would the fact that she will have overstayed affect them granting a spouse visa?
Under the circumstances, before her visitor visa runs out, can she request Further Leave To Remain?

Is there some other course of action we could take?

Thanks for reading this, any help much appreciated.

Nhs treatment for your girl friend is ok and you dont need to worry as its not come in public fund, but you need DECREE ABSOLUTE to get permission for marriage

[PaperPusher]

Nhs treatment for your girl friend is ok and you dont need to worry as its not come in public fund, but you need DECREE ABSOLUTE to get permission for marriage

NHS treatment is not classed as a public fund, but it won't be OK when the bill comes, especially if it is a large one.

[mrlookforward]

Hi I would be very grateful for suggestions

I am a British citizen...my Mexican gf and i have been in a relationship since 2004. She has visited UK several times on 6 month visas and I Mexico (and we have travelled to other countries together). I last visited Mexico in June 2009.
As a result of this last visit my gf became pregnant and she came to UK again July 12th. We decided shortly after her arrival to get married, but were informed by the local registry office that we must have a COA from the HO first. Naively I expected this process to be a formality (!)
We sent in COA application on 19th July, and received a letter of acknowledgment on 23rd July.

On 25th August we received a letter requesting affidavits and other documentary evidence - we had a Notary Public witness these and returned them within 14 days as requested. Since we did not have any documents addressed to us jointly at our current address, the proof of address my gf provided was three letters from the NHS notifying dates of pre-natal appointments.

We heard nothing from the HO after this - I called Croydon HO in October and was told they could not say when our case would be decided. In November I asked if there was any way of requesting a decision quickly - they said yes and gave me a fax number to send the reason for my request. In the fax I pointed out that we had postponed our original plan for a wedding from 30th October and asked if they could answer soon because my fiancee is pregnant and we'd like to be married before the baby arrives!

Since then we still have heard nothing. The HO still have both our passports, my gf's Mexican ID card, my divorce decree nisi, photos, etc etc.

My fiancees 6 month visa expires on 11 January 2010. She is currently 29 weeks and will be 34 weeks pregnant when her visa expires.

Obviously it would be very risky for her to travel at that stage of her pregnancy, and anyway we want to have the baby here.

We're considering these courses of action:

1) She overstays her visa, has the baby here, we request our documents back from the HO, register the baby here and then we go to Mexico to get married in March or April...we apply for a spouse visa from there and I return to UK while we wait for that to be approved.

2) She overstays her visa, has the baby, we request our documents back from the HO and we register him here, then we get married in an Anglican church here. Then could we apply for spouse visa from here?

Would the fact that she will have overstayed affect them granting a spouse visa?
Under the circumstances, before her visitor visa runs out, can she request Further Leave To Remain?

Is there some other course of action we could take?

Thanks for reading this, any help much appreciated.

The best way out of this situation would be to use option 1.

[Wanderer]

Nhs treatment for your girl friend is ok and you dont need to worry as its not come in public fund, but you need DECREE ABSOLUTE to get permission for marriage

Emergency treatment is free on a visit visa but not a birth. What's a decree absolute got to do with it? Who mentioned divorce?

[ElenaW]

Nhs treatment for your girl friend is ok and you dont need to worry as its not come in public fund, but you need DECREE ABSOLUTE to get permission for marriage

Emergency treatment is free on a visit visa but not a birth. What's a decree absolute got to do with it? Who mentioned divorce?

Yes you'll be in trouble if you overstay to intentionally use NHS to give birth to your child(a birth isn't an emergency).

[Casa]

Definately.

[VT]

Don't let her overstay her Visa... You'll both very much regret your decision. Good luck.

[katiepop]

I got my COA acknowledgement on 23 july this year too and my affidavit request on 27 august. I have heard nothing at all!!! They still have my UK passport and my fiance's ARC card.

I rang them a couple of weeks ago on the helpline. They told me no decision had been made yet. When I asked how long I should expect to wait all he said was 65% of cases are decided in 4 weeks. He can't comment on the other 35% lol. So I'm still waiting after 6 months, good job my reception isn't planned until oct 2010!!!

That still hasn't stopped me worrying though, time is flying since we first started the process. I was wondering if I could have that fax number they gave you or if you have any other contacts.

Does anyone else have a realistic timescale....or any reason why it is taking so long??

[Juv]

Have you guys got your COAs yet? the current timing seems to be ridiculous, been waiting for 12 weeks myself. Wish they made up their minds already! At least say NO so other roots can be explored!

[ld10]

Have you guys got your COAs yet? the current timing seems to be ridiculous, been waiting for 12 weeks myself. Wish they made up their minds already! At least say NO so other roots can be explored!

The same problem,been waiting about 15 weeks now sience affidavits was sent there,called my solicitor and his reply was :that many people applaying now its not only me who been waiting for long and HO simply cannot cope!

[katiepop]

I'm still waiting..........

I have sent a letter asking them why we haven't been contacted as there is obviously some reason why we are still waiting when other people get them alot faster.

I'm sure they will ignore it!

[Juv]

This is a joke. I know a guy who's been here illegally for 12 years and got his VISA, not permission to marry in 7 weeks after applying... While i am happy for him and all... Does it make sense to HO? I'm only asking them to let me get married!!! My solicitor says wait for 14 weeks...Looking at your cases... Hell no! One more week and i'm withdrawing my application. Good luck with yours!!

[ld10]

Any updates?

[ajanelson]

Did you get your COA.
I am a UK citizen and my GF is Colombian, We have been together for 15 months (living with me for 7 months) and she has been here for 2 years on a student Visa.
We applied for a COA at the begining of February. We recieved the confirmation letter they had received it but nothing since, not even any requests for further information.
I called up and was just told that they dont give out information unless the application was made over 14 weeks.
Her visa expires May 31st. From reading so many forums this week about COA applications taking a long time I am now getting worried that we wont get it before her visa expires.

A Colombian friend of hers got married to a UK citizen. They applied last October and got their COA in 4 weeks.
There seems to be no consitency from the HO on how long applications take, makes things very hard.

If it gets to 2 months without hearing anything I will consult a lawyer to see legally where we stand. I read in a forum that someone got a lawyer to write to the HO and it was immediately approved.

I have read about people in a similar situation with a child where they wrote to the HO under the human rights act.

[Charimito]

Hello! We're in a similar situation. Your Gf doesn't need to leave the UK with the baby, the baby is a British citizen so he can stay. I would probably recommend you to apply for a short course and apply for a student visa that should give you some extra time. Anyone knows what's the current processing time for coa's?