Overstayer Marriage

[psuch]

Hi everyone, this is my first post, sorry if I disrupted anything. Ok heres my case.
I have been living in Uk for 7 years now the past 6 illegally, and the past 4 years with my parter. She is swedish and we would like to get married, a solicitor asked me for 2000£ to help me with my case, money is short nowadays, and im hoping I could do it all myself. The problem is, how do I go about it. Will it be easyer if I go back to my home country (Brazil) and get married, or marry her here? also how do I go about apllying for visa after marriage.
I understand its not a issue since May to get married in Uk without a visa, so Im wondering if I can just go to the register office and follow ther instructions, or they can still refuse because i have no visa. I also inderstand I can marry by proxy, the bazillian law allows that.
Well, all in all, its very confusing, I just wanna be able to be part of society not hide from it anymore. Can anyone help?
Thanks !!!

[Casa]

As your partner is Swedish you can apply under EU regulations for a residence permit after wedding instead of a visa under UK law...which tends to be tougher.
As you know you can now marry without applying for a Certificate of Approval from the Home Office. You're free to marry without restrictions even though you don't have any legal status here. I'm moving this to the EU forum where you should get the help you need regarding an EU family permit application..which unlike the UK spouse visa is free.
Is your girlfriend working here?

[psuch]

Yes, she does work, full time,she is divorced and has three daughter from the previous marriage, aswell as the child benefits she receives work tax credit, she owns her own house to wich she pays mortgage. Does any of this implies anything in the process.
Thankyou for your help.

[Kitty]

How long has your partner been living and working in the UK? Is it possible that she has Permanent Residence status already? (in which case it would not matter whether she was working or not).

As Casa says, you can apply for a Residence Card immediately after you are married, using form EEA2. You are here legally as soon as you are married.

In addition, if you can prove that you have been living together for at least 2 years, then you could apply for a Residence Card now, as a person in a "durable relationship" with an EEA national. This might be worth doing if you are concerned that UKBA might try to remove you from the UK, or if you are worried that the register office might report your whereabouts to the UKBA (they may do this if they suspect a sham marriage, for example).

After the wedding, provide your marriage certificate to UKBA to "upgrade" your application to that of a family member.

[psuch]

She has lived and worked in Uk for 15 years, but i dont think she has a permanent residence status.
Although I fear being removed from uk by the UKBA im convinced i have enough to prove this is not a sham marriage, and I think this will be the route we will be taking.
How does she go about to aply for the Permanent Residence, do you guys know?
Thank you guys very much for your help !!!

[Ken G]

As you have been living together you can apply for a residence card on basis of your durable relationship. YOu will need to provide at least 2 years cohabitaion evidence, i.e tenancy agreement, council tax, utility bills all in both names. References from famly/friends confirming your relatinship duration also help in these cases.
You will need to give as much proof as you can including photographs taken over the duration of your relationship. UKBA will be more strict in this case, however given the time you have been together, it will not be a problem.
Your partner does not have to have a PR status or any other stamp asl ong as s/he is exercising treaty rights. By the way, as a partner, you are free to stay in UK as long as you want, but you may have difficulties proving your right to stay. Hope this helps.

[Punjab]

Listen Mate

If you can prove ( which the fellow members already told you)
Joint Bank Account, Proof that you both are living together for a certain period of time, Her Payslips Ni copntribution etc
Then you might be ok.
now worse case is that they might be very very strict i am not sure if they will ask you to leave uk or not. but if you have to then go back home and get maried there and reapply.

take a voluntary departure from the uk insted of being deported.. which will be a postive point.

now if you have a kid with that lady i dont think there is anyone who can kick you out from this country...

you can visit

http://ec.europa.eu/citizensrights/fron ... dex_en.htm

[psuch]

Thank you all, Im taking everything you guys said in consideration.
We havent "lived" together, altough i spend some days in her house, im not in her council tax and we do not have joints bank accounts. Here is the plan, correct me if im wrong. I'm moving in in the next two weeks or so, adding my name to her council tax and opening a joint bank account ( i beleive the bank wont deny us an account because of my status), and within the next two months get married, apply for the residence permit, form EEA2, as Kitty said.
Or would it be easyer if a leave the country and apply from Brazil? rather expensive option that i would try to avoid.

[psuch]

Hi, Everyone, thank you very much for your replies.
Just an update in my case.
I contacted a solicitor, he asked me for £2000 to deal with my case, i can barely afford living as it is, so i decided go on my own, I did a lot of research, read all i could, and based on your replies, Me and my partner got married on the 20th of march, happiest day in my life by the way, i wasted no time and applied using the EEA2 form on the 23rd of march, with the form, in sent:2x passport pics, my actual passport, my old passport that i used to get in the country back in 2004, my partner EU passport, marriage certificate, my partner prof that she works( contract and pay slip).
Checked the tracking number on the 27th and it showed up as delivered on the 26th, On the 28th, early morning i had a visit by an immigration officer, very emotional moment for me, after 7 years "hiding", i was very honest with the officer and answered all his questions, i also produced a copy of my marriage certificate when asked, but not of my or my partners passport wich are now with the home office, the officer went on, asked to go upstairs to see our bedroom, asked me to open the wardrobes, asked me for pictures of us together, things like that. At the end of all, he sort of "arrested me", told me that some paperwork would be issued and i should report to my local police station.
Few days later, i received a letter from the home office, NOTICE TO A PERSON LIABLE TO REMOVAL, but no further instructions, i was and still am very nervous of what would happen next, will i get removed? I called the number on the letter and asked for guidance, was told to just wait for further instructions.
So here I am, very apprehensive of whats gonna happen next.
What do you guys think?

[sikaba]

This is a very strange one.First time I have ever heard about such a visit after an application has been lodged.Anyway even if that was the case as you said, so far as you are married to an EU national and in a genuine relationship as such(not a sham) then you have an automatic right to be in the UK with her so far as your EU national is exercising treaty right in the UK. Its a right derived from the EU directive and you can never be deported unless you are a threat to national security and big public policy.Its all a scare tactic but nothing will come out of it.Anyway did u get married by proxy in brazil or in UK.All the best

[psuch]

Thanks sikaba, We got married in here UK in our local register office, and our marriage is definitely not a sham, we've been together for 4 years now.
So I have nothing to worry about then

[Jambo]

I don't think the visit was anything to do with your application. I would be very surprised if the HO even opened the package 5 days after you posted it.

It is more likely to be a follow up on your marriage. Now that you don't need to get approval to marry in the UK, the UKBA makes inquires afterwards. Hence the letter and the police reporting. All standard procedures if you are illegal but should not be applied to family members of EEA national. Talk to the HO and ask them to fix this.

[psuch]

Thanks Jambo.
Now you said, it make sense, the visit should be related to my recent marriage rather then due to my application. So in your opinion i should call HO? I did call the number on my letter which was a local detention center, the person on the other side only said they are waiting for instructions from the HO. Maybe i should wait a bit before start making enquiries, what do you think?

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

, he sort of "arrested me",

Were you actually arrested or not?

[Jambo]

I would sort this out now rather than trying to deal with it once the wheels are in motion and you might (wrongly) find yourself detained.

Call the detention centre and find out who deals with your case in the HO. Call them and explain your status as a family member of a EEA national. I would also consider contacting a lawyer just in case you might need his help in a short notice.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I would sort this out now rather than trying to deal with it once the wheels are in motion and you might (wrongly) find yourself detained.

Call the detention centre and find out who deals with your case in the HO. Call them and explain your status as a family member of a EEA national. I would also consider contacting a lawyer just in case you might need his help in a short notice.

This is pretty sound advice from Jambo.

I would also suggest you familiarise yourself with this (chapter 8).

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... dlaw/ecis/

[psuch]

, he sort of "arrested me",

Were you actually arrested or not?

When I said that, I mean that he did the whole "everything you say may be used against you in court, bla bla bla", told me i was under caution, And that I should report to my local police station on a regular basis, he did not specified when should i start reporting. He did not handcuff me or took me anywhere.
OK, I'll take your advice and make a few phone calls on Monday, does anyone know where could i get a solicitor/lawyer as cheap as possible.
Thank you very much for the advice guys !!!

[Obie]

Hi, Everyone, thank you very much for your replies.
Just an update in my case.
I contacted a solicitor, he asked me for £2000 to deal with my case, i can barely afford living as it is, so i decided go on my own, I did a lot of research, read all i could, and based on your replies, Me and my partner got married on the 20th of march, happiest day in my life by the way, i wasted no time and applied using the EEA2 form on the 23rd of march, with the form, in sent:2x passport pics, my actual passport, my old passport that i used to get in the country back in 2004, my partner EU passport, marriage certificate, my partner prof that she works( contract and pay slip).
Checked the tracking number on the 27th and it showed up as delivered on the 26th, On the 28th, early morning i had a visit by an immigration officer, very emotional moment for me, after 7 years "hiding", i was very honest with the officer and answered all his questions, i also produced a copy of my marriage certificate when asked, but not of my or my partners passport wich are now with the home office, the officer went on, asked to go upstairs to see our bedroom, asked me to open the wardrobes, asked me for pictures of us together, things like that. At the end of all, he sort of "arrested me", told me that some paperwork would be issued and i should report to my local police station.
Few days later, i received a letter from the home office, NOTICE TO A PERSON LIABLE TO REMOVAL, but no further instructions, i was and still am very nervous of what would happen next, will i get removed? I called the number on the letter and asked for guidance, was told to just wait for further instructions.
So here I am, very apprehensive of whats gonna happen next.
What do you guys think?

That is utterly ridiculous. They had no right to put you on reporting restrictions, as you are a family member with automatic rights.

It is worth writing to them, stating the reporting restriction is unlawful and that you will seek damages if it is not cancelled with immediate effect.

Also request your coa.

I wish you all the best

[psuch]

Thanks everyone for you reply!

Just called the number on the letter, wich happen to be my local immigration detentio center, I had the luck to talk to the actual person who wrote the letter, and he said theres nothing to worry about, the reason a received the letter he said, is because i failed to produce a passport, wich is in the possesion of the HO right now, and they just need the ho to confirm so, he also told me the officer that interviewed me in my house was happy with the evidence i gave showing this is a real marriage, all in all, he said i will not be removed, theres nothing to worry about.
So i just gonna relax about this, like many of you said, i cant be removed, im legally married to a EU citizen.
Thank you once again, i'll keep you up to date !

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Good for you. You did the right thing by phoning them.

[raf31]

can i ask how you went about the marriage process? what documents did u require?

[psuch2]

Hi, somehow i cant login, so i had to register again...

What i did was, i called my local register office and booked an appointment, they asked for both our passports and prof of address, like a bill or council tax, also they require you to be living at least 8 days at the address, and if one of you is divorced you need the original divorce papers . On the actual appointment, we booked the actual day we were gonna marry( wich have tio be 15 days after the first appointment, something called "giving notice") the room and etc, all our details were put in, and also, we were interviewed separately to make sure it was genuine.
Are planing in getting married any time soon them? best way to start go to your local reguister office and enquire, they are not gonna ask about your immigration status, good luck

[raf31]

Thank you so much for replying.
If they ask for your passport doesn't that mean they will check you immigration status anyway?
Yes me and my partner would love to get married, we have been togeather for 5 years now. I am british and my partner is from Africa. His came to this country on a work visa and it expired about a year ago.
Would the marriage office accept any other form of identification other than a passport?
We tried to get married back in 2010 when the Certificate of approval was still required and it was just so hard to do. Both of us were really upset.
I would appreciate any information that you can tell me to help me. It would be greatly appreciatred. Thanks.

[psuch2]

hi, i feel your pain, been there myself.
I "think" they only accept a passport, but like a said, contact your register office and enquire.
Good luck, Im sure it ill all work out in the end !!!

[raf31]

Sorry for asking so may questions. But when u registered to mary did they not comment that your visa had ran out?
I understand that your wife is EU national do u think is will make a difference that I'm british? Thank you.