Decree Absoute / Marriage Certificate

[christine44]

Hello, I am British and married to an Albanian man currently living (legally) in Italy. He is planning to apply for the UK Spouse visa in July so he can come here to live with me so I am currently trying to gather the necessary documents. I live in a rented one bedroom flat. My tenancy is for 12 months and started on 12th April 2013. When I took on the tenancy I did not tell my landlady about getting married. I very much doubt it will be a problem as she is a very nice woman but to stick to the terms of my tenancy agreement I will need to tell her when he arrives. If it is a problem and I need to move out (which I doubt very much) my plan is for us to stay with my sister while we look for another flat together and she has said she is ok with this for as long as we want to stay. My sister lives nearby and owns a 3 bedroom house where she lives with her husband and 2 year old son. She has said she is happy to write a letter for the Visa application saying that me and my husband can live with her when he arrives, and she is happy to provide bank letters etc to show she owns the house. However, I am a bit worried this is all too complicated to somehow prove to the UKBA when we apply for the Visa because all my documents I will provide as financial proof eg bank statements, are in my current address - however I will be saying we will be living at another address (my Sisters house) and I have nothing with my name and that address on. The Sponsership Undertaking form I downloaded from the UKBA website asks for the address where the Sponsered Person will be residing in the UK and also the address of the Sponser (along with evidence to prove I live there). Does anyone know if it is acceptable that the address where the Sponsered Person will be residing and the Sponser's address are different ? I am now wondering if it will be better to speak with my landlady and try to explain the situation so I can just use my address for both. If I do this what would she need to provide to support the application ? I have the tenancy agreement in my name and I believe I would need her to write a letter to say that she is ok with my husband joining me at the property. But would she need to do anything else, such as providing proof she owns the property ? This could be complicated for her as I think she owns the property along with her partner who lives in Spain, which is why I am worried about telling her. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Pandy84]

Hi,


Talk to your landlord and explain the situation.

Ideally you could send the tenancy agreement , council tax blls, utility bills and a letter from your landlord confirming it is ok for your partner to stay. Also you need to show that your home is adequate and not overcrowded. This could be written into the landlord letter ,photos and inventory of the property.

If you can't provide all of these then you should write a letter explaining your situation.

check the rules on MAA!

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... e/ecg/maa/

Good luck

[christine44]

Thanks for the reply. I think you are right that I speak with my landlady and explain the situation. I want to try to keep things as simple as possible.

I think I will probably ask my council or an estate agent to provide the housing inspection report on the size of the flat etc as I don't want to take any risks even if it costs a little more.

Would we need to send proof that my landlady owns the property - land registy info, deeds or mortgage details ? Or is it simply enough to send a copy of my tenancy agreement with a letter from her stating she has no objection to my husband also living at the property when he arrives ?

[Pandy84]

you don't need to send proof that your landlady owns the property.

Tenancy agreement will be enough because it shows you have the property secured and it's a legal binding document. A letter regarding your partner from your landlady would help too..

[christine44]

I have spoke to my landlady and told her about my husband coming and she was fine with him staying here which is such a relief. I was just worrying because I didn't tell her my marriage plans when I took on the tenancy because I wasn't really too sure myself when everything would happen and didn't want to overcomplicate everything with the uncertantity and by going into my life story.

One last accomodation query - My tenancy started on 12th April 2013 and is for one year. We hope to apply for the Visa mid-July which will leave 9 months remaining. Realistically it could take longer than 3 months for the Visa application to be processed which would mean that when my husband arrives there is less than 6 months left on the current tenancy agreement. Is this likely to be a problem ?

Also, .... I have another issue.

I was married in the past and divorced last year and I obtained a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) from my local council to enable me to get married in Albania. My problem now is the UKBA website says on the Documents required page that you must send "evidence that you were both free to marry or enter your civil partnership, if either of you was previously married or in a civil partnership". The problem is I gave my original Decree Absolute and original CNI to the office where we was married in Albania and they kept them. Is it right that they kept them ? It is possible to order another official copy of the Decree Absolute for £5, but what do I do about the CNI ? I don't think it is possible to get another copy of this. I have a photocopy I took myself but it is not a certified copy. If any moderators / gurus can advise I would be very grateful, or maybe others who have divorced, remarried and then applied for a spouse visa can share what they did.

Another worry is my husband thinks that if when we apply for the Visa our marriage certificate is over 3 months old then we will need to obtain a new certificate. Apparantly this is the way in Albania and only documents under 3 months old are acceptable in legal situations. Has anyone any knowledge in this area ? To me a marriage certificate does not expire but will the UKBA view our marriage certificate this way given that we was married in Albania and there the certificates are only valid for 3 months. He will be applying for the Visa in Italy, not Albania, as he is a legal resident in Italy, and I believe that now the applications from Rome are processed in London - I'm not sure if this makes any difference on the validity of our Albanian marriage certificate.

[Obie]

What were you doing in Italy? Were you working or self employed?

[christine44]

I have never lived or worked in Italy myself. I met my husband when I was in Italy on holiday almost 2 years ago and have been back to visit him in Italy 10 times since then and also I have been twice to visit him in Albania - the first time we got married and then I returned 4 weeks later to visit again. Now he has returned to Italy where he lives and works (employed) - he has an Italian work visa.

[christine44]

Just realised why you asked this - Surinder Singh ! This really would be a last resort for me as giving up my life to go and live in Italy for a while would not be a great move for us. I am 39 and my husband and I want to start a family ASAP so giving up my flat and more importantly a job I have had for 6 years (which is not necessarily easy to find again in the current climate) is not a good idea as we really need to start our married life together with some security if we are to start a family. It is of course an option for us if all else fails but I am hoping we don't have to go down this route.

Anyone out there know the answers to my questions about the length of tenancy agreement, Certificate of No Impediment requirement, or validity of an Albanian marriage certificate over 3 months old ?

Apologies for asking so many questions at once but want to be 100% sure we have everything we need for the application.

[batleykhan]

Ok as far as your tenancy agreement is concerned, the onus is on you to provide evidence to say that accommodation will be available, not before or after application,but only at the time your hubby will arrive in the UK.

In your case I do not see any problem with your tenancy agreement and the length of time left on it.

As for the other matter, I am of the opinion that you only have to provide the Decree Absolute obtained from the UK court to say your marriage has ceased completely and that you are free to remarry.

Sorry can not help you with other matters in the post

[Casa]

Batleykhan is right. You don't have to submit a CNI