ywright wrote:Hello all,
Pls, i will like you to give me your opinion on my situation... I am a single mum still on a post study visa. my baby father is married to another woman but he got british passport for my child. I went to see a solicitor and he said I should not do flr(o) as i will be refused because I have just done 3 years in the country. He said the Zambrano route is the best but all that I have read on the Zambrano route is not encouraging at all. It is very unfortunate that I have paid the solicitor half of his fees before i realised he will use zambrano route. Do I have a better chance as a single mum of a british child using the FLR(O)? The solicitor has confused me more and he said (authoritatively) that he is very sure the application will be refused if i do flr(o).
Pls, what do you think is my best chance before my visa runs out in mid August? Thanking you for your anticipated assistance and I wish you the best with your applications.
I would suggest you go for the FLR(o)...
Since you have leave atm, you do not need to prove your right of residency before application etc.
don't let your solicitor bully you. YOU PAY THEM. THEY DO WHAT YOU *INSTRUCT* THEM TO DO.
(is the way you were treated something to complain about?:
http://www.sra.org.uk/faqs/contact-cent ... citor.page )
Ensure you get all your OWN FRIENDS and family to write letters etc...
and highlight the Article 8/Zambrano notice from the IDI's. It's late, and im just off to bed so not gonna go trawling through to find the links... (i did mention the links to the FOI requests in this post though).
Remember that your child has an article 8 right to contact with his father (if he still sees him?) / step mother (again if he sees her) IN ADDITION to yourself. The Home Office cannot remove this right from the child
If the child does still have contact with the father, the DRC is surely doomed from the start (see previous message for letter asking my wife for proof she is the SOLE carer).
FLR(o) considers Human Rights not only of your child, but of you. You have been in this country for three years... so you surely have friends/family/etc here that you have settled here and formed a stable life for yourself... It will obviously cause an unreasonable obstacle for your own right to a the respect for your own private life if they expect you to leave. (this is in addition to the fact that removing yourself would also be deemed as to remove your child, which is against EU LAW)
Go for the FLR(o)... your already 3 years into the 10yr ILR... (from the way I understand it... its 10 years of LAWFUL residence... on ANY ROUTE... so just because your switching from student to 10yr route... you already began the journey...)
As mam pointed out...
the home office state that ILR / PR is not possible with the DRC... (regardless of if thats legall...)
If your willing to / and able to sort out your FLR... go for that... My friends wife's came through with no problems within a matter of weeks. she highlighted all the Zambrano principle and that shes a mother of a british child, and that she has a right to family life etc...
The solicitor is most likely just hoping for more money (knowing appeals on DRC)...
theres a lot to read... but check out the IDI's on the home office website... just ensure you state your case, send LOTS OF PHOTOS/ letters / etc...
(do you go to church? get a letter from vicar etc
doctors letters
tax credits? / child benefit? etc....)
letters from surestart centre stating how close your bond with your child is (who they cannot legally expect to leave the EU)
do you have contact with the local social services? if so, input from them... (FYI: I called my local Children's services... and they have actually told me, that they can arrange legal help should we need to go to court to ensure my wife stays etc...)
theres so much to include, so start looking now... AND DONT APPLY LATE!!!! OTHERWISE NO APPEAL RIGHTS.
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