Thank you!

[made_in_ussr]

Hello Everybody.
Thank you very much for support and information I received on this forum. It was really useful. I had even found a lawyer here. She is a star.

So I received my PR yesterday. It means that I was waiting for a long period of time, I applied in July 2011, and in... 7 months I got what I had to have. I had to spend some thousands pounds and a lot of nerves. I am already grey- natural highlighting:)

Let me summarise this way: TREAT YOUR LIVING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY LIKE...A PREGNANCY. there is only one difference: not 9 months but 5 years.

Try to get more information about your rights, consult with lawyers, collect EVERYTHING ( receipts, emails, bank statements, all letters, pictures, phone numbers, put notes in your diary what happened and when) for continuous 5 years .And keep them in this country! (Not like me). And if you are in trouble and have to have a lawyer- tell him/her everything even if you think that it is not important.

Yes, you were here, you worked here, you lived here but...... if u are on a dependant visa it’s not about you! It is about your family member! You have to prove that your family member worked and lived here. You are just his extra luggage. In my case I had all MY DOCUMENTS for continuous 5 years but not my ex-husband’s ones-I had around 60%. I asked him and begged to support my application but....

My appeal? I don’t remember a lot, I thought that I lost my mind. In the beginning of the hearing all I heard were numbers, numbers, paragraphs, dates, numbers, again and again Then the judge asked me about my family, my life, my relations, no tricky questions, simple conversation. Thank you, good bye.

How to choose a Lawyer? Hmmm I tried one in a City- I spoke to one of them, then the second called me, then number three appeared on the horizon and etc. So who is in charge?
Some lawyers were recommended here on this forum, one from Oxford, someone knows him and recommends him-it doesn’t work this way.
Then another-she made some comments on forum-normal, concrete, realistic; I called her- Immigration solicitor outside London- she was what I needed-experienced and professional, without any extra blah blah.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

How do I fell myself? I’m FREE!

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Great to hear this. Did you need to get your husband's documentation in the end or did they accept oral evidence? If you had to get your husband's documentation, how did you do this? Did he agree to that or did you have to force the issue?

Relax now as you said you're free.