I married an illegal immigrant - AMA

[Annie834]

I married a man who entered the UK as an illegal immigrant. After 5 years of relationship and two years of living together, we applied for his visa on grounds that he is my ‘durable life partner’ (this was while EU law was still applicable in the UK, I’m a EU citizen with settlement status). We went via an immigration lawyer and were upfront about the fact that he entered the UK illegally (not that this could have been concealed anyway). The application was successful and he was granted pre-settled status. We then got married a couple of years later and had a child.

I will answer any questions, but might not engage in wider discussions about illegal immigration, there are enough threads about that topic and this is an AMA.

If I’m still spending my time on MN by then, sure.

When you talk about moving for economic reasons, what sort of things do you mean? What were the things he can afford to do here on a UK wage that he couldn’t in Albania? Is it that there are no jobs at all so people are starving? Or that we have more disposable cash here for things like going to the pub.

If there weren't any illegal people, they would have to pay people properly. Working in the black market let's them continue to exploit others.

How did you legally get married? I married a (legal) immigrant and you needed to register at the town hall. I don't understand how you married him when he didn't have any papers or a visa?

The reason I asked the question was that when I was a student lots of girls dated Muslim men who were in UK studying (usually in a Medical-related field).
They always made out that they were not 'practicing' their religion and spent time in the pub like other students.
When their courses were finished they either unceremoniously dumped the girls, because they had an arranged marriage waiting in their country of origin, or made it clear that if the girl wanted marriage she had to convert to Islam, or their family wouldn't accept them..

Both I think (but my experience with life in Albania is limited to a couple of holidays and what my husband tells me).

So he would have preferred to continue being illegal in the UK than possibly settled in your country with you?

See my OP, by the time we got married he had legal (pre-settled) status already.

We didn’t discuss this option in detail, but he got to a point in the UK where he had a job and earned money and he was/is wary about starting from scratch anywhere else.

Ah, sorry. But how did you prove he was your ‘durable life partner’? Don't you need all kinds of evidence you're living together, like council tax bills, utility bills etc? How did you have all that documentation if he was working illegally?

this was hugely common with the South African/ NZ/ Aussies I used to hang out with in the noughties. They were visa over stayers and it was pretty normal to meet someone and fall in love whilst you were here. That’s what young single people tend to do.

i think people have done it throughout time. I also think if you grow up in a rich country it’s hard to understand the mentality of a poor country where you have to move for opportunity (I have Irish parents and recognise it from the old days)

I think generally we’re pretty naive in the UK as to what it’s actually like in countries that are genuinely ‘broken’.
IMO, our ‘broken’ country is still paradise to refugees from places like Albania.

I sometimes wonder whether the anti British posters on MN, including some of the ‘decolonisers’, who seem to have gone quiet recently, are in reality the voices of Anti UK global powers, mentioning no names.

why can’t you go on a utility bill if you’re working illegally? How would the utility company know?

I see what you’re saying but I disagree. These people won’t ever have to pay anyone properly because that’s not what they do. They’re criminals. They’ll find the next vulnerable group of people in society to exploit.

When he moved in with me, we split the bills and some of them were in his name. We also added him to the council tax bill. You don’t need to prove your status to pay bills.

I suppose that's not really very good evidence that you actually live together, is it? Anyone could pop their name on a bill and contribute a monthly payment for two years, then claim they've been living with someone and therefore have a right to settled status.

Did they arrive illegally, and work illegally, too?

They did ask us for bills with his name on them. We also had to submit photos from different dates across our relationship and at different locations, and statements from friends who confirmed our relationship. But I agree that it probably would be possible to fake all this with a little effort.

So which is it? He should’ve provided bill with his name on them to prove relationship or he shouldn’t? 😆

at the end of the day a relationship is between 2 peoeple. There are lots of signs of relationships and if someone is really determined they also going to be easy to fake.

I wonder what they'll do now in the age of AI!

I'm surprised it was as easy as it was, to be honest, only because I know what an almighty faff it is to marry an international. It doesn't actually sound much less of a hassle if they're here on a work visa compared to here illegally.

He has an extended family member who I believe came legally a long time ago, and now has a UK passport (not connected to a relationship). I don’t know about friends.

So which is it? He should’ve provided bill with his name on them to prove relationship or he shouldn’t?

I'm not making any kind of moral judgement against the OP and her partner at all. I wish them all the best! I'm just surprised how easy it would be to cheat the system.

"it wouldn’t match with his personality to marry for a visa" - but it matches with his personality to engage with criminal gangs, commit fraud, and tax evasion? Surely marrying for a visa would be child's play after all that?

Totally agree, I was surprised too! A friend of mine brought her US boyfriend to the UK to marry him and the hassle and cost was the same. Our route is closed now after the end of EU family/immigration law being applied to in the UK and I can see why. It was relatively easy (too easy maybe) to get this status via the relationship route despite his illegal border crossing.

Initiative and determination to commit multiple crimes are certainly an attractive package 🙄