Advice on marrying an illegal immigrant!!!!

[iva555]

Hi everyone,

Me and my boyfriend have been together for almost two years now and love each other very much and we are thinking of getting married. I am british but he is from Brazil and illegal in this country. He initially came with a tourist visa but stayed when the visa expired. He has been here illegally for three years now. I don't know what to do!!!! I know that he will not get a certificate of approval to marry here since he is illegal so what can we do? If I go to marry him in Brazil how long would it take him to come home with me? I am also divorced and have a five year old daughter and I can't just leave the UK easily to live in Brazil with him!!! My daughter's father would not agree and even though I have full custody of her this is another court battle! Help please!!!

expatinscotland but this entry clearance he has to apply for is after we get married in Brazil? So he can come back with me?

Ahh, thank you.

You cannot marry here. It is illegal. If you go to the Registry they'll need to see proof he is legally in the country and not on a tourist visa.

He cannot change his status from overstayer to anything else and remain in the country. He must leave, preferably before he is removed.

This is why you need to see an adviser pronto.

Iva,

He needs to get entry clearance either as a fiance or a spouse. If you are not married, then if it is fiance; if you are married (either here or in Brazil), then it is spouse.

I don't think, although could be wrong, that you can turn a long expired tourist visa into leave to remain. LTR is always preceded by entry clearance.

As an EU national (Bulgarian), you may have an option of a five-year non-immigrant visa for him in the interests of family unity and EU freedom of movement. Only an immigration expert can tell you if this is an option for you. This is usually a good option for EU nationals to bypass the stringent UK entry clearance procedures, but I don't know if the UK overstay has an impact.

King, the UKBA are going to know he's not left and is therefore an overstayer because they've been scanning everyone's passport before they leave the UK for years.

They are really not that stupid.

'expatinscotland but this entry clearance he has to apply for is after we get married in Brazil? So he can come back with me?'

YES. He has to apply for entry clearance from Brazil after you marry there because he cannot marry here.

And it is not guaranteed he'll be given it because he is an overstayer.

This is why you need to see an adviser or solicitor.

Iva - I would also question how he got his NI number. My DH is a foreign national and he had to go and have an interview to prove his immigration status before being granted an NI number - and he has a British mother so had a 'right of abode' here which your DP doesn't.

Also, if he is working he is working illegally and when this comes to light his employer can be in the firing line for a big fine as they obviously haven't checked that he has the right to work here.

'How can they separate two people who are married?' This is a very naive question, being married will count for pretty much nothing if they find him here illegally, working illegally.

I hope it works out for you, but you really do need to get some professional advice.

thank you kingbeat 23....a bit of positivity here !!! :) it is a vicious circle but we really love each other and we have to find a way! The reason why he never bothered to renew his visa is because he was planning to save some money and go home to Brazil!!! But now he has me and we are in love and if I marry him and don't bring him home I don't know what i am gonna do! I am British and Bulgarian kingbeat23:))) What if I take him to Bulgaria and marry him there? Bulgaria is now in the EU as well....would that help?

Iva - go and get some proper advice from a solicitor. Getting married will not make the immigration problems go away - if it did then every illegal immigrant in Britain would be doing their best to find a British person to marry as quickly as possible.

Please think carefully about this - protect yourself and your daughter.

'You can get a NI number without valid LTR I think, bizarrely.'

Yes, you can because people on some visas are allowed to work, such as students.

But not tourists. I don't see how someone on a tourist/visitor visa gets an NI number, tbh.

I had to have an interview to get one even back in 2001 and show proof of having a visa that allowed me to work.

Most people in this situation who fail to meet the requirements of the immigration rules fail on the maintenance and accommodation aspect.

You need to be able to show with full verifiable documentation that you can support your fiance from your own earnings and property without either of you having recourse to public funds. That means you need to able to show that YOU can pay for HIM to be in the UK without him having to work.

Sometimes UKBA will consider the earnings of the overseas spouse if they have a very secure and stable job in the UK. Few illegal immigrants are able to show this.

Do you have your own property and do you earn enough to keep him? You haven't been together that long so the financial aspect is key.

Iva - how did you get your British citizenship? By birth, by descent or by marriage?

Lunatic - I think things have been tightened up on the NI number front, I think its harder these days to get one.

You have to drop the romanticism. This is hard law, decided by hardened people who don't know you and have seen everything before.

You have to be sure of your facts and your options.

You have to be able to prove your relationship is strong and will subsist. Think about how you will do this and how you will present it.

ok he paid someone to get him an NI I think!!!!! I got my British citizenship by marriage( my first husband)

Then in my unprofessional opinion he's pretty much screwed.

we have lots of pictures together....we live in the same building just different flat numbers....that is the only way we can prove this relationship.

He must therefore be workign in a false name...

Iva - I would say you are in a tricky situation.

From a very cynical point of view (not mine I hasten to add, but possibly an immigration officers view), you married a brit to get yourself a british passport and you are now using that citizenship to bring another foreign national into the country. Of course I realise that Bulgaria is in the EU so you could live here now anyway.

I should clarify that the advice I give is for when he has returned to Brazil and applied for entry clearance to join you in the UK as your fiance/spouse (which is the only realistic option for an overstayer with no more compassionate ties to the UK than a girlfriend of less than 2 years).

It will be hard for you to marry in the UK currently although I believe some churches will marry couples with no clearance from the Home office (inc church of England)so it helps if you are church goers.

If you are a beneficiary of UK immigration benefits based on a dissolved marriage, you will need to be prepared to expose this relationship to the authorities.

You may need to prove that this relationship was genuine and your intention at the time was 'till death do us part'. Your character may be under investigation, if the case is under a particularly suspicious officer.

Again, only an immigration specialist will be able to help.

When you said Well yes he has and everything is on his name....his real name! He has bank account, insurance number....everything! why did you point out that it was in his real name?? Does he also have a fake name he uses?