Husbands visa after divorce

[Lovelyivy]

Married African . We want to divorce. We have a 1 year old and we've been married 2 years-he is not having residency card, because he married me. What is going to happen after divorce? Is his visa over? I want him to stay in the country- he is a great dad to our baby. Thank you

Sorry it supppsed to be 'he is now having residency card'

I think this page and the following page from the gov.uk website are useful. My reading of them is (and I am not an expert) that he would lose his right to remain because it was dependent on his marriage to you. He might then be eligible to remain as the parent of a child who is British and settled in the UK, although you could read this as meaning in order to live with that child, i.e. intended more for the primary carer (which I assume is you?).

I think you both need to consult with solicitors before deciding to do anything - I wonder if it might be better to separate, postponing the divorce for some time?

Well I'm unfortunately not British and I've been here only 3 years so my child is not British - so I think he would have to leave . I was checkinh the gov website begire but not sure about our situation still

What's your nationality Ivy?

If you are an EEA national he may be entitled to retained rights of residence - even if he didn't have a residence card.

If you are an EEA national and you are separated but not divorced then he can still apply for a residence card.

If you're not an EEA national then what is your status? And what is his current visa?

I'm EEA. He already has a residency card because of our marriage, but not sure what happens after we divorce? How long we have to be married so he can stay after divorce?

It's called retained rights of residence and the criteria are

• that he stopped being your spouse on divorce AND

• you (the EEA national) were working / studying / self employed at the date of divorce AND

ONE OF THESE:

• the marriage lasted three years and you lived together in the UK for at least one of those three years

• or -

• he has custody of your child

• or -

• he doesn't have custody but does have a court order saying that he has contact in the UK

• or -

• he suffered domestic abuse during the marriage

-

So if you remain married until you've been married for three years, he would be entitled to retained rights. Otherwise he'd need a court order for contact. As long as you are a "qualified person" at the date of divorce, which means employed, self-employed, self-sufficient and has private healthcare for both of you, or a student and has private healthcare for both of you.