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Original poster

Will Related but added complication of Illegal Immigrant!

83 replies

exLtEveDallas · 19/11/2018 18:24

I'm after any suggestions - because I'm stumped.

A benificiary of a family members will moved to the USA 15 years ago. She married an American. She kept British Citizenship initially and has never green carded etc.

Her British Passport ran out 8 years ago and she never renewed it.
She doesn't have a bank account.
She works cash in hand.
She is technically (I think) an illegal immigrant.

Her DH works, pays tax etc.
They have a huge medical bill related debt.

She is due a good sum of cash from the will.

How on earth do we get this money to her?
There is a Solicitor involved over here, but he hasn't yet been told the extent of the problem - because we didn't know about it till last week! The executor would rather not involve him in case it shines a light on the relatives immigration status.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
LovesLaboursLost · 20/11/2018 21:02

It’s not complicated to prove you’re British. It’s not even a first passport, so is simpler.

Why would the US authorities be notified about her applying for a UK passport? That’s not a thing.

Although it’s irrelevant anyway, she should only apply for a British passport if she wants to leave the US. I only suggested it because I thought they might not have moved to the UK because they didn’t meet the income thresholds for her to sponsor him.

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 21:02

Fukki
The Executor will not do that - as they would be in breach of all their professional regulations.
Because there is no way to guarantee that it gets to the beneficiary.

AndhowcouldIeverrefuse · 20/11/2018 21:05

If she approached a UK consulate in the US she could use her expired passport to prove ID and obtain a temporary passport to travel to the UK. So flying out of the US is possible - but she might not want to do that.

Come to think of it - could the expired passport be enough proof of id for the purposes of inheritance?

I am surprised that this person's life in the US is worth going pretty much underground and being cut off from family in the UK.

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 21:16

She has no bank account

UK Border security in these days of Trump would deport her even faster than the UK
she is an illegal immigrant after all

I know Yanks over here who have had to give up ever seeing family over there because they have chosen to drop out of the IRS to avoid FATCA (including the funeral of a parent)

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 21:17

US border security I mean

QueenCity · 20/11/2018 21:49

I keep thinking about this thread. I just do not understand why she has never applied for permanent residency.

These days attorney and USCIS fees would probably be around the $3000 mark but would have been cheaper 15 years ago. Why would she move to the US and be so impoverished that she can't make herself legal? The US is not a country you want to be poor in. Constantly living in fear of being deported, not being able to go back to the UK ever where her daughter lives, no health insurance, driving license and no access to benefits. It just doesn't make sense to me!

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 21:52

Queencity
Look up Windrush in this country and then start to understand.
Many, many people never travel abroad

The US is not a country you want to be poor in.
What makes you think she is poor?
Maybe her husband earns enough that she has a comfortable rural life and sees no need to travel outside the USA (as many, many Americans do not)

stiffstink · 20/11/2018 21:58

A deed of variation transferring her share of the estate to the husband might work (if you could overcome the ID issues).

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 22:00

Which is why variation to the daughter in the UK is a better bet ....

QueenCity · 20/11/2018 22:04

@Talkinpeece How is this situation comparable to Windrush?!

OP has said that they live hand to mouth and that she thought cost was a factor in her relative not seeking permanent residency.

It is less the inability to travel that's the problem but the fact that she has to ensure that she lives under the radar completely. What on Earth would happen to her if her husband died or was unable to work?

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 20/11/2018 22:04

Agreed- a deed of variation is probably your best bet but some ID would be needed. So err basically what the previous posters said but I like to stick my oar in!

KennDodd · 20/11/2018 22:05

Can she go and see an immigration lawyer in the US and try to regularlise her status?

Talkinpeece · 20/11/2018 22:12

Can she go and see an immigration lawyer in the US and try to regularlise her status?
Not at the moment.
Not while Trump is president.

Queencity
People drift into illegality without fully comprehending it
when one rule was in place it was not an issue
then the Homeland rules changed and it becomes a problem

Remember that the UK home office did not accept payslips from the Home Office as proof of residence

There is nothing so contrary as Immigration authorities with toxic government leaders

Charolais · 21/11/2018 00:38

I live in the U.S. and my British passport expired for many years, maybe 10yrs. And the one before that was lost in a house fire. (I've been here 45 yrs). She needs to go on the U.K. government site and apply for a new passport. It is easy. She will have to return her expired one with the paperwork and fee. When my passport was lost I had to send away for a BC in the U.K.

Once she has her passport she needs to return to the UK and apply to come to the U.S. at the U.S. London Embassy. Maybe keep quiet about being an illegal here for 15 years. Her husband can get her back into the U.S. as long as she is not a criminal or suffers from mental illness.

Once she arrives here she will be issued a green card.

Original poster
exLtEveDallas · 21/11/2018 06:40

To answer some of the questions. When she first went there they were 'comfortable'. They are rural-ish. DH had a blue collar job, his own home etc. Relative worked cash in hand waitressing/bars. They were happy. I don't know why she didn't green card then, it makes no sense to me, but I wasn't living it. I think a lot of the move was the 'adventure' of going, and I do understand that. Relative wasn't happy here, so looked for something more.

DH lost that job about 5 yrs ago. Took a couple of years to get another, meanwhile there was a medical emergency that has ended up with them in $$$$'s of debt. It's also harder and more expensive to green card now, so she is stuck.

Yes she could leave (be deported?) but AFAIK she is still happy, just less comfortable. We just want her to have what is 'hers' and need to know how to do it. I'd love to see her again (and to hand over wads of cash) but in reality probably never will. I wish it was easier.

OP posts:
Charolais · 21/11/2018 13:19

She is breaking the law in the U.S by living there and it will catch up with her. She has no SS# and her old age will be horrendous because she will be deported and not allowed back in.

Advise her she needs to get a new passport. As long as she has her old one she will have no trouble getting a new one. I think it costs $150. I got a new one last year. Then buy her a plane ticket so she can return to the U.K with all the paper work she needs to return here legally - if her husband is a U.S. citizen and she has no criminal record or mental health history, including depression, there should be no problem.

The U.S. has a much fairer immigration system than the U.K. The citizen spouse doesn't have to be making a certain amount and she can stay in the U.S. (if she has a green card) even if they get divorced. Unlike the U.K.

Do not get yourself involved in smuggling money to her. Obey the laws of both countries. How much is the amount of money anyway?

I really advise her to get legal while she still can. I know it's all fun and games for her now but it won't stay that way if she has no green card or SS#. I'm 65 and I couldn't imagine the stress of being here in the U.S. illegally - old age is bad enough, lol.

Also, about her medical bills, once she is here legally she can look into bankruptcy. She needs to make a new start with a green card and medical insurance. Right now, as you mentioned, her inheritance would all go to paying off medical bills. They need a fresh start.

VimFuego101 · 21/11/2018 14:49

Are you suggesting she leave the US to deal with the inheritance and then return later, charolais? Overstaying means a ban from the US for 10 years. She would not be allowed back in.

Charolais · 21/11/2018 15:20

She should not have overstayed for as long as she did. I was hoping if she tried to return legally her overstaying would be over looked. Maybe an overstay if you are caught in the U.S is a ban of 10 yrs but if she leaves and appears at the U.S. Embassy in London with the correct paper work, as I did, she could return.

Legally she doesn't belong here.

VimFuego101 · 21/11/2018 15:28

No, the ban would also apply if she went home on her UK passport and tried to travel to the US again. In the past there may have been some leniency if she could plead extenuating circumstances (a relative was advised they had a slim chance of arguing they needed to remain in the US to care for a partner with cancer) but things are stricter now. I have heard that undocumented immigrants showing up to USCIS appointments to legalise their status are being arrested as they arrive. If it were me I would stay under the radar for now even if it meant losing the inheritance.

Talkinpeece · 21/11/2018 16:03

Y'all are forgetting the shit she'll get from the UKBA arriving with a freshly printed passport, issued overseas with no proof of where she has been for years and years

sorry folks but "turning up in Britain" is NOT the easy option.
UKBA are a bunch of bastards.

And if she buys a ticket out of the USA, the first thing that will be asked is
where is your ESTA from your legal arrival ?
at which point she will be barred for life

anniehm · 21/11/2018 16:08

If in the U.K. it's possible to put the money into a trust which she can then arrange to transfer to the us on giving the bank details (eg her husbands account. If she is married then she will be entitled to permanent residency, perhaps she has done it

Mathbat · 21/11/2018 16:10

UK solicitors are governed by anti-money laundering regulations. The solicitor is not going to agree to pay out a large inheritance in cash, so forget that. They will want to pay it to a bank account, either here or in the US. The account will need to be in her name too (you’d be amazed how often I get asked to pay money into an account in someone else’s name, I guess as an attempt to hide it from the benefits agency etc...). Plus if you tell the solicitor that she is an illegal resident he/she may well have to report that to the authorities as well.

anniehm · 21/11/2018 16:11

Ps you can easily renew passport in the USA, you send to the consulate. Maybe she will use her inheritance to sort out her immigration status

Charolais · 21/11/2018 17:25

I have heard that undocumented immigrants showing up to USCIS appointments to legalise their status are being arrested as they arrive

They are being arrest in the U.S. because they are in the U.S. illegally and are breaking the law, but I'm surprised they would be arrested at the United States Embassy in London.

Charolais · 21/11/2018 17:38

Y'all are forgetting the shit she'll get from the UKBA arriving with a freshly printed passport, issued overseas with no proof of where she has been for years and years

sorry folks but "turning up in Britain" is NOT the easy option
UKBA are a bunch of bastards

And if she buys a ticket out of the USA, the first thing that will be asked is where is your ESTA from your legal arrival
at which point she will be barred for life

This is all news to me. When I buy a ticket to fly back to the U.K no-one has ever asked me for ESTA or even my green card. All they need to see is my U.K. passport, tickets, sometimes the credit card I used to buy the tickets.. On entering the U.K. no-one has ever asked me to prove where I have been for the last 45+ yrs. That's how long I have lived in the U.S.

Has this all changed in the last two or three years?

At the U.K. border they generally say, "Welcome home" if anything at all. I get a "Welcome home" when I return to the U.S. as well.

Think it this all proves the benefits of doing things legally.