Hello.. stranded in the US with the mister in Coleraine NI

Hello all,

Having recently joined this site, I am still getting to know it and skipped over the intro part.  Some of you already know my story and have given me a lot of info.  Long story short, my husband and I decided to move to the UK (we brought him here and he was on a conditional greencard) and though we had our stuff together.  The application process we did seemed far too easy.  We should have known better!  We had a lawyer for his immigration to the US, we attempted mine on our own.  We thought we had submitted enough proof with our marriage license, copies of our IDs, canceled check, our daughter birth certificate, etc.  March 18th, i received my refusal notice.  The two main points were that they felt our marriage was not genuine (wanted photos) and that we could maintain ourselves without recourse to public funds.  in the application, we had stated my mother in law was going to be providing accommodation (until we got settled on our own).  The refusal stated we did not submit a letter from her landlord to prove tenancy and further evidence of her income.  The letter did not state that the UK no longer allows third party support.  I was unaware of this third party support issue until I joined this web site.  With this knowledge now, I am pretty certain my appeal that has alreayd been submitted will be denied for this reason.

So my husband is back in NI as of April 8th and I am here waiting to hear at least a notice of receipt on my appeal package they have had in the Los Angeles office since March 30th.  =o(

Hi Atropos,

I'm so sorry you, your daughter and husband are in the situation you're in. I've been in a similar situation for the past 10 weeks. I'm in the US while my two children and husband are in the UK. (you can look on the visa board to see my story, if you're interested) I just got my spousal application off to Chicago at the end of last week and I'm hoping to be reunited with my family in two weeks' time. (that's when I rebooked my flight back to the UK)

I hope that you can get your visa sorted out quickly. I have no idea how the appeal process works and beyond. But my thoughts are certainly with you. Have you thought about seeking professional help at this point? That's what I had to do in the end.

The best to you, Atropos!

The ECM in the LA office will review it.  If they decide to overturn the refusal based upon the grounds of appeal and evidence.  If not, they send it off to AIT in London.  I don't want them to do this!  If they're going to refuse it again, I'd much rather have my stuff back and redo an application!

I'm wondering if your husband was born in Northern Ireland?  If so, he has claim to Irish citizenship, which means you have a right under European laws to join him in the respective E.U. memberstate (U.K.) regardless of finances.  Perhaps, you should be looking there instead of U.K. law.  My wife is Northern Irish, and we found the European path to be more lenient and much easier in respect to me living here.

Thats exactly what we want to do now.  Vicy had let me know about that.  We wish we had thought about that first.  After the Easter holiday is done, he's applying for an Irish passport (don't want to waste time waiting to find out the outcome of my appeal first).  That's why if (when) the ECM refuses it, I don't want it to forward to the AIT.  I'd rather have my things back so we can submit an application through the EEA

Excellent.  I hope it all works out for you.  In theory, as soon as your husband can prove his Irish citizenship (although it's already there in the form of him being born on the island of Ireland before 2005), like in the form of an Irish passport, you should already have the right to join him there.  I'm not an expert (and don't quote me on this), but I don't see anything stopping you from flying into the Republic, meeting your husband there, traveling across the border, and immediately lodging an EEA2 (residence card) application from N.I.

I think it took my wife 2 to 3 weeks to get her Irish passport from London (we're in England, so she had to apply there).

EEA2 applications are taking more than 6 months to decide, but on the bright side you get a document that allows you to work. You should receive that 3 weeks after your application is received.  My residence card took 8 months to get put into my passport.  Prepare yourself for the wait! Hehe.

As long as I can get my stuff back from the Los Angeles office without them sending it to London if they refuse the appeal!! They have my passport!!

Good luck with that.  Well, you're trying to get into the U.K., and I'm trying to get out of here to go back to America.  Hehe.  Honestly, I've enjoyed my time here and it's been a life experience.  My wife and I tried life here in the U.K. and it's not working out.  We want to try America where wages are higher and taxes and cost of living is lower.  I also cringed at the thought of my little girl growing up to say "TOMAHTO" not "Tomayto".  Grass is always greener, eh?

All of my husband's family are in NI.  We weighed out the pros and cons of staying here.  I refuse to raise my child here in Arizona with all of the problems we've had.  We were going to move to NY (most of my family live there) and it was a much, much shorter trip to Belfast from there VS heading all the way from Arizona.  Jobs/cost of living here, trying to pay for health insurance and college just doesn't cut it here.  We found out I could get my nursing degree there for free and my husband could continue his education for free as well.  Not having to worry about how you're going to pay for health care is also a load off our minds. (we may opt for private insurance later though.. we'll see)

I know there's adjustments I'll have to make living in the UK, (driving!!!) but I think i can handle it.  Ireland is so beautiful with so much to see!

Check with Vicky, but I would think you could let them know that you no longer wish to go forward with the appeal and request that your stuff be sent back to you.  That way, you could have things ready for the EU application as soon as your husband gets his Irish passport.

I agree with JM that it would be feasible to enter without a EU family permit in your passport, but having it does make things like registering with a GP much easier.

Also, have you gotten a British or Irish passport for your daughter yet?

Btw, welcome to the forum

I am still waiting for Izzy's British passport to come back.  It shouldn't be much longer now (I hope) as it said it would take 3 weeks.  Possibly by the end of this week or beginning of next it shall arrive.

Thanks =o)

Now, does the EU allow third party funds?  (though my husband will take any job he can get for now to make things go through)

I also cringed at the thought of my little girl growing up to say "TOMAHTO" not "Tomayto". 

 

Don't bang the door on your way out

I am still waiting for Izzy's British passport to come back.  It shouldn't be much longer now (I hope) as it said it would take 3 weeks.  Possibly by the end of this week or beginning of next it shall arrive.

Thanks =o)

Now, does the EU allow third party funds?  (though my husband will take any job he can get for now to make things go through)

No need for funds at all.  All he has to be doing is exercising a treaty right - this means working, jobseeking, self-employed, self-sufficient, student, or disabled.

Someone told me though that the UKBA is requiring proof of funds for VAF5 (EEA family permits) applications, which is illegal and against European law.  Not sure if it's stopped or not, but usually the UKBA has to get sued in order to comply with the law.  That's why I said it might be easier when your husband has his Irish passport, to fly into the Republic, meet him at the airport, cross the border into N.I. and apply for a EEA2 Residence Card.

I just now saw this post! sorry!  Well, When I got the first phone call from the Consulate (asking about Izzy's passport) i mentioned that my husband had flown back and was seeking employment.  Maybe that was enough for them?

Heard back on my daughter's passport- we sent in the wrong birth certificate!! Now i'm waiting for his long birth certificate to come from Belfast so i can submit it back with her form!  I didn't even notice the difference with a "short" and "long" birth certificate there.  (I dont believe we do that here!)

Nothing has gone right the first time!!

I'll be overnighting it once it arrives, stating the urgency to have her passport.  I MUST land in the UK no later than May 28th!!

Atropos, sorry to hear your of your troubles.  On the other hand, the process is fairly straight forward, with a 93%+ approval rating in the US for these type of applications, but for a lot of reasons, it seems that they are getting tougher and tougher on the support without access to public funds.  It really shouldn't be that difficult, but sometimes you get a grumpy ECO and ECM.  I don't know what is with them these days.

The good thing is that it almost always works out for family based immigration.  We have had a few people here who have been to hell and back.

I am amazed they asked for information on your mum in-laws income, knowing very well 3rd party support isn't allowed, but asking for proof that it is acceptable for you to live there is fairly standard, as you now know from the forum.

Just remember, we can give people a very very skewed view of the immigration process.