American abandoned without IDLR

    I am an american citizen married to an English citizen. He has now abandoned me (again) and I have no recourse to any help- housing, solicitor or anything. I have been left in a pub room for tonight- but tomorrow I am homeless.

I have talked to the american embassy and they will call me back tomorrow. I have 25 pounds to my name and my husband just sez to f off.....

I have nowhere to go or stay.....

The US embassy will give you a loan for a flight to the US, they keep your passport until you pay them back. There is a post on here somewhere about it, I'll post the link if I can find. Here it is: If you want to move back to the states but can't afford the plane ticket.....

Sorry things aren't going well to you hopefully you'll get the help you need.

Yes, well- 2 different citizen services girls later...still nothing! The first one just dissappeared and the second one 'is no longer working' for the Embassy. They asked me to email them names of any family or friends who could verify the fact that they could NOT help me with a flight- which I did. No one has gotten any calls from the embassy.

Just so anyone with a 'spousal visa'  understands what your rights are----  NONE.

I have talked to citizens advice 3 times and I have NO BENEFITS whatsoever. I can see a doctor for free- but the medicine cost.

I called a domestic violence hotline to try to get shelter and guess what? It would cost me 100 pounds a week to stay at a 'shelter' because they usually take payment from 'benefits' - she told me the website of a place to try to find a hostile....nice...

That is the reality of it here.

I have talked to citizens advice 3 times and I have NO BENEFITS whatsoever. I can see a doctor for free- but the medicine cost....

....That is the reality of it here.

I am very sorry for your situation, but don't try to blame this on the UK.  Everyone in England has to pay for prescriptions.  I asked you this in a previous thread - why would you expect to be given benefits from the UK goverment?  You asked to come live here, they allowed you to do so.  If you don't want to live here any longer due to your very unfortunate situation, the US Embassy will be the place you go for help.   The UK doenst owe you anything.

OP, please try and contact this org for help:

http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-survivors-handbook.asp?section=000100010008000100350002

Call Women's Aid - you'll need to get support around the DV: 0808 2000 247, helpline@womensaid.org.uk - http://www.womensaid.org.uk/default.asp

There is a way to get ILR through DV, but you'll need support to make an application as you do not have the funds and the means to do it yourself: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/helpandadvice/domesticviolence/

I've written a longer post about this that may be worth you looking up, I'll post a link when I have time, but I am at work right now. Ok, some of the support links won't pertain to you, but this will give you some more detailed information: see this post and this post.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? You may have already put this before and requested help, but I was just wondering if some kind soul on here would be able to put you up for a few nights whilst you get things sorted with the US embassy.

Thank you to the people with productive advice- I am not looking for benefits- just a safe place to go at the time.  I did call the domestic advice line (the link here) and they are the ones that said it would cost me around 100 a week to stay in the shelter as they usually take 'benefit' payments for the accommodation. and I don't get or want benefits.

As for the DV to apply for the ILR- that is very helpful- I will look into that. Thank you.

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Thank you to the people with productive advice- I am not looking for benefits- just a safe place to go at the time.  I did call the domestic advice line (the link here) and they are the ones that said it would cost me around 100 a week to stay in the shelter as they usually take 'benefit' payments for the accommodation. and I don't get or want benefits.

The thing is that practically all women in refuges use HB to pay for their accommodation - that is just how it works here. You can apply to temporarily receive benefits while your application is processed, I strongly recommend you do - why go into debt as well as having to deal with the breakdown of a relationship if you don't have to?

You can apply for temporary benefits by completing and e-mailing this form to ukba. 

The DV concession has changed recently, and as such we haen't had any experience with someone applying for Set(DV) on the board. Please get support while you do this as the amount of documentation (especially if you haven't reported anything to the police) will be difficult to get with out support from a DV agency/refuge.

Best of luck to you.

If you can apply to temporarily recieve benefits while your application is processed, I suggest you do so!

Any woman in a crisis situation deserves to get all of the help that they need.

Including, but not limited to... benefits!!!

I don't have too much advice, but you should look into everything very very carefully -  I don't know anything about benefits eligibility, but you don't want to do anything that may jepordise your future in the country.   Likewise, you would want to make sure you have a good solid case for ILR should you wish to stay.   

(Note: Benefits and access to benefits can be a very emotive, debative subject for many people.  My statement is intended to say just make sure, very carefully, you know the law and your eligibility, rather than face value information off the world wide interweb that says do it or don't do)   

You can find all the ILR for Domestic Violence on the UKBA website -there are specific requirements for proof (and a husband abandoning you alone doesn't seem to qualify?)

Your daughter is British? You still may be able to apply for leave under a single parent provision as well.  (If that still exists)

Do you want to stay in the UK?  Does your baby's father want to remain in contact? 

This is a highly complicated case and if possible, I suggest you get some legal counsel, rather than through folks off the web who don't really know the ins and outs of all this.

I'm sorry for this situation, I hope you can get all the help you need. 

You can find all the ILR for Domestic Violence on the UKBA website -there are specific requirements for proof (and a husband abandoning you alone doesn't seem to qualify?)

This is why for the OP the support of a DV organization is essential if she wants to go forward - DV is about power and control, and does not always involve physical violence. They will be able to assess the OP and her situation, and get her support in the community that would be difficult or impossible to get on her own (point her in the direction of appropriate solicitors, hold a MARAC, etc.)

This is a highly complicated case and if possible, I suggest you get some legal counsel, rather than through folks off the web who don't really know the ins and outs of all this.

Agreed. This isn't a diy project. It would be helpful to have the printouts/links of the appropriate UKBA pages and docs so they will be able to give better support, but the amount of documentation needed requires additional support, support we can't give from the web.

This is why for the OP the support of a DV organization is essential if she wants to go forward - DV is about power and control, and does not always involve physical violence. They will be able to assess the OP and her situation, and get her support in the community that would be difficult or impossible to get on her own (point her in the direction of appropriate solicitors, hold a MARAC, etc.)

Oh yeah, I definitley agree with this.  Sorry, about that I was posting quickly- I wasn't suggesting that it wasn't abuse - though I am not sure of the ins and outs of the OP's situation-  only that it needs to be qualified in order to meet the DV requirements.

I hope these organisations can help you out lorriekeith and they can probably point you to good legal counsel as well.

Oh yeah, I definitley agree with this.  Sorry, about that I was posting quickly- I wasn't suggesting that it wasn't abuse - though I am not sure of the ins and outs of the OP's situation-  only that it needs to be qualified in order to meet the DV requirements.

I hope these organisations can help you out lorriekeith and they can probably point you to good legal counsel as well.

No worries, I figured you did. Just wanted to clarify why support is so essential, especially in this case. It is so difficult to reach out for it and accept it, but in this case it is going to be essential if the OP wants to stay in the UK.

Does the UK have protective orders where the abuser has to leave the home like we have here?