Almost hate to bring this up...

Thanks! Covered all the bases there I think...just WOW.

Yeah... it was a saga.

Thing is, if he had returned to the US to apply instead of doing it from inside the UK, depending on her benefits, they might have been able to qualify under the 5-year path based on being exempt from the financial requirement. In the end though, it was a 2-year battle from inside the UK, multiple applications, various lawyers and I assume 10 years on expensive visas.

He could have potentially been able to get ILR and UK citizenship by 2020, but I guess it's going to be at least 2026 now.

What. A. Saga.

It was quite dramatic. Heck, we’re still talking about it now! 

Yeah... it was a saga.

Thing is, if he had returned to the US to apply instead of doing it from inside the UK, depending on her benefits, they might have been able to qualify under the 5-year path based on being exempt from the financial requirement. In the end though, it was a 2-year battle from inside the UK, multiple applications, various lawyers and I assume 10 years on expensive visas.

He could have potentially been able to get ILR and UK citizenship by 2020, but I guess it's going to be at least 2026 now.

Yeah I just don't get the thought process! Like if you had followed the rules, it would have worked out FAR better! Hopefully they aren't planning on just crowd-funding allll the fees involved.

It was from about 2 or 3 years ago.

According to their FB group, this was their story... UK wife, US husband, met online in 2012 and began an online relationship in 2013:

- Dec 2013, he left his home, job, car and all his belongings in the US and flew to the UK on a visitor visa. I don't believe they had met in person yet. He gave up everything to be with her and her 2 UK kids (plus unborn 3rd child)
- Dec 2013, he proposed
- April 2014 they got married in the UK, third child born a week later
- June 2014, they had saved up money for him to apply for an FLR visa to stay just before his 6 months ran out (they sold belongings and lived off £40 a week just to save for it)
- July 2014, the FLR payment was declined and the documents sent back
- July 2014, they reapplied, sent more documents, did biometrics
- Dec 2014, visa refused. No right of appeal
- Dec 2014, the children are under social care, who said she can't handle them on her own due to her Social Anxiety, so if the husband has to leave, the kids will be taken away from her
- Dec 2014, they found a lawyer through Google who wanted £2,500 in fees to fight it in court plus the £601 FLR fee
- Dec 2014, they set up a fundraising page to raise the money as they believe they have a case under Article 8. The money is needed by early Jan 2015
- Dec 2014...  lawyer lowers fees to £2201 total
- Dec 2014 or Jan 2015, a new lawyer found, charging just £1601 instead
- Dec 2014 or Jan 2015, their MP says he will try to get them an appeal, thereby lowering the money they need to £1,000 (i.e. no £601 visa fee)
- Jan 2015, they decide to apply for a Derivative Residence Card
- Jan 2015, she applies for a passport as the DRC application needs proof of her nationality
- Feb 2015 DRC refused. Children taken off social care
- March 2015... another new lawyer found
- April 2015, new visa application in (not even sure which one now - I assume FLR(FP))
- Dec 2015 immigration interview in Sheffield
- Jan 2016 they finally got the visa (whichever it was... I assume 10-year path)

Was this the guy who appeared on here asking for money?

Those fees are not going to be cheap on the 10 year route. I have seen one person who applied for his second 30 month visa on the 10 year route and asked for a fee waiver. He was refused the fee waiver and the 30 month visa was refused as he hadn't paid the fees. Others in the know on that site, said he would now have to start that 10 years to ILR again.

Was this the guy who appeared on here asking for money?

Those fees are not going to be cheap on the 10 year route. I have seen one person who applied for his second 30 month visa on the 10 year route and asked for a fee waiver. He was refused the fee waiver and the 30 month visa was refused as he hadn't paid the fees. Others in the know on that site, said he would have to start that 10 years to ILR again because of his invalid application (overstay).

On the bright side, starting over on the 10 years means his overstay will be more than 10 years old when he finally gets ILR, so he won't have to worry about "Good Character" for citizenship.

Was this the guy who appeared on here asking for money?

Yeah. He was everywhere. Here, the other forums, Facebook, the local papers.. you name it.

Here is the thread.


http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=84331.0

Here is the thread.


http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=84331.0

I remember that guy.  The thread is entertaining now, but at the time, his condescending tone was infuriating.  He was so wrong, and yet convinced he was right and telling everybody else how ignorant they were... Oh my gawd, I wish he'd been deported and banned.

On the bright side, starting over on the 10 years means his overstay will be more than 10 years old when he finally gets ILR, so he won't have to worry about "Good Character" for citizenship.

Except that it's not just overstaying that is a fail of Good Character. Overstaying is just one of many things that is a fail of GC. A few speeding tickets can do it too.

Take your pick from the present GC requirements.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-character-nationality-policy-guidance

Who knows what else will be added in another 10 years. The last time they changed this, it was for all applications decided from that new date. It didn't matter if they already had their BC application in, or whether it would not have been a fail of GC when they did it. 

Immigration stops at ILR under the UK's immigration rules, or at PR on EU rules but PR will end on Brexit. The UK makes it clear that British citizenship is a privilege and not a right: which is why a refusal of BC cannot be appealed and why BC can be removed by the Home Secretary.

Except that it's not just overstaying that is a fail of Good Character. Overstaying is just one of many things that is a fail of GC. A few speeding tickets can do it too.

Take your pick from the present GC requirements.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-character-nationality-policy-guidance

Oooh, this is interesting.  Thanks, Sirius.  I've never looked before.

I wonder what is in this section:

8.2 Deceitful or Dishonest Dealings with Her Majesty’s Government
Restricted – Not for Disclosure – Start of Section

The information on this page has been removed as it is restricted for internal Home Office use.


Restricted – Not for Disclosure – End of Section

W.O.W. I give everyone who tried to help him out massive applause because guy was rude and so obnoxious.


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Read through it and wow...

I think the difficulty I'm having is seeing the responses in the updates where they still don't believe they've done anything wrong and that the advice they received outside of lawyers was wrong (and they seemed to intentionally leave out key facts about why they weren't eligible) to those outside that thread. I'm not a person who feels the rules are always fair and that families should be separated, but it maybe would have been nice if - despite the fact he was initially a bit rude - there was some admittance that they had learned some type of lesson from all of it...it just sounds like it was a big "Us vs the big bad immigration office who are being unfair...but we've finally won against their evil ways!" and I don't think that is going to do them any favours moving forward. But oh well! Not my circus, not my monkey! Hoping the wife has had help for her anxiety issues now that this is out of the way.

Here is the thread.


http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=84331.0

Phew, that was quite a read.

I think - and this is a bit naughty of me to suggest - that she may have been a bit vulnerable and he was taking full advantage of that.  I just hope they have a happy marriage and that is 100% not the case.  He didn't come across as a good guy to me though.

I think - and this is a bit naughty of me to suggest - that she may have been a bit vulnerable and he was taking full advantage of that.  I just hope they have a happy marriage and that is 100% not the case.  He didn't come across as a good guy to me though.

After reading everything, I can definitely see why you’d think that way. It was a bit surprising that he literally ended his life in the US to go “visit” the UK without actually looking into the visa process... that was one of the first things Husband and I did when we knew we wanted to be with each other but prior to getting married because we needed to know what we’d be getting into (I.E. deciding US or UK)


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