What country is your husband a national of?

 

Hi Gabby,

You find the following thread of interest to your case:
http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/ftopic_7922.htm

 

Anyone outside the immigration law in my opinion needs a good solicitor,even thought many can not afford it, there is always initial free legal help available.

Here @. http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/ftopic_5737.htm

Great thread!

 

No matter what EU law says, countries can just do whatever they like. You could end up waiting for months and months. I am still trying to get a visa for my (non-EU) wife to accompany me on a visit to Denmark, eight months after the initial application. She has never illegally entered; on the contrary, she has legally entered and left both the UK and Schengen countries in the past. Any we've got plenty of money and assets, too. Doesn't make any difference. If they want to f*** with you, they will.

 

France has a reputation of issuing visas to non-EU spouses relatively quickly and painlessly, though they may not in this case due to the fact your fiance was in the EU illegally.

 

Irregularly? Do you mean illegally?

If that's what you mean, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is an almost impossible situation. The longer your husband stays here without proper documentation, the more difficult it becomes to regularise anything.

Please consider these observations below:

1. In case your husband goes back to Nigeria to obtain a visa for Spain, he will need to get a residence visa (since you intend to settle there), because he is married to an EU citizen. Follow link for requirements- http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/ftopic_7904.htm

2. This process will take nothing less than a year. In Nigeria, strict checks are carried out to confirm the applicant's identity, hence the lengthy wait.

3. Your husband does not need to present bank statements, tax statements or payslips of his own, but will be required to present documentation that the EU citizen he is married is financially able to support him in Spain.

4. The problems you'll have will be based on the fact that he entered Europe illegally before he married you. As you say, he has not commited any crime, but staying in another country without proper documentation is a crime.

5. He will need to present the marriage certificate, which originates from the UK, so will need to show evidence of his stay here.

6. When he applies in Lagos, Nigeria for the residence visa, he'll be required to present your passport. It is illegal to send a passport across international borders, so you will have to be present in the country for him to make the application.

7. With most residence visa applications, a police report is required. He cannot get one here, because technically, he's not here. He can't get one in Nigeria, because he has not lived there for about 6 years.

8. If he somehow manages to get a police report in Nigeria (it's possible if one knows what to do), that would mean he lives in Nigeria, and then you would have to prove that you live in Nigeria with your husband. You would have to have a residence visa for Nigeria to prove that.

9. You cannot say you live in the UK and your husband in Nigeria, it will complicate issues.

10. I would advise him to leave now, if he gets caught, he may be deported and then the s~~t will really hit the ceiling.

Good Luck!

 

Rhea,

I partially disagree with some part of your post.
In your point 4,the person in question has only committed an immigration offence for been in the UK illegally.But remember before 1st Feb,2005 when the new COA issue came into being.It was not an offence to get married to an illegal immigrant.
Point 6:It is not an offence to pass a passport to a third party on a consent of the owner.For your information a certified copy of her passport is required and not the original.
Point 8:This is a total rubbish.Please this is a misleading and incorrect tip.
Point 9:Total rubbish.
I wonder where you get your information from.They seems misleading and not applicable to our modern world.
Please reconsider your entire post and make corrections where applicable.Otherwise such post doesn't befit this forum.
The family in question should visit a solicitor and get a more professional advise.

 

Dear brownbono,

I think you need to re-read my post, as it seems you have very little understanding of what I have written.

Point 4 - I did not say it is against the law to marry an illegal immigrant. I said staying in a country without proper documentation is illegal. As the case stands now, he would be required to leave the country and re-apply. What I meant was that the fact that he had entered the country illegally before marrying his wife will be counted against him, as the whole thing can be miscontrued, that he married his wife to stay in the country.

Point 6 - My dear, unless the IND has changed it's policy, or international diplomacy has changed, it is ILLEGAL to send passports across international borders. On the point that a certified passport will suffice, THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CERTIFIED COPIES OF EU PASSPORTS TO PROCESS RESIDENCE VISAS, UNLESS THE PERSON IS SPANISH, IN WHICH CASE HE WOULD HAVE TO PRESENT HIMSELF AT THE SPANISH CONSULATE OF THE COUNTRY HE RESIDES AND PRESENT A LETTER ASKING THE SPANISH EMBASSY TO LEGALISE PHOTOCOPIES OF HIS PASSPORT. The logic behind this is that you and the person you are married to reside in the same country (at least for a few months before the move to Spain), so asking the applicant to present his/her spouse's passport should not be a problem.

Please refer to http://www.conspalon.org, http://www.embspain.org.sg/index.php?op ... &Itemid=27, http://www.spainconsul-ny.org/%21consul ... rupsp.html

Point 8 - This is not total rubbish, because, I have been in touch with the Spanish embassy in Lagos, in fact I just got back to London from Lagos, and she would be required to present a Nigerian residence permit to prove that she lives in Nigeria with her husband if that's the option they choose to take. Otherwise, the issue of where the couple has been residing will come up. If the grouse is on the fact that I said he can obtain a police report if he knew what to do, you obviously know very little about your husband's country.

Point 9 - This is also not total rubbish as you put it, because Spanish authorities are very particular about couples staying together, any hint of separation is viewed very suspiciously.

As to where I got my info, well, I am a Nigerian, you are not, so I can comfortably talk about what I know happens in my country. I am married to a Spaniard, you are not, so I can also comfortably talk about the problems this couple are likely to encounter with Spanish immigration authorities. So on both counts, I am speaking from experience and what I know, not what I think I know.

Does that answer your questions?

You say the couple should consult a solicitor, I do not dispute that, but do you honestly think a solicitor will tell them any different? I am not trying to bring anyone down here, I am telling it like it is, maybe you should try that sometime.

As to whether my posts benefit this forum or not, I hardly think you are a worthy judge, going by some of your 'contributions?'.

 

Thanks for your response.
I must repeatedly repeat that if the couple decided to exercise their treaty rights.There won;t be any single problem migrating to Spain or any other part of the EC.
If you are basing your argument on your country as a stand point.There you are wrong.The couple in question should exercise the EC free movement rights,it doesn;t matter if the Non EU spouse is from country A-Z.
If they are not treated fairly in Nigeria,they have a right to challenge the Embassy in question.
Its a right and not a privilege.
Rhea,your experience with the Spanish Embassy is just because your EU partner has not exercise his Treaty right.Thus,national laws/rules and not EC rules/laws applies.
Gabby,take your chance.Go to spain,get yourself registered,get a job.Your husband should apply from Lagos.NO FUSS.
But for uk permit.Get in touch with a solicitor.You will be fine.
Success.

 

i am a nigerian married to a british,me and my wife got married in nigeria and we applied for a visa at the german embassy in lagos 3 days after and i got it as long as they see ur passport and know u are travelling together .all i did was pay for health insurance and show the marraige certficate and i was told to collect it the next day and i didnt have to make any appointment.i hope this helps you

 

I will not say anything else regarding this case. But before you go ahead and do anything, I would advise you Gabby to take into consideration this court case:

On 8 June 1996, whilst he was residing unlawfully in the United Kingdom, Mr Akrich (a Moroccan citizen) married Mrs Helina Jazdzewska, a British citizen, and, at the end of that month, he applied for leave to remain as the spouse of a British citizen.

Mr Akrich was detained under the Immigration Act 1971 at the beginning of 1997 and deported in August 1997, in accordance with his wishes, to Dublin (Ireland) where his spouse had been established since June 1997.

http://www.airecentre.org/fileman/akrichc10901j.rtf

There are obviously several loopholes in the law itself (i.e. EU Regulations supercede UK immigration laws), but you must tread very carefully.

 

Thanks for the reference to this case.You should as well let the forum know that the Mr X '' was convicted of attempted theft and use of a stolen identity card''in (1990) and deported.Also In January 1992, he returned to the United Kingdom by using a false French identity card. He was arrested and again deported in June 1992.At this point he was not yet married to Mrs X .On 8 June 1996, whilst he was residing unlawfully in the United Kingdom, he married Mrs X a British citizen.
This case has no corolation with the Gaddy's case.But the Belgium case did explain the importance of keeping the family together.
There are no loopholes in the EC laws on marriage/family issues.That is how they are made to be.But you have to exercise firstly theTreaty rights,then the benefits of the Community rules will be in your favour..
http://curia.eu.int/jurisp/cgi-bin/form ... resmax=100

 

similar situation to gabby please help

I am an irish national living in spain for nearly two years, there i met my boyfriend who is a congoleese national, his visa had expired and he had been working illegally to support his family in congo, he had a free apt and a well paying enough job although obviously a life of lies, the person whose papers he was using began to exploit him for almost half his salary (as it was paid directly into this guys bank account)

Anyway to cut a long story short i also had bad experiences working there, and i returned to dublin alone in november, my boyfriend also has a young brother 16 who has refugee status in dublin and is in the care of an uncle, when i arrived in dublin i saw that his brother wasnt treated very well by the uncle and relayed this to my boyfriend, i became ill because i was so sad without my boyfriend, i enquired about obtaining refugee status for my boyfriend and the refugee agencies told me if he entered he would receive aid there,

On the 12th of december last my boyfriend told his boss the truth, lost his job and spent all his money to obtain the passport of another person to enter dublin, by the grace of god he entered successfully,

When he enquired about refugee status here it was discovered that when he previously sought medical help from the red cross his spain his fingerprints had been entered into the refugee system (he had been in refugee centre for two weeks but had left because he had an offer of work and his family was starving )

Due to the fact that he has entered the refugee system of another country ireland cannot help him and if caught can only deport him to spain, spain can then deport him directly to spain without trial (there is life is in real danger but that is another story.

Now our situation is he has been in dublin 5 months, he cannot gain refugee status, i have found it incredibly difficult to support us both as i had no savings behind me when i returned and its so expensive there, we have had terrible problems with entering accomadation together,


In order to marry in ireland at the moment it is necessary to give three months notice, we have been advised during this time, the registry offices do most times inform the immigration department that this person dosent have papers to be in the country. Even if we did manage to successfully marry we could be waiting up to two years for him to gain a visa or it most likely could be refused on the grounds that he entered illegally and didnt inform the state.

I have been told that if we marry in spain it would must easier, we could obtain a visa to reenter together within two months,

On a whim i have returned to spain last week, i am here now because a friend is prepared to lend him another passport to try and enter malaga here.


I am very scared to put him under this risk if caught he will be sent to prison in the congo, can anyone see anyway out for us to be together.?

He is the best person who i have ever known and has suffered incredibly in his life, i cannot abandon him but cannot live like this anymore

all opinions welcome, sorry if i havent been too coherent but i am extremely stressed

 

I have found this discussion very interesting and seemingly helpful. I would however like to ask a similar question.

What is the procedure to marry your non eu fiance in another country after they have been deported or had their visa cancelled. The person concerned is a british citizen who wants to marry her fiance of one year and he (the fiance) recently had his visiting visa cancelled and asked to leave the UK back to Nigeria They were intending on getting married pretty soon but with the new developments, what could they do.

Should the british citizen go to Nigeria to marry her fiance?
Does she need to get a certificate of approval?
Would his record be cancelled or could the current situation affect their marriage approval.
There are various evidence to show that this isnt an arranged situation and their intentions are real and true.

Any advice or expertise on the subject?

 

Re:

Can i say that ur situation sounds quite amazing to me. Within three days!
Can i ask you what procedures u had to follow, where you got married in nigeria, did your wife had to apply for anything from the home office? What year you got married? Any other information which you may have to help the situation described in my previous posting.