Immigrationboards.com

Hi,

I have a couple of questions regarding my husbands application. I will give you a bit of backstory so it all makes sense so please bear with me.

My husband was married to a British citizen before he met me (he was on a spouse visa at the time). They had difficulty in their relationship and he went to live with a friend while they tried to sort things out. Meanwhile he tried to apply for ILR. It was refused because they were not living together. He accepted this and they decided to end the relationship and get a divorce. He made plans to return to India before the expiry on his visa.

Then I came along. He returned to India just before the expiry date shown on his spouse visa. 1.5 years later we applied for fiancé visa so that he could come back and live with me as our relationship had developed. Initial application was refused for the following reasons - 1. he moved out when he was with previous wife and conditions of his visa where that they lived together 2. they said he should've returned to India immediately after his relationship broke down and not waited until the expiry on his visa therefore overstaying (and I'm assuming breaking immigration law) 3. he tried to apply for ILR when he knew his relationship was breaking down (his ex wife fully supported his application and they where still trying at that point to make it work between them). It was only after the refusal that things became too difficult and they mutually decided to end it.

To cut a long story short, we appealed and it was accepted and he has now been living with me for 3 years (first as my fiancé, then spouse and now he has just been granted ILR).

So my question is, would they use these previous errors he made in the past before he met me as reason to refuse his citizenship application? Although he made mistakes, this was not a reflection of his character as he did not intentionally break any laws.

He also has a caution on his record from about 6 years ago after an innocent but silly mistake he made at work. The only information given on his record is 'theft from work' which sounds awful given the relatively minor nature of the incident. His caution was not an issue when he applied for ILR so would it be an issue now?

Sorry for my long post. I hope someone is able to offer me some insight.

Many thanks

The overstay is likely to result in a refusal. You may like to read through this article;
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/good-ch ... htened-up/

If his leave wasn't curtailed and he left before expiry of leave, then it may be difficult for them to claim that he had overstayed. Sometimes, even when the UKVI knows about the breakup in a relationship, they don't bother to curtail leave.

Although he would not have qualified for further/indefinite leave to remain due to his separation/divorce, I think it's debatable, if he broke his conditions of stay. Else, victims of domestic violence may face problems? Or they would curtail or remove all separated partners? Moreover, there seems to be no explicit conditions of stay for partners mentioned in the Immigration rules, compared with some other categories.

Thank you for the replies so far.

Vinny - That information gives me some hope. When the fiancé visa was refused, we appealed and I went to court. I was in there for literally 2 minutes and didn't have to say a word before the judge ruled that the HO decision was unfair and they didn't have a leg to stand on. That's why I'm hoping they won't bring it up again. His leave was not curtailed despite them knowing when he made the first ILR application that his relationship was in trouble. He couldn't provide enough evidence of cohabitation so ILR was refused. They had the chance to send him home there and then but didn't so he used his couple of remaining months to sort himself out, file for divorce and prepare to move back to India. He moved before the expiry date of his spouse visa.

I guess I'm worried that this together with his caution will be enough for them to refuse.

Am I right in saying that if a Citizenship application is refused, they won't consider again for another 10 years?

The decision maker will normally refuse an application if within the 10 years preceding the application the person has not been compliant with immigration requirements, ...

Howeever, from your description, it seems that he was compliant.

I never doubt Vinny's advice.