Advice about Settlement Visa - how soon after marriage?

[Karen1009]

Hi,

My partner and I submitted an unmarried partner application and was refused on the grounds of his overstaying and lack of evidence that we lived together.

I totally accept the reasons for rejection but now want to put the wrongs right by making him and our relationship legal.

His intention is to leave the UK and return to his home country (Senegal) within 90 days. I was intending to go with him and get married in Senegal and then make plans for a visa application.

My question is would we be better if we waited to get married and submitted the application? I have evidence of us living together in the UK (mainly utility bills) but am lacking on photos and personal evidence for our time in the UK (I have plenty of him in the house but very few of us together).
If he stayed in Senegal for a longer time period I could collect evidence of phone calls, Skype and money transfer etc.

I really can't cope with another refusal and want to make sure that we not rejected on the grounds of the relationship not being genuine or the marriage being held to get round immigration laws.

Thanks for any help u can provide.

[vicki35]

If he is an overstayer you can't legally get married in the UK.
You will need evidence, i.e photos over the course of your relationship, before, during and after marriage.

My husband is applying for his visa next week and we are newly married, fingers crossed.

[Karen1009]

Thanks for your reply.

We are intending to get married in Senegal when he returns - my concerns are around how fast we do this.

For example, it would be possible for me to go with him for a 2 week period when he goes home and we could get married then and submit the application straight after. The other option is for me to go with him and then return after that to get married as this would give us a chance to collect evidence of Skype calls and messages etc.

We are obviously keen to get him back to the UK so that we can be together.

Are your circumstances similar to mine? Hope everything goes ok - it is so stressful isn't it?

[Casa]

A correction. An overstayer is able to marry in the UK as the requirement for a COA from the Home Office was removed some time ago. The only risk would be if the registrar believed the marriage to be sham and notified the Home Office who could remove the overstayer on the day of the wedding.
If you really feel that you are lacking in evidence of a relationship then it may be wise to wait a short while to build evidence of continuing contact. Ensure you meet all the other conditions such as A1 English and that your earnings meet the minimum of £18,600 per annum. Post on the forum if you need help with documents required.

[Karen1009]

Thank you very much - he hasn't got his passport anymore - the Home Office kept it - so the option of getting married here is no longer valid.

We collected evidence as part of our unsuccessful Unmarried Partner application and he passed the A1 language test as part of this. The Financial aspects I meet so again we should be ok there.

As we have lived together in the UK our relationship lacks evidence of communication as I see him everyday - I am on a contract phone and could get itemised records of calls made to him but he is on Pay As You Go phone so I couldn't evidence that it was him I was phoning.

Again we do Skype but not much so he lives with me )

We really lack photos - I have loads of him in the house but only about one or two of us together. I could take some before he leaves the UK but am just worried about the lack of these.

I was thinking that us rushing to senegal and getting married just before his 90 day limit is over could give the Entry Clearance Officer an excuse to refuse as we are 'trying to get around' UK Immigration Rules.

[SoHopeful]

What did you submit as proof of relationship in the previous application?

I do understand your apprehension so I would also suggest maybe waiting until you have gathered say 3 months worth of 'proof' when he returns to his home country. Use Skype and What's App screenshots and emails in addition to calls. But there's nothing wrong him returning and you getting married shortly after.

I am not a 'pic' person or very sentimental lol, so I had to make more of an effort to take pictures when I went to visit my husband and keep hold of anything that could be considered proof over the years. It kinda defeated the purpose of a genuine relationship in my opinion as these were things I wouldn't necessarily do.

[Karen1009]

We just submitted evidence such as joints names on British Gas and Water Bills. No photos or phone records but I suppose it didn't cause a problem as it was thrown out well before they needed to examine that...

I now realise that we submitted an inappropriate application which was never going to get approved and that was using legal assistance.

That is probably why I am so nervous - I would prefer to take our time and get it right rather than giving them reason to reject as that could take months / years to resolve and I haven't got the nerves to keep doing this.

I need to make sure that I take plenty of photos and will use Skype and Whatsapp rather than his pay as you go phone

[Wanderer]

We've never supplied any of this in 9 years of successful visas apps - including an unmarried partner visa.

Np pics, no phone transcripts, nothing like that at all.

[Karen1009]

Maybe I would be ok then with limited evidence - the thing is that he is actually living with me in the UK and the intention is for this to happen once he got clearance.

[SoHopeful]

Given the negative immigration history and reason for previous refusal - lack of evidence that you lived together... surely you would want to address this as much as possible?? Application will be scrutinised more because of the refusal.