Victim of repeated false accusations

[EgyptianCat]

My story is very complicated through no fault of my own and I need some urgent advise please.
I am Egyptian but hold a German passport. I have been in the UK for twenty years - always legally as an EU national.
However, I have had a very traumatic background and this has been used by a number of people for their own gains. I have to explain this from the beginning.
My biological "parents" committed such atrocious crimes against me - far more than "just" abuse - that I find myself unable to call them "parents". I mention this for a reason which will become obvious later.
In 1996 they sold me into a forced marriage and I was abducted, brought to the UK against my will and forced into a marriage with an Indian national (an illegal immigrant) for the purpose of enabling him to obtain a British passport - which he did shortly after. During the time of the forced marriage this person held me imprisoned as a slave. At the time it was easier to get a British passport and he did not even need my participation.
After narly three years I managed to get away and reported him to the police - not being aware that due to political correctness, the worst possible thing one could do at the time was reporting an Asian for a crime he had committed (the recent cases of Rochdale, Rotherham etc have highlighted this). Sure enough, instead of investigating and arresting the offender, police accused me of being a liar and a prostitute, and I was marked as a liar - to such an extend that the following year, when a well known and wanted rapist assaulted me and I reported him, police claimed "you were lying then so you must be lying now". Again, the recent cases of Rochdale and Rotherham have shown that this is how victims of crimes committed by Asians were routinely treated then.
In 2001, after moving to another area, I even had a senior police officer come to my house to tell me to "keep very quiet" about what had happened to me, or "I would get deported"!

I then found work but encountered further abuse, the most significant of which a stalker that stalks me to this day (since 2003). This person has over the years made numerous false accusations against me to police, mostly in response to me reporting him for stalking and threatening me. On each occasion police believed him but disbelieved me. This is due to the fact that he is very wealthy whereas I reside in social housing and am therefore automatically seen as a "criminal and troublemaker". I have copies of the police logs where it actually states that he was "telling the truth" and I was allegedly "lying" - this despite me being able to provide plenty of evidence whereas he, as he was lying, could provide none. The false accusations he made on a number of occasions included me allegedly "harassing him", me being "violent and severely mentally ill", him and his family living "in fear of me". In reality this person was of such character that he brutally murdered my cat. Police however believed him and slabbed several Harassment Warnings (HM1) on me. Harassment Warnings are normally issued without any evidence so do not mean there is evidence that the offense actually occured but they are recorded on a person's criminal record.

In 2007 a violent neighbor also made counter allegations when I reported her to police, accusing me of "harassing her" and "molesting her daughter". This neighbor got sectioned on numerous occasions and ended up killing her partner.

In 2013 I got married to a Pakistani national. This was a genuine marriage as far as I was concerned, ie not for the purpose of securing him a visa to/in the UK. However, in 2014 he made false accusations against me with the view to secure his permanent visa in the UK without remaining in the marriage. This is a common ruse used by foreign (non-EU) nationals to obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK.

The false accusations he made against me were of an extremely serious nature and included accusations of rape, false imprisonment, grievious bodily harm, threats to kill etc.
I know it is impossible for a woman to rape a man, and for a tiny girl like me (6 stone) to to assault a fully grown man, but police were hell bent on getting me convicted. I was hounded by police, arrested (officially a "voluntary interview" but under caution), accused of being "mentally ill".

And it got worse - they went to my STALKER to ask for a character reference for me!!! The stalker used this opportunity to make further false allegations, claiming I was indeed "severely disturbed, a danger to society, violent" etc. He also falsely claimed to be my "boyfriend". Police believed him because he said so - despite me trying to tell them that he was my stalker, not my boyfriend. This person is about 80 years old so unlikely to be my lover!

I believe police did this on purpose as they never asked my employer or anyone neutral for a character reference for me, but my stalker - and there is a long standing history of me reporting him for stalking, calling 999 in fear for my life when he was trying to break in or following me etc. I believe they did this on purpose because they knew he was unlikely to tell the truth. They were hell bent on getting me convicted, so much so that they were so sure of themselves that they told me I would "not even get bailed but go straight before the court".
As there were by then two people claiming the same thing, ie my husband and my stalker, the case was presented to the CPS - and by then it really looked like I was some kind of nymphomaniac who was running around "raping men" and having it off with 80 year olds!
Police treated me as if I was guilty, even telling neighbors that I was a "danger to children". To this day, my neighbors refuse to speak to me, have anything to do with me, and in fact have tried their utmost to get me evicted.

Truth of the matter though is that I went into my marriage in 2013 at the age of 39 without any previous partners or lovers. As a result of lifelong abuse I am terrified of people and do not socialize, do not make friends and stay at home except for going to work.

CPS rejected the case but merely due to "insufficient evidence", so it still looks officially as if I might have been guilty but it just could not be proven.
My husband, who had left me when he made the false allegations, returned to me in 2015, and he claims to have told the police that the allegations he made were lies, however police refuse to confirm this one way or another.

So the first problem with regards to applying for a British passport is a number of false allegations against me and Harassment Warnings having been slammed on me - despite me being really the victim of horrendeous crimes, but on the paper it looks as if I am of very bad character.

The second problem is that, due to the nature of what my biological "parents" have done to me, I have not been in contact with them or any other relatives since the early 1990's and in fact refuse to acknowledge them as "parents". I even put as father's name on my marriage certificate my grandfather's name. I do not want to use their names as parents' names on an applications for British nationality. Also, I do not know their full names, dates of birth, their current nationality. I do not know how to complete the application form without looking very suspicious - I cannot just say "I don't know" as then the Home Office would say "find out". It would take me very extensive research to find out their details, during which I would need to prove that I am their "daughter", and I do not feel emotionally up to spending considerable time, effort and money into trying to prove that I am some evil person's daughter.
A similar problem is presenting itself with regards to the forced marriage. I would have to declare my first marriage on the application form for British nationality, and I do not know the full name, date of birth, current nationality of my first husband - in fact, I could not even communicate with him as he did not speak English and I do not speak much Punjabi.
A further problem is that, due to the horrendeous abuse I have suffered, I do not socialize and do not know anyone except at work. I therefore have nobody who could be a referee and confirm that I am of good character. As it is, my previous GP, who had known me for many years, often comforted me during the time that I was being hounded by police by confirming that I am of good character and that I am really the victim here (I was at times doubting my own mind), but he has since left the GP surgery. I do not know the other doctors there very well. I am not a member of any mosque, club, society etc and am too terrified of further abuse or false allegations to join anywhere to meet people.

So, despite me being the innocent victim of atrocious crimes, on the paper it looks not only as if I am some violent, disturbed criminal, but also as if I have something to hide.

The Home Office are already suspicious of me because of my current marriage to a Pakistani national because we have a ten year age difference. They have accused me of having entered the marriage for the purpose of getting him a visa (especially so since my husband is ten years younger than me), and claimed they were suspicious because of our cultural difference. I told them there is no cultural difference as I am Egyptian (part Indian), but they claimed I was German - the thought that I could have a German passport despite being of Egyptian origin did not enter their minds. As far as they are concerned, I am some old German woman running around in a dirndl listening to hoomba hoomba music (apologies to any Germans - I know you are not like that but that's what the Home Office think) - when in fact I am of the same culture as my husband (and look younger then him!).They accused me of lying when I said I have nothing culturally to do with Germany and do not even speak German, and claimed I had a "very strong German accent" - in reality, I still have a bit of an Arabic accent, but I only speak English, grew up English speaking and am not even fluent in Arabic!
Even though I came to the UK not by choice but by force, in horrendeous circumstances, I have made the UK my home, I work and pay tax, I take an interest in current affairs, I live a quiet and law abiding life, I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am today with a job and a roof over my head, and this is my only home - I have no links to any other country. I cannot risk deportation or an uncertain future in case of the loss of my job (my husband does not work) and, due to the change in laws regarding benefits etc, feel that I really need a British passport.

However, with my history I also feel that I would not possibly stand a chance. There is not even any point in explaining my circumstances to the Home Office - nobody else believes me my story so why should they, and on the paper it really looks like I am some shady person who is of very bad character.

I urgently need honest advise. And please can any members of this forum refrain from accusing me of lying, fantasizing, being mentally ill etc. I have not come on here to get further abused. I have come on here to get honest, good advise. If you can provide that, please do so. If not, please keep your opinions to yourself. Thank you.

[Casa]

Under recent changes to the Regulations, you need to have formal confirmation of Permanent Residence before applying for British citizenship. i.e A certificate of Permanent Residence. If you don't already have that, I suggest you make this your next step.

[noajthan]

I don't know what to make of your complex history but it seems you need to reach out to women's support &/or migrants support groups to help and comfort and support you.

Other than that as you say you are German you simply need to exercise treaty rights in UK to achieve settled status (that is PR).

If you have been in UK for 20 years you may have acquired PR already.
And its a longshot but it may pay to check your original passport from 20 years ago; under old rules you may have been stamped into UK with ILR ie settled status.

If your PR clock is not running then start it now.

Settled status will secure your position in UK.
The privilege of citizenship could come later. The requirements are well-known so if you have gaps you can identify them now and start to work to fill them.

If there are complexities for citizenship all you can do is state your facts in a cogent cover letter in the 'additional information' section of the application.
That is what it is for and many people have to do this.

For example, you mention a lack of potential referees - so start cultivating some.
There is no need to place imaginary barriers in your way.
You don't need to hang out with barristers and surgeons, even the guy who runs your local off-licence can be your referee.

Surely you have such a 'mom-and-pop' 7-11 type corner store that you call in from time to time.
Or a post office so you may know a post office official - or a chiropodist or optician (& etc etc).
If not doing so already then start popping into that corner store or post office & etc.

You cannot hope to address all your issues in one hit so pick them off and work away at them one by one.

If and when it comes to citizenship you will be weighed and measured against the rules at the time, just like everyone else.
I don't know if you will succeed or not but don't talk yourself into a black hole and condemn yourself;
leave that to the HO caseworker that is their job - and you may be pleasantly surprised in the end.

Worst case you will still have a German passport and Germany to fall back on, that is more than many.

[noajthan]

To get up to speed on 'good character' and into the mind of that caseworker see current HO guidance here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _D_v02.pdf

For example, pay attention to sections on convictions, immigration offences, deception and even 'notoriety'.

You should be able to see that unless you have serious/recent convictions (or pending cases) and/or you have committed immigration-related offences in the past then you are (probably) in the clear.

[1kiril]

I'm disgusted by those people. I'm so sorry you've encountered them.

Have you been in continuous employment or exercising Treaty rights for the duration of 5 years at any point of your presence in the UK?

[EgyptianCat]

Thank you for all replies.
As for my employment history, I have been in contineous employment since 2002, with the same company since 2003. Prior to that I claimed benefits since 1998, however I cannot - officially - account for the time from 1996 until late 1998 because that was the time I was in the forced marriage.
I have at no point had any immiration issues or deceived immigration officials, however have been accused by the Home Office of currently being in a sham marriage for the purpose of enabling my husband to get/keep a visa. This accusation is untrue as, despite what my husband has done to me, as far as I am concerned this has always been a genuine marriage - at least from my point of view - and I have at no point received payment or other benefits in exchange for marrying him. As the accusation made by the Home Office is untrue, it constitutes to no more than a suspicion by the Home Office.
As for the mentioned notoriety, that is where I would already run into difficulties. My stalker knows a lot of people in my town, at least people of the older generation. He has spent many years spreading malicious lies about me, and he continues to do so. The people that he claims these lies to are people that have either never met me, or only seen pictures of me, or only seen me from afar, which means they do not know me and therefore had no chance to meet me and see for themselves what I am like. But the situation is so bad that, without me mentioning this issue, my husband has often told me that people were talking badly about me in local supermarkets and similar places - even when I did not even notice that. At other times I have been directly abused, ie people confronting me. A considerable number of people also watch me on my stalker's behalf and then report back to him. In short, I have an extremely bad reputation, despite the fact that nobody has ever actually SEEN me doing anything bad because in reality I do not even go out other than go to work or shopping - and this only together with my husband for fear of the stalker.
Police refuse to act against the stalker. But due to the situation, if the Home Office were to approach members of the public to ask about me (as mentioned in their guide lines), I can be sure that the vast majority of the public in my town (a small town) would claim that I am some "violent prostitute". Obviously, when asked to cite an example of when they had witnessed me doing anything, none would be able to come up with an example, which in turn would soon expose the truth of the matter.
I have never been convicted of any offense but, as mentioned in my story, repeatedly been accused of serious crimes, including acts of extreme violence. I have had numerous Harassment Warnings issued against me as my stalker has made numerous false allegations against me, and he was always being believed - simply because he is wealthy whereas I live in social housing, which means I am automatically seen as a criminal and troublemaker, at least as far as the police are concerned.
Due to the above situation I do not even feel able to regularly pop into a local off lisense, post office etc in order to meet people on a regular basis and hope that maybe one day some of them would confirm that I am of good character. I am not saying they ALL believe my stalker's lies - though the majority do - but I am so terrified that I either go out of town to go shopping, or send my husband.
As the Home Office guidelines state that even the SUSPICION that a person might be involved in crime/crimes is enough to refuse an application for British Citizenship, I don't hold much hope at all. I am currently in the process of applying for a residence card - which I never needed in the twenty years I've been here! - with the view of at a later stage applying for British Nationality, but fully expect to be refused due to the above reasons. I am terrified of this as that would mean that it is then official that I am a "person of bad character".
Considering what the truth is, and that it is me, the victim - and survivor - that is getting accused of all this, and the fact that the system is such that this can happen so easily to a vulnerable person like myself, leaves serious questions about the legal and justice system in the UK. This is one of the reasons why I have not applied for British Nationality before all this happened. Much as the UK is my home now, and I feel part of this country, I have not been able to combine it with my conscience to take on the nationality of a country that treats its most vulnerable citizens in such an abhorrent manner. But I have no choice now as I currently have no safety net, ie no entitlement to benefits if I were to get sick or unemployed, and a questionable immigration status should the UK leave the EU - which is more than likely as that is what the people want.
As for Women's Groups etc, I have approached several of them over the years, never received any help (their "advise" constituted of "keep your doors closed" and "call the police if anyone attacks you"). Lawyers refuse to take my case on as they refuse to believe that such things can happen, and assume that I must be fantasizing and therefore mentally ill.

[noajthan]

Have you checked old passport yet to see if you have ILR?

Have you collated your timeline and assembled supporting evidence to see when you may have acquired PR?

If you want to go further than settled status have you started reaching out to make contact with people you can call on as referees in 3 years time?

Have you started preparing for LITUK test? (for naturalisation).

Have you made a plan for how to meet proof of English? (for naturalisation).

[EgyptianCat]

I don't have ILR as I never needed anything like that, never been subject to immigration control. I have traveled to several countries during the last twenty years and never had a problem when returning to the UK.

I don't even dare think about things like requirements for naturalization yet as there are so many obstacles that I don't see myself having a reasonable chance. The problem with not knowing anyone is the least of my worries, what really worries me is all the other problems outlined in my story. As long as there is no solution to these problems there's no point even thinking about proving that I speak English or this "Life in the UK" test. I am currently in the process of applying for a permanent residence card - which I never needed before - but that will probbably be as far as I can go. If the UK leaves the EU after the June referendum, I don't know what will become of me.

[noajthan]

I don't have ILR as I never needed anything like that, never been subject to immigration control. I have traveled to several countries during the last twenty years and never had a problem when returning to the UK.

I don't even dare think about things like requirements for naturalization yet as there are so many obstacles that I don't see myself having a reasonable chance. The problem with not knowing anyone is the least of my worries, what really worries me is all the other problems outlined in my story. As long as there is no solution to these problems there's no point even thinking about proving that I speak English or this "Life in the UK" test. I am currently in the process of applying for a permanent residence card - which I never needed before - but that will probbably be as far as I can go. If the UK leaves the EU after the June referendum, I don't know what will become of me.

It's unclear if you have actually checked your old passport to see if it was stamped or annotated with ILR under old rules from 1990s.
If travelling on some foreign passport its unclear how you might enter UK.
If travelling on a German passport its clear enough.

Nothing much is going to happen to you with or without Brexit, as you say you are German. Worst case you can go to Germany rather than Egypt.

If all you want to achieve is PR and you appear to have no questions about that process then it seems to be mission accomplished then.

Applying for citizenship is tedious and time-consuming but the steps and requirements are well-known and many different people, in all sorts of circumstances, manage to achieve them.

As to other perceived problems, clearly neither Mrs May nor Mr Brokenshire are going to take a detour in their armour-plated limos to beat on your door and thrust a passport in your hands.
That will take concerted action on your part.
Possibly starting with moving from the disorderly and dysfunctional town you say you are currently living in.
From the picture you have painted that could only have a positive impact on you.

[EgyptianCat]

I'm really not sure why you thing this is "mission accomplished".
I clearly stated that I need a British passport due to changes in the law and changes to benefits rules, but that I have a number of problems (through no fault of my own) that are preventing me from even standing a chance.

I never said merely receiving a permanent residence card was all I wanted. I also clearly stated that I do not have either ILR or any other stamp in any old passport as I never needed that. I also stated clearly enough that I do not wish to live in Germany, so this is not an option, even though you seem to think that. I do not even speak German, and there are other reasons.

Merely moving from the town where I live now would also not miraculously get rid of my criminal record. I can spend the rest of my life moving from town to town - something which I can neither afford nor would be emotionally able to do after all I have been through - and still have a criminal record as a result of police believing my stalker because he is wealthy. Moving does not change that.

Sorry but I don't consider that mission accomplished. I have not had one answer to my numerous questions and am nowhere nearer finding a solution to getting a British passport.

[Casa]

I'm not sure that this forum is going to be help you beyond the advice given. Unfortunately there appears to be a reason why you are unable to pursue every suggestion given. I'm not sure exactly which 'changes to rules' you believe makes it essential for you to have British nationality. The access to benefits are for EEA nationals who are newly arrived.
However, if British nationality and a British passport is what you want, then you will have to apply for formal confirmation of PR first, and it seems that we don't have a solution for that, beyond the many suggestions Noajthan has taken the time post for you, which as you say, for various reasons aren't an option for you.