H.O investigating 'sham' marriage?

[AnonAnonymous]

Hi all. I am a British citizen and my partner is an illegal Indian and has been residing in the UK for 14 years. He came on a student visa for one year, then he extended it to a further 2 years I believe and when he tried to extend it again under a different category (cannot remember as he is not at home at the moment!) they refused it. He appealed and they refused his appeal and kept his passport so therefore, they gave him notice saying he has to leave the country. However, he did not leave, he stayed here as he had his family here (two children and a wife who had Indian nationality). They all now have British passports as his youngest child was born in the UK. He did not apply for it as I don't think he thought it would apply to him.

He split up with his ex-wife in 2011 and is now divorced (received his degree absolute in 2014) and we have been together since 2012. There is 20 year age difference between us and we don't care about that! We are genuine relationship, and I do know about his situation but it doesn't bother me in the slightest because it's our love that counts. I am expecting our first child in a few months time & we have already got a case going on with the solicitor under FLR(O) category. He has managed to get his passport back from Indian High Commission thanks to his solicitor so that we can get married!

We had a meeting with a registrar at Notice of Marriage, who ridiculed us (him more than I) and made us feel like we are faking the whole thing. She asked us series of questions, together and individually and then said she is going to send our information to the H.O and she said she's 99% sure they will want to investigate, which is fair enough.

We have received a letter from the H.O, and she was right - they have said they're investigating our case as they believe our marriage is not genuine and will take a further 70 days to come up with a decision and we must provide further information as and when they request it.

What is going to happen here on-wards? Firstly, I am worried that me and/or him are going to end up with a criminal record when we are completely innocent people who just want to get married so we can strengthen our case and live our life happily as a married couple, which is what we have always wanted except we couldn't at the time due to being married at the time and also not having his passport! Also because I don't want to get stressed while I am pregnant as my pregnancy has enough complications as it is! Has anyone been through this?

[Casa]

The HO may ask to interview you both separately before making a decision. A member recently reported that although the notification period was extended to 70 days, they were given permission to marry.
IMHO your partner should have applied under FLR(FP) parent route not FLR(O), assuming that he has continued contact with his children.

[AnonAnonymous]

The HO may ask to interview you both separately before making a decision. A member recently reported that although the notification period was extended to 70 days, they were given permission to marry.
IMHO your partner should have applied under FLR(FP) parent route not FLR(O), assuming that he has continued contact with his children.

Hi, thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately he has lost all contact with his children as the court have said he is not allowed to have custody of them or to see them because his ex-wife brought up that he is illegal, so they said he is taking advantage of them just to get a stay in the uk

[noajthan]

You may be given permission to marry or fiance may be detained, invited to leave UK or deported.
There's also the question of how fiance supported himself and a whole family over the years.

You can dig into legal ramifications here:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/immigration/

[AnonAnonymous]

You may be given permission to marry or fiance may be detained, invited to leave UK or deported.
There's also the question of how fiance supported himself and a whole family over the years.

You can dig into legal ramifications here:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/immigration/

But surely they cannot detain him under the rights to remain in the UK with family, since his child (our child) is going to be born here, therefore a British citizen? I really hope that doesn't happen

[noajthan]

But surely they cannot detain him under the rights to remain in the UK with family, since his child (our child) is going to be born here, therefore a British citizen? I really hope that doesn't happen

That falls into the area of a Zambrano case, which is very complex and requires specialised advice. Suggest you seek it out.
Seehttps://www.freemovement.org.uk/new-zambrano-ca ... no-carers/

Simply having a baby (an "anchor" baby) with someone and hoping for the best is not always enough in the prevailing climate in UK.
After all your fiance already has children in a previous family and yet still has no status.
As the latest child will have one British parent (with parental responsibility) the non-status parent may still be invited to leave UK.

In terms of sham marriage, the only thing in your favour is that HO have to prove their case against you. Which is probably what they will be working towards now.
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/court-o ... me-office/

[Casa]

You should be aware that the right to family life won't be considered until after your baby has been born. Before then your partner leaves himself exposed to detention either at the interview or in one recent case although given permission to marry, Border Officers arrived at the Registry Office and removed the groom before the ceremony.
I appreciate that this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but you should be prepared. The fact that he has a pending application should offer some protection.

[AnonAnonymous]

But surely they cannot detain him under the rights to remain in the UK with family, since his child (our child) is going to be born here, therefore a British citizen? I really hope that doesn't happen

That falls into the area of a Zambrano case, which is very complex and requires specialised advice. Suggest you seek it out.
Seehttps://www.freemovement.org.uk/new-zambrano-ca ... no-carers/

Simply having a baby (an "anchor" baby) with someone and hoping for the best is not always enough in the prevailing climate in UK.
After all your fiance already has children in a previous family and yet still has no status.
As the latest child will have one British parent (with parental responsibility) the non-status parent may still be invited to leave UK.

I will for sure. That isn't the same as Surinder Singh route is it?
So they can still reject his case, even though he is the father of my child? I honestly don't want to be bringing up our baby on my own, that is why we are fighting every single angle to get him stay in the country! He has never committed crime, he has never claimed benefits, he worked since the day he got here and paid his taxes (until his visa got rejected therefore he had to rely on his ex-wife, his savings and now I am taking care of him). he hasn't done absolutely anything that warrants any concern except that he overstayed.

[AnonAnonymous]

You should be aware that the right to family life won't be considered until after your baby has been born. Before then your partner leaves himself exposed to detention either at the interview or in one recent case although given permission to marry, Border Officers arrived at the Registry Office and removed the groom before the ceremony.
I appreciate that this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but you should be prepared. The fact that he has a pending application should offer some protection.

Does the pending application prevent him being deported?
So, if my baby arrives, and say he does get deported or his application is rejected, is there a chance he would be able to come back to the UK on the basis of 'rights to family life in the UK' under parental? (that he has a British child born in the UK)?

Also, if we have an interview at the H.O and they are still not satisfied, they can detain him there and then - even though he has a case already pending with a solicitor?

[noajthan]

I will for sure. That isn't the same as Surinder Singh route is it?

No, nothing to do with Surinder Singh except that its another example of immigration case law.

Ofcourse, if you are married (somewhere) you may still have time to go off to another EU member state and participate in SS before Brexit finally kicks in.

You would not have time to get back into UK and achieve the holy grail of full PR (settled status) for hubby though.

Somewhere like Ireland may be challenging due to ongoing blockages and delays in their system but there are other Anglophile and (partially) English-speaking countries to think about;
eg Malta, (or perhaps Cyprus).

[Casa]

If he returned to his home country he could apply for a spouse settlement visa as an unmarried partner, but as the sponsor you would still have to meet the £18,600 p.a minimum income level.

[AnonAnonymous]

If he returned to his home country he could apply for a spouse settlement visa as an unmarried partner, but as the sponsor you would still have to meet the £18,600 p.a minimum income level.

We tried to explore that route, but I don't earn anywhere near that. When I was working (I am on ESA now due to pregnancy complications), I was only earning approximately 8k a year as I am a uni student.
The only route they said was either the Human Rights or a baby to do the Family Life route. I didn't know I was pregnant at the time.

[Wanderer]

But surely they cannot detain him under the rights to remain in the UK with family, since his child (our child) is going to be born here, therefore a British citizen? I really hope that doesn't happen

That falls into the area of a Zambrano case, which is very complex and requires specialised advice. Suggest you seek it out.
Seehttps://www.freemovement.org.uk/new-zambrano-ca ... no-carers/

Simply having a baby (an "anchor" baby) with someone and hoping for the best is not always enough in the prevailing climate in UK.
After all your fiance already has children in a previous family and yet still has no status.
As the latest child will have one British parent (with parental responsibility) the non-status parent may still be invited to leave UK.

I will for sure. That isn't the same as Surinder Singh route is it?
So they can still reject his case, even though he is the father of my child? I honestly don't want to be bringing up our baby on my own, that is why we are fighting every single angle to get him stay in the country! He has never committed crime, he has never claimed benefits, he worked since the day he got here and paid his taxes (until his visa got rejected therefore he had to rely on his ex-wife, his savings and now I am taking care of him). he hasn't done absolutely anything that warrants any concern except that he overstayed.

Breaking the immigration rules is a crime.