My partner received his FLR FP refusal 2 weeks ago but we were given the right to appeal. The basis of his application sent in Jul 16 was his son from his previous marriage - at that point he had a contact order for weekly direct access to his son and only about 7 months into our relationship. I did send a letter and proof that we would be able to maintain ourselves and that we were planning to get married once his divorce was final.
In Sep 16 his ex-wife and son's mother stopped his access telling him to "take her back to court". He did so in Jan 17 when we were able to and received a decision in Nov 17 for indirect contact as his son lives 2 hours away from us and is recovering from surgery (he has a splint on his leg and unable to walk @ 2.5 years old) the main reason for the decision is because of his son's recovery and also because he could not commit to weekly but fortnightly trips (distance and cost being factors) Direct contact was meant to resume after his son's recovery but the court did not detail this in the order
In Nov 17 home office requested that the outcome of the enforcement application be sent to them and the refusal made on the basis that he could not prove a subsisting parental relationship (this was because his ex is deliberately keeping him away from his son) and of course because indirect contact can take place outside of the UK
We have applied for the appeal as they gave us 14 days to do this and we didn't want to risk him being detained as he is an overstayer
my questions are:
1) will we be able to get married in the UK? is it the registrar office that decides or the home office? when i spoke to the registry office they said that they would accept a copy of his passport certified by the home office and we have received this in the mail today (Home office still has his passport since we are appealing I assume)
2) if we are able to marry in the UK, would this be considered in the appeal hearing? I have ILR and my son is 7 years old and a British citizen, my partner has lived with us approx 1.75 years and they are very attached. To be honest we have been living as family unit since he moved in. Also, we are seeking a correction to the court order to include the direct contact to continue as per the initial order - problem is, we can see his ex taking us around in more circles and interfering with him establishing the relationship with his son that he so desperately wants. I have seen him depressed and disheartened and we feel so unsupported by the courts in enforcing his right to have a relationship with his son
Any advice would be ever so greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
