divorceing my EU husband...

[Alisa]

I am divorceing my EU Husband i lived with for 1,5 years.

Before marriage(took plase in UK) I was a student for 3 years.Home office granted me with Residence Permit as a family member of EU National for 5 years after Ceremony. Lived in UK for all this period.

Is the any way i can apply for student visa (as I am planing to take a 4 years evening Undergraduate University Course without leaving UK? I want live ,study and work in England after divorce.....
Would be very grateful for your help and advise....

Regards


Alisa

[jazbaati99]

Other members will provide some detailed response but according to new rules you don't need to change your visa status. Your EU residence permit is valid and you can continue to use it. I am not sure but I guess you can apply for ILR at the end of five years on a residence permit.

Regards

[John]

Your EU residence permit is valid and you can continue to use it.

Sorry, I do not think that is right. In order to have the ability to continue to use the Residence Card the marriage needs to have lasted at least 3 years, of which at least 1 year must have been spent in the UK. However we are told that the marriage has lasted just 1.5 years, so clearly the test is failed.

[Docterror]

Alisa.. from wonderland, there is a bit of technicality involved in your case. A lot of it comes down to how adamant you are about initiating your divorce proceedings right now after the 1.5 years of marriage, in which case you will lose the ability to continue to use the Residence Card as you no longer qualify to do so.

At this point by joining a course, you can look forward to not only clocking up the total of 10 years necessary to be spent legally in the UK to apply for ILR, but also keep hoping that the HO does not make any more increases to the fees that it already announced yesterday to apply for ILR. (In case you didnt know, they have proposed to increase the fees for postal applications for ILR from 335 pounds to 750 pounds ONLY and from 500 pounds to 950 pounds ONLY for in-person applications beginning this April.) Also do note that it is illegal to work more than 20 hours a week during the semester when you are on the student visa.

But say, if by some chance you and your EEA family member decide to seperate and let things cool down a bit for another 1.5 years and then decide to initiate the divorce proceedings if you still cannot reconcile, then you not only can use the Residence Card for the 1.5 years that you are seperated, but also after you start your divorce proceedings up until your Residence Card expires.. at which point you can apply for your Permanent Residence, if you qualify... free of charge.