Visa Success At Last!

[cdnmatt]

May I ask, have you consulted an immigration lawyer yet? That may be a start.

Feel for you though, as we've begun preparing all the necessary documentation to secure Leo a visitor VISA to Canada, so we're stuck fucking around with immigration as well.

What's your BFs education like? One way to get him in on a more permanent status may be via an education VISA, and put him in university in the UK. That's one route we may end up taking ourselves, but who knows at the moment. Leo is quite thrilled at the prospect of attending a Canadian university, and getting an education VISA to study shouldn't be any more difficult than a visitor VISA, except for the fact he first needs to be accepted by a university.

Just a thought though. If he attends uni in the UK, that could easily solve your immigration issues for a good 4+ years.

[arsenal]

Good suggestion Matt. It ticks all the boxes. Here is a link to The University of Edinburgh. Definitely worth exploring this avenue I would have thought.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/international

[scottish-guy]

Matt, we applied for an "Education Visa" - specifically a Student Visitor Visa over 5yrs ago (with a prior acceptance at an approved educational faclity) and it was refused for no good reason - they simply said they did not believe the money I had demonstrably ring-fenced would be given to him - and there was/is no right of appeal. How one is meant to prove what one will do in the future is a mystery yet to be solved.

For those suggesting that we just get married irrespective of the fact that the Visitor Visa conditions say we cannot - I was quite hopeful about this until I looked at the Marriage Registrars website:

If you and/or your partner are a non-EEA national with limited or no immigration status in the UK, or if you or your partner do not provide specified evidence of your immigration status, your proposed marriage or civil partnership will be referred to the Home Office and your notice period may be extended to 70 days. In giving notice you should therefore allow sufficient time before the date of your planned marriage or civil partnership recognising that 70 days notice may be required.
Registrars are required to refer all marriage and civil partnership notices to the Home Office if one or both of the parties is a non-EEA national who does not provide specified evidence that they have (a) settled status in the UK (Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain), (b) an EU law right of permanent residence in the UK, (c) a marriage or civil partnership visa, or (d) exemption from immigration control (e.g. with the right of abode in the UK).

So it looks like any attempt to ignore the Visitor Visa conditions is doomed as the Registrar is obliged to inform the Home Office when you lodge you intention to marry (as you must by lay do 28 days before the proposed marriage). The rules say the Home Office may extend your notice period to 70 days (doesn't mention banning your marriage) but I'm pretty certain they'd soon inform us that the marriage is outwith the Visitor Visa conditions ( which specifically say you cannot get married) and that they won't allow/recognise it.

We did of course speak to an immigration lawyer (£150 for 30 mins). His advice was go home and apply for Fiance Visa with no guarantee of success whatsoever. For a few reasons, this is not a viable option.

I'm determined to find a way through this - but after almost 3 months I'm no nearer finding it.

[Moses]

I'm determined to find a way through this - but after almost 3 months I'm no nearer finding it.

Isn't much easy for you both just to visit Belgium or Netherlands and to marry there, then to make procedure of recognizing of your marriage status in UK? You BF doesn't need to be in person for such recognition, and after recognition you will have official docs on the hand for his spouse visa to you. At least Russians gays who can't marry here, they do such marriages in Belgium/Netherlands.

Or, if you want to have more exotic marriage, - you can do it in South Africa - they also allow gay marriages when both guys are foreigners.

[justaguy]

I think you will find that most loopholes are already closed, thanks to the xenofobia roaring it's ugly head, in many European countries.

I would follow the advice of the immigration lawyer, as there is no other way around it, short from staying in the UK illegally.

[bobsaigon2]

SG, the regulations are in place to prevent precisely what you want to do. In the US, anyone can get married regardless of immigration status. But not at all easy to obtain a green card after marriage if one entered the US on a tourist/visitor visa.

In fact, if the foreign spouse applies for permanent residence within 90 days of entry as a non-immigrant, it is quite easy for US Immigration to accuse the individual of Misrepresentation because s/he did not state on the tourist visa application that there was an intention of marriage. In many cases, this would require the foreigner to apply for a Waiver of Inadmissibility, including evidence that it would be an extreme hardship for the US citizen if foreign spouse were not allowed to remain in America, or if the American had to leave the US to live abroad with his alien spouse.

In US law, the correct, legal course of action if a marriage does take place in the US, is for the alien spouse to return to home country and wait for processing of the spouse petition. May take a year, but it's usually fail safe.

Also about a year for processing of fiancee cases (foreigner never in US previously), and same-sex fiancee cases have had a high success rate in the US.

[goji]

Isn't much easy for you both just to visit Belgium or Netherlands and to marry there, then to make procedure of recognizing of your marriage status in UK? You BF doesn't need to be in person for such recognition, and after recognition you will have official docs on the hand for his spouse visa to you. At least Russians gays who can't marry here, they do such marriages in Belgium/Netherlands.

This seems logical. Also, there must be people who have trodden this path before, gay or straight, doesn't matter much.

[scottish-guy]

Isn't much easy for you both just to visit Belgium or Netherlands and to marry there, then to make procedure of recognizing of your marriage status in UK?

Just one wee complication there - how does he get to Belgium or the Netherlands and get married without a Schengen Visa? All suggestions gratefully received.

Rapidly coming to the conclusion that I'll have to sell up and move.

[arsenal]

I would have thought that an escrow account would negate the problem of "ringfenced money" and believability.

[cdnmatt]

John Lennon had it right...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

So did this kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGDQ8bW3UvQ

A world without borders. Not sure what the delay is, but it's going to happen, especially since space exploration is ramping up. People can fight it if they want, but it's inevitable... in the future, there will be a world without borders.