Posted: 5/15/2010 2:23:47 AM EDT
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Well, just wasted an hour of my time trawling through rules and regulations and I am bloody angry.
Having married me 3 years ago, my wife should be eligible to apply for UK citizenship 3 years later - NOW. But, it appears from the letter of the law, the 3 years starts counting from when the Home Office stamps her passport post marriage. EU regs state this MUST be done by them within 6 months. But due to a "backlog" they only managed to stamp it 2 years later ( I had to complain formally saying that I would like to go on honeymoon before my 2nd wedding anniversary !!! ) So, it would appear that due to their "backlog" she must wait ANOTHER 2 years before applying. Sent a long e-mail with the circumstances to their helpdesk. Autoreply tells me to cut and paste enquiry and e-mail it to another address. I do this. Another autoreply tells me to send it to yet another address. I do this too. Another autoreply tells me that if its not covered by FAQ's, I must ring them. Here we have a immigrant who married a UK citizen, learned English, works, pays taxes etc. She has NEVER claimed benefit. She wants to do things right and every step of the fcuking way they have put up barriers. Yet at the same time they pull people off lorries at Dover and give them leaflets in several languages telling them of their entitlement to free money and free housing. Something not right here. 
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I feel for you and hope I don't have similar problems down the line. At the moment we (me and my future US wife) are working through the UK Spouse Settlement Visa stuff and it's hard. Information is all over the place and the wording is very confusing. It mostly seems geared towards foreigners living in the UK bringing in their wives, not UK people marrying foreigners. But I guess that's the old Labour system. "Labour - Immigrants first" It does make me laugh though that I have a credit card receipt for the visa that says 'WIFE - $1065'. I just wish the exchange rate was a bit better so she was cheaper  |
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Quoted:
I feel for you and hope I don't have similar problems down the line. At the moment we (me and my future US wife) are working through the UK Spouse Settlement Visa stuff and it's hard. Information is all over the place and the wording is very confusing. It mostly seems geared towards foreigners living in the UK bringing in their wives, not UK people marrying foreigners. But I guess that's the old Labour system. "Labour - Immigrants first" It does make me laugh though that I have a credit card receipt for the visa that says 'WIFE - $1065'. I just wish the exchange rate was a bit better so she was cheaper Mine has cost me a damn sight more than that........................................................................... 
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I feel for you and hope I don't have similar problems down the line. At the moment we (me and my future US wife) are working through the UK Spouse Settlement Visa stuff and it's hard. Information is all over the place and the wording is very confusing. It mostly seems geared towards foreigners living in the UK bringing in their wives, not UK people marrying foreigners. But I guess that's the old Labour system. "Labour - Immigrants first" It does make me laugh though that I have a credit card receipt for the visa that says 'WIFE - $1065'. I just wish the exchange rate was a bit better so she was cheaper Mine has cost me a damn sight more than that........................................................................... +1 And I haven't even married her yet! |
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No one ever said it was easy, and I'm sure you'll sort it in the end  .
Maybe once you have taken all that time you can open a business advising people who are in the same boat, got to be money to be made there  .
Good luck. Tony Funnily enough I have been drafted in on three different cases already. My wife is tendering my services as a consultant amongst her friends. |
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It gets a little sticky but if you are willing to invest in a preliminary meeting with an Immigration lawyer, there may be some options.
Or you could always tell her that you're giving her two more years probation and she has to be on her best behaviour before you agree to let her stay 
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Quoted:
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No one ever said it was easy, and I'm sure you'll sort it in the end .
Maybe once you have taken all that time you can open a business advising people who are in the same boat, got to be money to be made there .
Good luck. Tony Funnily enough I have been drafted in on three different cases already. My wife is tendering my services as a consultant amongst her friends. It's only funny if you are being handsomely rewarded .
Tony |
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Its not too dire. She has a 5 year visa allowing work etc. So, no risk of impending deportation etc.
Small things like us having to join different queues at the airport. Her not being allowed to vote despite paying tax and being settled here for years. Thats what UK citizenship would change. It just annoys me that those who try to do the right thing in coming to the UK are obstructed yet those who come here to be parasites are helped and encouraged. Calling someone at Home Office to speak directly on Monday. |
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If they base the entire thing on the failure to stamp a passport, then ask them for the exact statute and section that requires this, and the exact wording of that section. Same goes for the EU requirement to stamp within 6 months. Even if you already know yourself, it's useful to go through it with them. Work out what is a statutory requirement and what is a Home Office 'policy'. The law may only require that someone is present for 3 years. The passport stamp may be the HO policy on what they consider good proof of this. This is a very important distinction.
Research the terms "legitimate expectation", "breach of statutory duty" and "blanket policy" in the context of "judicial review". Most of these phonecalls are quite amicable but it's always better to negotiate from a position of knowledge. If you're bored, a little human rights & Article 6 can always be useful. The Secretary of State can waive the requirements. If you can present evidence of how long your other half has been in the country then you might be able to come to some amicable agreement. Hope it all goes well. Edited to add: Almost forgot the mighty "fettering discretion", which would also be quite applicable. |