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General UK immigration & work permits; don't post job search or family related topics!

Please use this section of the board if there is no specific section for your query.

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LostinCornwall
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:05 pm
Canada

Help?

Post by LostinCornwall » Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:26 pm

Hello all,
Moderators: feel free to move this post as I don't know where it ( or myself ) belong!

I need advice on how to proceed...
I'm an American/Canadian national (dual passport) and have living in England for 10 years come December. I'm married to a British citizen for 21 years and she owns our primary residence. The major problem is I dont have any visa, I'm just overstayed tourist visa!!
I've never registered nor taken anything from the state but can anyone tell me how to proceed?
Many thanks,
“Lost”

secret.simon
Moderator
Posts: 10975
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:29 pm

Re: Help?

Post by secret.simon » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:28 pm

LostinCornwall wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:26 pm
The major problem is I dont have any visa, I'm just overstayed tourist visa!!
Very, very bad idea. Overstaying can have major ramifications for any future visa applications (and for eventual naturalisation, if that is your plan).

Have you used any NHS services in the UK? Be aware that using NHS services without a visa can have implications for future visa applications as well.

Does your British wife earn more than £18,600 per annum on her own? Do you have children with your British spouse?

Have you worked while you resided in the UK? Have you registered and paid taxes?

The answers to all the above questions can allows us to help and advise you more precisely.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.

LostinCornwall
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Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:05 pm
Canada

Re: Help?

Post by LostinCornwall » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:13 pm

Thanks,
I’ve not worked here in the U.K., nor has my wife.Nor do we have any children
We both retired here from Switzerland after years in the UN system ( a shengen country?)
I have not registered or paid taxes but my wife has and yes her income exceeds 18k.

Nightshade
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Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:06 am
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India

Re: Help?

Post by Nightshade » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:30 pm

If it was 20 years then there would be been one option of the 20 year long residence route.

Right now your options are slim as overstaying puts you in an unfavourable position. Perhaps more so if you came here as a tourist rather than a temporary residence visa. Yu'd probably be better suited taking advice from a lawyer.

secret.simon
Moderator
Posts: 10975
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:29 pm

Re: Help?

Post by secret.simon » Wed Jul 28, 2021 6:20 pm

LostinCornwall wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:13 pm
We both retired here from Switzerland after years in the UN system
If you check the stamps and vignettes in your passports carefully, did you definitely get a tourist visa when you arrived in the UK or were you issued an Exempt vignette/stamp?

If the latter, that may change the situation completely.

Also, as you arrived from Switzerland after living there with your British wife, you may have acquired status automatically under EU law before Brexit.

Did your British wife work in Switzerland while you resided with her? If yes, how long did she work there?
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.

LostinCornwall
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Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:05 pm
Canada

Re: Help?

Post by LostinCornwall » Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:14 pm

I'll have a look at my passport and my wife was in Switzerland about 10 years before we were married, then we lived there together, married, 12 years

LostinCornwall
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Canada

Re: Help?

Post by LostinCornwall » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:22 am

Time for a what if question…
If I had filed back when what path, what form should I have used? ( given married to Brit , moved from foreign domicile)
Thanks

secret.simon
Moderator
Posts: 10975
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:29 pm

Re: Help?

Post by secret.simon » Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:17 pm

LostinCornwall wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:22 am
If I had filed back when what path, what form should I have used? ( given married to Brit , moved from foreign domicile)
Because you had married a British citizen who had worked in an EEA country (Switzerland), lived with her as a spouse while she worked there and presumably moved to the UK directly from that EEA country (Switzerland) (the three separate, distinct and specific conditions that need to be met), you may have been eligible to apply under the Surinder Singh route of the EEA Regulations.

I am not very sure about the post-Brexit changes to the laws affecting the Surinder-Singh returnees and I will cc in @Obie, @kamoe and @alterhase58, who are more well-versed than me on developments in that field of the law, to advise further.

In particular, I am not sure whether (a) your status would have been automatic or reliant on application before Brexit and (b) whether it is too late to make the application.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.

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