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Hi

I am a South African that got married to a EEA national In Poland on august 2007. We'Ve been living together in London till About Jan or Feb in 2013. She has now left the country and remarried to a American and currently applying for residency there.She worked and paid tax during the entire period we lived together. I have a residency permit that has expired on the 5 of may. The complication i have is that when she wanted to get a annulment it turns out the marriage didn't get registered. So is my marriage illegal and does that make me illegal to be in the country? I can prove that we lived together for 6 years.I've seen two Immigration consultants and i'm not sure they know what they doing as both advised me differently. If anyone could give me some advice or just point me to a good immigration consultant I would greatly appreciate it!

I am sorry to hear about your predicament.

Let me get few things straight.

You married in Poland in 2007, right?

When did you move to the UK?

How long did you reside in the UK before she commenced divorce in order to remarry this American chap?

You said she was a qualified person through out , right ?

try not to get too stressed, I am sure there will be a way around solving this situation.

In UK you annul a marriage that was never legal. Not sure it is the same in Poland.

Is it the case that you were never legally married, due to failure to undertake the correct procedure.

Hi Obie and thanks for your response it is greatly appreciated!

I came to the UK on the 4th Oct 2005 on a working holiday visa and met around 2006 sometime. We fell in love and moved in together. When the time came for me to return we had a chat and decided what our options would be. We decided on getting married as we were in love. She couldn't leave her family and we decided to stay in the UK.

We visited a solicitor who gave us all the details we needed and she arranged the wedding in Poland.We got married in a catholic church. We returned and gave all the documentation required to our solicitor who applied for my visa.

I received my first residency document without issues and it was valid until sept 2008.I then applied for my second residency permit and it was valid until 08 may 2014. We lived together from what I can prove from about may 2007 untill about around march 2013.

Okay so she decided practicly over night she's leaving the country and thus I couldn't get my IDL sorted. She had then remarried later in 2013 but I'm not sure when as we were not on speaking terms.

Alright so I went to see the same company to do my visa again and they told me it would be straight forward. Only after my consultant contacted her for the information did she reveal that she couldn't get a divorce as it wasn't registered so in theory I think it was only a church wedding. So I'm really worried now as to my status and if I could apply or if I would have to leave now. Also do I have to apply within 30 days of the expiry of my residency permit?

Oh she was registered with workers registration and she was working and paying tax throughout the period mentioned.

Have you got evidence of her work activities during this period.

it seems like a bit of a complex case, but I believe you could succeed.

Have you got a copy of this certificate.

Dont worry about the 28 days requirement.

I have her original registration certificate. I have convinced her to send me p60's , she has agreed to send me from 2007 to 2012.I have about 3 of her pay slips from 2013.

I could probably convince her to send me more details if required.

That will be a start.

How about marriage certificate.

polish law on marriage.

I have a marriage certificate with a polish translation. We received that from the church we married at. It is the same document we used to apply for my residency permit.

Did you refer to the Polish law on marriage link that i sent you?

I am really stunned by what she did to you.

If she is so vast in marriage law, then she must have known from the outset that your marriage has not fulfilled the full requirement of Polish law, that will ensure it is valid. Why on earth did she wait 7 years to tell you this.

Did you have joint bank accounts together, and proof that you were living together. That will be a huge tool in fighting any allegation that you were never married or lived together as man and wife.

The above is not strictly required in law, but in your circumstances, i will strongly recommend it.

It is surprising that UK did not ask for the evidence of registration, in one case where i made an application by virtue of a marriage undertaken in Poland, an apostille was requested by the Home Office, which could only be obtained if the marriage was registered.

According to your link we would not be legally married in Poland. I should have had a larger role , unfortunately I am self employed and if I don't work I don't get payed. She done most of the arrangements and dealt with our solicitor.

To be honest I think our solicitor was either brilliant or extremely bad. He is not working at the company I'm using anymore and they delete all info after 5 years.

Proving we lived together should not be a issue.We have a joint account which Is still open.I withdrew our overdraft so that she couldn't close our account.Naughty I know but effective if i needed proof.I have most of our statements from 2007 sometime until now really.Our rent and bills came off that account. I have a lease from 2007 and 2009.Still have random bills and some of her personal statements which were all going to the same address.I have photos and have loads of friends that would be happy to help as she did leave me in a bit of a pickle.

I really appreciate your help and I've received more help from you in the last couple of days than I have in the last two months!

I believe any document you gave to your solicitor, which is with Home Office, could be retrieved by doing a SAR request to the home Office.

I believe you could get them back from the Home Office following an application, after 40 days.

I think we should wait and see what documents she sends you and take it from there. Fingers cross, she will not change her mind again, and perhaps they are in good shape.

Perhaps you should consider initiating a divorce against her in my view. You are entitled to do that in the UK. I believe that will help you a lot.

I asked for her original copies. She said she would post it today, fingers crossed!

Should I visit a family law solicitor to get it done? Also would she have to be involved as I suspect she wouldn't want to help once she finds out about a divorce. She is worried about her current application to the USA.

Is there anyway I can prove I'm still allowed to work legally? I change companies a lot as it is how my industry works, as soon as a job finishes I find another company with a new payroll everytime. Cheers

You left things too late. You should have sat on this matter prior to your visa expiring.

A new application will need to be made and then a COA may be issued. Try and get those documents first.

If not, then pethaps she could call tax office and get them to send her tax history or get authorisation letter from her for the tax office to issue her tax record.

I did visit a solicitor 2 months prior to the expiry. He advised me that I could work but it would be hard to prove, that was my main concern. He responded so slowly and couldnt be bothered to reply via phone when asked,he charged me 120 pounds per consultation.

I know my story is somewhat unique and very difficult but I have been trying to find someone with experience with difficult cases. It has been difficult as most companies in London charge you consultation fees and there's no way of knowing if they are any good.

Yes that is a view expressed by lots of people who visit solicitors in London.

EU law is a daunting area that some solicitors get bugged down by.

I believe ignoring all the other matters, you will be in a better place once you receive the documents from her.

You may have a right to employment, as EU law confers rights automatically without the need for application.

So i agree with that bit of information that your solicitors provided.

Hi Obie

I received a message and I'm not authorised to read private messages.

I will post as soon as I receive the documents I requested

Thanks for that.

I believe after your next post, it will be alright.

Hi Obie,

I received 5 p60's today dating 2007- 2008 to 2011-2012

That is fantastic.

What has she been doing since 2012?

Did she send proof of residence?