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Hello,

I need some information please, the situation is quite complicated at the moment, really need your advices!

So here is our situation:


Actually, I am an EU national female. I recently moved in the UK this September.
I am in a relationship with a non-EEA male for about 4 years, who is in the UK for 6 years now. Basically he came from Pakistan on a Student Visa, then switched to a Work Permit. But unfortunately after some time, he couldn't extend his visa because his company had limited work permits and he could not get it through them. So he is currently still on appeals and the time is now very limited...

We wish to marry since 2013 but we couldn't as:
- I was in France, living with my family
- Some cultural reasons: I am originally a Pakistani aswell, from a quite conservative family, so I can't tell my family about our relationship for the moment, I have to wait the end of my studies which is on June 2017.......

I just moved in London this September, studying now here.
He can not apply for an EEA family permit as we don't meet the requirement of "living together for 2 years at least" ---> due to religious reason, we don't want to and we can't live together before religious marriage
SO
We have planned to marry in 2017 (religious marriage, involving our both families). Being in a genuine relationship with him, we now decided to do the civil marriage now asap, so as he can apply for a spouse visa.
However, for Spouse Visa there is a condition of "intend to live together": we do intend to live together, but only from 2017 (same religious reasons). I am afraid that the Home Office would suspect that this is a sham, so they will come to see if we are living together. And if they see that we are not living together, they would probably refuse the visa and/or arrest one/both of us considering this as a sham, and deport ! Really scared about this!

Another problem: for the civil marriage we will need his passport, which is still in the Home Office....

We can provide many proofs of our relationship, it IS genuine (we have photos, gifts, travel tickets, our rings, we both can write a letter, anything!...)



What would you advice us to do now, I really need him to stay there.... This situation is so stressful... :/
Sorry for this too long post, thanks for your attention, hope to get some advice!

Even if you are in a genuine relationship, essentially you do not intend to live in a 'relationship akin to marriage' (to steal language from elsewhere in the visa rules). Therefore your application for him to remain as your spouse is a bit of a sham, isn't it? Many genuine international relationships are forced into marriage a bit sooner than parties would like (just like your situation), it's tough but it is a fact of international relationships...

Would it not be better for your intended to move out of the UK, in 2017 you marry and then he applies for an EEA FP to enter and live in the UK (or somewhere else) together?

The visa rules aren't really there to support individual cultural sensitivities, nor are they able to. Are you sure this is a genuine relationship if your parents don't even know about it? Do his?

Apart from you not intending to live together after marriage and just getting married so he can remain in the UK and the problems that will cause you if you aid in a sham marriage, I doubt you will be able to marry on the UK.

The UK have now stopped sham marriages in the UK, where those who can't get another visa decide to use marriage to try to stay. A marriage where one of the parties is non-EU is now reported to UKVI for their approval and they can delay the marriage while they investigate.

As soon as UKVI see he is trying to stay in the UK by using appeals and now wants to marry to stay in the UK, that will mean UKVI will investigate you both. The UK can remove you back to France if they think you are part of this sham, which you seem to be as you know you won't be living together after the marriage and are doing it so he can remain in the UK.

Don't let him use you and risk your future. Tell your parents about him and what he is trying to do and see what they say. If his feelings for you are genuine then he will return home and wait until you are ready to marry and he will not want to risk your future in the UK.

Regardless of whether your parents know it or not , No religion says that you can't sleep together after marriage . Regardless of what you think of it , if you're getting married it should be a marriage. You have to understand the seriousness of these things , You can't get away with things by saying it's your culture.it's not in the Home Office's culture to believe things when there are a lot of complications and issue a permit so to speak.

Sorry to detract from this thread, but I just wanted to express my joy that petaltop and I have found some common ground that we both agree on! The stars have aligned!

physicskate wrote:Sorry to detract from this thread, but I just wanted to express my joy that petaltop and I have found some common ground that we both agree on! The stars have aligned!

I often agree with what you say, but never say that. Some things we agree on and others like having to pay the Health Surcharge with a visa, we don't. Although I would have thought US citizens would find £200 a year for full health cover, very cheap compared to what you would pay in your own country with all the deductables.

Petaltop wrote:

physicskate wrote:Sorry to detract from this thread, but I just wanted to express my joy that petaltop and I have found some common ground that we both agree on! The stars have aligned!

I often agree with what you say, but never say that. Some things we agree on and others like having to pay the Health Surcharge with a visa, we don't. Although I would have thought US citizens would find £200 a year for full health cover, very cheap compared to what you would pay in your own country with all the deductables.

I wouldn't know - I have lived in the UK since well-before I stopped being covered by my parents' (employer provided) insurance.

I just don't like that I already pay for NHS use twice. The surcharge makes for the third!

I know home office would suspect a sham, but it is not, I mean please believe me it is a genuine relationship:
We both can provide genuine proofs from 2011! His family knows about our relationship since the start (the delay comes only from my side...)
(he also had opportunities before to marry british girls, but never did that!)
I can understand that home office does not give attention to cultural points/religious matter. Thats fine.
So in that case if I present him to my parents now, we get married (civil and religious both) and live together from now. Will it still be considered as a sham by the home office? thats problematic, I told you we wanted to get married even when his visa situation was absolutely stable (not for papers I do know that, as I said if he wanted he could get married to a british girl - proposal from the girl's family that he refused because of me).

Anyways, thanks for your replies...

There have been cases reported on these forums where Home Office officers can visit your home (or the alleged spousal home) unannounced and verify as to the genuineness of the marriage. There is atleast one ongoing case that I know of on these forums.

Marriage does at the very least involve living together and having a household (such as joint bank account, joint bills, etc) in common. Otherwise, the Home office will consider it a sham marriage. That will not only open him up to fairly quick deportation, but may also cause issues with any citizenship application you make in the future as you will have been guilty of frustrating immigration laws at the least.

If he and you are of Pakistani heritage, why not introduce him to your family and explain to them the urgency of the situation? They may be more reasonable than you think.

londoner07 wrote: So in that case if I present him to my parents now, we get married (civil and religious both) and live together from now. Will it still be considered as a sham by the home office? thats problematic, .

It is only the lack of intention to live together which makes it a sham marriage, even though it is not necessarily a sham 'relationship.'

If you intend on living together and sharing a household, there is much less of a problem! They might have an issue with his unstable visa situation...

I understand.. I just wish to introduce him to my parents just after his situation becomes a bit more stable, if we can find another way to do so.. (so as they happily accept him).

I was just wondering about the HO officers "surprise" visit at home. If we are married, living together, they will for sure come to visit. But if at that time I'm not at home, what happens then? Is there any law;statute saying that if both of them are not found together at the time of the visit, it will be refusal/deportation/imprisonment/sham/.... ?
Is there also an interview before this surprise visit?
I was just wondering because I travel quite a lot : my studies schedule allow me to travel quite often to my family's home / could be sometimes on weekdays, sometimes on weekends, and every holidays (christmas holidays, easter, 2 months summer holidays)... Sometimes I'm at a close relative's house but that's perhaps manageable because it is near the place we both will be living together... Will it be still possible for me to travel then?