Advice for a future problem, please.

[iyari]

I am a British citizen with a fiance who is not. We have been in a relationship for over two years and engaged and living together for one of those. We have recently bought a house together and have joint bills and savings etc.

The problem we have is that he was previously married to a Dutch national, and is currently living and working in the UK on the EEA family permit he obtained four and a half years ago.

Their marriage broke down nearly three years ago, before he met me, and she subsequently left the country, but they maintain an amicable relationship and she is willing to do anything she can to help with the situation.

It had always been my fiance's intention to apply for ILR when his EEA family permit was due to run out (in the middle of next year), then to get divorced and for the two of us to marry. I believe, though, that it will be necessary not only for his previous wife to sign that they have a genuine relationship (which she is willing to do), but also for them to provide evidence of having lived together- which is obviously a bit difficult, with her no longer being resident.

As far as I can make out, our best option is for him to get divorced and for the two of us to return to his home country, get married, and then apply for a spousal visa, but he (and myself to a lesser extent) is worried about losing his job in the time it would take for the visa to be processed.

We are also worried about the HO/embassy in Tirana viewing it as a marriage of convenience as he has been here on a similar visa before, despite having vast amounts of evidence to the contrary (phone bills, greeting cards, photographs, evidence of my having visited Albania previously and his parents having visited and lived with us in the UK, along with the aforementioned mortgage, bills, savings etc.).

Any help or advice that could be offered would be much appreciated.

And please, I almost didn't post this due to the large amounts of anti-Albanian talk on this forum, but I know some of you reading could really help. Please leave your opinions on my future husband's nationality at the door...

TIA

[sakura]

Can you post a timeline.....we need dates. When he entered the UK, got married, separated, and when his wife returned to her home country. Then we can assess the situation better.

[iyari]

Entered the UK 2000. Married June 2003 in Tirana, having been deported a couple of months before as his visa had expired, separated February 2005. She left the UK November 2005.

[VictoriaS]

I think that you need a solicitor or advisor to help you with this. You are right in that there will be an assumption by the ECO that this is dodgy, and that your fiance is only with you for the visa. You will therefore need to go completely overboard with evidence to the contrary.

Victoria

[Docterror]

If you can be a bit more detailed about the immigration dates, I think we have a way out. Like-

1) When did he come back to the UK after the marriage?

2) How long did he stay together with the first wife and when did they stop living together? Does he have proof of having stayed together during this period?

3) What has he and she been doing till seperation and what have he been doing since the EEA wife left?

I need precise details to the month to look for a way through.