Hello everyone!
I hope some of you can help me as my husband and I are in the process of applying for the UK Spouse visa and we're not sure whether we should bother...
He's Australian and I'm British.
Please forgive this super long post. I felt details were important.
My husband has a criminal record from 2015 until 2018 in Australia (from when he was 20 till 23). In those years, he has done three months in jail for 'Failure to Appear in Accordance with the Undertaking'' ie. he missed his court date, which in itself is a pretty huge deal, excluding everything else. He has a string of convictions such as possessing utensils that had been used (grinder), failure to appear..etc.
He also has a violent offence on his record - assaults occasioning bodily harm, which earned him intensive corrections order for 12 months in 2015. He was later re-sentenced and his sentence was reduced by the judge. He completed the ICO as instructed.
So the reason for the string of criminal offences (though not an excuse) are as follows:
It started when his mother got diagnosed with cancer. He started acting up, drinking and smoking and choosing pretty terrible company, but no convictions of any kind. In 2014, his mother died of bowl cancer after a 5 year battle, and he was unable to deal with it. He was 19 at the time. His dad and him didn't always see eye to eye, but when his mother died, they started rebuilding their relationship together. They got things off their chest and they started to become close as they were both grieving. But that didn't last either, because exactly a year and two months after he lost his mother, his father died. His heart gave out and he found his dad dead, face down on his mother's bed (where she was receiving home care before her death, not their actual marriage bed).
So about this time, he started using drugs, drinking heavily and hanging out with the sort of people that you don't want to be around. He still had his older sister though, so not all was lost! But then it was, because his sister wanted what she was entitled to from the inheritance, and refused to be bought out for the house. The lady who lived across the street and was best friends with his parents was helping him sort out the house until his sister threatened her with solicitors. The lady pulled her support away and his sister sold his house under him.
The house situation was retold to me by the very lady who lived across the street. She explained why she had to pull away from helping my husband after the solicitor's letter came to her instructing her not to interfere anymore.
He lost his entire family and became homeless all within a year and a half. He has not seen nor spoken to his sister since 2015.
Since he had no home, he would couch surf from place to place and any of his ''new friends'' that would give him a place to stay.
Obviously, none of this is an excuse, but it is a major contributing factor to his horrible criminal record.
Long story short, he ended up being sexually assaulted by one of his friends who gave him a room to stay. He woke up to his friend pulling his boxer shorts down while he slept. He kicked him when he woke up and realised what was happening, then ran out and slept on the street that night. He never reported it.
Shortly after this incident he started taking meth. This also caused him to start acting 'tougher' because that helped him feel like he was more in control... which in turn led him to disobeying the police (obstructing police - conviction) and wilful damage (put his foot through a shop window). He was convicted of that too and was made to pay restitution.
He missed his appointments/court dates because he became drugged out of his mind so often that the days bled into one another and he'd not remember when he'd have to go or where. This, coupled with being homeless, any letters that came from the government just kept going into the house that was sold by his sister. Although unoccupied, he couldn't just stroll in and pick up his mail. That's breaking and entering and even at that time, he wasn't stupid enough to do something like that.
Apologies, this story is pretty messed up, but it does actually get better.
Anyway, he ended up living with a drug dealer and his girlfriend and their three kids (it's still messed up, but it will get better in a paragraph or two). He paid rent of course. The place was safe as nobody would enter his room at night, but in exchange for that security and a roof over his head he had to take ownership of at least one utensil should the cops ever raid the place. (So the drug dealer will take possession of one thing, his missus of another and my husband of something else, so that the drug dealer doesn't end up in jail). Like I said, none of these people are the people anyone would want to be around.
One good thing that came out of that is that he stopped using meth when he started living with the said drug dealer (ironic) and had been clean for 18 months now without relapse. Given, the drug dealer sells only weed, but still.
Since we met, my husband has not been in any trouble with the law, going on well over a year. We were married in March 2019 in Australia. We lived there together for the past 10 months while I was still on my visitor visa.
He has cut off all contact with his previous acquaintances, including the drug dealer he lived with and moved out of his hometown into the city. He has been working (something he hasn't done before) and he was able to get his own place (something he hasn't had before), which we shared while I was in Aus (lease in both of our names). He has been completely drug free (including weed) for over a year now and meth for over two years. He was stopped and searched four times over the past year without any incident, illicit substances found on him and with his full cooperation (again, something that hasn't really happened before).
In addition, he has worked hard to support us both while we were in Aus because I was on a visitor visa and thus not allowed to work. His goal when I arrived in Australia was to get us a place to live away from his hometown, which he did (with great difficulty, but he did it). He started working in sales and as it turns out, he's really good at it. Last month he was promoted to a team leader.
He credits his transformation to me, but I don't think that's true. It's all him. You can't change people if they're not willing to change. The improvement is his alone. Turns out, all he needed was for someone to love and care.
So now that I've told you my husband's life story and his string of offences (and three months in prison!), is it worth even bothering to apply?
He's written a statement expressing remorse, explaining what he did wrong and why and how he has improved and how he's planning on improving further.
Just to be clear, he isn't blaming his circumstances on everything that happened. It was his attitude and consequently his actions which have brought him where he was and effectively excluded him forever from certain professions and paths in life at only 24 years old. (In case you're wondering, I'm 4 years older than him).
I would like to be home, even though I love Australia (and if this doesn't work out, we will be off to try in Aus). He would like to to leave Australia and get a clean slate, where he won't bump into any people from his past ever again, and since there is nothing and nobody left for him in Australia he is willing to come with me.
Given, I'm in the same situation as him regarding family. I've lost both my parents, I've no siblings or any other family, but I do have my mum's house which i inherited and where we would live. (Just FYI, we also meet the financial requirement via savings).
He has a lot of convictions, which will brand him as a persistent offender with particular disregard for the law (in addition to only 3 years passing since his 3 month incarceration), but would any of his circumstances warrant discretion in any way? Or is this a completely lost cause?
Should we risk it? I'll take a 50/50 chance...
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my long post. Again, apologies for this post being so long.
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