Getting married

[RRZ]

Can anyone please advise me on the rules about getting married to a failed asylum seeker, who is a foreign national with a deportation order? We have been together for more than two years (though not living together, but have evidence of the relationship - phone bills) and he was granted temporary admission from an IRC. He is from the Middle East and unable to or to be returned through lack of travel documents. I have been living in England for most of my life but was born in Southern Ireland and have an Irish passport. I have 3 children from a previous marriage and am now divorced. I am in permanent secure employment with my own home. Can you tell me what are the procedures to marry and once married can he work or are there any further restrictions/a time line before he can work and get status in the UK? Thank you.[/b]

[mochyn]

To marry you need a Certificate of Approval which he cannot get as he is a failed asylum seeker with a deportation order.The other choice is to marry within the Church of England but as you are a divorcee you cannot do this.
No good news I am sorry to say

[Wanderer]

U can apply under EEA rules which are far more lenient that UK ones. You should be able to switch in country this way but u will need to marry first which could be awkward, u'll need a CoA to marry, and it's known the UKBA use these to pinpoint a marriage of an illegal and pounce on the wedding day.

You could marry with a CoA in an Anglican church but maybe not so easily if you are Catholic, as it's at the descresion of the vicar. Being a divorcee is no barrier but it's a long shot anyway.

The deportation order is a worry, they could use a CoA app as a reason to pounce - is he required to report?

[Wanderer]

When did Mochyn get banned and why? did i miss summert?

[global gypsy]

I believe the admins got it wrong on this one.
mochyn has been a useful contributor to this forum, and it's a shame he has been banned.

[BLK235]

That's a pity Mochyn got banned.

What for?

[RRZ]

Thanks for the replies. He does report each week and has done so for the past two years. The HO know about me as I have written letters in the past explaining the relationship and our intention to marry in the future.

[Mr Rusty]

You say your relationship dates back 2 years, but you have not been living together for that length of time. Under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, once you have been living together for 2 years in a partnership akin to marriage (which is how they define "durable relationship" for the purposes of the Regs) he can apply for a Residence Card as an EEA Family Member.
If your relationship is on file and he is reporting as required, there's no question of him being arrested.
Seems to me that your game plan should be to bang in a CoA application. It's anybody's guess how long they would take to grant it, but if the second anniversary of his "moving in date" (or the earliest date of which you can supply proof) occurs before they do, then put in the Residence Card application.
You'll get there in the end.

[RRZ]

Thanks again. Once married what is the time line for work permit and full status?

[Mr Rusty]

Thanks again. Once married what is the time line for work permit and full status?

I'm very sorry, some of my previous advice may have been in error, as I've just unearthed this in the UKBA casework instructions:-

"However, under no circumstances should a person be granted a Residence Card on the basis of a durable relationship if they are not lawfully resident in the United Kingdom at the time that the application is made."

As your partner is subject to a Deportation Order, if the above is still current, then he won't qualify. However, the online info such as Caseworking Instructions can be notoriously out of date, and I thought that the question of illegal presence disqualifying EEA applications had been swept away by a judgement known as "Metock".

So I confess I don't know whether I'm right or wrong about that, but it still seems to me you have nothing to lose by applying for a Certificate of Approval to get married.

Perhaps someone else can advise further

[Mr Rusty]

Having made some further checks, I regret to confirm that the OP's partner, having no legal status in the UK, would probably not be granted a Residence Card under EEA Regulations. The "Metock" judgement to which I referred says that illegal presence in an EEA state does not disqualify "Family Members" from residence under EEA treaty rights, but this does not include "Extended Family Members" such as unmarried partners. UKBA is therefore not obliged to grant a residence card to someone in the OP's partner's situation, and judging by the casework instructions which I previously quoted, it is not their policy to do so.

The OP's only hope therefore is to apply for a Cert of Approval to get married. How long they take to make a decision on that is anybody's guess. As granting it would enable them to get married and successfully apply for a Residence Card, I can't see them rushing to make a decision.