Marriage breakdown and new relationship while ILR open

[Hugo]

I have met a woman who I want to start a relationship with. I am British. She is married to a British man and their marriage has broken down. They have been married for approximately three years and are still living together. The husband knows their relationship is over, but is not willing to separate.

She has an open application with the UK Border Agency for ILR and her husband said he will contact them to report the break down and cancel the application, which is to be expected. He would rather she is sent back to her home country than allow her to start a life with some one else.

We have not known each other for long, but I want to start a serious relationship with her. I am in a much better and secure position than her husband and can provide proof that I can support her, even if she is not working when she moves to my home town. She can move in with me so she will have a permanent address.

My biggest worry, looking at the ILR application form, is that we have only known each other for a very short time, so I do not know how this will affect the appeal for ILR. At the moment she is living with her husband in an unhappy situation - the only option is for her to leave and move in with me for us to start a new relationship.

What experiences and advice can you offer on the appeal and on these circumstances and situation?

Many thanks

[Lucapooka]

If her husband is no longer prepared to sponsor her ILR application, it can't be approved. If he has already contacted the UKBA, it won't be approved. Her leave will then expire and she will have little choice other than to leave the UK. If she wants to then make an application to return to the UK as your partner that is fine, but she would need to be legally divorced in order to do so.

[Hugo]

Thank you for the reply.

Looking at the UKBA page, it says that she has the right to appeal. Does this not count in this situation then? What does the appeal involve? How is it based?

[Greenie]

She can appeal but the appeal cannot succeed under the rules. She could argue private /family life grounds but unless she has lived in the UK for a significant period of time and/or has close family here i can't see those grounds succeeding either. Your 'relationship' doesn't particularly help her given that it is in its infancy and she is still married.

[Hugo]

Thank you for all your help. I think I have two last questions.

Would the appeal work if she was pregnant?

Her husband has not yet contacted the UKBA. If the woman remains with her husband until the ILR is complete, is she then free to leave to start a new relationship? Or will leaving so suddenly after create complications with the UKBA? Just to make it clear, she has paid for every thing herself and the marriage was legitimate but has not worked out, so there is nothing untoward here.

[Lucapooka]

It's not a matter of remaining with him or still being married; it's a matter of having his explicit endorsement of the settlement application. Your first comment indicated that he would be contacting the UKBA to withdraw this, and now you are suggesting that he may not. Obviously if he does not make contact to advise the UKBA of such changes in circumstances, that application may be approved in lieu of there being nothing to the contrary.

[Hugo]

It's not a matter of remaining with him or still being married; it's a matter of having his explicit endorsement of the settlement application. Your first comment indicated that he had contacted the UKBA and now you are suggesting that he has not. Obviously if he does not make contact during what is an on-going application, that application may be approved in lieu of no evidence to the contrary.

Sorry, for any confusion. She does want to leave her husband. We met each other and want to start a new relationship. The husband found out we met and wrote the letter to the UKBA but, to our knowledge, has not sent it. From what I understand, the husband believes we are no longer talking and nothing else is going on (we are talking, but that is purely it - there is nothing else going on).

She is currently living with her husband, in a tense situation, until the ILR is complete. In this circumstance, we do not think he will post the letter but he is using it to control her. It is a very unfortunate situation and she did not know what she was getting in to when she married him.

If the husband has not, and does not, send the letter, once the ILR is complete, is she free to leave her husband immediately? Or would this create a new legal complication? As I said, the marriage was legitimate, but there are too many issues and differences. The husband wants to continue the marriage and is unwilling to accept that they have no future.

If she is pregnant (very slight possibility), and the letter is sent as a result, would this gives grounds for an appeal under private /family life grounds? She only been in the UK for 2.5 years.

[Lucapooka]

She does want to leave her husband. We met each other and want to start a new relationship.

That's a contradiction and clearly remains the case only for the duration of her current immigration status. This is, already, a fraudulent application based on the events, but if undetected there's not much that can be done or said.

[rogerhill]

Hi Hugo whatever became of this? I am in a very similar situation and am looking for some advice.