My Wife Has Neglect Our Marriage After 3 years plus..

[Josephdela]

Good evening Helpful People,

Please I need advise, my wife has left me, we've been married since August 2014.
After we spent Christmas and New-year together, she went home briefly but on coming back our marital relationship has been very rocky/hellish and said she is quitting our marriage for good.

Feb 10th , she went home a second time to Hungary and till date has not returned. on Saturday last week, she updated our Facebook profile as separated and on Monday, she updated hers with a new job, indicating she is now working at a local bank.

All very shocking and disorientating news for me, we have lived very ''lovey dovey'' since our marriage and could not have imagined our marriage disintegration in such short time, I am the non EEA citizen and my current EEA visa was issued in Oct 2014 and due for renewal in Oct 2019.

Please offer your best advice, how do i cover my immigration circumstance so i do not have any issues come Oct 2019, is this a case or abandonment?

thank you

D Joseph.

[Obie]

She seem to have dropped you in a bit of a mess. How long had she been residing in the UK before she left, and how long has she been a worker or self-employed person in the UK?

[secret.simon]

Rather unfortunately, if your EEA citizen wife has ceased to exercise treaty rights in the UK, your right to reside in the UK has ceased, irrespective of the dates on your Residence Card.

In order for you to reside in the UK, your EEA citizen spouse needs to be resident and exercising treaty rights in the UK. Even if she is separated and living in a different part of the UK, it is OK. But she needs to be exercising treaty rights or have PR in the UK.

You will not be able to retain the Right of Residence in the UK, because part of the requirement for that is that the EEA citizen spouse must be exercising treaty rights in the UK on the date of the decree absolute, which, if she is working in Hungary, is unlikely.

[Josephdela]

She has been working since 2012, with the same company until she left.

[Obie]

You may be able to retain a right of residence on completion of divorce, as she will be a person with a right of Permanent Residence on termination of your marriage.

[Josephdela]

She seem to have dropped you in a bit of a mess. How long had she been residing in the UK before she left, and how long has she been a worker or self-employed person in the UK?

She has been working since 2012, with the same company until she left.

[Josephdela]

You may be able to retain a right of residence on completion of divorce, as she will be a person with a right of Permanent Residence on termination of your marriage.

What do you suppose entails or the criteria for retaining a right of residence on completion of divorce and are we able to do this divorce remotely and on time, considering she is not in the UK?

[Josephdela]

Rather unfortunately, if your EEA citizen wife has ceased to exercise treaty rights in the UK, your right to reside in the UK has ceased, irrespective of the dates on your Residence Card.

In order for you to reside in the UK, your EEA citizen spouse needs to be resident and exercising treaty rights in the UK. Even if she is separated and living in a different part of the UK, it is OK. But she needs to be exercising treaty rights or have PR in the UK.

You will not be able to retain the Right of Residence in the UK, because part of the requirement for that is that the EEA citizen spouse must be exercising treaty rights in the UK on the date of the decree absolute, which, if she is working in Hungary, is unlikely.

Is there not a chance, that I can retain a right of residence on completion of divorce?

[Obie]

If she has a right of Permanent Residence, i do not think her absence from the UK breaks her continued residence.

[Josephdela]

If she has a right of Permanent Residence, i do not think her absence from the UK breaks her continued residence.

Sorry, i may be misunderstanding our point, she is the EEA citizen, how do you mean, if she has a right of Permanent Residence?

[Obie]

The problem is, is she ready for a divorce, and is she prepared to divorce you and sign the court papers.

Perhaps you should speak to her and establish the way forward.

[Josephdela]

[quote=Obie post_id=1610385 time=1521248118 user_id=36693]
The problem is, is she ready for a divorce, and is she prepared to divorce you and sign the court papers.

Perhaps you should speak to her and establish the way forward.

I have spoke about this already but she is not wiling to offer the divorce/sign any divorce papers, to make matters worse, I tried speaking to her yesterday and this morning but appears she has blocked me from on our Facebook/whatsapp. so far my emails too, hence she can't be reached.

what are my best option, to divorce in absence, prior leaving the country/my job and small business(recently started) considering i may not be eligible for further residency?

[Obie]

Have you got evidence of her employment over the years, and how long did you reside as a couple?

[Josephdela]

Have you got evidence of her employment over the years, and how long did you reside as a couple?

We stayed together as couple 2 and half years.

Most of the documents that i currently have are not related to proof of employment, just bills but i can ask her to provide them but its hard to say how forth coming she ill be,she does not write back, she's literally unreachable with the move to Hungary. believe have tried and tried.

Bank statement
council Tax

[Obie]

You may have to try a bit more if you wish to stay or make arrangements to leave.

She will need to sign divorce papers for starters and her employment documents are essential too, if there is to be any head way.
You also need to decide whether your marriage has irretrievably broken.

[Josephdela]

You may have to try a bit more if you wish to stay or make arrangements to leave.

She will need to sign divorce papers for starters and her employment documents are essential too, if there is to be any head way.
You also need to decide whether your marriage has irretrievably broken.

Okay, i guess i have to start the divorce, thank you.

Question: will advice the use of lawyer to file the divorce taking into account we have no real financial involvement, so i can do a DIY divorce and save on fee and ect

[Obie]

That is an assessment which you and only you can make, as I do not know your capacity in law or divorce process. You do have to bear in mind that if they you divorce without a right of Residence on day of termination you will not be able to retain a right of residence.

[Josephdela]

Thank you for your response.

so I am the none EEA citizen, so your point is before the termination/divorce of marriage, or to put this clearly for my understanding, before i sign a divorce form or embark on any form of divorce procedure, I have to first obtain a of right of Residence ?

Note that my current EEA visa was for five years and off course subject to renewal October next year.

please clarify these point for me so i can know the way forward..

[Josephdela]

That is an assessment which you and only you can make, as I do not know your capacity in law or divorce process. You do have to bear in mind that if they you divorce without a right of Residence on day of termination you will not be able to retain a right of residence.

I have just been doing some more reading, by '' right of residency'', you mean ''retained rights''. I have to apply for this immediately the divorce is finalized or while its ongoing?

[thsths]

You will find quite a few similar messages on this forum.

In theory, a person should be protected by EU law in case of a divorce, although in reality this can be a difficult pass. You would need her cooperation for the application, which is something that could be agreed in the divorce settlement. Even then it is going to a challenging process, because the home office is very keen to find a reason for refusal. You may well have to go to appeal, and you may find it difficult to prove your right to work in the mean time.

If you have another option for a visa, e.g. a Tier 2 visa with sponsorship by your work place, that may be worth looking into.

[Josephdela]

You will find quite a few similar messages on this forum.

In theory, a person should be protected by EU law in case of a divorce, although in reality this can be a difficult pass. You would need her cooperation for the application, which is something that could be agreed in the divorce settlement. Even then it is going to a challenging process, because the home office is very keen to find a reason for refusal. You may well have to go to appeal, and you may find it difficult to prove your right to work in the mean time.

If you have another option for a visa, e.g. a Tier 2 visa with sponsorship by your work place, that may be worth looking into.

Bro, what if i divorce and have the option to re-marry, can I not use that route and apply for a new RC with my new wife ?

[Obie]

You cannot apply for a new wife at present. If i were in your shoes, my main concern will be sorting myself out before someone else.

It is unclear whether you may be able to stay in the UK, so your focus must really be on sorting yourself out first.

[Josephdela]

You cannot apply for a new wife at present. If i were in your shoes, my main concern will be sorting myself out before someone else.

It is unclear whether you may be able to stay in the UK, so your focus must really be on sorting yourself out first.

Obie, thank you but please note this is 100% a case of:

1) she is not willing to speak to me and i cannot contact her in anyway whatsoever, she has choose not to hear my voice, does not care about my circumstances, neither wishes to know or speak to me in any capacity whatsoever.

2) As we stand, if where to initiate the divorce proceedings , i don't have an address for which to serve her right away and i potentially cannot provide one. if we had a huge friend circle this may have been helpful but am afraid not, as it stands am on my own at the moment. No wife, so supporting docs to sort my self out.

3) SO MY OPTIONS are 0: I understand will be best to first sort myself out, but seeing this is not realistic, what could be my option moving forward while i initiate divorce proceedings?

a) New Visa category if i qualify?
b) Remarry in the future using my current visa?

pls is none of the above feasible or this issue has currently closed all other path or options for me?

[Josephdela]

Good news, I am getting response. I can provide the following
1)Bank statement (with our old address while leaving together)
2)Employment letter and that she is working remote from for her company in Hungary doing a product lunch for 2 months after which she will return but has refused to disclose her address.
3)she will provide Payslip.
4)We also have a joint bank statement at the moment showing her name and mine.

The one problem being is is not willing to provide her passport because of traveling., CAN I make an application without submitting her PP, is this feasible to APPLY FOR RETAINED RIGHTS WITHOUT THE PASSPORT?