Separating because my Sponsor Cheats on me in our marriage.

[peter38]

Hello moderators,
I am a Nigerian who came to the UK in January 2010 on a student visa which expires June 2011. After this I changed to Post study visa which expires June 2013. I later went back to Nigeria to apply for another Student visa and came back to the UK 2months after starting my studies in September 2013 which ended in September 2014.
I started depending on my wife(English British lady) as my sponsor in January 2015 after we got married. In the same year 2015, we had a child together who is now 3years old.

I have completed the first 2.5years and presently on the second 2.5years in which I should be due for Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in January 2020.

Now she confessed to me she cheated on me because she's no longer happy in our marriage. However, she wants us to separate and go our separate ways.

I understand I can switch my spouse visa to that of family/parent visa based on the child we have together.
She is however suggesting to me we can pretend to still be married till January 2020 so as to be able to apply for my ILR without switching visa category. She said she is more than happy to receive my correspondents at our house and she will be happy to provide me with the necessary documents I will require when the time comes for my ILR.

Please I need your advice on this if this is advisable.
- If not, do we need to get divorced before I can switch to family/parent visa?

-How will i proof to the Home Office that we are separated in order to apply for parent route visa?

-If I switch to parent route visa, will I still be eligible for ILR in 2020 based on long resident in the UK bearing in mind that I went out of the UK to Nigeria in 2013 to change my visa back to student category.

These above are the questions disturbing my mind. I will be grateful for your advice on these as I need to know what my next line of action should be.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[equitydealer]

If you’re separated and no longer in a subsisting relationship there is an obligation to inform the Home Office of your situation. You can not pretend to remain in a relationship to get ILR. If you’re found out you risk a 10 year ban for deception.

Your best path is to apply for leave to remain on the basis of being a parent and separately you’ll need to start divorce proceedings if that’s the path you wish to take.