Advice and clarification needed please.

[Sheyna.Ali]

Hi.

I came to the UK in 2000 and overstayed on my visa for 2 years. I returned back to my country of my own expense and was not caught by immigration.

I met my husband while he was holidaying here and we stayed in contact. He then came here and we got married and have been living here together for a year. He now wants to return back to England. Therefore he has to apply for a spouse visa. He has a good job and has sorted out accomadation.

I want to know am I subject to the new bans that have been set in place. I left at my own expense and way before any of these rules came into play. (I think it's the mandatory refusal rules under para 320 (7))

Should I avoid mentioning that I had previously overstayed or worked in when I was in Scotland?

I am very grateful for any advice. Thanks.

(I am from Kazakhstan just thought I'd add that)

Sheyna

[sakura]

You should not lie on the application form. If they ask for any previous overstays, you should mention it. Failure to do so could mean that if they later find out, your application could be refused for misleading information. The HO are very clever about finding out these types of things, so it is better for you to be honest and explain yourself thoroughly.

I don't think you are subject to the automatic refusal, anyway, since it happened in 2002, so you should be OK.