We've just discovered my Wife's permit may be a fake! Help!

[Revelations378]

Hi folks, just wanted to get some help and advice in regards to my current situation.

Yesterday has got to be one of the worst days of my life. As I was getting ready for work yesterday morning my wife comes through and says 'some people from the UK border agency are here', in my living room stand two women in what look like stab-proof vests, with handcuffs around their waist etc. Needless to say it was pretty scary.

They were both pleasent, they asked to see my Wife's passport and asked a few questions. I've never discussed her residency status with her beyond the fact that we knew we would have to apply for a spousal one now that we're married (we've only been married 4 weeks).

Anyway, here's where it gets bad. My wife's old solicitor in London had advised her that he would arrange her residence permit for her, asked her filled out some forms and pay the UK Border Agency's fee off £2500. This was all before we met I should add. I know now that this was obviously a scam and the 'solicitor' (i used the accentuation there as anyone who can happily deceive someone like that surely can't be legit) had given my wife what appears to be a fake permit! Which the women informed us makes her an overstayer now.

So basically our entire life has crumbled around our ears, she has had to quit her job, she has to sign in at the police station every week and we're left in the horrible situation of not knowing what to do next. We had no idea that there was any problem with the permit, especially since to get married we had to see the diocesan who sent my wife's passport off to the UKBA who then confirmed it was ok for us to get married.

What is really playing at the back of my mind is that ours was a whirlwind romance, we met a little over 6 months ago, as Christians it was important to us to be married before we could live together and ... well... y'know! Having read a little about this over the past 24 hours it looks like the length of the relationship may be taken in to account in these situations.

I really don't know what to do next. This is terrifying, I'm trying to keep on a brave face for my wife but I really am falling apart. Do we need to get a solicitor? We've not got a lot of money, I've got a good job, but it's not THAT good, we've needed both of our wages to get by. I want to do the right thing and don't want to aggravate the situation, how do we go about applying internally?

Sorry for rambling and any spelling mistakes, I just really need some advice!

Thanks in advance.

[Lucapooka]

I suppose it`s possible that your wife was not complicit in this. However, it would be an extraordinary thing for a solicitor to act unilaterally so maybe you should ask her some serious questions. It will be a good opportunity to get to know her. Why is being a Christian relevant?

[Revelations378]

I suppose it`s possible that your wife was not complicit in this. However, it would be an extraordinary thing for a solicitor to act unilaterally. Why is being a Christian relevant?

I suppose our faith is irrelevant as far as things are concerned. It's just something I mention because it's a big part of our lives, but I guess in regards to the legal side of things it has no place here.

In regards to the obtaining of the permit, I can only tell it the way my wife has told me, as it happened years before we met. I do however trust her completely. It's not like she has ever attempted to claim any kind of benefit since being here and she has worked in the healthcare profession her whole time in the UK, I realise these things on their own don't form any kind of character reference to outsiders. She is not someone who was trying to abuse the system.

I can understand your scepticism though and I appreciate your taking the time to reply.

[pazpatel]

Hi folks, just wanted to get some help and advice in regards to my current situation.

Yesterday has got to be one of the worst days of my life. As I was getting ready for work yesterday morning my wife comes through and says 'some people from the UK border agency are here', in my living room stand two women in what look like stab-proof vests, with handcuffs around their waist etc. Needless to say it was pretty scary.

They were both pleasent, they asked to see my Wife's passport and asked a few questions. I've never discussed her residency status with her beyond the fact that we knew we would have to apply for a spousal one now that we're married (we've only been married 4 weeks).

Anyway, here's where it gets bad. My wife's old solicitor in London had advised her that he would arrange her residence permit for her, asked her filled out some forms and pay the UK Border Agency's fee off £2500. This was all before we met I should add. I know now that this was obviously a scam and the 'solicitor' (i used the accentuation there as anyone who can happily deceive someone like that surely can't be legit) had given my wife what appears to be a fake permit! Which the women informed us makes her an overstayer now.

So basically our entire life has crumbled around our ears, she has had to quit her job, she has to sign in at the police station every week and we're left in the horrible situation of not knowing what to do next. We had no idea that there was any problem with the permit, especially since to get married we had to see the diocesan who sent my wife's passport off to the UKBA who then confirmed it was ok for us to get married.

What is really playing at the back of my mind is that ours was a whirlwind romance, we met a little over 6 months ago, as Christians it was important to us to be married before we could live together and ... well... y'know! Having read a little about this over the past 24 hours it looks like the length of the relationship may be taken in to account in these situations.

I really don't know what to do next. This is terrifying, I'm trying to keep on a brave face for my wife but I really am falling apart. Do we need to get a solicitor? We've not got a lot of money, I've got a good job, but it's not THAT good, we've needed both of our wages to get by. I want to do the right thing and don't want to aggravate the situation, how do we go about applying internally?

Sorry for rambling and any spelling mistakes, I just really need some advice!

Thanks in advance.

Oh my god - I am sooooooo sorry to hear all of this and I am really lost for words.

I am unfortunatley not an expert and has just applied for a VISA for my wife who is in India so do not know much but to try and help and help others answer your question to the following answers may helps someone else help you (if that makes sense)

1 - What nationality is your wife?
2 - What was her previous VISA status?
3 - What is your nationality and what passport do you hold?
4 - What does or was she doing in her role?
5 - How long has your wife lived in the UK?

Also before you approach a solicitor, see what anyone else says on this site, if anything it might be worth contacting your local Citizen's Advise (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) Not sure if they can help but worth a try. Also if all above is true to your knowledge I cant see a reason why you cannot apply here in the UK and get it approved (just might be a bit of a head ache and long process)

Also I notice you say it might be fake..... So you may be paniking over nothing.

Again sorry to hear this news, keep us posted and hopefully someone else here can help or advise too.

[Revelations378]

1 - What nationality is your wife?
2 - What was her previous VISA status?
3 - What is your nationality and what passport do you hold?
4 - What does or was she doing in her role?
5 - How long has your wife lived in the UK?

Hi Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate your kind words. It's all such a shock at the moment, I've spent most of my days at work yesterday and today blankly staring at the screen!

1 - My wife is from Botswana

2 - Her previous VISA was a 2 year student VISA

3 - I'm British and I hold a British passport

4 - She was a dental nurse, although the week after the wedding she started a new job as a receptionist. Her dental practice was about an hour and a half bus journey from home so I suggested she got something closer to home while we applied at places more locally.

5 - She has lived in the UK for 8 years, working as a dental nurse for that entire time.

I feel so out of water here as I have to admit that until all this happened I knew absolutely nothing abut the whole immigration system worked in the UK!

[Gregarious]

@ Revelations378

Really shocked; I can imagine your circumstances. God makes things easy for you.

[syma]

1 - What nationality is your wife?
2 - What was her previous VISA status?
3 - What is your nationality and what passport do you hold?
4 - What does or was she doing in her role?
5 - How long has your wife lived in the UK?

Hi Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate your kind words. It's all such a shock at the moment, I've spent most of my days at work yesterday and today blankly staring at the screen!

1 - My wife is from Botswana

2 - Her previous VISA was a 2 year student VISA

3 - I'm British and I hold a British passport

4 - She was a dental nurse, although the week after the wedding she started a new job as a receptionist. Her dental practice was about an hour and a half bus journey from home so I suggested she got something closer to home while we applied at places more locally.

5 - She has lived in the UK for 8 years, working as a dental nurse for that entire time.

I feel so out of water here as I have to admit that until all this happened I knew absolutely nothing abut the whole immigration system worked in the UK!

Revelations i cnt even imagine how out of norms u must feel...but the sooner u get a grip of the situation the better it is for u..
getting advice from this forum is good but i really think you should get urself a good immigration lawyer, someone who is relaible & recommended. i realize it might cost you but really and truly this about ur family life and immigration issues can really sometime can make it worse.
so get a grip & get urself a immigration expert..
good luck!

[PaperPusher]

Has she been working full time? If so, since when? Has she been studying?Was it the student visa that was fake?

[Casa]

Paperpusher has highlighted two valid points. You say your wife has been in the UK for 8 years but on a Student visa for 2 years...although she has been working as a dental nurse. Has she been studying at all?
You appear to have married only recently. There would have been no requirement for the diocesan to 'send her passport to the UKBA' for permission to marry. There hasn't been a requirement for a Certificate of Approval (to marry) for some time...and prior to the COA being withdrawn, no permission was needed at all for marriages in a Church of England. Even those with no legal status are now able to marry as long as the Registrar or vicar believes the relationship is genuine.
Even without the visit from UKBA officials, your wife wouldn't be able to work on a Student visa in excess of 20 hours a week until she had been granted FLR(M) as your spouse.

[Revelations378]

Sorry folks, I wasn't very clear on things, like I said, it's all new to me so apologies in advance if I use the incorrect names for things. Until yesterday there had never been a need to discuss this sort of thing with her so I'm trying to recall how it was explained to me.

My wife came to the UK 8 years ago on a 2 working holiday visa, these years she was working as a dental nurse, after the 2 years were up she was given a student visa as she wanted to study dental nursing, I can't vouch for the hours worked but I'm sure she would have stuck within the allocated time frames. After this expired she got the permit (i think it's residence permit) that is suspected to be fraudulent.

In regards to the wedding we were told by the minister that we had to obtain a Common Licence, the procedure for this was going to see the legal diocesan, who took copies of both of our passports sent them to the UKBA, we had to wait about a week at which point we received a licence to get married.

Since my last post I've made an appointment with an immigration solicitor, the soonest I could get was next Thursday. I've also printed off the FLR(M) forms, although I'm not 100% these are the ones we'll be needing. Although I'm desperate to take immediate action (the last thing I want is for it to look like we're sitting back doing nothing) I'm going to wait until I speak to the solicitor. I don't want to be needless spending money on wrong forms or making things worse!

[PaperPusher]

Fraudulent? Does she have a genuine one that was fraudulently obtained?

What sort of permit was the fake/fraudulent one?

Another student visa? Indefinite leave to remain? Was it green with a green border?

You may have to accept that she will be expected to return to Botswana and make an application to return to the UK as a spouse there.

Do either of you have children?

[wqzh]

There is nothing called "residence permit" visa from homeoffice for foreigners, it must be fake one.

[Greenie]

There is nothing called "residence permit" visa from homeoffice for foreigners, it must be fake one.

yes there is - leave issued from within the UK is issued on a residence permit. They now take the form of Biometric residence permits for most applications but before that took the form of a vingette (sticker) in the passport - which says 'residence permit' on the top.

[Revelations378]

Like I said I may have got the name of the potentially fake permit wrong, the first I saw of it (apart from the usual looking at the pictures in each others passports, drivers licenses etc and having a giggle) was yesterday when they were going through the passport. From what I can recall it was laminated, kind of an off green colour and had my wife's picture on it. It was attached to the second or third page of the passport I think. Beyond that I'm not sure what it was like. Just to re-iterate the woman did say they suspect it is likely a fake and are going to check. So it musty be at least based on some kind of real document (ie not a completely made up title) otherwise they would have known immediately it was fake right?

We don't have any children, although before this all happened we decided we would try at some point in the near future, obviously that idea is out the window now until we know what is going to happen.

[Greenie]

Like I said I may have got the name of the potentially fake permit wrong, the first I saw of it (apart from the usual looking at the pictures in each others passports, drivers licenses etc and having a giggle) was yesterday when they were going through the passport. From what I can recall it was laminated, kind of an off green colour and had my wife's picture on it. It was attached to the second or third page of the passport I think. Beyond that I'm not sure what it was like. Just to re-iterate the woman did say they suspect it is likely a fake and are going to check. So it musty be at least based on some kind of real document (ie not a completely made up title) otherwise they would have known immediately it was fake right?

We don't have any children, although before this all happened we decided we would try at some point in the near future, obviously that idea is out the window now until we know what is going to happen.

there is no application that costs £2500 even now - so certainly not a few years ago. Did this include the solicitor's fee or did he just say it was the fee for the application? Does your wife remember the name of the sol and the organisation he worked for? Can she remember what form she completed? On what basis did she think she had been granted the permit (i.e. under what category did she think she had been granted leave to remain - as a worker, student etc?)

I would imagine that the permit resembles a genuine residence permit but is either a forgery or obtained fraudulently (assuming it is fake ).

Unfortunately residence permits in passports did not always state the basis on which the leave was granted (e.g. student) many just state either 'limited leave to remain' or 'settlement' which makes things rather difficult sometimes.