How Can I Marry My British Husband Legally? please Help

Hi everyone,

I need your advice urgently as I need to make quick decision after waiting for two years not knowing what to do.
My husband is British citizen while I'm an illegal immigrant here in the UK. We did a church wedding two years ago in our church
which is a pentecostal church, but we couldn't legalize our marriage as I am not eligible to apply for certificate to marry.

We were planning to go to Nigeria after his graduation so that he can get a good job and so able to support me financially. Now I'm
pregnant and My Doctor said I might have to pay thousands of pounds for pregnancy care. It is also really hard to continue leaving
illegally in this country especially when the baby comes in to it and we want to sort this out before the baby is due.
I have an account running in Nigeria and I have some money going into it consistently.

However, I want to know if I can apply to support myself with my bank account statement in Nigeria and how long thus it take to go through the application process.

One of the Lawyers I've seen here also told me I can apply for COA "certificate of approval" to marry here in UK even as an illegal immigrant, thus anybody know anything about this.

She is "legally" married where? She has no legal status in the UK so under what code is she a "legally" married member of British society?

Go back to Nigeria o jare.

ouch 

Lol,th COA is only applicable to people with limited leave to remain in the UK.

You possible option is to apply for (FLR(m) as unmarried partner in a relationship akin to marriage(with documentary proof of at least 2 years of living together).
Your marriage in the church may not be recognised if a licence was not sorted from the Marriage registry by  your church for the marriage.
Since the father of the expected baby is British, the Baby will be British at birth(even when you are illegal).You have to pay for your NHS cost as an overstayer except you put in your application to the Home Office to regularise your stay before your EDD.
For an an accredited Immigration advisers contact website below.


http://www.oisc.gov.uk/

is your husband, Nigerian british or white british?

if white british, go together to naija; get married there and  you can apply for UK stay.

if nigeria british; good luck.

My advise for you is simple come back to naija and get married the apply for a spouse visa and then come back to Uk. The maximum time people spnd in naija for this is 3 months but i'm 100% sure if you get it right u can spend more than 1 month. This is if your pregnancy is in the early stage if not i would advise you to go after giving bith don't risk giving birth in naija.

As per medicals did you tell your doctor u are illegal? Are you not registered with a GP because there are thousands of illegally immigrants giving bith here even visitors.

I'll advise you wait for your husband to take up a job before applying at least for 6 months or if he his working fulltime now even if the salary is small u can  then  use your savings to support your application.

The documents you ned at the embassy are;

Evidence of relationship with husband - e.g. marriage/birth certificate, evidence of communication, photographs
 
Evidence of husbands immigration status in UK and copies of passport
 
Previous divorce papers for applicant/husband (if appropriate)
 
Evidence of employment and current financial circumstances of applicant and husband
 
Evidence of accommodation

As an illegal immigran you cannot get a COA lailai. If your husband can produce 6 months bank statemets and payslips and evidence that he can accomodate you in his house u should not spend more than 1 month d most i've heard of people spending is three months and thats because they don't get it right

Thanks everyone for your advice and criticisms. Thank you so much demi2008, your contribution has been most helpful in making my decision, we will be going to Nigeria in august and I will keep you updated with the progress, God bless you. x

Not totally true. If she is refused, she will spend nothing less than a year in Naija.

Do not forget that she is illegal in UK and looking at her case ''negatively'', they would probably think she is really desperate to get married so that she can regularize her stay and to ''cement'' the whole thing, she has chosen to get pregnant. Her preganancy cannot do the trick here so it will not really influence the ECO's decision, reason why, whether the baby is born in Naija or Taiwan, the baby is already eligible to citizenship thanks to the father's status.


I know someone that when through something similar just that the guy was illegal while the wife was legal and she was not pregnant. He was in Naija for close to 1year 6months (after being refused) but he appealed the decision and was eventually given the visa.



Brownbono is right. Do not make any hasty decision. Yeah, a very good lawyer will tell you what to do and give you various options.


Akolawole and VOR are also very knowledgable on such issues. If only, they could suspend their ''sabbatical'' 

In the light of your situation i am sure you have not provided enough information to your Solicitors to arrive at an up to decision on the right options.
If i may ask,
1.Do you have proof of your initial entry into the UK(Visa)(not very important)?
2.Do you have 2 years documentary evidence as a proof of your cohabition with your partner(utility bills,bank statement etc)?
3.Do you and your partner have an accommodation ?
4.Can you sustained yourself financially without recourse to public funds?

If the answer to the above questions is YES.I suggest your best option is to apply/submit an application for the extension of leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the UK.

NOTE:If there is an enforcement against you before your application is made to the Home office,your 2 years cohabitation will be lost.Applying for EC from Nigeria means you have to fulfill all the immigration requirement for a fiance/married/spouse visa.Finally be aware that overstayers will have a UK EC ban for up to 10 years as from October 2008.
I hope you will not bring the new baby into this brouhaha.

The Home Office have lost twice on the COA issue and is due for the House of Lords hearing.But its still closed to illegals except through the Church of England(but some vicars do request proof of residence)