My Elder sister and her husband got a 6 month visiting visa to UK. It was their first time of traveling out of the country. I was very happy for them when the visa was issued. But to my surprise before they travelled, her husband resigned his job and moved all their stuff to the village. Now with both of them in the UK, they have refused to come back. I have spoken to my sister several times and my husband has spoken to her husband on the difficulties and dangers of living in the UK as an illegal immigrant.
My sister said her husband told her she can return to Nigeria if she so desires but he is adamant about remaining in the UK as an illegal immigrant. I have this feeling that her husband might be pressed by circumstances to marry someone else in order to secure legal status in UK.
Since my husband and myself have lived in the UK and currently live abroad together, I am concerned because I have seen people who have been stuck for many years abroad and are currently stuck with very limited options.
I do not want her to feel like I am against her traveling or living abroad, but I don't want her to live abroad with her husband as an illegal immigrant. Please I need your advice on what you think I can do or say to convince them to return to Nigeria before their 6 months visiting visa expires. Thank you for you thoughts and suggestions

bobblue:

My Elder sister and her husband got a 6 month visiting visa to UK. It was their first time of traveling out of the country. I was very happy for them when the visa was issued. But to my surprise before they travelled, her husband resigned his job and moved all their stuff to the village. Now with both of them in the UK, they have refused to come back. I have spoken to my sister several times and my husband has spoken to her husband on the difficulties and dangers of living in the UK as an illegal immigrant.
My sister said her husband told her she can return to Nigeria if she so desires but he is adamant about remaining in the UK as an illegal immigrant. I have this feeling that her husband might be pressed by circumstances to marry someone else in order to secure legal status in UK.
Since my husband and myself have lived in the UK and currently live abroad together, I am concerned because I have seen people who have been stuck for many years abroad and are currently stuck with very limited options.
I do not want her to feel like I am against her traveling or living abroad, but I don't want her to live abroad with her husband as an illegal immigrant. Please I need your advice on what you think I can do or say to convince them to return to Nigeria before their 6 months visiting visa expires. Thank you for you thoughts and suggestions

The more you try to advice them against it the more they will see you as enemy of progress, if i were you i will back off and watch them learn from experience.

Don't bother pushing it any longer, wish them good luck and move on.

supported navigation advice,back them off, was in uk some years back,thing were not all that rosy,even with hsmp, some of us left uk.the new immigration rule is really tight. the husband cannot even marry on a visit visa, as it has been banned long ago.
wish them good luck lol

the deed is done, no advise can overturn it.

direct them to Nairaland and if Justwise can be so kind to add links to the horror stories so they can read it and if they also have questions they can ask.

That husband of hers is very irresponsible for quitting his job, he could have just taken a leave of absence to test out the waters and decide later now they will be in the UK depending on other people who will grow tired of them quickly. Then they will turn around and blame a witch for stopping their success.

The deed has been done and they are mature enough to be responsible for their actions.
Let them be.

omega25red:

direct them to Nairaland and if Justwise can be so kind to add links to the horror stories so they can read it and if they also have questions they can ask.

That husband of hers is very irresponsible for quitting his job, he could have just taken a leave of absence to test out the waters and decide later now they will be in the UK depending on other people who will grow tired of them quickly. Then they will turn around and blame a witch for stopping their success.

I don't think anything will make them change their minds now, experience is the best teacher.

unfortunately UK encourages IILEGAL IMMIGRATION despite all the noise they make about tightening immigration, within the past 6 months I have seen at least 2 people and heard aboout many more who have been granted leave to remain without restriction by the same UKBA picking on soft targets like students and work visa holders. A large numbers of these people either have no visas at all to the UK or have overstayed their welcome but they rely on a loophole in human rights law that allow them to stay here especially if any of their children is born in the UK.

What annoys me is that these set of people being granted leave to remain really have no business being here in the first place, a lot of them are uneducated and without any distinguished skills and they immediately go on benefits while skilled workers are frustrated on daily basis in the name of tightening immigration. UK govt never cease to amase me, OP leave your sister alone honestly i won't be surprised if they eventually sort themselves out somehow in the future mark my words.

just leave them since they wont listen anyway.



they've already burned their bridges [the man quit his job].

tunnytox:

unfortunately UK encourages IILEGAL IMMIGRATION despite all the noise they make about tightening immigration, within the past 6 months I have seen at least 2 people and heard aboout many more who have been granted leave to remain without restriction by the same UKBA picking on soft targets like students and work visa holders. A large numbers of these people either have no visas at all to the UK or have overstayed their welcome but they rely on a loophole in human rights law that allow them to stay here especially if any of their children is born in the UK.

What annoys me is that these set of people being granted leave to remain really have no business being here in the first place, a lot of them are uneducated and without any distinguished skills and they immediately go on benefits while skilled workers are frustrated on daily basis in the name of tightening immigration. UK govt never cease to amase me, OP leave your sister alone[b] honestly i won't be surprised if they eventually sort themselves out somehow in the future[/b] mark my words.

That's one of the riddles of life.

I guess we can't say circumstances lead them to their decision because they (especially the husband) already planned on staying back even when their visa expires. It would've been easier if it was the man alone. He can tuff it out and later have his wife or family join him later but with two of them there and am sure their application back in naija has them as married it won't be easy at all! But like almost everyone has said, they won't listen to anything you're advising them on now especially since the man already quit his job back home. In his mind he has no job or even money to go back to or to reestablish himself! So for him it's this way (illegal) or no way! Make God help am!

it might not be entirely bleak depending what skills he has and knows he will be working behind the curtain most times: so he may try any of the following

a) Sewer cleaning
b) Backroom kitchen hand
c) Warehouse bet fist fights
d) He can page some grannies-Needs networking
e) offcourse he becomes an easy meal for dope distributors

his cv definitely wont be impressive

Also one doesnt know the type of inspirational books he has been reading of late or his pastor's teachings.

Depending on how old he is and the amount of realistic information he may have seen it as calculated risk. Even SA would have paid him more than Uk

Onyeara: supported navigation advice,back them off, was in uk some years back,thing were not all that rosy,even with hsmp, some of us left uk.the new immigration rule is really tight. the husband cannot even marry on a visit visa, as it has been banned long ago.
wish them good luck lol

Wrong. That rule has been overturned a long time ago. Anyone can now get married regardless of your immigration status as certficate of approval is no longer needed.

Morayo747:

Wrong. That rule has been overturned a long time ago. Anyone can now get married regardless of your immigration status as certficate of approval is no longer needed.

Yes but marriage certificate only will not get a you a stay, when you send in your application for a stay then the issue of your status before you got married will resurface

justwise:

Yes but marriage certificate only will not get a you a stay, when you send in your application for a stay then the issue of your status before you got married will resurface

Agreed. The application process will not be as straight forward as someone with say a student visa i.e they will need a lawyer. However, because of the rights to family life EU rules I guarantee you anyone now married to a UK or EU citizen will be successful in getting leave to remain regardless of their immigration status before.

Morayo747:

Agreed. The application process will not be as straight forward as someone with say a student visa i.e they will need a lawyer. However, because of the rights to family life EU rules I guarantee you anyone now married to a UK or EU citizen will be successful in getting leave to remain regardless of their immigration status before.

Not true, right to family life becomes a stronger weapon when kids are involved else you will be frustrated for yrs wasting money from one immigration lawyer to another, without appropriate visa the church or registry may refuse to wed you even.

If anybody can marry and get a stay regardless of his or her immigration status then there will be few illegal immigrant in the UK, people can just land with visiting visa and arrange marriage, and get their papers.

justwise:
[/b]

Not true, life to family life becomes a stronger weapon when kids are involved else you will be frustrated for yrs wasting money from one immigration lawyer to another, without appropriate visa the church or registry may refuse to wed you even.

If anybody can marry and get a stay regardless of his or her immigration status then there will be few illegal immigrant in the UK, people can just land with visiting visa and arrange marriage, and get their papers.

See this is why initially people without any sort of visas were marrying UE ctcizens because EU law allows everyone to get married without proper status arguing that its against human rights not to do so. UK tried to block that by saying ok if you want to get married to a british citizen then you need a certficate of approval. But now thats been cancelled.

I know for a fact that no church or registry will refuse to marry you since May 2011 or ask for your visa to allow you get married. They will only ask you for an ID which can be a brand new Nigerian passport(easily obtainable at Nigeria house). They can only report to UKBA if they suspect that the wedding is fake. And this is not hear say I know several people that have taken advantage of this rule.

Manwhile back to the original post if the man and the woman already declared they are married when they were applying then it will be foolhardy to even attempt to go down that this road. Yes maybe try and get some legit chick pregnant and claim paternity rights of some sorts but not marriage...

Morayo747:

See this is why initially people without any sort of visas were marrying UE ctcizens because EU law allows everyone to get married without proper status arguing that its against human rights not to do so. UK tried to block that by saying ok if you want to get married to a british citizen then you need a certficate of approval. But now thats been cancelled.

I know for a fact that no church or registry will refuse to marry you since May 2011 or ask for your visa to allow you get married. They will only ask you for an ID which can be a brand new Nigerian passport(easily obtainable at Nigeria house). They can only report to UKBA if they suspect that the wedding is fake. And this is not hear say I know several people that have taken advantage of this rule.

Manwhile back to the original post if the man and the woman already declared they are married when they were applying then it will be foolhardy to even attempt to go down that this road. Yes maybe try and get some legit chick pregnant and claim paternity rights of some sorts but not marriage...

I'm saying that getting married is not the issue here but applying for a stay after marriage is where the problem comes in.

If anybody can get married and get a stay then you wouldn't have illegal immigrants in the UK.

justwise:

I'm saying that getting married is not the issue here but applying for a stay after marriage is where the problem comes in.

If anybody can get married and get a stay then you wouldn't have illegal immigrants in the UK.

You think?? How comes then that some stupid students with Long visas still end up as illegal immigrants. Its not everyone who is sharp enough to get a woman to do it for them or rich enough to afford to pay for it...My people suffer for lack of knowledge. Fact.

To add to what morayo747 said, it is easy to get married here now, irrespective of your status, l just did mine last week.

akin707: To add to what morayo747 said, it is easy to get married here now, irrespective of your status, l just did mine last week.

And to add to that too....its not about getting married, its about getting a stay with that marriage certificate, you lot seem to be hammering on marriage, marriage and marriage, yes anybody can get married but not everybody with marriage certificate gets a stay.

justwise:

And to add to that too....its not about getting married, its about getting a stay with that marriage certificate, you lot seem to be hammering on marriage, marriage and marriage, yes anybody can get married but not everybody with marriage certificate gets a stay.

Ok then tell me just 1 example that you know of that got married and wasn't given a stay unless it was proved that it was a fraud? Its right to family life so once you're married that's it.

Its obvious JUSTWISE is just trying to discourage people from sham marriage but the obvious truth is marriage to a british citizen automatically gives you the right to remain regardless of your previous status before the wedding took place.... I understand what JUSTWISE point is about, We should encourage such as a way to remain in the uk. Let's not create an avenue for more illegal imigrants. Its just keep giving nigerians bad name

Except children are involved resident permit will not be approved just because you're married to a British citizen. However, if you're married to EU citizen you may have more rights whether children are involved or not. It all depends on your circumstances and how knowledgeable your lawyer is as there are many loophole to play around with.

Just wise

If he marries someone else for his papers, what are his chances?

jennykadry: Just wise

If he marries someone else for his papers, what are his chances?

If he marries legally then he got no problem, but since he came in as a married man he needs to divorce his wife first before marrying another person and in order to avoid length immigration battle, if he is holding a visitor's visa he needs to go back to Nigeria to marry that person then re-enter with spouse visa.

Initially you get the paper after 2yrs of marriage but now its 5yrs.

I guess they did not carry out their research properly before leaving Nigeria.

What if he seeks asylum?

jennykadry: I guess they did not carry out their research properly before leaving Nigeria.

What if he seeks asylum?

There is no strong ground for asylum as a Nigerian, Nigeria is not Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan, they will struggle to come up with valid reasons why they should be grounded an asylum.

tunnytox: Except children are involved resident permit will not be approved just because you're married to a British citizen. However, if you're married to EU citizen you may have more rights whether children are involved or not. It all depends on your circumstances and how knowledgeable your lawyer is as there are many loophole to play around with.

Wrong. If you are married you have a right to stay. Where children come in is if you are not married but have kids with someone who's British even without being married to them then you have what is called a paternity right to a family life. The best interest of the child overrides nay immigration cockup. There's no longer any real difference between EU citizens and British citizens. Like I said earlier that's why the certificate of approval has been cancelled. Your argument is obsolete.

justwise: [/b]

There is no strong ground for asylum as a Nigerian, Nigeria is not Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan, they will struggle to come up with valid reasons why they should be grounded an asylum.

Correct. Asylum for a Nigerian? You go try gan.

Morayo747:

Wrong. If you are married you have a right to stay. Where children come in is if you are not married but have kids with someone who's British even without being married to them then you have what is called a paternity right to a family life. The best interest of the child overrides nay immigration cockup. There's no longer any real difference between EU citizens and British citizens. Like I said earlier that's why the certificate of approval has been cancelled. Your argument is obsolete.

If you're married to a British citizen and you're illegal or on visitors visa you cannot change your status without first returning to Nigeria. In fact the new rule for spouse of British citizens and settled migrants stipulates that either of you or both must be earning above £18000 (or thereabouts). However, if you are married to a EU citizen you do not have to meet this earning criteria. Your argument about paternity right to family life is right but other stuffs you posted above is nothing but fantasy. Some people are given discretionary leave to remain not because they meet the criteria but out of sympathy and that may not set a precedence for any similar case.

Modified!