[teacup41]

Just want to say what an excellent and useful forum this is as I have been reading a lot of threads and found it very good.

Not easy for me to ask this question as I have been through and still going through a lot. I am going through divorce proceedings and have suffered domestic violence for nearly the whole of my 16 years of marriage but glad that I finally made the heartache decision to put a stop to the pain I was suffering.

I split from my husband approx 18 months ago and I am in receipt of DLA and IS. My divorce proceedings should be finished next month and my solicitors say that I have a good chance to get the house in my divorce proceedings. There are no children involved and it was a long and painful marriage.

I am a Britsih born Pakistani.

In March 2011 I met someone in Pakistan when I went over to see my ill mother. He is a very close family friend and we hot it off the first time we met. I never thought that I would ever be able to trust another man after what I had been through...but I have changed my thinking. Since I came back we have been in contact with each other almost daily by email, tex and webcam.

I am very happy and so is he and our families and I was hoping that after my divorce was finalised I would go to Pakistan and get married. But since the new rules are about to come in I believe that I will be one of the many who will not be able to apply for their spouse to join them in the UK. It has been so long since I have felt happy and I was thinking that my life really was going to get better but now I am not sure.

I have been suffering ill health..mental pain due to the severe abuse I have been suffering from my husband and physical pain from a botched ectopic pregnancy. I believe that I will not have a leg to stand on if I want to marry again and bring my spouse over if I remarry and thinking that I should end it with him as soon as possible as it is not fair to carry on like this for both of us. This really has shattered my dreams as I have been through so much and just when I thought things were going to get better something like this happens.

I understand the rules are being placed for a lot of reasons..but the genuine people like me will also suffer. I was hoping of anyone could help and advise what I could do and if I stood any chance of being able to apply under some kind of special circumstances. I have GP record of my domestic abuse going back 13 years?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[teacup41]

Or maybe the new rules will outline that people on benefits and have a disability will not be able to marry abroad and therefore will not qualify. Have to wait and see what these new rules will say.

 

[Joppa]

Just want to say what an excellent and useful forum this is as I have been reading a lot of threads and found it very good.

Not easy for me to ask this question as I have been through and still going through a lot. I am going through divorce proceedings and have suffered domestic violence for nearly the whole of my 16 years of marriage but glad that I finally made the heartache decision to put a stop to the pain I was suffering.

I split from my husband approx 18 months ago and I am in receipt of DLA and IS. My divorce proceedings should be finished next month and my solicitors say that I have a good chance to get the house in my divorce proceedings. There are no children involved and it was a long and painful marriage.

I am a Britsih born Pakistani.

In March 2011 I met someone in Pakistan when I went over to see my ill mother. He is a very close family friend and we hot it off the first time we met. I never thought that I would ever be able to trust another man after what I had been through...but I have changed my thinking. Since I came back we have been in contact with each other almost daily by email, tex and webcam.

I am very happy and so is he and our families and I was hoping that after my divorce was finalised I would go to Pakistan and get married. But since the new rules are about to come in I believe that I will be one of the many who will not be able to apply for their spouse to join them in the UK. It has been so long since I have felt happy and I was thinking that my life really was going to get better but now I am not sure.

I have been suffering ill health..mental pain due to the severe abuse I have been suffering from my husband and physical pain from a botched ectopic pregnancy. I believe that I will not have a leg to stand on if I want to marry again and bring my spouse over if I remarry and thinking that I should end it with him as soon as possible as it is not fair to carry on like this for both of us. This really has shattered my dreams as I have been through so much and just when I thought things were going to get better something like this happens.

I understand the rules are being placed for a lot of reasons..but the genuine people like me will also suffer. I was hoping of anyone could help and advise what I could do and if I stood any chance of being able to apply under some kind of special circumstances. I have GP record of my domestic abuse going back 13 years?

I'm sorry to hear about your history as a victim of domestic violence and hope the wounds will heal soon and you will be able to start your life afresh.
The UKBA makes an exception for victims of domestic violence if you are a migrant subject to immigration control (grant of ILR), but it doesn't apply in your case as you are British. I can't find any special considerations for someone in your situation, trying to bring a non-EEA national as spouse into UK, but do disclose your history in a covering letter for a sympathetic treatment of your future husband's visa application.

As you say, we only have a leaked letter and we have no concrete information to draw on, but it does look likely that the minimum income requirement and other conditions for a spouse visa will be tightened considerably soon. £25,700 before tax has been mentioned, and I see no reason to doubt that the final figure is something very close to it. What we don't know yet is how the new rules will deal with savings and external sponsorship.

So unless you are in a position to apply before the end of May, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[teacup41]

Thank you Joppa for your sympathetic reply. I know it is not easy and getting back on the rollercoaster of a married life sometimes does put the chills up me but then again I feel that I have been through enough and want to see some happiness after many long years of abuse.

I cannot blame this government for cracking down on immigration rules as many have abused them....but it is not fair for them equally to paint everyone with the same brush. Yes we will have to wait and see what the new rules lay down and I am sure that there will be many objections and protests...like the 18 year rules was changed back to the 21 years one....but it may take a long time and I really wanted a shot again at married life before I get my pension .

I was thinking I could wrote a covering letter outlining my situation when I applied but not sure how much water that will hold as I am sure the UKBA has heard probably every sad and sympathetic story in the book...no harm in trying I guess but won't hold my breath.

I do know if I do get married and my spouse is allowed to come he will never be on benefits as my brother has his own business and there is no problem for work and employment with his company.

Thank you very much for your great response and I will keep posted on any updates...and I was hoping to go in August September this year if I wanted to get married so no chance of getting mt application in any time soon. Lets just hope that these new rules will not be as tight as a lot of us are thinking they will be.


xx

 

[AnAmericanInScotland]

Teacup, hang in there-don't give up hope!

I was ten years to meet a good man after my (very unhappy) 18 years marriage ended, and then another three years before I could bring myself to think things might actually be different this time with this fellow. Luckily he's a very patient man

The odds may seem against, but don't give up!

 

[teacup41]

Thanks AAIS....wow nice to know I am not the only one in the world going through what I am.

Sometimes it is easier to give up especially after someone has gone through what I have and to have an easy life with no money or men worries is a dream come true.

If anyone knew my history they would I am mad to even think about getting married again let alone to someone abroad. That is why in a way I do understand fully why these new rules are coming...as they would definately apply 100% to my soon to be ex husband.

Brief outline of my history:

I met my husband in 1994...love marriage against my families wishes...I was 23 so was he...two months after we married I had a horrific ectopic pregnancy.....then 8 months later he told me he came to the UK illegally and had no visa and was an illegal immigrant. Me being me did not have a clue what that word meant despite being born and raised in the UK.

Anyways....we got solicitors and it took approx 5 years to get his stay on the basis of marriage...little did I know when the Home Office called us for an interview he had already entered the UK twice before was caught and deported...but he did not tell me this info then.

Then in 1998 we bought a house....my husband started running up debt after debt going back and fro from India...and buying himself new taxis as he was a self employed taxi driver. Everytime I objected to what he was doing I was subjected to abuse and violence....and not being able to have children and marrying against my families wishes I found it easier and less shameful and accepted that this was the bed I made and I had to lie in it.

In 2003 my husband was made bankrupt and in 2005 I had to remortgage my house to pay off his trustee in bankruptcy which was £40,000.00. This however did not stop my husband making more and more debts after that. In 2007 he made me sign a secured loan which is secured on our house for approx £37,000.00. Since the day we bought our house in 1998 my husband has never paid any mortgage payment or secured loan payment. In the beginning I used to work and I was a manager of a post office with a good wage and a good life.

After remortgaging I had a nervous breakdown and my health deteriorated rapidly...mostly because of the abuse I was suffering behind closed doors...I applied for income support and disability allowance which I got straight away as my GP records showed evidence of my mental abuse and much more.

In 2011 I returned after a 3 week trip from Pakistan which I had the best time of my life....my husband became very violent and hated that I went...he had been going to India every year for 3 - 4 months at a time. Never did he ever take me with him neither do I know where he lived there. Last year I found out that he had remarried in 2006 in India and has 3 children.

I applied for a divorce last year in April...which is still ongoing. He now wants the house sold and a split of 50 50....but I am not going to let this go so easy as I have worked so hard for my house and he has not only abused this law and system but me also.

He has a ccj against him for approx £10,000 from HMRC as they gripped him for tax evasion.....he has done countless fraud and lied on the secured loan application...forged witness signatures...lied about his earnings and so much more I could go on forever.

With the secured loan money he bought a house in India where his other wife lives and he wants me to sell our house here in the divorce proceedings. It is a bitter battle and I have told my solicitor everything about his dodgy past....and all will come out in court which I am happy...after living like a dodo for so long things are finally looking up.

He is a very evil and dangerous man and has no respect for the law...I was very unforunate to have met him...and even more unfortunate for not having the will power to leave him sooner. But I have now and even though sometimes I feel my life has crumbled around me I am happy that he h=is no longer in my face.

I am being helped by my lovely brother to pay the secured loan payments and he has chosen never to pay anything yet he wants half the equity in the house..and this is what I am fighting him on in teh divorce proceedings.

So I understand completely that these new rules should apply to people like my husband...but not to the innocent people like myself and many others. I know he wants the house sold asap so that he can apply to bring his other wife and kids to the UK...but judging his HMRC records which I must say he has never paid a penny towards...these new rules will be a blow to him as he has children too.

I know what goes around comes around....and that is why I believe I shoudl be thinking about making my life better and never to end up with someone like him ever again.

I apologise if I posted too much details about my personal life but think it is important that people should know what some of us have gone through and are going through. Divorce is never easy for anyone especially if you were sad enough to marry someone like I did...if it were up to me he should be deported after everything he has and still is doing...but that is just my opinion....

I don't like to think that all men are the same as I know they are not...just a handful like him makes life difficult for everyone.

 

[AnAmericanInScotland]

One of the many changes to the rules being considered (according to the MAC report, see the thread titled £27,500... for a link to it) is to restrict new sponsorships from being undertaken within five years of receiving settlement. Perhaps between the two (income and restrictions on being a sponsor), your ex will be stymied?

I'm so glad to hear you have strong family support, your brother sounds like a true brother

 

[teacup41]

Yes I am lucky to have a great brother for support and was thinking that these new rules would make it harder for me to sponsor anyone then they will be almost impossible for my soon to be ex to sponsor wife number 2 and kids. I am over him a long time ago and I don't care what he does and does not do anymore. All I am interested in is getting my divorce and financial mess sorted out so I can heal myself and then decide what I want to do.

Ideally my mental state of mind has become much better since I left him...and after all of this is over I really would like to go back to work...as I really hate being on benefits and have been for many years. I enjoyed my job so much years ago....and would like to get back and meet people again and start enjoying my life as I once did. I know it will not be easy as I really do suffer from abdominal pain and also alot of other physical pain...but the thought of doing something positive I believe could improve my pain to.

If after all this divorce crap is over and I am able to find work..then get married and sponsor someone that would be ideal and that is what I want...but it is too early to say. I don't want to depend on benefits for ever...I had a nedical test with ATOS a few weeks ago and I passed the test...but deep inside I really would like to start work again...but cannot at present.

Thanks for your support xx

 

[teacup41]

Been a long time since I last posted on here but have been following quite a few threads on the new immigration rules that have come.

I have made quite a lot of progress with all that I have been going through and all thanks to a good solicitor acting for me.

I have now sorted out all the problems with the repossession and divorce as my solicitor helped to resolve all these matters without going to a hearing and my ex husband has agreed to a consent order which is very much in favor and that is that he transfers his half of the house to my name and we have a clean break. A lot has been done to do this but finally it is over.

I am hoping to within the next couple of months try and get myself back to work....as I have been completely crippled mentally claiming benefits for so long. From the age of 16 up to about 6 years ago I was in work...and due to ill health and mental problems during my marriage had to stop work and resort to benefits. I know it will not be easy but I am looking very much forward to be able to start work again.

My question that I would like to ask is that I intend to get married at the end of the year from Pakistan....bt do not understand the new rules fully. In order for me to be allowed my spouse to come and join me would I have to show earnings and income of £18,600.00? that is the part I am a bit confused on.....

I used to work as post office manager prior to claiming benefits and my salary at that time was approx £16,000.00 a year....not sure what it is nowadays but just wanted to ask and be sure before I find a job.

Any help or advice would be great as I have been following the threads on this matter and there is so much info that it really has gone over my head lol....

 

[Joppa]

Been a long time since I last posted on here but have been following quite a few threads on the new immigration rules that have come.

I have made quite a lot of progress with all that I have been going through and all thanks to a good solicitor acting for me.

I have now sorted out all the problems with the repossession and divorce as my solicitor helped to resolve all these matters without going to a hearing and my ex husband has agreed to a consent order which is very much in favor and that is that he transfers his half of the house to my name and we have a clean break. A lot has been done to do this but finally it is over.

I am hoping to within the next couple of months try and get myself back to work....as I have been completely crippled mentally claiming benefits for so long. From the age of 16 up to about 6 years ago I was in work...and due to ill health and mental problems during my marriage had to stop work and resort to benefits. I know it will not be easy but I am looking very much forward to be able to start work again.

My question that I would like to ask is that I intend to get married at the end of the year from Pakistan....bt do not understand the new rules fully. In order for me to be allowed my spouse to come and join me would I have to show earnings and income of £18,600.00? that is the part I am a bit confused on.....

I used to work as post office manager prior to claiming benefits and my salary at that time was approx £16,000.00 a year....not sure what it is nowadays but just wanted to ask and be sure before I find a job.

Any help or advice would be great as I have been following the threads on this matter and there is so much info that it really has gone over my head lol....

You must be in a job for at least 6 months that pays you annually at least £18,600 gross in order to meet the minimum maintenance requirement as sponsor. If your income is less than that, you can add from your savings, but to do so, you need at least £16,000 and 2.5 times the amount of shortfall, So if you only earn £16,000, you need to have in savings £16000 + (£18600 - £16000) x 2.5 = £22500. You can add certain other sources of income such as investment, interest, rental and dividend but not most forms of contributory and non-contributory benefits like housing benefit, income support, JSA and tax credits. Neither can you have external financial sponsors such as a relative giving you a set amount per month or acting as a safety net. They can still offer you free accommodation.

There is a detailed discussion in http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/soi-fam-mig.pdf pages 18-21 and 39-55.

 

[teacup41]

Thank you Joppa for your continued great advice. Sorry I did not reply sooner but my dad has just had major heart surgery and have been very busy with mum and trips to the hospital.

Soon I am going to do my C.V which will be great fun as there will be lots of long gaps in it due to not having worked for so long, nevertheless I am going to do my best to do as well as I can.

The £18,600.00 income threshold seems quite high and I am not sure if I will be able to find a job which pays that income but I am going to keep trying after tying up a few last bits and bobs.

I was thinking on the other hand would it be better to apply for a fiance visa? rather than having to go over there...get married and apply from here as a sponsor for a spousal visa?

I mean going abroad costs alot and to be honest I really am looking forward to starting work again but don't know which would be a better option. If I applied for a job now and got one within the next couple of months then I would not want to apply for a holiday so soon in to it to go abroad to get married and would be so easier and less expensive to apply for a visa for my future spouse from the U.K. That way I would be able to work 6 months without a break to prove that I met the income requirements?

Any thoughts on this please or suggestions? Would a fiance visa be better to apply please?