Separated From Son Due to Loss of Visa After Divorce
Discussion
I was wondering if anyone here could offer advice on a situation that I am currently trying to help a friend with.
Bit of background...
Friend (educated and willing to work) comes over here with wife and son, 3 years ago, on a visa. She is the full time worker and my friend spends most of the time looking after the child.
The relationship breaks down. There may be infidelity (but cannot be proven) as wife has changed faith, starts driving around in another persons expensive car.
Wife now wants a divorce and to remain in the UK with child, which I believe would mean my friends visa, which runs out at the end of February can no longer be renewed.
My friend and his son are devastated as this would mean him going back home (Asia) and basically not being in the childs life.
I am clueless, however, I am trying my best to work out what options are open to him with regards staying in the UK and being part of the childs life.
From what I have read, would this qualify for "right to a family life" under Act 8 of the Human rights law?
I am planning on going with him to the local Citizens Advice Bureau to see what they can recommend, however, if anyone on PH can provide any guidance, it would be very much appreciated.
Bit of background...
Friend (educated and willing to work) comes over here with wife and son, 3 years ago, on a visa. She is the full time worker and my friend spends most of the time looking after the child.
The relationship breaks down. There may be infidelity (but cannot be proven) as wife has changed faith, starts driving around in another persons expensive car.
Wife now wants a divorce and to remain in the UK with child, which I believe would mean my friends visa, which runs out at the end of February can no longer be renewed.
My friend and his son are devastated as this would mean him going back home (Asia) and basically not being in the childs life.
I am clueless, however, I am trying my best to work out what options are open to him with regards staying in the UK and being part of the childs life.
From what I have read, would this qualify for "right to a family life" under Act 8 of the Human rights law?
I am planning on going with him to the local Citizens Advice Bureau to see what they can recommend, however, if anyone on PH can provide any guidance, it would be very much appreciated.
MattsCar said:
I was wondering if anyone here could offer advice on a situation that I am currently trying to help a friend with.
Bit of background...
Friend (educated and willing to work) comes over here with wife and son, 3 years ago, on a visa. She is the full time worker and my friend spends most of the time looking after the child.
The relationship breaks down. There may be infidelity (but cannot be proven) as wife has changed faith, starts driving around in another persons expensive car.
Wife now wants a divorce and to remain in the UK with child, which I believe would mean my friends visa, which runs out at the end of February can no longer be renewed.
My friend and his son are devastated as this would mean him going back home (Asia) and basically not being in the childs life.
I am clueless, however, I am trying my best to work out what options are open to him with regards staying in the UK and being part of the childs life.
From what I have read, would this qualify for "right to a family life" under Act 8 of the Human rights law?
I am planning on going with him to the local Citizens Advice Bureau to see what they can recommend, however, if anyone on PH can provide any guidance, it would be very much appreciated.
Get your friend to seek proper advice, the immigration authorities would seem a good place to start.Bit of background...
Friend (educated and willing to work) comes over here with wife and son, 3 years ago, on a visa. She is the full time worker and my friend spends most of the time looking after the child.
The relationship breaks down. There may be infidelity (but cannot be proven) as wife has changed faith, starts driving around in another persons expensive car.
Wife now wants a divorce and to remain in the UK with child, which I believe would mean my friends visa, which runs out at the end of February can no longer be renewed.
My friend and his son are devastated as this would mean him going back home (Asia) and basically not being in the childs life.
I am clueless, however, I am trying my best to work out what options are open to him with regards staying in the UK and being part of the childs life.
From what I have read, would this qualify for "right to a family life" under Act 8 of the Human rights law?
I am planning on going with him to the local Citizens Advice Bureau to see what they can recommend, however, if anyone on PH can provide any guidance, it would be very much appreciated.
The fact that he was married and also has a child I imagine would probably make a big difference to how they would view his situation
https://www.gov.uk/visas-when-you-separate-or-divo... (read both pages).
Basically, they will have to apply for a visa on one of the grounds outlined in the second page. The Home Office is unlikely to forcibly separate them from their child in practice, but if the spouse (and therefore the child) only have limited leave this may not be straightforward because there isn't a specific visa route for this situation. Getting a sponsored job would likely be the cleanest option. An immigration advisor would be a good place to start for more specific advice.
Basically, they will have to apply for a visa on one of the grounds outlined in the second page. The Home Office is unlikely to forcibly separate them from their child in practice, but if the spouse (and therefore the child) only have limited leave this may not be straightforward because there isn't a specific visa route for this situation. Getting a sponsored job would likely be the cleanest option. An immigration advisor would be a good place to start for more specific advice.
hidetheelephants said:
If the divorce hasn't happened yet he wants to drag his feet as much as possible, as long as they're married he shouldn't have any difficulty renewing the visa.
If he's a dependant on her visa, he can only renew if she includes him in the renewal application. Staying on good terms might be a better idea than f
king her around if that's where this is heading. This happened to my someone I know well. His wife recognises the value of having their daughter's father in her life, and states that they are still in a relationship when the visa renewal comes up. After (I think) five years, he'll have a permanent visa, and there will be no need for the lies. I'd advise your friend to stay on good terms with the ex, despite what she may or may not have done.
So, to put an end to this.
I sat down with my friend and had a chat and he has come to the conclusion that even if he were to stay in the UK, life would be very difficult with a basic job/wage and not something he would be happy with.
Rough calculations were that after single room accommodation/ expenses, he would have about £20-30 a day to live on.
He has decided to return home and while he will miss his son, he will do the best he can to be in the childs life.
In all honesty, from what I have gathered, he has been under the clutches of a rather self centred, uncaring, controlling and nasty piece of work and this will allow him to draw a line and move on with his life.
I sat down with my friend and had a chat and he has come to the conclusion that even if he were to stay in the UK, life would be very difficult with a basic job/wage and not something he would be happy with.
Rough calculations were that after single room accommodation/ expenses, he would have about £20-30 a day to live on.
He has decided to return home and while he will miss his son, he will do the best he can to be in the childs life.
In all honesty, from what I have gathered, he has been under the clutches of a rather self centred, uncaring, controlling and nasty piece of work and this will allow him to draw a line and move on with his life.
MattsCar said:
So, to put an end to this.
I sat down with my friend and had a chat and he has come to the conclusion that even if he were to stay in the UK, life would be very difficult with a basic job/wage and not something he would be happy with.
Rough calculations were that after single room accommodation/ expenses, he would have about £20-30 a day to live on.
He has decided to return home and while he will miss his son, he will do the best he can to be in the childs life.
In all honesty, from what I have gathered, he has been under the clutches of a rather self centred, uncaring, controlling and nasty piece of work and this will allow him to draw a line and move on with his life.
20 -30 a day, I've lived off less, and put some in consolidated interest products for years making the sum worth more whilst building credit, starting with three 150 - 250 GBP limit building cards and hopping my lender to pay no interest, the limits and lenders grew, until premium lenders came along and more than tripled my total credit limit, got into buy to let with others to 100% buy property and take small sums of the rent, moved on after opening a business saw 5 times what a lender would normally give at that point, from multiple lenders, and he can start a few business groups and build something for his son when he is gone.I sat down with my friend and had a chat and he has come to the conclusion that even if he were to stay in the UK, life would be very difficult with a basic job/wage and not something he would be happy with.
Rough calculations were that after single room accommodation/ expenses, he would have about £20-30 a day to live on.
He has decided to return home and while he will miss his son, he will do the best he can to be in the childs life.
In all honesty, from what I have gathered, he has been under the clutches of a rather self centred, uncaring, controlling and nasty piece of work and this will allow him to draw a line and move on with his life.
Unsure if he can do the same in UK atm with visa, or at home, so make due consideration for that and what son wants, as son may like uk and want his dad too.
Alickadoo said:
MattsCar said:
In all honesty, from what I have gathered, he has been under the clutches of a rather self centred, uncaring, controlling and nasty piece of work and this will allow him to draw a line and move on with his life.
But then, we have only one side of the story.However, there are details and facts, I won't go in to them, that makes me confident in stating the above.
NFT said:
20 -30 a day, I've lived off less, and put some in consolidated interest products for years making the sum worth more whilst building credit, starting with three 150 - 250 GBP limit building cards and hopping my lender to pay no interest, the limits and lenders grew, until premium lenders came along and more than tripled my total credit limit, got into buy to let with others to 100% buy property and take small sums of the rent, moved on after opening a business saw 5 times what a lender would normally give at that point, from multiple lenders, and he can start a few business groups and build something for his son when he is gone.
Unsure if he can do the same in UK atm with visa, or at home, so make due consideration for that and what son wants, as son may like uk and want his dad too.
Not sure if this is serious? Or if I have not explained myself? After Accommodation costs and bills, he would have £20-30 a day to buy food/ petrol/ cover car repairs/ clothes. He is not going to be building a property empire on that, that is living near enough on the breadline.Unsure if he can do the same in UK atm with visa, or at home, so make due consideration for that and what son wants, as son may like uk and want his dad too.
Edited by MattsCar on Sunday 14th January 14:36
Depends if he can build his credit, that opens the doors, I was on 150 a week after bills at one point, spotted a clever trick having two old cars, some insurers offer zero charge cancelation canceling within 14 days statutory rights to cancel, so I pretty much had free insurance by constantly swapping between the cars and insurers, I think there was 12 at the time that offered zero charge if canceling within 14 days and no claims, with a friend who did the same leaving us only suffering one car tax bill, and drove only 40 miles a week in total at the time,
I was skint with no credit history, just a business idea, went self employed and reasonably predicted my revenue for the first year,
I started with a handful of starter cards, about 600 GBP or less in total, within 6 months my starter cards all had increased limits, 7k or more I think, within a year, I had picked up 2 new cards at less interest and had over 30k in available credit limit in total, about 4k debt bouncing around lenders using the 30 days interest free period before taking advantage of my pot of cash to pay one and put bills on another to prevent any balance carrying over on a card, seeing no interest occur, except occasional laziness on my part, other lenders started sending their offers, one was a 7k interest free balance card for 5 years, less interest offers came through door for better lenders cards at 4-6% interest, their limits quickly grew when original cards grew to compete with offers slashing their interest to try get my trade on seeing better less interest taking lenders came along, got into buy to let paying as little as 10% of property, taking a share of the rent, property values double over the years which is where the investment actually was, tenant slowly returns original investment until later its been paid for and house you can use for secured loans paid down be tenants rent or sell, when I started my first business I was told they normally offer 5x more than a current lender at the time, and it was the same for every business of a few limited companies I grouped up and contracted between as other customers came along.
I was skint with no credit history, just a business idea, went self employed and reasonably predicted my revenue for the first year,
I started with a handful of starter cards, about 600 GBP or less in total, within 6 months my starter cards all had increased limits, 7k or more I think, within a year, I had picked up 2 new cards at less interest and had over 30k in available credit limit in total, about 4k debt bouncing around lenders using the 30 days interest free period before taking advantage of my pot of cash to pay one and put bills on another to prevent any balance carrying over on a card, seeing no interest occur, except occasional laziness on my part, other lenders started sending their offers, one was a 7k interest free balance card for 5 years, less interest offers came through door for better lenders cards at 4-6% interest, their limits quickly grew when original cards grew to compete with offers slashing their interest to try get my trade on seeing better less interest taking lenders came along, got into buy to let paying as little as 10% of property, taking a share of the rent, property values double over the years which is where the investment actually was, tenant slowly returns original investment until later its been paid for and house you can use for secured loans paid down be tenants rent or sell, when I started my first business I was told they normally offer 5x more than a current lender at the time, and it was the same for every business of a few limited companies I grouped up and contracted between as other customers came along.
NFT said:
Depends if he can build his credit, that opens the doors, I was on 150 a week after bills at one point, spotted a clever trick having two old cars, some insurers offer zero charge cancelation canceling within 14 days statutory rights to cancel, so I pretty much had free insurance by constantly swapping between the cars and insurers, I think there was 12 at the time that offered zero charge if canceling within 14 days and no claims, with a friend who did the same leaving us only suffering one car tax bill, and drove only 40 miles a week in total at the time,
I was skint with no credit history, just a business idea, went self employed and reasonably predicted my revenue for the first year,
I started with a handful of starter cards, about 600 GBP or less in total, within 6 months my starter cards all had increased limits, 7k or more I think, within a year, I had picked up 2 new cards at less interest and had over 30k in available credit limit in total, about 4k debt bouncing around lenders using the 30 days interest free period before taking advantage of my pot of cash to pay one and put bills on another to prevent any balance carrying over on a card, seeing no interest occur, except occasional laziness on my part, other lenders started sending their offers, one was a 7k interest free balance card for 5 years, less interest offers came through door for better lenders cards at 4-6% interest, their limits quickly grew when original cards grew to compete with offers slashing their interest to try get my trade on seeing better less interest taking lenders came along, got into buy to let paying as little as 10% of property, taking a share of the rent, property values double over the years which is where the investment actually was, tenant slowly returns original investment until later its been paid for and house you can use for secured loans paid down be tenants rent or sell, when I started my first business I was told they normally offer 5x more than a current lender at the time, and it was the same for every business of a few limited companies I grouped up and contracted between as other customers came along.
A lot of that would be extremely tricky with a very flaky temporary immigration status, not to mention needing to find thousands of pounds for immigration fees and health surcharge on top of normal living expenses. I was skint with no credit history, just a business idea, went self employed and reasonably predicted my revenue for the first year,
I started with a handful of starter cards, about 600 GBP or less in total, within 6 months my starter cards all had increased limits, 7k or more I think, within a year, I had picked up 2 new cards at less interest and had over 30k in available credit limit in total, about 4k debt bouncing around lenders using the 30 days interest free period before taking advantage of my pot of cash to pay one and put bills on another to prevent any balance carrying over on a card, seeing no interest occur, except occasional laziness on my part, other lenders started sending their offers, one was a 7k interest free balance card for 5 years, less interest offers came through door for better lenders cards at 4-6% interest, their limits quickly grew when original cards grew to compete with offers slashing their interest to try get my trade on seeing better less interest taking lenders came along, got into buy to let paying as little as 10% of property, taking a share of the rent, property values double over the years which is where the investment actually was, tenant slowly returns original investment until later its been paid for and house you can use for secured loans paid down be tenants rent or sell, when I started my first business I was told they normally offer 5x more than a current lender at the time, and it was the same for every business of a few limited companies I grouped up and contracted between as other customers came along.
I didn't want to spell this out earlier because I don't think most of us would want to admit defeat without a fight but without financial and practical support from the breadwinner and visa holder this scenario was always going to be absolutely brutal for the OP's friend so while it's a hugely sad outcome I'm not surprised he's ended up at that conclusion.
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