February 2020
In a case that Crystal worked on as a caseworker in another solicitor firm, a client approached Crystal for advice in relation to an application under EU-Settlement Scheme. The client is a non-EEA national without legal status in the UK. His girlfriend has obtained Settled status under the EU-Settlement Scheme. He wanted our help to regularise his status.
There were two crucial challenges in this case:
Firstly, he did not have a passport
Secondly, as they were not married nor had been living in a relationship alike marriage for over 2 years, and with no official evidence to show that they had been cohabiting, we had to convince the Home Office that their relationship was genuine and subsisting.
He claimed he lost his passport some years ago. In order to apply for a replacement from his Embassy in London, he had to submit a police report about the loss of passport from a police station in his home country. Since he had no legal status, he could not personally travel back home to do so. He therefore had to give power of attorney to his mother who went to the local police station and reported the loss of passport. She then sent a police report to him by post. With this report he obtained a new passport issued in London.
To solve the second challenge, firstly, we advised him to add his name on any official documents such as bills, council tax letters, TV licence wherever possible. Once he had received a document showing he was living in the same address as his partner, he could use this document to fulfil two purposes - one as a UK address required when submitting marriage notice, and two is to prove their genuine and subsisting relationship. While he was working on getting a new passport, he also started collecting evidence of cohabiting. One month later, he received his new passport as well as a number of documents with both his and his partner’s names. At that point, they were ready to submit marriage notice to Glasgow City Council.
From 2 March 2015, for a non-EEA national and those who do not have appropriate immigration status or the relevant visa, they must submit a Declaration of Immigration Status Form to the Home Office in order to get married in the UK. Their proposed marriage/civil partnership will be referred to the Home Office for investigation. Our client and his partner understandably were worried that he would be detained by the Home Office. To reduce their anxiety, we guided them step by step. The first step was to book an appointment with the city council. The second step was to help them complete marriage notice forms as well as the Declaration of Immigration Status form. We further made sure they had provided all required documents. The third step was to prepare them for any potential interviews by the Home Office and collect further evidence which the Home Office could demand during the investigation process.
Within 70 days they received the green light from the City Council and got married on the scheduled date.
As soon as they received the marriage certificate, we submitted an online application for EU-Settlement Scheme.
In the end, the client received a positive decision followed by a Pre-Settled Status BRP card within 20 calendar days of his application date.