Friend might be being used for a visa

stinkybeard

A friend of mine has been dating a guy from West Africa for almost 18 months. She met him on an online dating site. He has apparently been in the UK for around 9 years on some form of (student) visa.

After about 8 months he had moved in with her (from London to Hampshire). He now has a part time nursing job and apparently travels to London to study.

When she mentioned he was going to move in I suggested that she might seek legal advice to ensure that in the event things turned sour that her home etc would all be safe. She has not done this, much to my consternation.

He has now told her that his visa runs out in September and he will have to leave the UK.......unless she marries him by March. He claims that the career for which he has been studying is no longer one for which permanent visas can be granted - apparently the care role has been removed since the Conservatives / Coalition came into office (not sure how all this works).

She says that she loves him dearly does not want to be without him, can't bear the thought of him going and has started looking at wedding dates.

I have dared her to get married to him without seeking proper legal advice. She is now complaining of the potential cost of such advice and I am pointing out that it is cheaper than losing her house (and more) which she has struggled to keep hold of for many years.

Can anyone offer any advice or steps that she should take to protect herself? I appreciate that this is an internet forum and I appreciate that disclaimers apply to anything anyone posts.

I don't know this guy well enough to have any feelings about his intentions. I just cannot bear to see my friend lose everything through blind love.



Thank you for any helpful input.

VestanPance

He's been on a student visa for 9 years! No course is that length for a full-time student.

More to the point nobody should ever get married for any other reason than wanting to commit to someone for life. My visa is running out is no grounding for a marriage.

stinkybeard

I have of course already pointed that out. But, if she ain't going to listen to me.....?!

balletshoes

The danger is OP, that if you judge her relationship so harshly to her face, and offer her no support, she'll just ignore every piece of advice you give her because its not what she wants to hear.

I'd try this from a different angle. He seems a bit confused about his visa status, so I'd suggest to his girlfriend that she gets involved in sorting that out so that everything is legal and above board. If she sees the visas he's had, the one which is due to expire etc, she can use the UK visas website to get the current law on where he goes from here, to be able to stay legally in this country. Marrying her does NOT automatically give him right to remain in the UK, so best she gets as much information about this as possible.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/

zzzLazyDaisy

If she insists on going ahead, at least get her to have a pre-nuptual agreement drawn up to protect her home. It is commonly thought that pre-nups are unenforecable in England, as that was in fact the case until fairly recently (note, the law is probably different in Scotland, I can't comment on that).

She should have it properly drawn up by a solicitor who knows what they are doing (yes it will cost, but nothing like as much as losing her home).

A prenup isn't water-tight as the courts still retain an over-riding power in divorce to adjust property shares, but the court must have regard to the wishes and intentions of the parties to the pre-nup.

So, for example if a woman signs a prenup and the man later leaves her with three young children and nowhere to live, the courts would be likely to over-turn the pre-nup.

But in your friends case, unless the man's circumstances changed drastically for the worse, or he made a significant financial contribution to the property, the court would probably maintain the status quo (don't let him pay the mortgage or pay for an extension or other major works to the house).

Some info here

http://www.prenuptialagreementsuk.co.uk/enf-prenuptial-agreements-uk.php

stinkybeard

Thank you for the replies so far.

I have had to bite my tongue so much it is like a sieve. I am treading very carefully as I know her well enough to know she will stop listening to me if I have a rant about it.

I am completely clueless about the visa side of things and I am sure she is even more so. Anything slightly complicated or boring and she switches off. I live 150 miles from them so can't just pop in and ask him for a squizz at his documents. Which is a shame.

Her line is, he can't be all bad because he has said why he wants to get married

balletshoes

to be honest, I wouldn't appreciate any of my friends asking for a "squizz" at my boyfriend's visa documents either - that would appear to be the height of cheek to me!

Thats why I suggested you get your friend to do it - from the angle that everything gets put on legal and above-board footing for his visa, both now and in the future. If they do decide to get married, you could say to your friend that getting the visa sorted out properly by following the law as per UK visas, will allow them to move forward in their lives together without fear that at some point he will be removed from the UK because his visa is invalid. Again, point out that marriage is no guarantee and no protection against his visa being rescinded/refused.

Errata

Fair play to him, he's a great forward planner: find a vulnerable woman on an internet site, court her, move in with her, propose marriage - all nicely timed so he doesnn't get kicked out of the country.

Mojisola

Won't he have to produce official paperwork for the registrar?

balletshoes

Mojisola wrote: »

Won't he have to produce official paperwork for the registrar?

yes he will - and his current visa might not allow him to get married in the UK without first returning to his own country of nationality to change his visa status.

zzzLazyDaisy

My cousin got caught like this by a nigerian on a dating site. He was resident in UK, so it wasn't a visa issue, and fortunately she wasn't yet divorced, so he couldn't charm her into marrying him (though he was clearly working up to that). But the patient way that he 'groomed' her over a period of a couple of years was scary. In the end he took her for thousands of pounds.