Editha

It seems to be the problem is whether hunttr's marriage will be recognised in the UK, given that it was a 2nd wife marriage, and he only divorced the 1st wife later. In the UK, the second marriage would not be valid, and he would have to remarry wife 2 after the divorce from wife 1. However, the 2nd marriage was valid in Pakistan, and I don't know what the law is in the UK -- whether the marriage will be recognised or not. My hunch is that it won't be and hunttr should go through another form of marriage with wife 2.

However, this is a legal question, and the opinions of us non-lawyers are not going to help him much. What I don't understand is why he has had conflicting advice from lawyers in the UK. This can't be a unique situation, and I'd be very surprised if the law is really unclear. I suggested that hunttr looks at the qualifications of his advisors. He should be getting advice from a solicitor or barrister specializing in immigration law.

Editha

This set of questions and answers on a legal advice page does appear to confirm my original hunch, that hunttr will have to marry his wife again to make it valid: http://www.justanswer.com/uk-immigra...-marriage.html

huntter

thanks all for reply.
i have been told by some solicitors that since i married 2nd wife before the divorce in UK with first wife therefore according to UK law I was not allowed to marry in UK or any other country untill the decree absolute was obtained hence i was advised to go either fiancee or un married partner route.
So though my 2nd marriage is ligitimate under pakistani law and it can be proved well beyond doubt that its not a bogus marriage,under UK law my wife and kids cant come to UK on Spouse visa.
Just to remind you all reading this post heres how it went:
1.Went to pakistan in 2004 and did nikah with 2nd wife.
2.Obtained ILR in 2004.
3.obtained decree absolute in 2007.
So this is my story and different opinions from lawers have had me well confused uptill now and with solicitors advice best route seems to be fiancee visa. but i am still undecided as you just get one shot at it and despite lengthy and expencive appeal procedures just the visa fee for four is appox.
£3,200 atleast.So i want to give it my best shot with Allah and you guys help So pls.All put your heads togather and help.

Mummy in the foothills

I'd take the path of least resistance and save money, if the lawyers say a Fiancee visa and then re marry in UK do it that way.
Rather than try to do it using the Nikah marriage and fight the refusals of the UK to recognize a marriage that happened before your decree absolute.

huntter

thanks i am on birth certificates of my kids plus we have a fmily data form in pakistan that is called B-Form which lists record of all the family members i.e.
Me and my wife and kids and that is the legal proof e.g.when me and my wife and Son wanted to travel to middle east We had to submit that to obtain pakistani passp orts for my wife and son so that they could travel.
So i think you have a point there the only problem is what category to apply for and after going through edithas link which im thankful to her ,fiancee route seems to be the best option as un married partner visa demands 2years living togather which is not the case.Though i have atleast visited my family twice a year since 2004 uptill now im not sure if that counts as living togather for 2years the maximum we stayed togather was one year in pakistan apart from that its been a two or three months stay during each visit {twice a year}.

Mummy in the foothills

I'd follow the advice a good Lawyer gives, not an immigration agent. A real Immigration solicitor Lawyer.

concretepump

and thats just for , the cost getting there and back

moneypenny20

I know little about the legal situation of your case but apart from the excellent advice you've had, especially from Editha about getting advice from a specialised Immigration Lawyer, I would also suggest that now you have your Decree Absolute, could you not get married (legal in the eyes of the rest of the world) and go from there? If your name is on the birth certificates of your children, and you can prove you travel to see them regularly and you are legally married in the eyes of British Immigration, the Immigration department are going to be a lot easier to deal with. I should have thought anyway.

Good luck with it and congrats with the baby.

huntter

yes moneypenny thats a good point aswell does that mean i go back and re marry my wife and show that we were not married and after having three kids now we have got married.I know this is a common practice in UK but not in pakistan.But nothing stops me from doing that its same as renewing your marriage wows in UK and as far as the first nikah is concerned legally uk law does not consider it to be ligitimate so an application for a spouse visa after registering the marriage shouldnt be a problem it just depends what the visa officer keeps in mind while considering our visa application i.e.
to follow the UK law and consider my second marriage as ligitimate or use his hind site and keeping in mind the laws and practices in pakistan as im sure the visa officer will be well versed in local mariages such as nikah .
Also why didnt any of the lawers i have consulted gave me the advice that you have given it sounds pretty good to me as UK law does not aceept my first nikaw but after the decree absolute my new nikah in UK law should be considerd as ligitimate as since 2007 i am free to marru un.der UK law.
but having said that on some of the forums i have seen people refused spouse visa as they did nikah before decree absolute and registerd there marriage soon after the decree absolute in pakistan and submitted that as marriage certificate.Reason in one spouse visa application given for refusal was that you did nikah before decree absolute and registerd your marriage one day after recieving decree absolute.Now the guy says Under UK law you dont consider my first nikah to be ligitimate any way but UK law accepts registerd mariages in pakistan as proof so hes appealing now.

pennylessinindia

Having read all the posts on this I believe it is too complex to be answered on here and I hope the mods will let me post this site that has many persons in very similar situations:
www.immigrationboards.com
Your second marriage is not recognised by the UK, so should you try and apply for a spouse visa this will not be permitted. It may be possible to consider a fiancée visa given that you are now legally divorced. I would think there will be a lot questions as to whether your first marriage was one of convenience, but in a sense this is now not relevant. If you are legally in the UK it would be hard to challenge now. You will need some good documents to show that the children are actually yours, given your past marriage etc.

Your work and travel details do not sound convincing and I do not think you will be able to show that you meet the financial requirements.

Before you travel to Pakistan you will need to be clear about what visa she will apply for and how you will show you will meet the maintenance and accommodation requirements.

From what you have shown to date I imagine that you will find it hard to get a visa without a lot of support from an experienced immigration advisor and some changes in your personal circumstances.

formula

Someone with a very similar situation has already posted on there and been given advice. Married a Spanish person and used that marriage to get to the UK. Then married in Pakistan also and had children with that wife. When he was able to stay in the UK without his EU wife, he divorced her and now wants to bring his wife and children to the UK, from his home country.