RobRy

I married my American wife on August 19 in Buffalo USA,
We met via ebay in February 2003, exchanging thousands of emails and cards, and phoning regularly in the 6 months before I went to the US
at the end of July this year.

Our intention was for my wife to accompany me back to the UK for a year while I got my affairs in order for me to return permanently to the USA to live and work there.

My wife appled for a 12 month visa, and was inteviewed (Interrogated) by telephone from the UK consulate in New York.
A week later she received a rejection of this visa, stating there would be no guarantee that she would not rely on 'Public Funds' in the UK.

This is rubbish! I have a steady job, a permanent home, and do not draw any kind of benefits. And I earn more than the british government states is enough to support a wife.

We decided to get married there, so that my wife's family and friends could attend the ceremony.

After checking the Britainusa website, we decided that it would be ok for my wife to return with me under the 6 month visitor visa and I would try to settle up and return to the USA within that time.

However: After arriving at Gatwick Airport, my wife was held by Immigration officers for over 4 hours and refused entry for the same stupid reason 'relying on public funds'

The Immigration officer made a statement which I thought totally inappropriate and disgusting that. 'If you were millionaires, there wouldn't be a problem!'

My wife's photograph and fingerprints were taken and she was told that she would have to return to Gatwick the following day to fly back to the US or she would be arrested.
We had over $2,000.00 dollars in cash on us, and my wife still had several thousand dollars in her bank account, yet the immigration services were unrepentent.

I was with my wife for three weeks before we married, and only saw her for two days afterwards.

In view of the British governments record on immigration, allowing thousands of so-called 'asylum seekers' to flood in unchecked, and then be given state benefits and legal aid. We are both appalled by this action as are all of our relatives and our friends.

The British government had no logical, legal or moral right to stop my wife from entering the UK and both she and I are distraught over our separation.
Ry

Don

Doesn't sound like a real relationship to me (superficially).

How many days/ hours have you guys spent together?

RobRy

If you read the notes, Don you would see that we spent three glorious weeks together. The physical attraction was intantaneous on both sides.

I knew my wife for longer than the time I knew my first wife before I married her.

I was 'happily divorced' for 20 years, before I fell in love and married my present wife.

Ry

Celtic_Angel

well I think that's terrible!!!!!!
whether you've been with you wife for long really isn't important as much as the fact that you are married for real and that you're able to support her!

I've heard it's been getting crazy in the U.K with them handing out benefits and housing to the afore mentioned "asylum seekers" while good ol' british citizens down on their luck have to fight tooth and nail for anything!
I'm looking to move back to U.K permanently and I am excited at the prospects of finally being able to return to some type of study when all my kids ar in school . What I discovered was that Iwould have to live in U.K for 3 full years before I could even begin to apply for a grant or any kind of financial help w/school but these " refugees" don't have to wait at all and on top of that they are in government housing while if i landed back in the country peniless w/kids I'd get no help at all!
Not saying I plan to go back and mooch or that these refugees shouldn't be given a chance at a new life but I certainly don't think it's very fair for them to get priority while i'm the citizen looking to stay permenantly and who's got family who's prob been paying British taxes since Henry VIII!
whaaaaat? am I wrong or what?

honeymommy

There is guidance on the home office site regarding appeals process.
When she got the notice of entry being declined there is a letter explaining she can appeal the decision.

If visa was declined it is only natural that trying to enter the country afterwards, they could stop her and send her back.......

I would suggest getting an immigration lawyer and appealing the decision. There is usaually a 28 day time limit for appeals, but a lawyer will be able to help you if it's over that time.....

Another avenue is for you to move to USA.

honeymommy

If you are a british citizen you are able to claim help on the day you arrive back in the UK.... If you arrived peniless you would get all the help necessary. The student loan system is slightly different as it is a loan, but there are other avenues to education. The European Court Of Justice passed a law stating UK citizens can claim help from first day...... It's called the swaddling decision..
http://www.ac-company.org/en/forum_en/hrt_en.html

If you do a search on here you will find it.... Oh and try this link.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=219345

DarrenD

Hi

congratulations on the marriage.

As someone who has broughgt my wife through this minefield, can I offer the following opinion:

1) UK Immig treat everyone like sh*t. My wife was asked at immigration "I dont like **** (country deleted), why should I let you in?"

2) If someone travels to the UK as a tourist, and immi BELIEVE they will overstay or not return (say, for example, if they were married to a uk citizen ?) they can refuse entry.

3) Racial discrimination laws currently exempt immigration in the UK. There is some talk of changing this, but in the present security climate, I cant see them changing it any time soon.

4) Just because you are married does NOT automatically entitle your wife entry to the UK. To gain entry, you have to prove
(a) the marriage is not bogus / a marriage of convenience for the sake of a visa
(b) either you earn enough to support both of you or she has a job where she could earn enough. UK Immig dont care whether she will come over for 1 day, or the rest of her life, the rules are the same (its not just unemployment benefit she wouldnt be entitled to, this also includes things like tax credits, etc, pretty much any state benefit), so you need to prove funds
(c) its pretty much discretionary, so its down to the immigration officer. This is the time to be nice, and sweet talk them

By the way, british gov advice is to get married overseas, not in the UK.

The problem you now have is that because she has been refused entry, there are red flags all over her immigration record.

UK Immigration doint take too kindly to people who dont pay the spouse visa fee and dont go through the proper channels.

My advise is to get a migration expert on your side, and reapply for a spouse visa, full of apologies for not understanding how the system works.

If you are within the time limit, appeal. You may find going to see your MP helps (assuming you live in Sedgfield !)

If you decide to say F*** the UK, then remember US will have a very similar procedure, and dont be surprised if you are asked to explain the refused entry at UK when applying for US entry, and a lot of this type of sharing goes on. Its very difficult to get the red flags wiped off once created, but they will give her problems going to a large number of countries which share information, as she will be marked out as a potential overstayer who does not go home at the end of a visit.

Hope this helps
please message me if you require detailed advice, but if you want to go to the UK with her (even if its for a holiday in the future if youre both living in the US), get a migration expert on the case.

PBC_1966

This is a terrible situation to be in, but typical of the way the British government works these days. If you try to do things by the book, you end up in trouble. If your wife had just entered the country on a visitor visa (using her existing passport and not even telling immigration that she was married to a U.K. citizen) then she would probably have been admitted with no problems.

So much for innocent until proven guilty. How do you prove a negative?

That's not the story you will get from some DSS offices though. When I arrived back in the U.K. I tried to claim benefit for a couple of months while I re-established my business here.

The gestapo officers employed at my local DSS office stated flat-out that because I had just come from the U.S.A. I was not entitled to claim anything for a year, despite being a British citizen with a record of N.I. contributions. They said that if I had been living in another EU country and had returned to Britain, then I could have claimed. Apparently having the audacity to live outside the borders of fortress EU effectively makes one a non-citizen for 12 months as a "punishment."

NullMind

Humm

I got to ask this .. I have been married for 5 years, I am a EU national (Portugal), I have 2 kids with my wife (she is american).

I got fedup with the US, and decided to move to the UK, but I will go ahead of time in order to get an apartment and ge thtings settled .. then the wife and kids will come for a visit, see if we all like it.

Can they refuse her and the kids at the Airport ? .. That's kind of scary

Null

simbacat

Wouldn't have thought so. You are married and have kids together. I take it your kids have both nationalities? I am pretty sure it is resonable to say that your marriage isn't a bogus one. I gather the problem with the original poster was the timeframe.

NullMind

Yeah .. uff .. It's not that I am afraid of the INS .. I'm afraid of the wife .. she will find a way to nag me to death if she gets sent back

DarrenD

Not if they have EU passports. Although I think if i remember right the US doesnt like people having dual nationality.

If this were the case, she would need to get a spouse visa or an eu passport.

If she travels on an american passport, yes they can say "you are coming here as a tourist with the intention of staying. Go back and get the correct visa"

Englishmum

Sorry to say it Roy, but you didn't follow the proper steps by taking your wife in to the UK on a visitor's visa instead of a spousal visa. No wonder she wasn't allowed in.....and the very same thing would have applied if the situation was in reverse and you were trying to enter the US in the same way. British immigration officers do need to ascertain that marriages are genuine and not just for the purpose of gaining residency in the UK....they can't just scrutinize applications from British citizens who have gone to get married in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh (with arranged marriages mostly) so they have to investigate marriages which have taken place in other overseas locations.

As others have mentioned, you might want to now contact a solicitor who practises in UK immigration law. You may also pick up some information and advice from the immigration board and forum on this website for Americans who are resident in/are moving to the UK (including Americans who have married British citizens):

http://www.americanexpats.co.uk

Celtic_Angel

Honeymommy big thanks!!!!!! i'm hoping it won't come to needing benefits either but you never know , at least that's a load off my mind.
How are your kids adjusting to life in the U.K?

that's a concern for me because my kids have never even been to the U.K , apart from my eldest and he was only 1 at the time ,so it's not moving back home for them it's moving to a foreign country!!

Celtic_Angel

:scared: eeek! this is what I seem to have found out too it's all conflicting i'm getting really confused, and I've been a stay home mom for 9 yrs so no N.I contributions from me!