LisaEgypt

Apologies if I am posting incorrectly but if anyone has any suggestions I would like to hear from you.

Over three years ago I met a younger man online, without any thought of forming a relationship after my husband had died in 2006. After several months talking online on skype, I agreed to go to Egypt to meet him and be shown the sites, still there was no intention on my part to form a relationship at this point. On arrival in Egypt I have to say I was swept away with great feelings of love and affection for this man I had grown to know, who clearly loved me, he was always honest about his intentions and plans for his future, which did not include wanting to live in the UK. We have been together 3 years. Although we have only spent 5 weeks actually in each others physical company our families accept us as a couple. He has now joined his father who has owned his own business in Hong Kong since 1997, he has now been there a year, studying a degree. I have just returned from visiting him for the 5th time. The problem is he has more time to visit me and despite applying three times for a UK visit visa to visit me here, he has been denied on every application, everytime we have answered every new thrown up query and yet they seem to add more questions. We now feel we are being forced into getting married, but the jargon on the UK border agency webite is only regarding marrying and staying in the UK it seems they think everyone wants to live and settle here in the UK but that isnt always true, all I want is for him to be able to visit me with the same ease as I can travel to him. Does anyone know where I can turn for advice before sinking thousands of pounds into lawyers?

pumpkin blossom

That is crap situation to be in. Unfortunately you have posted in the Australia forum. Hopefully a mod will come and move it to the uk one soon. Good luck

Pollyana

Done

brissybee

Don't sink thousands of pounds into lawyers, don't marry him.

Wake up and smell the roses. You have spent 5 weeks together in 3 years.

If you must, keep on applying for a visitor visa... but don't marry him.

People get conned in these situations all the time.

pennylessinindia

www.immigrationboards.com gives good free advice on general and more complex matters

You can always meet in a 3rd country if getting visas is a problem. Never be forced into marriage just for a visa, find ways around visas to meet, until you are sure the relationship is for the long term

mitsi

No offence meant but who's paying for all the trips? Who would pay the legal fees and visa fees? if you share the costs that's one thing but if it's just you paying, ask yourself why? I've heard of too many stories similar to yours not to be a cynic, sorry.

J.JsOH

No, No. No. No
It all seems a fishy situation to me.
You can know only what is in your heart, not what is in others.
If the UK Border agency is refusing him entry then they have good reason.
I have read other stories about situations like this that end badly.
Your warning alarms are surely going off.
Why would a younger Egyptian man want an older British widow?
I feel you are being manipulated.
Cut your losses.Step away from the situation.
I think you are being drawn into something you will forever regret.

Beedubya

On what grounds are they denying his visa?

DigitalGhost

It's a sad truth that the UK, like many other countries, can make obtianing a visitor visa difficult for countries with which it is on less than polite terms or countries which have a high record of immigration fraud in Britain. You only have to take a look at a lot of the threads on immigrationboards.com to see that as most of the people who struggle are from India, Iran, Pakistan or the poorer parts of the Far East.

I will agree that this situation does sound dodgy though and you need to be very careful, that is of course assuming that you're telling the truth and there isn't more to this than you are letting on (no offence intended, but it does happen).

Squirrel

They do look for common ground when assessing visas, like age, religion, education, background etc. So an American and a Brit of similar age won't look strange to them, but an older British woman and a younger man of a different religion from a poor country where they do not both speak each others' languages will set off alarm bells. I read Take A Break magazine and every issue you read a new story about a woman who was taken in by a younger man in a poor country. As soon as he gets perm residency in the UK he is gone. That's assuming he doesn't con her out of all her money.

I'm not saying your case is not genuine, I have no idea of your ages etc (widows can be young or this guy could be older himself). I'm just looking at it from the perspective of the UK immigration authorities and unfortunately those guys that have scammed women in the past have ruined things for genuine cases.