I need some advice regarding my overstayer girlfriend.

[Zaj0]

Hello all.

I am an American citizen. While spending some time in England last year 2012, I met my current girlfriend. She is of Filipino descent and a citizen of the Philippines. In 1998 she moved to England for work and received all of the proper documentation to work in England. Then she got married to an English citizen and later divorced approximately 2 years later.

Since that time she has remained in England. She has been a contributing member in society, working, teaching, paying taxes, etc. Three years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She sought treatment through NHS and thankfully recovered. She is still receiving medicine as of the time of this writing.

Now here is the issue. We want to get married. We want to live here in America. However, we are concerned about a few things.

#1 Her passport is expired. How could she go about receiving a new passport? Will this be a problem because she is an overstayer in England?
#2 She will need a visa. What visa type would she need and how could she go about receiving one? Again will this be a problem because she is an overstayer in England?
#3 Is there anyway she could legally become a citizen of England? If so how?

Any advice thoughts, advice, or suggestions are welcome. I truly appreciate it. To any others experiencing troubles I wish you the best. Thank you so much for your time.

[Steve.r]

If she is an over-stayer then perhaps the first thing she needs to do is go home. Our country is full of illegal immigrants. Once she is home you can arrange things with your own immigration department.

Just my honest opinion.

I think you need to find out a lot more about her legal standing in the UK before considering anything else.

[raynaputi]

If you both want to live in America, why would she want to be a citizen of England or hold any valid visa to further stay here in the UK? If she's an overstayer, the easiest thing for her to do is to go back to the Philippines and then apply a US visa to go there in America.

[joebloggs]

what year did she marry?
when she married did she apply for flr(m) or did she stay on her workpermit?

she could apply for a Filipino passport at the embassy in London, i doubt they would know she was 'illegally' here.

what type of visa do you want, a fiancee or spouse visa ? she would need a visa from the American embassy in London or if she goes back to the phils, from the american embassy in manila.

if she if an over stayer and got a new filipino passport , i doubt uk immigration would do anything to stop her leaving the UK, probably at worse question her or mark her passport.

shes been in the uk since 1998 ? thats 15 yrs, pitty about this..
14 year long stay concession is finished – you now need 20 years or 10 years legal stay!

Many ‘TNT’s’ (a Filipino slang for visa overstayers) are holding on in the hope of qualifying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or permanent residence (PR) under the ‘14 year long stay rule’, which no longer applies following recent changes to the Immigration Rules on 9 July 2012.

The 14 year rule was a type of amnesty which, subject to certain conditions, meant you could be granted ILR even if you have been in the UK illegally.

when did she become an overstayer, if she is her employer could be fined £10,000 !

[Zaj0]

Thank you all so much for the quick responses. We both really do appreciate it. I am having her right now gather all of the relevant documentation that she has regarding her legal status in England.

Apparently she already has a case pending with the Home Office. As to the specifics of that case, I am having her gather all of that information today. However, she did want me to correct the impression here of her being an illegal immigrant in England. She has informed that she has been filing and refiling cases with the Home Office over the time that she and her ex-husband divorced. Therefore Home Office is aware of her status.

As I said I have her gathering all of her information and I will update this thread accordingly tomorrow. But what it seems like to me at this point is she is going to need a new solicitor in England. Are there any solicitors or firms in England that specialize in situations like this? Has anyone here have any personal recommendations as to a solicitor that she should seek out?

Again we truly appreciate all of the help. Thank you so much for your time and any advice you can give.

[joebloggs]

these 2 companies are very well known - google them and check out their reputation, thou victoria sharkey of medivisas is a Level 3 OISC immigration adviser the highest you can be.and a number of people on here have used her.

http://www.medivisas.com/index.asp
and
http://www.davieskhan.co.uk/