As you will see from our Testimonials page, we generally only publish comments from former clients if they have given us permission to publish their name and photograph as well. People who have been in the UK illegally, however, are naturally reluctant to have their names and photographs published on a website; for this reason the identity of the people involved in all our case studies has been anonymised. The facts of each case are however true.
Ramesh is an Indian national, who came to the UK as a student in November 2009. He met Dave, a British citizen, in January 2010, and the couple were soon in a relationship.
Before Ramesh’s visa expired, in April 2011, he put in an application for an extension, but this was refused because Ramesh had submitted a false bank statement with his application. Because he had submitted his application on time, he had a right of appeal, but for one reason or another the appeal kept getting postponed, so that it was not until March 2012 that the matter finally came before an Immigration Judge. Ramesh’s appeal was dismissed, and he had no further leave to be in the UK.
Ramesh and Dave had meanwhile entered into a civil partnership, and Ramesh had submitted an application on this basis while his appeal was pending. This application was refused with no right of appeal in June 2013, and it was at that stage that they contacted us for help.
When Ramesh and Dave met with us and we discussed their circumstances, they told us that Dave had been diagnosed HIV positive some years previously, and though the illness was manageable, he did need regular medication and check-ups. Neither of them was working, and were living off Dave’s savings, which were rapidly shrinking, and the benefits he was receiving.
We asked them to let us have evidence of Dave’s medical history, and we prepared a new application for Ramesh to regularise his stay, on the basis of Dave’s medical issues, and also because India, where Ramesh is from, does not allow same sex relationships.
The application was successful because we were able to show that in this case, there really were serious issues which meant that the relationship could not continue overseas. Ramesh is now once again in the UK lawfully, and is able to work and support himself and Dave.