Judge agreed error in law!

We got a letter from the High Court giving us the date of our hearing. 13th December. 

https://www.thecanary.co/feature/2018/12/02/loving-couple-fight-to-stop-the-home-office-ripping-them-apart-days-before-christmas/ 

http://www.pressat.co.uk/releases/married-gay-couple-face-christmas-heartache-as-uk-home-office-vows-to-tear-their-family-apart-98c43071e1a9eaf5bebcdfa1bd9f9851/

We were on the BBC News at 6pm on Monday 12th November! Thank you Katharine- video is on my Twitter


https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/our-region/milton-keynes/gay-married-couple-to-launch-immigration-appeal-for-the-right-to-live-together-in-milton-keynes-1-8699701


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-couple-visa-home-office-immigration-canada-british-american-husband-gay-a8558106.html

https://neweuropeans.net/article/2449/transatlantic-love-story-foretells-cross-channel-troubles-come

https://www.nostraightnews.com/married-couple-face-separation-due-to-uk-immigration-judge-after-6-years-together/#respond 

The judge with the High Court has finally agreed with us that the previous judge made an error in law. A huge win for us!! Now we have to go to the next stage of the process fighting our case in the high court. We are so close to winning this now... Please help us with the appeal costs if you are able to. The only way we can win this and live our lives is to win at the next stage. If we cant pay for the appeal we will definitely be split up

If we can't pay for the appeal we will be separated for up to 2 years! Please help us by donating even if it a small amount. We have tried everything to even borrow the money but haven't been successful. We feel terrible even asking for help but after spending £18,000 fighting this we don't have the money we need to appeal.


Home Office has refused to recognise our 4-year marriage instead calling it a 'partnership'! Also suggested that we could go live in Canada where neither of us has any ties (Yes, she actually said that in her determination letter!). We have been together every day for 6 and a half years and now we have to fight to stay together! It is heart breaking.


All we are asking for is for the Home Office to leave us alone to live our lives!! Neither of us have ever claimed a penny from the UK or US government and never would. We are both educated people who want to get on with our careers. The UK Home Office haven't allowed Brian to work in 4 years!! Our entire savings have already been spent on this process (£18,000!!!) and all we want is to live our lives without this constant stress.

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PLEASE READ SOME OF OUR NEWS STORIES: 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-couple-visa-home-office-immigration-canada-british-american-husband-gay-a8558106.html

https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/our-region/milton-keynes/home-office-won-t-recognise-our-same-sex-marriage-say-milton-keynes-couple-forced-to-live-4-000-miles-apart-1-8639283

https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/british-american-gay-couple-deportation/#gs.A3QoN50

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/09/17/gay-american-man-deported-uk-married/

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/21/gay-couple-could-be-forced-to-live-in-different-countries-after-losing-visa-appeal-7967384/?fb_comment_id=2007337845971509_2007526615952632&comment_id=2007526615952632#f78cfb51d7fcfa


Or another here (this was picked up in the US!):
https://hornet.com/stories/uk-government-marriage/

We were also on BBC Radio Three with Justin Dealey on Saturday 15th September
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06j3zfl   - Starting at 1:21:30 (scan forward to hear)
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I never thought we would be here asking for people to help us stay together. We are hard-working people who haven't ever asked for anything from anyone until now. After draining all of our savings over the last 4 years fighting this, we don’t have the money to fight this last bit. I have tried everything to get it in time but they purposely give you 14 days so you don’t have the time. I wish I could borrow the money but I don’t know who else to ask! So we are here. At the worst point for us.

We are asking for assistance in fighting the Home Office at the Upper Tribunal.   They have sucked our Savings dry trying to fight them.  We have been refused at the First Tier Tribunal and told we can go live in Canada as we sort out our visa.  You saw that right.....the judge told us to go live in a Third Party Country alien to both of us.  The Judge also refused to recognize mine and my husband's Legal Marriage.   

The Home Office has kept my passport for almost 4 years and I haven't been allowed to work. I am an Architect and I have always enjoyed my job but now I have had almost 4 years away from it. I get calls most days from recruiters but I have to tell them I don't have the right to work in the UK.

We have been told that we have 14 days working days to apply for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal or start making arrangments to leave the UK.


Our Story is below!

• The initial purpose of our visit to the UK was due to the fact that my husband’s mother, Elaine became very sick with a terminal illness.

• 4-year fight - Home Office has been in possession of my Passport for 4 years. No means of obtaining a bank account and drivers license. Basically being held hostage by the Home Office.

• My mother in law has since passed away, July 20th, 2016, and it has been extremely hard on my husband and my father in law. He, along with my father in law, are struggling with depression and I want to be there for my husband and my father in law.

• First Application was FLR(O)-Outside the Rules, we were advised that concessions could be made for the extreme circumstance.

• Ben’s father has now, having been diagnosed and undergoing treatment for his lung cancer. This
was and is a very fluid situation, and you have to appreciate that things can change very quickly when dealing with such matters.

• A second application was made FLR(FP) - 10 Year Route. This took one year to decide and then another year to schedule a hearing. That hearing was adjourned in part because of Ben’s father's Cancer treatment and due to the fact that the Home Office has not supplied us with what information they plan to use against us at the Hearing after a further review by the First Tier Tribunal.

Full Story

We are married, over 4 years now, fortunately, we are still together and currently living in the United Kingdom. We have been in a long-term and durable relationship since 2012, living together since December 2012 and we were married legally in the United States in New York City, NY, on the 6th of June 2014. I came to the United Kingdom on the 13th of November 2014 on a short-term visa together with my husband Benjamin. The initial purpose of my visit to the UK was due to the fact that my husband’s mother, Elaine, became very sick with a terminal illness. Both my husband and I came to the UK to be with her and my father in law through this difficult time.

My mother in law has since passed away, and it has been extremely hard on my husband and my father in law. He, along with my father in law, is struggling with depression and I want to be there for my husband and my father in law. Clearly, my husband and I are not in a position to return to the United States due to the passing of my mother in law and now the diagnosis for Lung Cancer for my father in law, we would like to remain together so that I may be with my husband, my father in law and offer comfort and support, both mentally and physically at this difficult time.

Ben’s mother and then her passing, we could not just drop everything and leave my father in law to deal with all this on his own. Now, having been diagnosed and undergoing treatment for his lung cancer. This was and is a very fluid situation, and you have to appreciate that things can change very quickly when dealing with such matters.

David  (Father In Law) lung Cancer & Medical Conditions we have received information concerning my father in law (David). He became really ill in July of 2017 with pneumonia and jaundice and required a lot of care and support as he is on his own. He has gone in for tests and scans and we have now received the results from the consultant that several Lumps have been found on his lungs and in his glands. He has now been diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma (T1BN2), Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. He started his intense Radio Therapy on Feb. 19th, 2018 at Mt. Vernon Cancer Center. He also requires weekly trips back and forth to the hospital for regular checks and treatment for symptoms from Radio Therapy for a period of 7 weeks and then he will have another PET scan to see if the Intense Radio Therapy has worked. Along with his cancer, he also suffers from COPD, Type II diabetes that requires constant maintenance of insulin injections and constant vigilance to what he eats. We both feel that this would be very unfair and unduly harsh, to myself, my husband and my father in law, to be ripped from our family here in the UK during this time.

Brian Work Prospects-
I have placed my CV on LinkedIn and CV-Library. I wanted to get a feel for the current job market in my field and I can honestly say that I have been contacted by a number of recruiters, on average, once a week to offer me an interview and/or a job for the position of an Architectural Technologist/Technician. Recruiters have stated that there is a need and a high demand for my skill set within the Architectural Field. I am completely upfront with them about my current visa situation but they have no doubt that once I have the appropriate visa in place, that I would have no trouble in finding a job very quickly paying £35,000 - £45,000 or more.


The only thing we are asking is our rights and the rights of my husband, as a Citizen of the United Kingdom and the EU, be respected. We only want to live a normal life, we want a family, we want to have children and adopt. We only ask for that simple little thing.

Sincerely,

Brian & Ben