Help on annulment to a british national

Hi All,

I was married to a british national. He left me and run away with another woman and now they have a child. I wonder what my rights could be while I am here in the UK? I want to be free from him and get rid of any attachment. I cannot get a divorce cos i am not a citizen yet, and annulment takes a very long time. I have been so depressed and just been working really hard. I don't know what to do and all of the things that he has done to me has complicated a lot of my current life, my foreseeable future with another man (i am dating someone but it looks like it will be ending soon cos he finds my situation really complicated, he said he can only marry me once I am properly annulled) which will take years and years as Philippines law is just stupid that they don't grant divorce at all. And if we get annulled what are the chances him to be successful in bringing me back here knowing that i have been married to a british national before? Would that matter to the immigration?

Anyway any suggestions/advice will really really help as I am so confuse I feel like giving up with everything to be honest.

Where did you marry, and if you married outside the Philippines was your marriage registered in the Philippines?

Hi Oss,

I heard the acknowledgement of divorce in the Philippines will take years and years. I mean it is really so unfair because my ex just started his family and i cannot even have my own until i am finally annulled.

I Am thinking about asking him to divorce me, but what I am worried about is it might raise the eyes of the immigration when i get back. I am seeing someone at the moment and he wanted to marry me and for us to live here in the Uk.

Where as on annulment there isn't no sure way on how many years it would take. And then again the thing here is that the man i am seeing with really wanted to settle down and i do want to. And all the problem that we are facing is my freedom from my ex and we are not even sure if i am able to go back here in the Uk.

Hi Methersgate,

We got married in the Philippines on civil rights. And to be honest i am really having a lot of problem because of that. I think it has been registered cos they have given me a marriage certificate, hence the reason I am in the Uk as spouse of a british citizen.

Hi Kath,

How long have you been living in the UK and what is your current immigration status - do you have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and has the Home Office made that conditional on you remaining married to your runaway husband?

As far as I know, provided you have ILR you can seek a divorce in the UK but I do suggest that you talk to a Solicitor - one that offers Legal Aid - or, at the very least, with a counsellor at your local Citizens Advice Bureau. It is very much in your interest to get your husband to divorce you - should you wish to have that recognised in the Philippines - but if you have to divorce him, then you will be free to marry your current boyfriend under English Law and the Philippine NSO need be none the wiser. It could be that the subtle threat of an investigation and possible prosecution for bigamy will force him into seeking a quick divorce from you.

I don't know your personal circumstances but your former husband will be forced to make a financial settlement with you and the Courts have a starting point of 40% of his assets and income. If you were reliant on your husband for accommodation and living expenses, then he may be required to make maintenance payments to you as well as a cash settlement. But that is something the Court will decide based on financial evidence that you will both have to provide.

you can divorce your husband in the uk--my girlfriend did 2 years ago. she was here on a student visa. her husband is philipino. the divorce was granted on the 5 years separation rule. it cost her £1000 in fees and solicitors costs. but the divorce is not recognised in the philis. shes back there now--trying to get an annulment.

in your case----if you are in the UK on IRL---if you have no intention of going back to the filis---you can divorce and remarry here. but if you ever went back--you will be classed as a bigamist !

i divorced my (UK ) wife last year. i did it myself--no solicitor. the court fee is £450. but there are exemptions to the fee if you are on low income---and--in your case---if you now have access to UK benefits. i paid nothing.

Even if Kath initiates the divorce proceedings so that she can carry-on with her life and be free to marry another, that does not necessarily mean that she can't live with her new husband in the Philippines, should they wish that. There's no requirement for her to update her Passport or notify the Philippine authorities of either her divorce or her remarriage. She only needs to show a valid UK marriage certificate to the Immigration Officer on arrival in the Philippines and request a Balikbayan Privilege for her husband and his Passport will be stamped for a 12 month stay. Before the end of the 11th month, they simply take a few days' vacation outside the Philippines and apply for a new Balikbayan Privilege on their return. Simples!

Hi Kath, and welcome young lady.

If I was you I would take a trip to the local CAB (Citizens Advise Bureau) and ask for advise, note that this service is free of charge.

And bear in mind its not the end of the world if you have to seek an annulment in the Philippines, it can be done in six months, for a fee of course.

Good luck with it, remember there is always a solution, legal advice is the way to go

Kath, I think that your immigration status may be critical to whatever you do next.

Almost certainly she will not need a Cenomar in order to remarry in the UK; all that she would need is a copy of the Decree Absolute issued by a British Court.

And it's highly unlikely that she would ever have to face Bigamy charges should she and her new husband ultimately decide to live in the Philippines. Although she would technically and legally be a bigamist unless her former husband is resident in the Philippines (and he may also be a bigamist!), a case can not be filed as he is the only one who can raise such a case. It has to be said that cases brought by foreigners against Philippine citizens rarely succeed in any event. Indeed were Kath to find out that her ex-husband had arrived in the Philippines - and she is also there - she could file cases against him with the Bureau of Immigration for desertion, adultery and bigamy and, after a suitably uncomfortable spell in Bicutan Jail, he'd be deported with no hope of returning for at least ten years.

She holds more good cards than she realises!

Hi Methersgate,

That is what the man that i am currently dating is worried about. Cos even if i get annulled or divorce he is scared that i will not be able to return to the Uk noting that i use to marry a british citizen and it didn't work. Not that it was my fault but the thing is immigration doesn't care and i feel like it is the end of the world to me unless i marry someone or be with someone not from the Uk :-(

Kath I think it depends on whether you have Further Leave to Remain or Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Some other people here will know more.

If you have Indefinite Leave to Remain, I am pretty sure you are OK and can just go ahead with the divorce. If you have been here more than two and a half years that is probably what you have.

The one thing that you must NOT do is "overstay" or tell an untruth to the Borders Agency. That can get you banned from the UK for 10 years. If you have Further Leave to Remain then I think (others will know more) that a divorce might mean that your right to stay in the UK would terminate and you would have to return to the Philippines and start again. Your right to apply again would not be affected by the divorce in the UK, but you would not get a CENOMAR without an annulment, so that in practice you could not apply again without both a UK divorce and an anullment.

this is a bit confusing. Kath--where are you currently living ? UK or Philipines ?

According to all the references I have seen, it would appear that ILR is not conditional on remaining married to the same person BUT in order to get ILR in the first place, UKBA has to be convinced that the applicant intends to remain married. As far as I can make out, the only condition whereby ILR is forfeited is if you leave the UK for two years or more.

how about this situation:

if you're here under the old rules---the 2 year wait for settlement is nearly up.--so as soon as you get it--file for divorce and get on with your life.

if youre here under the new rules--then youre still under FLR for another 3 years. i wonder what would happen if you divorced--then married your new guy.? would you need to go back to the philis and start all over again with a new spouse visa app?

any ideas anyone ?

Hi all,

And sorry if i only got back now. I thought not to worry about this as this just makes me depress. I am on spouse visa on the new rules which is after this i need to have another 2.5 years FLR, and only after that i can get an ILR.

Nothing has changed so far. I have been contacting private organisations to ask for help about my case all they say is ask for a solicitor which i have a problem to afford as they are so expensive.

I am not sure what rights i have after coming to this country on a very genuine relationship, to start a life here with my then husband start a family and work then he just took it easy run away and start a family with another filipina woman. Yes i know, another Filipina woman - i feel shameful on having to learn that my husband exchange me for another one of my own race. That woman knows basing from all the evidences that i have (their secret skype conversations) that my husband was married and she was okay to be in relationship with him. Now they have a child. That woman was also married in yhe Philippines with a britosh husband so i know i can file a case for her when i go back to the Philippines.

The thing is what is my right here? What are the posibilties of me staying in this country? Its hard to go back to the Philippines. The area i used to live (Leyte) is still not even as better as what it was? Surely you have heard about the Hayan typhoon last 2013. I don't know what i will do when I am back there.

If i apply for FLR under Domestic Violence would that be granted? Or what are the possibilities of me coming back here after i leave if i am with another British National of course only after i get annuled. Would my unsuccesful marriage to a previous british national cause an alarm to them? Will they criticise it? What are the chances of me coming back on a tourist visa?

Would be very happy to hear all your advice. Thank you.

that is why it worries me so much. I didn't wanted this to happen. My husband up to these days hasn't helped me with anything as he promised to provide for me after we separated. But no. Not even asked if i am still alive and well. What a horrible person he is