What documentation do I need to get married in Algeria? (U.K. resident)

[Mayissa]

They will question you both regarding details of your relationship – how you both met, your interests etc, the ECO needs to establish your relationship as a genuine one - and rightfully so - if you have been honest and have all supporting paperwork you will absolutely be fine.

As I mentioned before the system isn't at all unfair it is the way it is due to many people abusing and defrauding the system – in my eyes it is those who have been dishonest who are unfair and those with genuine relationships facing the consequence.

So really try not to be too worried/stressed you have submitted everything you possibly can and I am sure you have shown all you can proving your relationship as genuine so I think you should be ok.

Inshallah

[salma]

I am having to deal with a lot of negative attitudes by people judging me as soon as I say my man is Algerian, when to be honest, 90% of those judgemental whatsits have no idea where Algeria is, let alone anything else about the people there.

Yes it's really frustrating isn't it. For a while I felt uncomfortable when the whole subject came up and I knew the next question would be ''where is he from?''. But I am now beyond that and I feel proud because I know how good my fiancé is and if they want to be silly about it I figure it's their problem.

[EnglishBeth]

I'm so happy to have found this forum i'm crying! All the postings on this discussion have been so helpful to me as I had so many unknowns. But I still have a few uncertainties relating to my situation and would be very grateful for any advice. My situation is as follows:

I am English (30yrs) and met my my now Algerian fiance (31yrs) 6 months ago here in England. He is the most caring, amazing person I have ever known, we are very much in love, and we got engaged 2 weeks ago. He originally came to the UK on a 1 year student visa 4 years ago and didn't renew it (because he thought they wouldn't do so), so consequently has overstayed for several years. He stayed to pursue his english studies and has certificates & very good english to verify this. The last couple of years he has also been working, and whilst he doesn't have a visa to do so legally he is paying taxes etc (his employer think he has French nationality and would therefore be entitled to work here).

Before we met he had planned to return to Algeria at the end of this year but now we are engaged he is staying here and we plan to marry in Algeria in September next year (we will also get married at the mosque here in January next year but this won't be legally recognised here). Ideally we would have waited a bit longer to get married but we are both sure we want to stay together & ultimately have a family, and are keen for him to get his situation sorted out and be able to stay in the UK legitimately. My main fear is that because he has overstayed for so long there will be a long delay before he gets authorisation to come and live here. I saw the previous posting regarding overstayers which could mean there is at least a 1 year ban on him coming back, but didn't understand from it whether once we are married in Algeria if the fact he overstayed will count against us in this way, or whether the fact we are married overrides it?

In terms of all the paperwork involved I think we will be able to provide enough evidence of our relationship, and I am in secure employment. We will be living together from January, however it will be an informal arrangement in a friend's flat so won't have a contract as such, though if they were willing to write a letter to confirm we are living there would that be ok? Also would it help our case if the bills are in both our names, or do they just need to be in my name?

The other complication is that his passport expired 2 years ago, but he thinks he would still be allowed to travel back to Algeria and that the customs in UK wouldn't be too concerned with this and still let him fly back. I'm concerned this may not be the case - any thoughts gratefully recieved. The plan would be that he would go over before me to sort out his new passport and then I join him & we get married & apply to come back to UK. I read on the previous post that it can take around 6 weeks to get the authorisation to marry in Algeria - is this still the case?

I would be very grateful for any advice, or to correspond with any other English ladies in similar situations. I know it may be a bit of an uphill struggle but want to do as much to ensure the process takes as least time as possible because the thought of us being apart for more than a few weeks whilst the visa is being processed is breaking my heart :-( I would consider staying in Algeria whilst it is being processed, and could probably get the time off work to do so but financially it would be a struggle. I would be interested to hear about experiences of any English ladies who have stayed in Algeria whilst waiting for the visa to be processed (was it a culture shock? is it possible to work over there?).

Apologies if any of my questions have already been answered in other postings but I missed them. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and if any of you have the time to reply.

Best wishes to you all

Beth

[Felicity]

Ok... a few questions... When he was continuing studying in the UK, was he paying uk fees or overseas fees? If he was paying uk fees, I wouldn't mention it on the visa application. Also do not mention he worked on the visa application, it doesnt matter that he payed taxes, its still generally a no no I think. The fact that he would be married to you would override the now 10 year ban. It is perhaps not all that sensible to wait for another year for him to go back, and its better (I personally think) to go back of your own free will rather than being 'administratively removed'. He just needs to go to the Algerian embassy and get a laissez-passer (its called something along those lines), be careful about the passport thing, you will note a fellow forum user's husband is currently stuck in Algeria due to them not giving him another passport yet (i think she said about 17 months so far), so if possible, he should apply for a new one in Algiers. The time it takes for permission to marriage ranges, it took my husband and I four months roughly, though we applied at the beginning of July which is apparently a busy time, then were able to marry in Nov. I think through the whole process your husband to be probably needs to be extremely pro-active and pushy. Also make sure you have plenty of pictures with him, you, your family and friends.

[EnglishBeth]

Hi Felicity

Thank you so much for replying to my posting. When my fiance was studying here he was paying UK fees, thanks for the advice about this. In relation to not mentioning he has been working here on the application form, I'm worried that this could trip us up if they interview us, as otherwise how does he explain how he supported himself for 4 years? It feels like a double edged sword as if we lie we run the risk of a 10 year ban but if we tell the truth that could also cause problems.

As he has now overstayed for several years, we don't feel there is an immediate danger of him being deported (though there is always a chance he could get found out), and would rather continue to build our relationship for a bit longer and live together for a while before we begin the process.

With regard to the passport issue, he thinks that the Algerian Embassy wouldn't help as it was his fault that he didn't renew it. Would be grateful to hear from anyone else who was in the same situation having an expired passport in the UK and then got the authority to travel from the Algerian Embassy as you mention (the lassez-passer).

Thank you so much again for your reply, it is so good to hear from others in similar situations.

Best wishes

Beth

[Tizi]

Inshallah you will find the solution to your problem - you are right when you say that you face a double edged sword and my advice would be to get legal advice before you or your partner do anything. An immigration adviser will help you to appreciate what the risks are and what the likely consequences might be [in my experience it might be possible for your partner to regularise his status in the UK by using human rights legislation - there is also emerging case law that would support this. If your partner was successful in making this argument you would would be able to get married here, your partner's status in the UK would be regularised and the Algerian Consulate could then register him and, after registering he could apply for a new Algerian passport]. You can visit the Community Legal Services website [http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk]. You can get free, confidential advice on their helpline or you can find an immigration adviser who practices in your area.

[EnglishBeth]

Thanks Tizi. We did see a solicitor here in the UK and she mentioned about the human rights legislation, but also that in our case she estimated that there was about a 50% success rate, which we felt was too low. It is very good to know about it should we need it though. Thanks for the link to the Community Legal Services website too - it looks v useful.