What is my legal status in the UK? - Women who have insecure immigration status - Practical Help - Domestic Violence Forum - The London borough of Barking and Dagenham.

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Women who have insecure immigration status

What is my legal status in the UK?

If you have been sponsored to come to the U.K. by your abusive (ex) partner but have not yet secured long term (indefinite) leave to remain in the UK you should seek specialist legal advice about your circumstances.

If you are able to prove that your relationship has broken down within the two year period of time you are required by the home office to be in the relationship in order to secure your long-term stay, you may yourself be entitled to make a direct application for "indefinite leave to remain" in the UK. The agencies listed above can give you further advice on this.

If you are currently in an abusive relationship and your leave to remain in the UK is dependent upon that relationship you should try to talk to as many appropriate agencies as possible about the domestic violence in case you end up splitting up due to the violence. You should consider talking to your G.P. (local doctor) about the violence.

This would be confidential unless you asked your G.P. to write a letter to another agency about what has happened. You could also talk to a local refuge worker (this is also confidential) and may wish to involve the police (please see separate section on the criminal justice system for further information about how the police can help). If you have concerns about the safety of your children you can also contact your local social services department. Please see separate section on children if you would like further information on this.

If you are an asylum seeker funded by NASS (National Asylum Support Service) and you are experiencing domestic violence in the accommodation provided for you, you can ask NASS to transfer you to safe alternative accommodation. NASS have a policy stating that they will pay for asylum seekers experiencing domestic violence to stay in alternative places of safety such as women's refuges although in practice this can be difficult to get.

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Barking and Dagenham Domestic Violence Forum