The Dublin Convention

[xixioge]

I first came to Europe in 2005. First I visited UK for a two weeks christmas holiday with my family in December 05. By January 06 we all travelled back to Sweden where my husband then had residence and myself and my kids subsequently got our residence permits in Sweden and lived there up to mid 2007. By late 2007 we all moved to Denmark where we have lived for the past 6 years. So many things have changed in our lives since that time eg; I'm now a divorced mother of two underaged girls and living under the threat of being sent back to my country as we can no longer have residence in Denmark.
I'm afraid to go back home because of the likely danger I would be exposing my girls and I to as my ex husband new wife's family is very influencial and they believe I'm behind the death of her new baby (she had a baby around May this year that died the same day. They have been threatning the lives of my kids and I as a result of this). I seriously need to seek asylum and don't know which of these countries I should seek asylum from based on the Dublin rule.
The problem is, I don't have a valid visa to the UK anymore since I have only ever visited and never lived there (usually given 6 months visa at a time). Can anyone tell me what to do please? I'm so desperate!

[skaanebo]

Talk to a lawyer in Denmark. Since you had a residence permit in DK, this is the only country relevant.

[xixioge]

Sad I lost my earlier post due to the internet unexpectedly shutting down on me
Anyway, thanks Skaanebo for the quick reply! Unfortunately, I don't think my lawyer can be of help as I suspect he is actively working for the government to get rid of foreigners like me. It has been one set of misinformation/misadvise after another coming from him and I just realised right now he actually put me in this mess.
With my first application that he submitted for me, he didn't tell me I needed to pay any application fee or go for biometric. He assured me everything was in order when I asked him if we had done all the necessary stuff, only for me to receive my first refusal letter because of 'gebyr og biometric' barely two weeks after. We were lucky the US gave us 3 weeks by which I could submit another application otherwise I would be illegal in the country and would have to leave.
After this, he said we needed to submit as many applications as possible to increase my chances of getting my permit and made me waste my energy and resources doing this (one of those applications was for a student visa). I got a refusal another two weeks after this because US said an applicant could only submit one application at a time. Meaning they refused to treat my other applications and said they would only treat the first one my lawyer submitted on an earlier date on 'family reunification'.
The last refusal I got had to do with the 'family reunification' he pushed on for my kids and I, an application he said was my best chance since my kids as a result of having lived in DK for more than half their lives have already become danish etc. This is despite the fact I told this man neither my ex hubby nor I have a danish passport or permanent residence and that in fact the permit of my ex wasn't even extended. It wasn't until I received the 3rd refusal with an 'udrejsefrist' of Oct. 3 yesterday that I realised how the lawyer had systematically worked against me and for the government instead of working for me and hence why I'm bringing my pertinent questions on this forum.
Fact is I'm left with no money to pay for a private lawyer as at now. I spent over 30,000kr for school fees and application fees in June based on the advise my lawyer gave me. Moreover during the past 1 month, I wasn't allowed to work because SU said I only had 'processult ophold' and couldn't work nor travel.

[skaanebo]

You are free to choose any lawyer you want, so why stick with someone you don't trust? There is also a system in Denmark that you can obtain legal advice for free. Try to look up "advokatvagten" in your neighbourhood.

[fundiver199]

Read about the possibility for free legal assistance here:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4846

Unfortunately not all lawyers are equally competent in immigration law, and it sounds like you have run into a fairly incompetent one.

[xixioge]

Well, I was misguided unfortunately! He always gave me the impression he knew what he was doing and that he would help me and the naive me believed him .
I was actually using a private lawyer before someone told me these human right lawyers with all their connections to human right courts are the best,. And the first thing he did when I approached him was to ask me for 'fulgmagt'

[fundiver199]

Lawyers are running a commercial business. So please feel free to share the name of your lawyer, if you wish to warn others against using him. There are both good and bad lawyers, so there is for sure no reason to spend lots of money on a bad one.

[xixioge]

You are so right fundiver199! Now he blames his incompetence on my ex, saying he ought to have made sure he didn't loose his right to stay in the country! I don't understand why he needed to tag my case with my ex when I have been legally divorced and separated from the guy for more than 2 years.
The fact that I didn't hide an aspect of my situation from this so called lawyer make his excuse more dumb . I updated him with every new information I got or any little change in my life or that of my ex and I attended meetings with him at least once a week! The man works for http://www.lokk.dk and I was made to believe that organisation is quite huge and influential in the country .

[xixioge]

His name is Peter Michael Toft. He is the worst incompetent lawyer I have ever come across or heard of. Unfortunately, he works for a human rights organisation and they work for free. How I wish I stuck with the private lawyer I was using before someone recommended him to me
The laughable thing is, he was telling me yesterday that it wasn't his fault, but that of my ex! I went to you because I wanted your help and guidance for God sake!!. Afterall, I would have applied directly if I knew my case wasn't complicated!.
The even more laughable was when he said he wasn't going to appeal the decision as US was 100% right with the decision they took. If he knew they were right, why did he submit that application for me for heaven sake? Based on his agreement with their decision,it means he knew all along the application didn't stand a chance, so why then did he push the appkliocatioion in?
And the worst laughable was him reminding me I needed to leave the country before the 3rd of October as not doing so would ban my kids and I from entering the EU for a period of time: i.e. No guilt or shame after putting me into this mess
I wish I could sue him for the untold hardship and damages he has caused my children and I . He made me go through this trauma for the last 4 months all for nothing!

[fundiver199]

Its sad what happened. But if you received help for free, there isn`t much to do, when this help is of little - well - help. I hope you find a solution to your problems.

[xixioge]

Thanking all the kind people that have taken an interest in my case and have advised me on what I should.
I did go today to see a private lawyer here in København and he told me I could apply for asylum since I'm afraid for the lives of my kids and I back home in my country.#Truethat.
The shocking revelation is he told me the lawyer I have been using all these while isn't a lawyer, but a legal counsellor. Maybe that is why he doesn't know much about the law and put me in this mess. And please anybody know the difference between a lawyer and a legal counsellor?

[fundiver199]

A legal councellor is someone, who give advice about legal matters and perhaps offer to represent people, when they file applications or complaints. But he don´t have an academic degree in law and therefore also not the right to appear in the courtroom on behalf of his client, should the client decide to take the case to court.

It is the exact same thing we do in this forum or in ÆUG´s councelling by email or phone. In ÆUG we have decided, that we will not represent people in a case. We will only give advice and perhaps help them write the bulk of the text for a complaint or an application. But they will send the complaint or application themselfes and therefore they are also themselfes responsible for keeping a deadline etc.

We will not take on that kind of responsibility for people. But in return our assistance is free of charge. And we never ask people to sign any forms, that prevent them from letting a professional lawyer represent or advise them, if they so wish.

We did not offer you to get ”hands on” assistance with your case, because its falls outside our area of competence, which is mainly family reunification, and it is also a very complicated case. So therefore we gave you the advice to find someone more qualified to help you.

[mh1]

I checked out Peter Michael Toft on linkedin, and he does not pose as 'Attorney' (advokat) or 'Lawyer' (jurist).

I am the latter, with an LL.B and an LL.M, but I am not an attorney, and do not have the right to represent clients in court.

Only people with an LL.M and at least 3 years of apprenticeship in a law firm (those graduated after 1997 also have to have passed the bar exam) are attorneys and have a right to call themselves 'advokat', and only people with at least an LL.B have a right to call themselves 'jurist', but unfortunately anyone may call themselves 'juridisk vejleder/rådgiver' i (legal advisor).

This explanation of course is not much good to you now, but others may find it useful.

Always ask to see the diploma from law school and the attorney's certificate, when someone offers to represent you in a legal matter, if it is not obvious that they are attorneys, i.e. if they are working in a law firm. As a matter of fact, some years ago there was a case where a non-lawyer actually managed to represent 'clients' in court in a few meetings, before he was found out ...

[xixioge]

Thanks for the reply Mh. And no, I don't really understand . He did sell himself to me as a lawyer though as he has never for once corrected me he isn't when I introduced him as one during all the proceedings I had with him.

[xixioge]

Thanks fundiver199 for the explanation!!