Marrying in USA, then settling in the UK - HELP!

[Anyta Holland 1]

Most of the people have given you good answers. You don't a K1 visa to get married in the US.

Your wife to be can apply for a fiancee visa or for a spousal visa, I don't think this should be too complicated, I did it from once I got married in the UK, I was a student here, and got it within a month... All I had to do, was send the form woth both our passports, some payslips, and the original of our marriage certificate. I did by post (which is way cheaper) and as I said got it back in 1 month...

Congratulations and GOOD LUCK!

[gwenneh 7]

FYI, you can no longer apply for a spousal visa from within the UK unless you came in on a fiance visa. This was changed about three years ago. As of March, you can no longer even renew your student visa from within the country, you must go home to do it. IND issued new directorates in March regarding these rules.

[Anyta Holland 1]

FYI, you can no longer apply for a spousal visa from within the UK unless you came in on a fiance visa. This was changed about three years ago. As of March, you can no longer even renew your student visa from within the country, you must go home to do it. IND issued new directorates in March regarding these rules.

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

[gwenneh 7]

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

It is absolutely, positively 100% true now, made even stricter by the changes in immigration in March. All visa changes have to be done from home; there are no exceptions to this anymore.

[Anyta Holland 1]

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

It is absolutely, positively 100% true now, made even stricter by the changes in immigration in March. All visa changes have to be done from home; there are no exceptions to this anymore.

Right, so this is a change that has been made since March? 'Cause as I said, I did it less than 3 years ago, and didn't have any problems whatsoever....

Good to know though!

[gwenneh 7]

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

It is absolutely, positively 100% true now, made even stricter by the changes in immigration in March. All visa changes have to be done from home; there are no exceptions to this anymore.

Right, so this is a change that has been made since March? 'Cause as I said, I did it less than 3 years ago, and didn't have any problems whatsoever....

Good to know though!

It was *about* three years ago they made the change; but bigger and stricter changes were implemented in March so there is pretty much absolutely NO workaround for it now. All applications have to be made at the home consulate.

[Anyta Holland 1]

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

It is absolutely, positively 100% true now, made even stricter by the changes in immigration in March. All visa changes have to be done from home; there are no exceptions to this anymore.

Right, so this is a change that has been made since March? 'Cause as I said, I did it less than 3 years ago, and didn't have any problems whatsoever....

Good to know though!

It was *about* three years ago they made the change; but bigger and stricter changes were implemented in March so there is pretty much absolutely NO workaround for it now. All applications have to be made at the home consulate.

Gwen,

just for info:

"If you don't have settled status in the UK, you will need to apply for a certificate of approval from the Home Office. To qualify for a certificate of approval, you must normally have been granted leave to enter or leave to remain for more than six months and three months of that leave must still remain. If you don't qualify, you will need to return to your country of origin, or the country in which you are normally resident and apply for a visa there. Read section 2 for more details." Link to this info

So you can still apply for this certificate and then change your status to spousal visa, at least that is what I understand.... Maybe I'm wrong....

[James Paul 0]

Hi,

I have driven (or rather been driven) from Chicago to Zionsville quite a few times. A couple of months ago we stayed over and went up the Sears Tower - nice city.

We both prefer the UK as a country. Granted it is not as cheap to live in, but prefer the life style in Europe. Zionsville is nice - very quaint!

We are just starting to plan the wedding. How long before the wedding do I need to be in the States? I don't want to cut it too fine, but on the other hand have a limited amount of vacation and want to have a nice honey moon. Plus would like Kelly to feel settled before she starts her job over here. As previously mentioned, we will be marrying in Zionsville, IN (British citizen marrying an American bride). Could Kelly or her father get the marriage license for us?

Looking forward to your usually helpful and informative advice.

James

Luckily it seems this can be done in Chicago - a mere 3 hours from Zionsville by car!

You ever actually driven to Chicago? Distance-wise it's about 3 hours. Time-wise, it's more like 5-6, depending on what time of day you go, where you're actually going, and if there's a baseball game that day. LOL

Why are you guys going to go back to the UK? Zionsville is a cool town, and you could sell a house in the UK and buy 4 of them in Zionsville! LOL

[Kez/JWolf 6]

You both need to be present to get the licence as you have to swear an oath that you are free to marry... here in MA you only have to wait 3 days after applying for the licence to pick it up... get Kelly to check it out at her local town hall...

Good luck with the wedding plans

Kezzie

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

i think the change gwen mentions took place in Jan '05 -- so 3 years ago you would have been fine.

You absolutely must have the fiance visa to marry in the UK now -- you are asked to show proof of eligibilty/citizenship when you register for a marriage license in the UK

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

We've applied for a change of status in the last couple of months from Student to EEA Family Member. The EEA Family Permit is essentially an multi entry visa, and has to be issued from the relavent consulate - but -

we just sent the paperwork directly to the consulate, with our UK address down as acutal address, and my OH's mum's address down as the mailing address. They sent the paperwork and passport with visa in it to his mums house in the US. She sent it on to us.

The visa had to be validated, but we just had a quick trip out of the country, and bob's your uncle! The same method should work for FLR I reckon.

[Leney 0]

Getting British visas used to be a very quick process - a short trip to NY, and it was done in 1-3 hours.

My husband and I married in the USA, he went home, and we weren't sure if I was moving there or he was moving here, when we decided we started the immigration process to the USA.

You don't really need a visa to come here and marry if you don't intend to settle here. I don't know what the time lime for getting UK visas is anymore, but contact the UK embassy in New York to find out.

Best of luck!

Edited November 21, 2007 by Leney

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

The embassy website says that they aim to process most applications in 5 working days. Ours was sent on a Tuesday, arrived on a Wednesday and was approved 7 working days later.

Of course if you apply in person, the visa should be ready the same day I think. The processing times are for all visas.

[Fandango 1,440]

um, this thread's from 06...I'm pretty sure they sorted it by now

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

must'####### one of them links at the bottom of the screen and didn't realise it was ancient.

ah well, hope it worked out for them