Marry on a UK Post-Study Work visa?

[Bandage Girl 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new and a bit overwhelmed so please forgive me if this is explained elsewhere or etc.

I am a US citizen who studied in the UK and met my fiance there. I now have a Tier 1 Post-Study Work Visa which was issued in February this year.

If we married soon, would I have to change my work visa to a spouse visa in the UK before I could do a Direct Consular Filing, in order to have "residence"? Or could I just wait until August (which would be living 6 months in the UK on my current visa) and then file? Is the post-study work visa even counted as "residence" in the UK? They say time spent on this visa does not count towards getting your indefinite leave to remain, nor does the year I spent here on the Student visa.

The UK Home Office website has been no help in this regard. They have not answered emails sent months ago.

We want to marry and live in the USA, but if doing a DCF would allow us to spend less time apart, we'd rather marry in the UK and move to the USA once he has his spouse visa. My parents would sign the affidavit of support to feed and house us until we could find jobs

If anyone could please advise us about

1. Would marriage and DCF from the UK be possible in our situation?

2. In terms of cost and time spent apart, which is more advantageous, returning to the USA to apply for the K1, or staying and doing a DCF?

3. Which has a longer processing time, generally?

Thank you very much! Any input is greatly appreciated.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

1. I think yes, but the US embassy in London are sticklers for having the right visa. Hopefully some UK DCFers will weigh in, but your best option really is to contact the US embassy and ask them.

2. Definitely DCF- cheaper, quicker, plus you can work right away once you move to the USA.

3. K1 takes significantly longer than DCF, BUT with DCF you need the 6 months residency. So if your current visa does not count, then K1 would be as fast or faster as you can file today, as opposed to waiting 6+ months.

Edited March 28, 2011 by Penguin_ie

[Bandage Girl 0]

Thanks, Penguin!

I called the embassy. They said while they couldn't tell me if my visa qualified or not, if I had permission to live and work in the UK for more than six months and had at least 3 months remaining, I could do a DCF with them. My visa meets these requirements.

Now we're looking at the Certificate of Approval I would need.

[mcguiel 0]

Hi,

My husband and I filed our I-130 through DCF in London at the end of January. I came to the UK in Sep 07 on a student visa for grad school and am currently on a 2 year Tier 1 post-study work visa too. We got the same non-answers from the Embassy and the Consulate in Belfast. Our petition hasn't been approved yet, but one of the other Americans on my course has done the same and they got their visa last month. I'm hoping that that's a good sign for us!

DCF is progressing much slower through London that we had hoped. We were hoping to move back to the States in early May, now it's looking like July/August at the earliest. The Embassy website just posted a note on last night saying that anyone planning to file for DCF in London should "file a minimum of 10 months prior to planned relocation". It's still probably your best option, but just to let you know that the rumours of 3-4 month DCFs seem to be a thing of the past in London

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

10 monthsa= for DCF? Wow that is like Canada- and thus slower than some people get their visas filing the "normal" way. Sorry guys.

[Bandage Girl 0]

Thanks for the info, Mcguiel. It's a bit frustrating that there's specific requirements but the embassies refuse to tell you if you meet them or not, isn't it. Well, here's hoping you get your visa soon!

I see the 10 months thing... Ick. We just want to be someplace sunny!

We're in luck, as my fiance's parents happen to be friends with an immigration lawyer that has done a lot of Canada/USA stuff. If they come up with any other general advice I'll be sure to share.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Bandage Girl