I'll bump this because I want to know too...

 

As for how hard it is, if you can gather all of the necessary documentation and have everything in order, it should go smoothly. Certain things might hinder the process, say for instance, if your fiance has a criminal record or if an overstay has occured.

If you apply in person to the Consulate in Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles, your visa could be processed on the spot but definitely within 10 working days.

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/articles_show_nt1.asp?i=65035&L1=41000&a=41031

That is the website I would recommend looking at for documents and requiredness of said documents. The application fee is currently set at $494 or £260. This must be paid when you send off your application. I would suggest submitting your application online (you'll pay the fee by credit card) and making an appointment with one of the three consulates if possible.

I've been researching my brains out and its getting closer and closer to my interview appointment, but from the stories I've been told, that route just seems to be the least hassle. It also prevents you from losing any important documents, should by some rare, off-chance they should get lost, stolen, or damaged in the FedEx van. lol (They do overnight your documentation back to you via fedex if you send your application through the mail.)

http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Welcome.htm

This is also a good site for the answering of questions regarding visas.

Despite the fact that this seems to be a US-UK relationship, it has been concluded that it is much harder now a days to obtain a US fiancee visa or spousal visa. The country has become strict as my nan regarding her favourite candies. X_x Ever since 9/11, people have become very discouraged from applying for a visa to live in the US.
Albeit, I think that the UK visa shouldnt take more than a month to get the required documents together and complete the form if you really rush it, just make sure you have all the documentation!!!

To clarify, the visa processing time is stated to be up to 10 working days on britainusa's website. If you do not receive notification within that period of time, you can contact the consulate and inquire about your application and what went wrong or why it's been delayed.

I hope I cleared some things up for you both!!! ^_^

 

That was a huge help, thank you!

 

Many thanks for the previous info. it was quite helpful.

I know a case of a british lady wanting to marry her non british fiancee. The man concerned had his visa cancelled due to a breach of conditions whilst visiting the UK. He had been going and coming into the country and was found working whilst on a 6mths visa. He was detained when found and given the option of seeking asylum or returning to his country. I thought this was a bit drastic. He is now in a situation where he wants to marry his fiancee and a bit apprehensive about his return into UK to be with his wife to be, after marriage in home country.

Are you able to give any advice on this. Does anyone else have any information on the rules concerning uk/ british citizens marrying a non british with the above mentioned situation.

Thanks for your anticipated response.

 

I know that the easiest way for me and my now husband was to get married in the USA.

We went to my hometown, took care of the marriage license, and 24 hours later, the ceremony was performed. It cost us a whole $25 at most and so long as you or your fiance dont mention that you'll be getting married during your visit, you'll be fine.

The laws for marriages in the USA vary state by state.

http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/a/usmarlaws.htm

After you obtain the license, you will probably have to wait a day, or up to a week before you can have the ceremony. Again, it varies by state.

That however, is just how things work in the USA, I can't say for your friend's fiance as I do not know what country he is from. There are other countries that offer the same sort of "easy access" towards marriages. All you have to do is find one that is easily reached by the couple.

I wish I could offer more advice on the subject of the man who breached the law. His chances of being issued a visa easily might be a bit diminished because of what he did. I'd suggest telling them to hire solicitors and/or a lawyer. And when you go for the application/interview. TELL THE TRUTH I hope I could help at least a little bit.

I have my interview within the next month, and once I'm granted my visa, I plan to write up a "how to" when it comes to applying for a UK-Spousal Visa. I've noticed this to be a common concern/question on these forums, and often people are wanting to hear of other's success. I personally have not found many success stories on the web about the subject. I think it would be a nice thing to do for others in my situation, and will offer a little bit more hope for them

 

Seraphina, I would definitely find it most useful if you wrote up how the system goes after your success, it would be a nice thing for you to do.
Good luck with your interview!

I want to see if I understand things correctly... if you apply for the fiance visa, it sounds like it takes a very short time between the initial appliation and receiving the visa. Is this correct, or have I missed something?

My situation is my American fiance will be getting his fiance visa to come and marry me in the UK (hopefully march next year). Which brings me to another question if anybody knows the answer... will the visa be awarded soon after you apply, or can you request to have it begin the six months from a later date? I'm scared of planning a wedding without knowing for sure that he'll be able to come.
The other thing that worries me is our financial status, I'll be a poor student and I fear this affect our application. Does anybody know if there is a chance to name a sponser on the fiance visa in case the two of us do not have enough money?

If anybody could answer the above questions I would be extremely grateful.

 

Geepy:

The way a fiance visa works, your application gets processed, then your fiance is granted 6 months leave to enter/remain in the UK. During which time, you are expected to marry. As far as *MY* situation is concerned, my husband and I had decided that it would be easier as well as cheaper to get married in the USA, apply for the spouse visa, then have a proper big tadoo vow renewal ceremony in a few years.

The reason for this is that paying the $494 application fee for the fiance visa, getting married, then paying the $494 for the spousal visa, then two years later £500 for indefinite leave to remain (Form set M) sounded way too expensive of a route for us to take. Not to mention all the added flight tickets and travel insurance and actually planning a wedding ceremony in the middle of all of that! There's also the fact that your significant other isnt allowed to be with you in the UK while they are applying for the fiance or spouse visa. They'd have to go back to the USA and wait to be issued the visa. You can pick your way through the following link and its articles with a fine toothed comb to help you understand a bit more.

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/articles_show.asp?i=65035&L1=41000

Its your decision in the end, and ultimately, whatever makes the two of you happy Now, to answer your questions.

You havent missed anything at all Its right here, plain black and white text. A visa should be processed within 5 working days of its arrival to the consulate. They also have a 10 working day max, and should you not receive your documents by that time, you are allowed to badger and question them about it. I wouldnt suggest complaining though. The best bit is that if you go into one of the three consulates (New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago) Your visa interview could very well take place in the morning, and by dinner time, you'd be approved and ready to go!! Less than 24 hours! This isnt the case with all applications submitted in person, it all depends on your application itself and whether the consulate finds any uncorrelated stories given by you or your fiance or references, etc. Jail time and convictions and having overstayed in the uk could also possibly hinder the processing time.

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/articles_show.asp?i=65014&L1=41000

Directly off of BritainUSA's website under the settlement-Fiance section of the first link I posted:

"Entry clearance when issued is valid for a 6 month period (and you must marry within this period) and good for multiple entry. Applications should therefore be submitted only when you have specific plans to marry and settle in the United Kingdom with your fiance(e)."

Basically, this means that you should indeed have a wedding day set and proper arrangements made for this day before you go ahead and put forward the application. I recommend that you put all applications in at least 2 weeks before your scheduled flight back to the uk. This will give you plenty of time to receive documents back.

I suggest, if you're really scared about this, get married in Vegas. To avoid this painful step with all its woe and worry. This way, you'll technically be married, but you wont have to bother with the fiance 6 month time frame. You can have your big loverly ceremony whenever you want, and nobody will really be the wiser.

Generally speaking, the Sponsor is the person married or getting married to the applicant. However, and this is a big but, in my opinion. You can state on your application that family or friends will help support you. So long as you have a stable job, a place to live, and your fiance has the initiative to get a job as well, you should be ok. Student loans do not count as public funds, as they will be paid back by you. When you go to submit your application, be sure to bring letters of support from those who are willing to help you out. And, if you'll be living with family/friends temporarily till you find your own accomodation, dont forget to bring a letter from the person who owns the property as well as a copy of mortgage papers, or tenancy agreements. And, just so you know. Your fiance's assests are always said to be less important than your own. They arent. If your fiance has any assests, be it a trust fund, property in the USA, savings, bonds. List those and make sure that evidence of such are supplied for the application

Mind, this isnt a very exciting read, but I found it really helpful. This basically is a guide for the people who interview you. It offers people like us tips on what to avoid and what to do at the interview should you take that route!!

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage...


I hope this helps out!!! ^_^ If you have other questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them. I've been researching this process for 6ish months now, so the least I can do is try and make what was a tough cookie of a task to complete into something a little bit easier for others ^_^

 

Wow, I left this a bit long to reply to... Thanks so much Seraphina, your information is a huge help to me!

I do have another question or two though...
Assuming my fiance gets the fiance visa, comes over to the UK and we get married as planned... does he have to return to America to apply for the spousal visa? I think you said he would have to return to America, but I want to be sure.

And secondly, the honeymoon. I was hoping to go somewhere in continental europe very shortly after the wedding, will this cause any problems? Will my fiance still be considered as in England on the fiance visa, and will this prevent him from travelling elsewhere in Europe on his passport?

Finally, "without recourse to public funds" is mentioned plenty. I remember being told that student loans do not count... what about grants? That is money I would not be paying back, I presume this would be public funds? *head spins with all the complications and confusion*

 

Ngerian national on a valid 6 months UK visitor's visa?

Hi, I was wondering if anyone offer any advice. I am a UK citizen and have a Nigerian

girlfriend who is currently in the UK or a 6 month visitor's visa.
We are planning on getting married in Las Vegas USA.
When we return to the UK, what are the UK immigration authorities likely to say or do?
As a Nigerian national married to a UK Citizen without a

valid spousal or fiancee visa, will she still be allowed into the?
Or will they deny her entry and say she has to apply for permission in nigeria (after the fact) for a marriage visa in Nigeria, despite having a valid US

marriage certificate?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.


Thanks.

 

If she vants to come to UK as your spouse she has to apply from her country of residence(Nigeria).There is no other way.

 

Hi everyone.

Forgive me if I ramble at all, I am an absolute nervous wreck right now. Here is my situation...
My fiancee and I have been engaged for 4.5 years now. Due to us both being young and the economy sucking, we've only been able to see each other for a few months during that time.
Last year, my last visit to the UK I was denied entry. I had become unemployed and the UKBA could not understand how someone who had been unemployed could take a vacation for 2 months. (Never mind that I had been saving for the trip for 3 years) they thought that I was going to try to stay in the country illegally. I was not intending to do that at all.

So I was kicked back to the US with a big black X in my passport. I spent over a month and over a grand getting myself a Tourist visa so that I couldn't be denied entry again.

I made it to the UK with all my paperwork in hand, and this time I actually got the stamp in my passport and entry to the UK.
I did not over stay my proposed travel time (not even by a minute).
My tourist visa is still active, because it does not expire until next month. (I haven't tried to use it again though, nor do I have plans to.)

So my fiancee and I are wanting to finally get married. We were waiting on him being officially "secure" at his "grown up" job. (He had been a student for the last 4 years, which is really the reason we held off on getting married. If it had been our choice, we would have been married 4 years ago! But he now has a respectable full time job, and has an apartment for us.)

I am absolutely terrified about the process due to the "Denied Entry" mark on my record.
I have no intention on doing anything below board. I am an honest person which I why when I was denied entry I was completely flabbergasted that it happened to me.

Perusing this forum, I've noticed an option I hadn't thought of before... Having my fiancee come here, we get married and then apply for a spousal visa. (I honestly didn't know that was an option)

Do you guys think this would be the better route? Or do you think that they'd take one look at the history and think we were trying to defraud the UKBA?

I understand I won't be able to work for 6 months. I own my own business and though I hate to halt it (it's been growing and growing amazingly right now) but I understand that I cannot work. I will never try to do anything illicit that would risk my citizenship status.

All of my fears about this situation just sort of bubbled up to a head today, so really I'm looking for any kind of advice that will allay my fears.

Thanks,
Erin

 

try this website:

you will gain information about uk visa or anything related.

 

I might share you the travel agency that helps me out. We had the same common situation. But they help me out about my problem. They also give you some advice towards your problem.

Here this is their site.
http://olvis.com/

 

Actually, I'm so sorry I didn't repost sooner.

It ended up being moot.
We got married in the US in August.
We started my Spouse Visa for the UK in the middle of October(would have started it sooner, but the price was astronomically more than we had been expecting, so we had to wait a bit and save up more money), it was approved in less than 9 days! Which was not what we were expecting at all.
I made sure that all of my documentation was well organized in a presentation folder. I included photos of us throughout the years (we had 5 years worth of relationship to go through), letters from him and myself (which were the required ones), and a letter from my father in law explaining our intent.
Bank statements from my husband, and a notice of dissolution from the state of Colorado in regards to my business.
I was nervous when I was flying, afraid that I'd be stuck in immigration for hours as they checked everything out... and honest to gods... I was through immigration in 5 minutes! It took longer to get my luggage than it did waiting in the immigration line and getting cleared! (I will only ever fly through Gatwick now... so quick.. so wonderful)

I did go through Ambassador Passport and Visa (agency) which I don't know if that affected how quick my paperwork went through or not.. But considering the previous issues I had, I didn't want to risk not going with them.

Now I just have 2 years before I have to do my Indefinite Leave to Remain. I don't know if I actually need to come back to the US for that or not.. we'll find out closer to the date since the rules keep changing.

Good luck to everyone else!

 

I need help with this too! Thanks. BTW, if anyone needs to fill out a form set m, I found a blank form here http://goo.gl/XoAHu2 (UK Border agency. Indefinite Leave to Remain)