Hi everyone,

I am a female United States citizen married to a UK citizen. We have been married for 2 and a half years.

I received my first UK marriage visa for the UK in 2009. It was issued without any problems through the UK consulate in Chicago and using that visa I received a National Insurance number and lived and worked in London for about six months. I have no debts or criminal offenses in the UK. After six months in London, we relocated to South Korea to teach English.

My UK marriage visa was issued for 2 years validity and recently expired. I am now in the Republic of Ireland (Dublin) and I have entered the country as a tourist with permission to stay for 90 days. As much as we both love Dublin, due to the lack of jobs, we've decided to relocate over to Edinburgh.

Now, from what research has told me, the only way I can renew my marriage visa is to go back to the United States. I think the notion of this is totally crazy, as I am less than an hour away from Scotland and it is going to be ridiculously expensive to trek all the way back to the US just to renew my visa. I have also been told that I cannot apply for renewal through the UK embassy here in Ireland, because I cannot be within the EU when I apply, as I entered Ireland with only tourist permission.

Do you know if there's any kind of loophole for getting around this? Do you know if any exceptions will be made, as I am not a first time applicant?

I would appreciate any help or feedback that you can offer.