OK: it will be best if he gets a flat that just the two of you will live in before you make the application. However, you can get a letter from his parents saying they're happy to have you stay with them for a bit until you set up a flat.

You are going to need at least £770/$1500 JUST for visas*, and at least another £100 for wedding fees. You two will need to be able to prove you can support yourselves without public funds, so you either need a LOT of savings, proof that your families will help out, or he needs a job.

You need proof of your relationship to apply for the visa; some pictures of you together, emails, tickets from any trips you went on together. If you plan to have a registry office wedding, you don't need a date set, since you can't set a date anyway until you have the fiancee visa. If you apply for a fiancee visa in person at the consulate office, they'll give you the visa same day. The paperwork says that a mail application takes 1-2 weeks.

Once you get in the UK, you have to live here for at least a week before going to register your intent to marry; after that there's a waiting period of two weeks before you can marry. Once you're married, you can go to the Home Office and get a LLR(M) visa for £500 and start work right away; or, you can apply by mail for £335, but then that can take from 1-3 months to process.

Oh, and if you do go to the Home Office in person, be aware that you will get the visa the same day, but they're hugely disorganised, unprofessional, and a lot of the people working there are rude and ignorant.

*okay, I guess it's a little less if you plan to use the mail service in the UK...but then, that's longer you'll have to go without work.

 

Hi,
sorry, I should have been a bit clearer: you do have to fill out the application (and pay) online, then print it out and bring it with you when you go to the office. But you don't have to FedEx anything in if you want to take your passport and other materials straight to the consulate - at the end of the online bit, they ask if you plan to mail your stuff in or bring it in live, and you can make an appointment to see them live then. It was pretty painless; they ask the usual 'when/where did you meet, how long have you been in the relationship,' etc. At first, the lady said if my fiance wasn't in America, how could we have met, so I explained to her that we began the relationship while I was in England (duh, right? But they like to be pedantic and thorogh).

When you get to customs in the UK, they'll ask you to confirm that you intend to get married in the UK, ask when you're planning the wedding, ask where your fiance is, and may ask when you've met or how long you've been in the relationship, just to make sure you're not too dodgy

It's not a big deal if your fiance isn't with you; just tell them he had to work while you were getting the visa or whatever (in my case, I got the fiancee visa while I was home for Christmas, so I just told them he'd spent Christmas with his family and they didn't harass me at all).

 

Hello

I would like to know if you have any idea about how much could be a LOT of saving. I am almost in the same situation. My wife and I would like to apply for a Family Permit. I read many times that there is not a specific amount of money to prove to the Home Office. But I found this statement very subjective.
Thanks

 

Hi. I'm an American who has been living in the UK for seven long and miserable years. I beg any Americans planning to move to the UK to think very, very hard on it first, especially if you have children. My family and I are currently planning to move back to the States and I have no desire to ever come back here.

Read the newspapers here, like the London Times, Manchester Online, Newcastle Evening Chronicle, etc...

Crime is terrible, children are far more out of control here than in the States, if you become the target of anti-social behaviour your neighbours will not help you and those who were once friendly will most likely turn against you and side with your attackers in the interest of self-protection.

Owning a decent car is difficult because as soon as you are away from it someone will scratch it with a key, knife or stick, spray paint it, pop your tires, or any other damage they can do. These are not isolated incidents. They are regular occurances all over the UK on a regular basis.

Your children will most likely become the vicitms of violence do to the social workers pampering young offenders instead of jailing them.

Dental care? What a laugh! It is going to require a dentist in the States to fix the damage done to my teeth. I've had another dentist trying to repiar them for me over the last three years and we still aren't done.

Medical care is a terrifyng experience, especially hospitals. Don't subject your children to such a fate as it will traumatise them forever. Last year a number of people died from lung cancer because their GP's refused to send them to a specialist. Instead, they were given cough syrup and told they just had colds or flu.

No matter how hard life might appear to be in the United States I urge you to stay there because the UK is NOT a haven and Brits are NOT anything like Americans. That is a myth.

 

Thanks God we are not like Americans.

 

I must admit thou that you have made serious and trutful assesment of the UK today.

 

Sorry, there was no intent to offend with the comment about Brits being nothing like Americans. My husband is British, as are his family, and I love them all to bits. I made that comment for a reason. Many people have assumed that as an American it was far easier for me than those from other countries to move to the UK and fit in with the society here. We may be very much alike in appearance and we share a common language to a certain degree, but that is where the sameness ends. British culture and society is very, very different from American culture and society, and any Americans who move here with the false security of "sameness" will be in for one hell of a shock.

I have met some very nice and kind peole here and have formed strong friendships, but the UK is in a serious decline right now when it comes to moral and ehtical behaviour by both the government and local society in general. I am far from being a religious Bible thumper. My views come from observing, witnessing and experiencing. The break-down in cohesiveness among families and the larger community is terrible. The uncontrolled influx of immigrants from the Middle East and Eastern Europe is creating a powder keg of resentment, fear and anger that is ready to blow. Unfortunately many come here because the UK is viewed by the rest of the world as a "soft-touch" country. Soft on crime, soft on immigration, soft on benefits, etc... Its really very sad because this country does have good points as well, but these are being eroded away by the bad points. There is something wrong when a nation begins to encourage and socialize their children into binge drinking from an early age and we are now seeing children as young as 14 with liver disease, not to mention the high rate of alcoholism and poor educational scores. When I see a bunch of medical and nursing students going to the pub to get pissed between classes at lunch break it terrifies me knowing that these are the same people we are supposed to trust to heal us or save our lives. The lack of experience shown by those already employed in the capacity of doctors and nurses is frightening and because of the two very traumatic incidents I've suffered while in the hands of emergency room doctors and nurses has left me with a deep fear of going to the hospital.

I know that the United States also has its faults, but at least they are faults that Americans are familiar with. For many, moving to the UK would be like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I also suspect that many wish to move here because they have heard how easy it is to obtain and survive off of benefits instead of having to work.

I appreciate your polite response. On another board I received nothing but rude and ignorant responses.

 

I'm trying to get info from the UK Embassy in New York about visa as wife of UK citizen. I lived in northern England for 20 years with a "given leave to enter the UK for indefinite period" stamp in my US passport. But, returning to the US 10 years ago to care for aging parents, meant I lost that due to changes in the rules. Now I need to find out what kind of visa I need; can I go with the returning resident thing? Do I have to take the stupid English language/UK life exams? Am I immediately eligible for National Health? The Embassy refuses to answer visa questions but fob you off on some outsourced agency.
I empathize with Cyanna; there comes a time when you start wondering why am I living here where everything is so expensive and complicated? In my case, it meant no car, no shower, tiny fridges, little job opportunity, etc. etc. But when half your family is there and finding it difficult to make the move to the US, what can you do? One of the big differences between "them-and-us" is their ability to put up with less than satisfactory situations.

 

Thanks, Cyanna, for your brutally honest input.

So many Americans love England and would like to try to live there.

 

Hey, My name is Ashley and I have been reading all the posts here and I have a few questions. If anyone can help id be sooo grateful!!! Here is my situation:

My fiance and i are desperate to be together and have decided to apply for a fiance visa however, we are terrified that we will not get one and be out 1500 dollars. We met online via myspace in August. We have been speaking ever since. In october we became more serious, decided to not date other people and be exclusive. We email each other everyday and since october we have sent over 1000 emails to one another. In addition we have outrageous cell phone bills to prove we speak all the time ( we also use webcam everyday but we cant show proof of that)

in march I flew to the UK to actually meet my fiance. We spent 11 amazing days together where I met his entire family and we even took a roadtrip through Europe to Amsterdam. My fiance proposed the day before i left ( march 22nd) .

We are worried that since I have only made one trip to see him that they will not issue me the visa. We have 100% met and have tons of pictures of us together as well... DO YOU THINK THIS WILL CREATE A PROBLEM WHEN APPLYING?

I am student and i plan to leave school in order to be with my fiance. I am currently unemployed and dont have much money however, my fiance has a stable job, a decent salary, apartment and is a british citizen. He fully intends to support me until i get a job in the UK. even if i dont find work he is prepared to take care of me.

We plan to send in pictures of us together, our phone bills and emails to prove we are in fact, engaged.

Also, we do not have formal wedding plans as we intend to get married through the registrar. We will writing a letter explaining this.

Although no one can answer this 100%, what are my chances of getting this fiance visa? its imperative that i get it as my fiance and I cant afford a wedding AND to apply for another fiance visa and all the other expenses we have in the next few months i.e my plan ticket to england and shipping clothes etc.

If anyone has any ideas or advice could you please let me know! my fiance and I love each other so much. All we want is to be together and marry.

also, my fiance has 2 girls from a previous relationship that ended about 8 years ago. will that work against us? i have met the girls and love them dearly.