In the first scenario, she should apply for a fiance visa which is actually meant for people who want to come over to UK to get married. ( She doesn't need any visa to visit UK and she can just come over to get married but I would suggest not to go that way because it will create problems later down the road ).

In the second case, once you are married in UK, she could apply for spouse visa to come with you or join you in the UK.

Good luck

 

Hi,

just read your post. You may want to think about getting married in denmark. It's really easy, fast and cheap. Any questions send me a pm.

 

I am not familiar with marriage procedures in the uk but i know that getting married in germany would have been a big fat hassle for my (now) wife and myself. She would have had to apply for a special "getting married" visa, which would have allowed her to enter the country for the purpose of getting married. Then, after the marriage, she would have had to go back to chile in order to apply for a "familiy reunification visa". Plus germany requires a ridiculous amount of paperwork. So much red tape it just wasn't worth it.

Getting married in denmark, on the other hand, was simple, fast and cheap. She entered germany on a 3 month tourist visa and we got married in kopenhagen within less than two months. The procedure is as follows: first you make an appointment in the town hall to present yourselves with your passports and sign a few forms. They'll then give you an appointment for the actual marriage ceremony. The only downside is that you have to go to kopenhagen twice. But i think it's still cheaper than elsewhere because they only charge the equivalent of around 70 gbp for the entire procedure. As far as i know there are other towns in denmark where you can get married within a couple of days, but i don't know much about that.
Once you are married she can apply for an eea family permit (free of charge), which allows her to live and work in the uk with you.

Like i said i'm not familiar with the system in the uk but i am inclined to think that it is similar to the one in germany. Plenty of red tape and ludicrously expensive.

 

Sure no problem, Drew. We've been through that and I'm more than happy to help.

Ok, the fact that she'll only be here for a month does change things a bit. Does she really have to go back to NZ? Because it would save you heaps of money if not. Like I said before, there are a few town in Denmark where you can get married within a month; if you are still considering getting married. I know it's ridiculous that they "make you get married" but it just greatly facilitates the whole thing.

Unfortunately I can't help you with the procedure for unmarried couples. Since we hadn't lived together we never really looked into that. The best (if not cheapest) way for you would certainly be to get married in the UK. That would save her a great deal of trouble in the long run. If you decide not to get married your GF has to be prepared for a long and constant struggle; simple things such as opening a bank account or registering with a GP will become extremely complicated because she'll constantly need to prove that she is in the UK legally. I'm not meaning to discourage you, all I'm saying is that the problems are only beginning It's rather a massive hassle than an insurmountable problem, but it's certainly a major annoyance.