Okay, this forum is huge and a lot of topics are going unanswered from what I've seen but I might as well try.

I'm an American national. My fiancee is a Greek national and she's enrolled in a university in the UK. We're moving there together from France at the end of the month. I've called several solicitors in the UK trying to find out if I can obtain a Partner Visa before we get married (which we weren't planning on doing for some time). I was told by one solicitor (the rest couldn't help without a visit/charge) that only a spouse can get one if the student isn't working. On several websites I read that you CAN obtain a Partner Visa if the student is self-sufficient and financially independent from public funds (which she is).

I'm current in France on my Schengen time because my long-stay visa ran out. I was counting on either marrying or applying for a Partner Visa while still engaged to keep me in the UK with her. I plan on enrolling in the same uni but I need to make arrangements for that there, in person, beforehand.

So, my questions are varied: can I, in fact, obtain a Partner Visa with her if she's a student and we can both prove our self-sufficiency? Do we need to marry? Once married, what do we do to prove that it's not a sham marriage?

Also, for obtaining a Partner Visa, we don't have many (if any) documents with our names on them to show we've been living together. Everything is in her family's name: they own the apartment we were living in, they set up the phones we were using, paid the taxes/utilities/etc since we're young and still in school. So, can we get notarized statements from the family stating that our names should be on those documents, or something to that effect?

Thanks in advance for anyone who finds this and can help.

 

We've decided to get married. Now we're not sure if I can apply for an EEA Family Permit once we've got it finalized since we'll have to marry after we move to the UK. Is that possible if my wife is a student and I don't have a visa besides my American passport? Can I get a permit from inside or must I fly back to the USA?

Man thanks for the help. We've been going mad about this because we have to move very soon.