Marrying US Citzen (as British national) on a Visitor's Visa

[zylya]

My (now!) fiancee is here on a 6-month visitior visa from the US (around 4 months remaining) and we decided that we wanted to get married. I've been looking at the various rules on immigration etc and I just wanted to get an idea of what the best way to do this is?

The ideal scenario is that we get married before she leaves and she can apply for ILR within the UK. My questions are:

1. Is it possible to even get married while she's in the UK on a visitor's visa? I know that a registrar has to check that they believe the marriage is real, but will they only register marriages of foreign citizens with a certain visa? I know that it's impossible to switch into the fiancee visa from a visitor, but is it possible to get married without one?

2. If it's not possible to get married without a fiancee visa, is there a third country (i.e. neither UK or US) which would allow us to get married on a holiday? Assuming that this was possible, what would then be the process for applying for ILR for her?

3. In some places I see a rule for switching to a spouse visa within the UK needing more than 6 months staying in the country, but not in other places. Can anyone clarify for me whether this is (still) true or not?

Essentially we want to try and avoid leaving the UK as much as possible, but we accept that it might not be possible to avoid leaving entirely, but what's the best way to do this leaving as few times as possible?

[vinny]

1. Ask the Register Office.

3. Visitors may not switch.

[Greenie]

See also I came to the UK on a visitor visa, can I get married in the UK

[zylya]

Thanks for the speedy replies, so if I'm reading right we should be able to marry, but then she'll have to leave the UK to apply for a spouse visa. One quick question though, is it a requirement that she applies for the spouse visa from the USA, or can it be from any country (assuming that she was able to stay there long enough to complete the process)?

[vinny]

Where to apply - the policy

[Greenie]

Thanks for the speedy replies, so if I'm reading right we should be able to marry, but then she'll have to leave the UK to apply for a spouse visa. One quick question though, is it a requirement that she applies for the spouse visa from the USA, or can it be from any country (assuming that she was able to stay there long enough to complete the process)?

Whilst I agree that you no longer require a certificate of approval i would be wary of saying that there will be no problems with you marrying on a visit visa especially considering that one of the requirements you had to meet to obtain the visit visa was to show that you do not have an intention to enter a marriage during your visit 41(x)).

If you therefore do marry whilst on your visit you could then face problems when you apply for your spouse visa that you have previously made false representations to obtan a prior visa/entry clearance.

[vinny]

If she's a US citizen, then she probably didn't apply for a visitor visa. Moreover, the intention to marry could have been made after entry.

[zylya]

Hmm, yeah I saw that, but the wording was intended, and I figured that since the intention wasn't there at the time of entry that it wouldn't be an issue. Or does the fact that you're already in a relationship with the person count as "intention" even if you weren't engaged to be married when you entered the UK?

EDIT (since I've seen vinny's post) - yeah she didn't apply for a visitor visa but just came through on a visa waiver (if that's the correct name) and was allowed in. We hadn't gotten engaged til very recently, but will there be difficulties since it's hard to prove either way?

[Greenie]

If she's a US citizen, then she probably didn't apply for a visitor visa. Moreover, the intention to marry could have been made after entry.

yes - but she still has to satisfy the same requirements to be granted entry as a visitor.

the intention to marry could have formed after entry - it will be for her to prove this should the fact that they marry whilst she is here as visitor come up as an issue. not saying it will but there is a risk.

[zylya]

Ok guys, thanks for your input. We'll probably put it off for now, allow her to return to the US once her visit is up and start planning from there, would rather keep everything above board and play it safe than run the risk of having an application denied which could complicate things further.

[vinny]

320(7C) will be applicable for a future spouse visa application. As even overstayers may be granted COAs to marry in the past, I doubt that they will use 320(11) because of marrying in the UK as a general visitor. But it's possible.

Marriage outside the UK may indeed be less risky and less complicated.