Engagement pre-Tier 4 visa?

My British partner of 4 years and I are wanting to get engaged and married in the near future. We are currently living together in the U.S. (I'm American) as he did his Masters here and currently has a one year work visa. His U.S. visa expires in about 8 months, and we have decided that we are ready to leave the U.S. and settle in the U.K. closer to his family. Given the income requirements of the U.K. spousal visa and the short period before his U.S. visa runs out, we do not want to get married in the U.S. and then have to wait close to a year before I am able to join him in the U.K. (at least 6 months of him working in the U.K. to meet income requirement + 4-ish months for me to apply for the U.K. spousal visa from the U.S.). I'm interested in doing my Masters in the U.K. anyway, so our thought is to have me come to the U.K. on a Tier 4 visa, continue living together wherever I am studying, and then marry and switch to the spousal visa sometime during my Masters. We are a bit anxious to get engaged (we're excited and have been dating a while!) but I'm concerned about the "timing" of getting engaged, especially as I will be planning to enter the U.K. on a Tier 4 visa to study for my Masters and work part-time. Are we "allowed" to get engaged before I begin my Masters/apply for the Tier 4 visa? Will the HO think it is weird/sketchy that I entered the U.K. on a Tier 4 visa instead of a fiance visa, even though we were engaged? I really don't want to do the fiance visa, as I truly do want to study in the U.K. for my Masters and be able to work part-time while I study, which I know the fiance visa absolutely does not allow. I'm just worried about the HO questioning the "sequence" of events once we go to apply for a spousal visa, since it seems like a legal grey area. We would really prefer to get engaged before I begin my Masters in the U.K., but if we really have to wait until after I am already in the country on a Tier 4 visa, then we will. Thank you in advance for any insight!

gec23 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:47 am

Are we "allowed" to get engaged before I begin my Masters/apply for the Tier 4 visa? Will the HO think it is weird/sketchy that I entered the U.K. on a Tier 4 visa instead of a fiance visa, even though we were engaged? ...I'm just worried about the HO questioning the "sequence" of events once we go to apply for a spousal visa, since it seems like a legal grey area.

It is not a grey area, there is nothing specific stopping you doing what you want to do. The only potential issue is that an entry clearance officer might suspect that you are not a genuine student, but a combination of academic evidence plus what you have already explained here should allay any of those fears.

I don't really advise you use a forum like this for one-to-one complex immigration advice. The international student adviser at your university is best placed to advise on your Tier 4 application, including credibility.

Hello, thank you for your response. I’m not concerned about the credibility of my Tier 4 visa application, as I will be a genuine student studying for a Masters in the U.K. My concerns stem from the switch from the Tier 4 to the spousal visa, and how getting engaged before beginning my studies might affect that. In theory I would be eligible for both a fiancé visa (based on my engagement) and a Tier 4 visa (based on my studies), but the two are obviously mutually exclusive and have vastly different rules for what you are/are not allowed to do while on them, so I’m trying to determine the “correct” one to get for an ultimate goal of marrying my partner and settling in the U.K. As I mentioned, I strongly prefer to go the Tier 4 visa route and get my Masters! I know this is a bit complex and specific, but seems like all the other situations being discussed here are also that I’ve searched high and low but can’t find much information on this circumstance out there, so thought I would give this forum a try. I’ll see if anyone else has insight, and thanks again for your response.

gec23 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:05 pm

In theory I would be eligible for both a fiancé visa (based on my engagement) and a Tier 4 visa (based on my studies), but the two are obviously mutually exclusive and have vastly different rules for what you are/are not allowed to do while on them, so I’m trying to determine the “correct” one to get for an ultimate goal of marrying my partner and settling in the U.K.

There is no "correct" one. Someone with either of those types of visa, or any other type of visa issued for six months or more, can extend their visa as a spouse.

The important thing is that you meet all the requirements of the spouse visa: see paragraphs 284 to 286 of the immigration rules.

This forum is about applying for a Tier 4 visa, hence my advice re: credibility.