Marry here or back home, which best for obtaing spouse visa?

I've been here over three years on a work permit. My British partner and I are planning to marry as soon as his divorce comes through- hopefully soon as we have to apply for CoA by 3rd June (my work permit expires in August and I cannot get it renewed).

I have read on here that spouse visas here are not always granted just because you marry and that they can take a long time to process and that it's often easier and faster to go back to the home country and marry and apply.

My questions: if we marry here but are refused a spouse visa, could I just go home (to Canada) and apply again from there? Or, if they refused me here, would I also get refused in Canada?
Or, would it be better if we just went to Canada and got married, and I applied from there? (Would like to avoid this due to expense and partner missing work).

We are just wondering what the best course of action is to take. Any advice would be appreciated!

Doh- should be 'obtaining' in subject heading!

Why do you think you would be refused a visa? As long as you have a valid work permit you should aim to switch status in the UK rather than leave.

Do make sure you apply for the spouse visa before your existing leave to remain expires. Either apply in person or use a secure method (eg courier) to send to the Home Office.

After a further 2 years you will be eligible for ILR on spouse grounds. Once you have ILR, you will be able to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen immediately as you will already have 3+ years residence. Time on a work permit does count for naturalisation provided you have ILR.

You might also want to ask on the General immigration forum about a potential "loophole" that would allow you to apply for naturalisation as soon as you are married and have 3 years UK residence. You would need to apply at a British mission overseas (while visiting that country) - either Ottawa, or closer to home you could choose from Dublin, Paris etc.

My British partner and I are planning to marry as soon as his divorce comes through

Can you ask when the Decree Absolute is actually expected? Has the Decree Nisi already been issued? If so, how long ago? And is your partner the Petitioner or the Respondent in those proceedings?

I ask this because it is clear from the CoA application form that your partner needs to be free to marry when the CoA is applied for, and given that it takes about 2 months for a CoA application to be processed, clearly if the Decree Absolute comes through too late it will not be possible to proceed with a marriage in the UK. Instead a marriage in Canada (or elsewhere outside the UK) would be necessary, and if the marriage is outside the UK, you would need to apply for a spouse visa in Canada.

So how imminent is the Decree Absolute?

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated!
Where it stands now: O/H, who is from South Africa (he has a British passport), is divorcing his wife, who lives there. They haven't seen each other in about four years. We were told it would be easier for her to petition the divorce since they were married in SA...
Just before the holidays, we were asked by her lawyer to deposit more money in his account- he said as soon as he received it, he would apply for a court date. The divorce is granted on that day. We sent the money a couple weeks ago, lawyer is due back to work tomorrow. So, now it's just to see how long it will take to get a court date.... hopefully, no more than a couple of months. It will all depend on when the court date is.
We don't plan on a church wedding, just getting married... well, back home you go to City Hall, or a court... do you know more or less how long after we got approval it would to do this?

I think if I remember rightly, John, you said marriages could be done quickly in Thailand. That sounds very tempting! This is what I'm wondering now- if we were to entertain the idea of getting married, say in Thailand (or if we had to leave the Uk out of necessity) and I went home, would the spouse visa get processed faster from Canada, than if we applied from here?

Thanks so much! This board is invaluable!

Hi Turquoise, your partner is British and you are Canadian. So let's look at what needs to be done in order for the two of you to get married in Thailand. Because quite understandably Thai law does specify some requirements.

Your British partner! This page (click) is very helpful and describes what needs to be done. Thai law requires a non-Thai person wishing to marry in Thailand to sign an affirmation ... at their embassy in Thailand. It is not possible for the affirmation document to be signed anywhere else, because when the affirmation is checked by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs they do check that the countersignatory from the embassy is on their pre-approved list.

So for a British person the procedure is clear, and fully described on that webpage. There are even samples of affirmation documents. Your partner's own affirmation document should be prepared before leaving for Thailand.

He is waiting for his divorce to come through. So an original (not a photocopy) document needs to be attached .... the Decree Absolute ... and that must bear the red stamp seal from the Court.

You, Canadian! You will need to go to the Canadian embassy in Bangkok. Click here for an informative webpage.

For British Citizens it is merely a question of going in one day, signing the document, then returning the next day to pick up the countersigned document. For Canadian citizens the website mentions "one morning".

After the affirmation documents have been signed, get them translated into Thai, and then take them along to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as mentioned on the British Embassy website. After the Ministry stamp has been applied, you can simply go along to an Amphur (Register Office) and register the marriage. No appointment is needed.

However as neither of you speak Thai (I presume) you really will want to take along someone to help you, and for a fee the translation bureau, of which there are many in Bangkok, will be only too happy to oblige.

The procedure to actually register the marriage? Very simple indeed ... and form-filling exercise ... hand over documents ... Ministry-stamped affirmations and passports .... pay a small fee ..... wait a few minutes ... then get handed your marriage certificate. Do ensure that you get the translation bureau to translate that certificate from Thai into English as their final service to you.

In all of this ... no mention of a religious ceremony! No, in Thailand a "mere" religious ceremony is not a legal marriage. If you also want a religious ceremony that is something else entirely and nothing at all to do with getting legally married.

To summarise .... you could easily be married within 4 or 5 business days of arriving in Thailand.

John,
Thanks so much for all the info you wrote - so, it looks like even though there is some leg work to be done it can be done quite quickly.

Just got an email from O/H's lawyer- the court date is set for 20th Feb. One problem: the lawyer said he can write something up saying the divorce is done, but it will take the court eight weeks to get the divorce certificate done! Of course I'm sure, that in order to apply for CoA , we'll need the court divorce certificate.
So, we should have the divorce certificate end of April. I then apply for CoA, lets say we get that back end of June. My work permit expires 5th Sept. Would we have time in July and August to apply for and have a civil ceremony? This is my next question: once we have CoA, how long would it take to apply to marry and get a date set for a civil ceremony here?

Also, do you know of anywhere else in Europe we could marry quickly and easily? Or is Thailand the easiest place?

Thanks again, John.

I am presuming that the divorce is undefended and thus the hearing you mention on 20th February is in the "Special List" procedure and thus is entirely formal .... the Judge reading out a list of cases in open Court, as required by UK divorce law ... to grant the Decree Absolute.

8 weeks for the Decree Absolute thereafter? Actually that can be applied for 6 weeks 1 day after the Decree Nisi was pronounced, and in most Courts the Absolute happens in a matter of days, and I would doubt it would take 2 weeks.

Anyway, sometime in April the Absolute should be issued. Say another 2 months to get the CoA. Once that is issued the two of you go along to a Register Office and give the required Notice of Intention to Marry. That is posted publicly for just over 2 weeks, then the permission to marry is issued. When you go along to give the Notice you can also book the Register Office, if that is your wish, at the same time. Subject to space being available, you could be married within 3 weeks of giving the Notice of Intention to Marry.

In other words, entirely possible for the 2 of you to be married before the end of July.

Or if the two of you fly to Thailand to get married, you could easily be married by late April or early May! Register the marriage and then have a honeymoon there?

Thanks again, John. Ideally we want to get married here and then go on a honeymoon - sounds like we should just be able to make it!
One thing- once we get married, do you know how long it takes to get the marriage certificate? I've read it is necessary to send it when applying for the spouse visa.

One thing- once we get married, do you know how long it takes to get the marriage certificate?

Marriage in the UK? Instantly .... a marriage certificate is handed to you before you leave the building.

And for the record, in case it comes down to it, marriage in Thailand, again marriage certificate handed to you before you leave the building. Actually not quite right ... they actually give you two copies of the marriage certificate .... presumably one each???!