EU cit. to marry Non-EU Fiancee in UK - EEA FP or Fiancee V.

Hi,

this questions is for a friend of mine.

He is a EU citizen living and working in the UK.

He now wants to marry his Chinese Fiancee (currently living in china) in the UK in December 09. They then will go back to China in May/June 2010 to get the Chinese wedding done.

Would he be able to apply for the (free) EEA FP or would he have to apply for the (expensive) fiancee Visa?

Regards,
dsab

He can't apply for a fiancee visa under UK law...it will be EU permit.
I believe he'll need to apply for a COA (which is now free) from the Home Office though in order to marry in the UK. Wait for confirmation on this.

dsab85, what you post begs the question, why get married in the UK?

I ask this because the fiancée is falling into a gap in the EU regulations, namely, there is no provision for a fiancée visa in the EU Directive. Accordingly UK immigration law permits the person to apply for a fiancée visa under UK immigration law, and then having done the marriage in the UK, to apply for a Residence Card on the EU route. However, as you rightly realise, the fiancée visa does not come cheap, but in these circumstances it is the only way of proceeding ... if the marriage is going to happen in the UK.

So as said above, why get married in the UK? Why not get married in your friend's country? Or in China? Or indeed anywhere apart from the UK! If married outside the UK it is then just a question of applying for an EEA Family Permit, which is free.

He is German, and that makes the whole thing just very complicated in both countries, as it involves a lot more paperwork then for example getting married in the UK.

It would involve loads of Paperwork, that would need several translations, official certification by the embassies, involvement of the Regsitry Office in Germany etc.

The whole paperwork will probably take 6 months or so and loads of money.

If they're using the UK regulations route, hopefully they're both over 21?

Yes, no problem on the age front.

Casa wrote:He can't apply for a fiancee visa under UK law...it will be EU permit.

Para 290A of the Immigration Rules specifically deals with this situation, and thus permits the possibility of a fiancé(e) visa being issued using UK immigration law, to the fiancé(e) of an EEA Citizen exercising EU Treaty Rights in the UK.

dsab85 wrote:He is German, and that makes the whole thing just very complicated in both countries, as it involves a lot more paperwork then for example getting married in the UK.

I bow to your superior knowledge about German marriage law, but there is nothing to stop the couple getting married elsewhere, such as Thailand. As long as their respective embassies in Bangkok have a procedure to enable them to sign the affirmation document required by the Thai authorities, the procedure could be quick and relatively painless.

But in order to pursue that they should both go to the website of their respective embassies in Bangkok and check what is required to get the affirmation document signed.