Can I change visa status whilst in the UK...

... Or do I need to obtain entry clerance first?

Heres the background.

My Fiance has Nigerian/ American dual nationality. He has been issued with an UK student visa from Nigerian/ British authorities. I am a british national and we hope to get married in Barbados.

The question is, can he return to the UK on his student visa or will he be required to obtain spousal entry clearance first and/ or do we need to apply for certificate of approval?



Thanks

confused2 wrote:... Or do I need to obtain entry clerance first?

Heres the background.

My Fiance has Nigerian/ American dual nationality. He has been issued with an UK student visa from Nigerian/ British authorities. I am a british national and we hope to get married in Barbados.

The question is, can he return to the UK on his student visa or will he be required to obtain spousal entry clearance first and/ or do we need to apply for certificate of approval?



Thanks

If the student visa is still valid, he can get back to the UK on it.
You need to apply for COA to marry only if you're marrying in UK. Not for Barbados! Dunno their rules there.

If her visa was issued for more than 6 months, she could switch in the UK.

Rozen wrote:If the student visa is still valid...

And he's still a student.

Thanks for the replies guys.

My Fiance applied for a visa extension and his appeal was rejected

We are thinking that we are going to have to get married sooner than expected for him to stay in the country, can he now apply in the UK for a fiance visa or does he need to go back to the US and apply from there for entry clearance?

We are afraid that the UK authorities will reject our request because he initially applied for a student visa. Will it be easier for us to get married in the US and then apply for a spousal visa?

You can't apply for a fiance visa from within the UK. Is his student visa still valid and is he still studying (attending his course). If so, you could apply for a COA to marry in the UK if you still have time before the visa expires, and then switch to spouse - FLR(M) from here.
If not...then you could return and marry in his home country and then apply for a spouse visa to re-enter (Form VAF4a - £585), or fiance visa and then marry in the UK within 6 months and apply after the marriage for Further Leave to Remain...but fiance visa would be the more expensive option...2 visa fees.

Are you both over 21?