Spouse Visa - Best To Apply In The UK Or Abroad?

Hi all

I am a British citizen and my fiance is from Zambia. She has been living in the UK for the last 6 years or so and was renewing her visa every 2 - 3 years. She had no restrictions on her visa and was working etc. Her visa came up for renewal late last year and an application was submitted by her solicitor and rejected by the Home Office this year. It is now going to appeal in July.

We have been living together for the past 3.5 years but have no joint bills or bank accounts. The arrangment we had was I would transfer money to her account each month and she would pay the bills in her name.

We have looked into getting married - however, we cannot get a certificate of approval as her leave has run out. We can get married in the Anglican Church and are making arrangements to get a licence.

What I need to know is:

(1) is it better to get married here in the UK and then apply for the spouse visa or will the Home Office ask her to leave if the appeal (above) fails?

(2) Is it better for me to go back to Zambia and marry her there and apply for her visa in Lusaka? Currently the waiting time at the HC in Lusaka is about 1 - 2 weeks.

(3) Will a rejection on her appeal in July have a negative impact on any future claims she makes for a spousal visa? I ask this as one of the lawyers arguments in the appeal is that we are living together and will be married so they may as well extend her leave to remain as she will apply anyway when we get married.

Any input is much appreciated!

I think probably the best option is none of your 1, 2 or 3. Probably the easiest way to play this is to get married in a CoE Church in the UK, and then she should fly back to Zambia and apply for the 2-year spouse visa there.

In other words, part of your (1) then part of your (2).

When is the marriage going to happen? If before the appeal hearing in July, following the marriage, withdraw the appeal and ask for the passport etc back ... saying she wants to fly back to Zambia. A rejection in the UK? Any impact upon the spouse visa application? No, given that she will not have been in the UK illegally at any time. Just ensure that the VAF2 application form is supported with all the required evidence.

John wrote:I think probably the best option is none of your 1, 2 or 3. Probably the easiest way to play this is to get married in a CoE Church in the UK, and then she should fly back to Zambia and apply for the 2-year spouse visa there.

In other words, part of your (1) then part of your (2).

When is the marriage going to happen? If before the appeal hearing in July, following the marriage, withdraw the appeal and ask for the passport etc back ... saying she wants to fly back to Zambia. A rejection in the UK? Any impact upon the spouse visa application? No, given that she will not have been in the UK illegally at any time. Just ensure that the VAF2 application form is supported with all the required evidence.

Hi John, thanks for the swift reply. The marriage will happen after the appeal hearing but hopefully before a decision is made. My gut feeling was to withdraw the appeal one the marriage licence is granted by the CoE.

I am thinking on these lines as I am worried that a rejection of the appeal might be used as an excuse by the HO to reject a spousal application. They would say that, by rejecting the appeal, the judge did not find enough evidence on the relationship side - I appreciate that it is more complex than that and you input is appreciated on this one!

If we got married in the UK under the auspices of the CoE after the appeal was heard would she still have to return to Zambia to make an application?

Once the appeal has been lost then she will only have so many days to stay in the UK, well certainly only so many days before she becomes an "illegal". You need to avoid that if at all possible.

If we got married in the UK under the auspices of the CoE after the appeal was heard would she still have to return to Zambia to make an application?

Assuming the appeal is lost, yes.

Marriage in Zambia? I have not got a clue how complicated that is to arrange. But if not too bad, and assuming of course you can travel to Zambia for such marriage ceremony, well yes, your (2) could be OK. After all the UK recognises any marriages that happens outside the UK that is recognised as a legal marriage in the country where it actually takes place. So going through a legal marriage in Zambia and then applying for the spouse visa there is certainly a possible path.

Rejection of the appeal causing failure in the spouse visa application? No, all it means is that she failed to get her visa extension. It is nothing about your relationship. By the way, exactly what type of visa is it that she has held?

John wrote:Once the appeal has been lost then she will only have so many days to stay in the UK, well certainly only so many days before she becomes an "illegal". You need to avoid that if at all possible.

If we got married in the UK under the auspices of the CoE after the appeal was heard would she still have to return to Zambia to make an application?

Assuming the appeal is lost, yes.

Marriage in Zambia? I have not got a clue how complicated that is to arrange. But if not too bad, and assuming of course you can travel to Zambia for such marriage ceremony, well yes, your (2) could be OK. After all the UK recognises any marriages that happens outside the UK that is recognised as a legal marriage in the country where it actually takes place. So going through a legal marriage in Zambia and then applying for the spouse visa there is certainly a possible path.

Rejection of the appeal causing failure in the spouse visa application? No, all it means is that she failed to get her visa extension. It is nothing about your relationship. By the way, exactly what type of visa is it that she has held?

Thanks John. My understanding from the lawyer is that the decision will usually be delivered about 2 - 3 weeks after the appeal hearing and then she would be given 28 days to leave if it was rejected.

Does this mean that, assuming an appeal on 28 June we would then still have about 7 - 8 weeks after that to compete the marriage formalities before she was considered illegal or would she be considered illegal as soon as the appeal was rejected and the 28 day "leaving" period would not apply? We would be looking at a CoE marriage date of around 10 July or so by which time we may have heard the decision on the appeal.

What is worrying me is this - part of the appeal is based on our relationship. If, therefore, the judge rejects the appeal will the HO then use this as "evidence" that there is no legitimate relationship and thus refuse a separate application for a spousal visa?

Please, what type of visa has she had in the past? And indeed what type of visa is it that she has applied for that has been refused, and is subject to the appeal?

John wrote:Please, what type of visa has she had in the past? And indeed what type of visa is it that she has applied for that has been refused, and is subject to the appeal?

Hi John, I'll check the paperwork and let you know tomorrow. What is your take on my previous post re: the risk of the HO turning down her appeal using the appeal tribunal as a basis?