marriage/travel/US to Irish citizen.

[irishman]

Hi,
Im irish, been in a long distance relationship with my american girlfriend since she had to move back to New York from the UK (where i currently reside).We're looking at marriage, my idea is to marry and travel around europe (we are both musicians) for 1,2,3,4,5,6 months, who knows, maybe never "come back".
Can anyone give me some tips on the red tape and how best to prevent it from impinging on ones humour and love of all things european.

Irishman.

[sakura]

Hi,
Im irish, been in a long distance relationship with my american girlfriend since she had to move back to New York from the UK (where i currently reside).We're looking at marriage, my idea is to marry and travel around europe (we are both musicians) for 1,2,3,4,5,6 months, who knows, maybe never "come back".
Can anyone give me some tips on the red tape and how best to prevent it from impinging on ones humour and love of all things european.

Irishman.

Do you intend to work whilst travelling? If so, it might be a bit complex to apply to various countries across the EU!

[irishman]

no. the idea is to busk (street performance) around europe. We both did quite a bit of it while living together in the uk. I've done tonnes of it in ireland, and while living in germany for 12 years.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

When you are married, your spouse can live and work with you anywhere in Europe. The spouse will have exactly the same right to work as you do, so long as you are doing it together.

Do you intend to work whilst travelling? If so, it might be a bit complex to apply to various countries across the EU!

This is a little misleading. If you are staying in any one country for less than 90 days, then you do not need to apply for anything. EU citizen and spouse can legally both work without any formalities.

If you want to stay for more than 90 days, then it is a pretty straight forward thing to apply for a Residence Card. Busking is as good a form of work as any other - I suspect you may be classed as "self employeed".

Read the "guide to getting the most from Directive 2004/38/EC" at the link below.

[sakura]

Do you intend to work whilst travelling? If so, it might be a bit complex to apply to various countries across the EU!

This is a little misleading. If you are staying in any one country for less than 90 days, then you do not need to apply for anything. EU citizen and spouse can legally both work without any formalities.

If you want to stay for more than 90 days, then it is a pretty straight forward thing to apply for a Residence Card. Busking is as good a form of work as any other - I suspect you may be classed as "self employeed".

Read the "guide to getting the most from Directive 2004/38/EC" at the link below.

It isn't meant to be misleading. They do have to apply to each country they wish to live, if they will stay there for some months. So I just meant that it isn't that one residence card covers the EU.

irishman - do you plan to travel outside of the EEA? Such as Croatia, Ukraine or elsewhere?

[irishman]

1st of all thank you for the replies, very helpful.
I hadn't considered traveling out of the EU, there's so much to see within it.
The next thing now is where to get married, america, as usual looks daunting. The UK might be easier. I can imagine the problems we'd have if i informed the immigration that i wont be needing "suitable" housing as we're planning to travel first for an extended period. Hmmmm, a six month honeymoon.

[yankeegirl]

Getting married in the US will be MUCH easier, not to mention cheaper/

[irishman]

really,.....i thought it would be the other way around, what with immigration layers etc.

[yankeegirl]

If you aren't planning on settling in the US immediately after the marriage, all you have to do is enter on the visa waiver, get married, and leave in the 90 day period. No need for a fiance visa or anything like that. Depending on where in the US you marry, the waiting period is none to a few days. My husband and I got married in NYC and it was only a 24 hour waiting period after we applied for the license.

Your partner would not be able to come to the UK and marry on a visitor visa. She would need a fiancee visa (if she intended on living in the UK after the marriage, cost is roughly £500) or a visit for marriage visa (£63), plus then there's a waiting period of a couple of weeks (2 or 3 I think, depending on the area of the UK).

[irishman]

Really, i could marry on a visa waiver. Im staying (US) for 6 weeks in july aug,....if we had known this we probably would have done it on my last visit,......you may have planted a seed yankeegirl, i hear them bells a ringing.
So if we married in summer do you think it would make our eventual plans any easier (either i moving to US, or her moving to ,..Europe).
You see, we're still convincing each other of the advantages of either side of the ocean, we're sure either one is gonna happen, we just wanna both make our cases.
So, to be more precise, do you in your opinion see any future problems with getting married in the US ,then me returning to europe for the time being.

Thanks again.

[yankeegirl]

So, to be more precise, do you in your opinion see any future problems with getting married in the US ,then me returning to europe for the time being.

None at all. In fact, if you marry in the US on a visa waiver, it would be ideal for you to leave afterwards. It can be a bit tricky to apply for an Adjustment of Status to gain residency in the US after marrying on a visa waiver, but if your plans are to spend time in Europe, then it's a non-issue.

We only wish to travel to the United States to marry. We will return to the United Kingdom after marriage. Do we still need a fiancé(e) visa?

A person traveling to the United States to marry a U.S. citizen with the intention of returning to his/her place of permanent residence abroad may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. Evidence of a residence abroad to which the B-2 visa holder or visa free traveler intends returning should be carried for presentation to an immigration inspector at the port of entry.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/fa ... html#iv036

If you aren't going over til July, you still have a bit of time to work out the details. Foremost should be what country you want to spend time in after the marriage. Also, decide exactly where you want to get married. The guidelines for getting married varies by state, and in some cases even by county.

My husband and I got married in City Hall in Manhattan. When we went to apply for the marriage license, all they needed were our passports. If either of you have been married before, bring the divorce papers too, to be on the safe side. The whole process took about 10 minutes, we waited the mandatory 24 hours and then got married the next day. All told, it cost about $70.

[irishman]

Excellent. I'm a bit giddy reading your post. My girlfriend lives in Brooklyn, so manhattan here we come. Wooooohoooooooo!

You've been a great help.
expect an invitation in the post.

[yankeegirl]

http://www.cityclerknyc.com/MarriageBureau/index.htm

Here's all the info about getting married in NYC.

Best of luck to you guys!

[irishman]

Aahh, you're great. Thanks a million.