Fiance visa - actual cost

[billybig]

Hi all
Me and my fiance (she is non-EEA national) wish to marry in UK and are building the required info for a fiance visa.
I'm OK with everything as part of it, I think, following other advice around, but I simply want to check the costs.

Will it really cost us £1523 just to tie the knot here, in the next 6 months?
Following this do I then have to pay for a full spousal visa cost? I had previously assumed (incorrectly it seems) that there would be a minor fee to 'convert' this to a spousal (married) visa?
How can it be fair (it's not) that we choose to spend my already taxed income on having a wedding in the UK, again giving copious income to the government through VAT, and I actually have to pay more for this?

As an aside, is there any benefit whatsoever to having the fiance visa and then applying for the FLR(M)?

The whole system is quite abhorrent and frankly I am surprised anyone wants to move to our country.
thanks for your help.

[geoeng]

Will it really cost us £1523 just to tie the knot here, in the next 6 months?

Yes.

Following this do I then have to pay for a full spousal visa cost? I had previously assumed (incorrectly it seems) that there would be a minor fee to 'convert' this to a spousal (married) visa?

Unfortunately there is not a way to convert without paying the full visa cost.

How can it be fair (it's not) that we choose to spend my already taxed income on having a wedding in the UK, again giving copious income to the government through VAT, and I actually have to pay more for this?

If you're frustrated by this, wait until you get into the IHS fee

As an aside, is there any benefit whatsoever to having the fiance visa and then applying for the FLR(M)?

The benefit is she gets to stay in the UK after the marriage and apply for a spouse visa here rather than having to return to her country of origin and apply from there, which can take a good 12 weeks or more (and costs more).

The whole system is quite abhorrent and frankly I am surprised anyone wants to move to our country.

Parts of it are nice and it doesn't snow much in the winter, so that's a plus. And you're never far from a sausage roll, which can be a struggle to find in some parts of the world.

[billybig]

Thanks for the prompt reply. That is all, actually.
Obviously I am a bit miffed but such is life.
You're right about sausage rolls, plus all sausages in general are greatly inferior outside of the UK.

[THO]

Also, in 2.5 years you got to pay for the visa again. I am not sure about IHS again though. It also really peed me off too, I am as British as anyone can be, and just because I chose to marry a girl from Vietnam, I've had to spend £K's on visa's too.

I, as a British man, should have the right to marry who I choose without being taxed for the privilege, and just as bad is the intrusion into my finances. What difference does it make if she is from VN or UK as to whether I can afford to be marrying her? Why don't two British people have to prove they earn more than £18,600? Both of them could be scroungers on the dole with no one from the HO checking their credentials.

[billybig]

No denying, as a Briton in Britain, you get screwed the most

The simple fact is that less wealthy people simply cannot afford to marry or settle in the UK. The British government truly do put a price on love.

I feel confident in our application but after reading stories here, it seems that absolutely nothing should be taken for granted.

[Zerubbabel]

It's often the abuse of some that makes other collectively pay

About 6-7 years ago, I went to Africa for work. Knowing I live in the UK, a young lad came to me to seek my advice.

He was refused a spouse visa by the UK. Reason: his wife who came to marry him didn't have a job. She was on some sort of benefits. The documents showed that she was mentally disabled.

In the next few days, I got the same questions asked up to 3 times a day by different guys! Always the same scenario. A British lady on some sort of benefits, no job, found online and married. Many of the guys wanted just to leave their country no matter what. Even if it meant playing the Romeo and Juliette romance to someone they don't know.

These kind of things make it harder for genuine couples to get a visa and have to expose all their finances.

[billybig]

Agreed. It's a sad state of affairs but unfortunately the system leaves itself open to all kinds of abuse in my opinion.

As an aside, or another query (and I can create a separate thread), I want to supply the invoice/booking for our wedding here in the UK. My concern is simply, do they look at your finances very wholly? Or do they simply check you meet the requirement. My point is that the wedding is a large expense which I will pay for in the next 6 months, do they even consider in the application the fact that this expense will come out? Or are they just looking at topline income and making a decision off this? I'm concerned they'll say "you're spending this on this, and you need to pay for the FLR(M), you can't afford it..."

[geoeng]

They are only interested in your income to confirm it meets the financial requirement. Your other financial circumstances and what you spend money on are irrelevant to the visa and won't be considered.

[THO]

Zerubbabel,

I know very well what you talk about. There are many on here who should not remain in the UK, but desperately try to. I also worked with a girl some year ago now, who met a lovely man from Jamaica while she was on holiday. Everyone told her she was stupid to marry him, but she did. He came over, never got a job, sponged off her and then left her. Just wanted to get a visa here.

However, I am not sure why I have to pay so much money for a visa, if I have been deceived, it just rubs salt into the wound. It might stop some people getting married for the wrong reason, but since the person in the UK normally pays (not so in my case, my wife has saved lots of money) the visa fees, and has to meet the financial criteria, it can hardly stop people buying their way in under false pretences. Just means they have less savings, and a poorer old age.

The evidence I provided to prove our relationship was genuine and has been ongoing for years should be what is important. The fact I am British should mean I pay nothing for a visa to marry someone I love.

[billybig]

They are only interested in your income to confirm it meets the financial requirement. Your other financial circumstances and what you spend money on are irrelevant to the visa and won't be considered.

thanks. Just confirms what we all knew already really; the visa process is generally flawed and bears little relevance to actual real life. Just a money grabbing exercise.

[Zerubbabel]

You can still contact your MP about it. This is not going to change anything for you or in the short term, but policy makers are influenced by how their electors feel about their policies.

For the moment, the Home Office is trying to make the immigration to the UK as difficult as possible.

The cost of the application is part of it: they want to make it as expensive as possible.

There is also the complexity of the application itself. It requires the ability to fill 80 pages+ forms and read hundreds of pages of guidance, exceptions, regulations, policies... etc. This means that for many people, they have to pay a solicitor to do it. That's another cost.

We are slowly going towards a system where most people will be priced out of immigration routes.

It's like when an insurer doesn't want a kid to drive. He won't tell him "sorry, we won't insure you" but rather "we insure your Vauxhall 1.4 for £9000/year".

At one point, it will be necessary to take a loan to lodge an immigration application.

[billybig]

True, and I think sound advice. Moaning will fix nothing long or short term. I'll write a letter to my MP after the process, I think.