How do I get a Fiance Visa?

[claireharvey009]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post and i really need someone to give me some advice here... I am an American Girl and i have met a British Man of who i am totally in love with and we want to get married... i am willing to move to the UK to be with him. We have both been doing lots of research on this but we are still really unsure as to how to go about this.

I understand that I would need to apply for a UK fiance visa and then get married when i get over there and then i can adjust my status to settlement. But the question is how.

My British partner earns £20k before tax and has been employed with the same company for 2 years, he also rents his own one bedroom flat which i would stay in till we get our own place together. We are both over 21 and i do not have any children.
He has lived in the UK all his life. We have met each other and have been in a relationship for 6 months. Does anyone see any problems i may have with applying for the fiance visa? Also, what are the timescales of getting the fiance visa approved? I've heard that you can pay extra to get it processed quicker, how is this done?

I have also heard that it is cheaper and easier to get married overseas and then apply for a spouse visa instead... Would it be a sensible idea to meet in the UK and then travel together overseas somewhere and get married? Can someone tell me more about this?

Thanks

[DieselD]

If you of want to go down the fiance route there is a problem of delays. Whilst you're waiting for your final temporary settlement in the form of a biometric resident permit you cannot work. If you get married or are married and then apply as a spouse, you can work as soon as you enter the UK. However prooving that your relationship is genuine is the most important part to begin with.

Relationship:

Copies of skype chats
Photos together
Emails
Flights showing you've visited each other.
Cards


If you need to show your relationship exists you could come to the UK as a general visitor and stay with your fiance for 6 months. This is tricky and you may be rejected at Uk entry. It is not advisable to mention you're intention is to marry as they will assume you're on the wrong visa. Have a return trip ticket back home, but stay for 6 months. Once you're home again then apply for your fiance visa. You'll now have plenty of evidence showing the relationship exists in a married type of sitiuation.

Enter on a fiance visa and marry within the 6 months of the visa. Apply for FLR (M) which will give you a further 2.5 years. Apply again for FLR (M) and after another 2.5 years apply for ILR.

You're fiance must earn more then the 18600. You'll need to take Life in the UK test at some stage and as long as you're from an English Speaking county then you're exempt from the English requirements.

Important is to add your name onto accounts when you arrive as a fiance. You need this as proof that you live at the same address as your fiance.

This is just my advice and you would need to read up on the UKBA website for rule changes as they come along often. Good luck.

[menwall]

If you of want to go down the fiance route there is a problem of delays. Whilst you're waiting for your final temporary settlement in the form of a biometric resident permit you cannot work. If you get married or are married and then apply as a spouse, you can work as soon as you enter the UK. However prooving that your relationship is genuine is the most important part to begin with.

Relationship:

Copies of skype chats
Photos together
Emails
Flights showing you've visited each other.
Cards


If you need to show your relationship exists you could come to the UK as a general visitor and stay with your fiance for 6 months. This is tricky and you may be rejected at Uk entry. It is not advisable to mention you're intention is to marry as they will assume you're on the wrong visa. Have a return trip ticket back home, but stay for 6 months. Once you're home again then apply for your fiance visa. You'll now have plenty of evidence showing the relationship exists in a married type of sitiuation.

Enter on a fiance visa and marry within the 6 months of the visa. Apply for FLR (M) which will give you a further 2.5 years. Apply again for FLR (M) and after another 2.5 years apply for ILR.

You're fiance must earn more then the 18600. You'll need to take Life in the UK test at some stage and as long as you're from an English Speaking county then you're exempt from the English requirements.

Important is to add your name onto accounts when you arrive as a fiance. You need this as proof that you live at the same address as your fiance.

This is just my advice and you would need to read up on the UKBA website for rule changes as they come along often. Good luck.

All this is correct. You should be able to view the visa processing times for settlement visas via the UKBA website specific to the country you are applying for. It's also true as Diesel states that changing from Fiance to Spouse (via applying for FLR(M)) can take many months in which the spouse cannot work.

If you don't mind paying extra though, go for the PEO appointment which will have the visa approved usually on the same-day and the BRP recieved within another few days. It does cost almost double the cost by doing it via post. But if you want your fiance-turned-spouse to be able to work quickly, this is the best option. They would probably earn back the difference between a postal application and a PEO appointment within a month anyway!

Also, you would need to do the life in the UK test but this is not until you apply for SET(M) which is after both FLR applications. For FLR(M) you only need to pass the acceptable english test at A1 level i think.

[Casa]

All this certainly isn't correct.
Do not under any circumstances withhold the fact that you are in a relationship if you apply for a visitor visa. Everything will be held on record and when you later apply for a spouse or fiance visa you will have to state when and where the relationship began. Also, UKBA Entry Officers are trained to spot inconsistencies in a story and may well refuse you, even though you're a non-visa national for visitor status.
You don't need to spend 6 months together while you prove the relationship.
This can all be done by providing photos, email or telephone contact etc.
You can only apply for a spouse visa by the way, from a country where you're legally resident...so marrying somewhere other than the US or the UK won't speed up the process.
It's correct that if you apply for a fiance visa you would be able to submit your FLR(M) application in person and assuming all your paperwork is in order, receive a decision on the same day. The visa fee would be higher, but you would be able to work legally without restriction.

[Amber]

If you of want to go down the fiance route there is a problem of delays. Whilst you're waiting for your final temporary settlement in the form of a biometric resident permit you cannot work. If you get married or are married and then apply as a spouse, you can work as soon as you enter the UK. However prooving that your relationship is genuine is the most important part to begin with.

Relationship:

Copies of skype chats
Photos together
Emails
Flights showing you've visited each other.
Cards


If you need to show your relationship exists you could come to the UK as a general visitor and stay with your fiance for 6 months. This is tricky and you may be rejected at Uk entry. It is not advisable to mention you're intention is to marry as they will assume you're on the wrong visa. Have a return trip ticket back home, but stay for 6 months. Once you're home again then apply for your fiance visa. You'll now have plenty of evidence showing the relationship exists in a married type of sitiuation.

Enter on a fiance visa and marry within the 6 months of the visa. Apply for FLR (M) which will give you a further 2.5 years. Apply again for FLR (M) and after another 2.5 years apply for ILR.

You're fiance must earn more then the 18600. You'll need to take Life in the UK test at some stage and as long as you're from an English Speaking county then you're exempt from the English requirements.

Important is to add your name onto accounts when you arrive as a fiance. You need this as proof that you live at the same address as your fiance.

This is just my advice and you would need to read up on the UKBA website for rule changes as they come along often. Good luck.

All this is correct. You should be able to view the visa processing times for settlement visas via the UKBA website specific to the country you are applying for. It's also true as Diesel states that changing from Fiance to Spouse (via applying for FLR(M)) can take many months in which the spouse cannot work.

If you don't mind paying extra though, go for the PEO appointment which will have the visa approved usually on the same-day and the BRP recieved within another few days. It does cost almost double the cost by doing it via post. But if you want your fiance-turned-spouse to be able to work quickly, this is the best option. They would probably earn back the difference between a postal application and a PEO appointment within a month anyway!

Also, you would need to do the life in the UK test but this is not until you apply for SET(M) which is after both FLR applications. For FLR(M) you only need to pass the acceptable english test at A1 level i think.

This would likely amount to practicing deception which could create an automatic refusal for 10 years. See http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... /rfl/rfl5/ RFL5.2

[Casa]

Thank you Amber. People often make the mistake of withholding the truth and then find later on that the lie (as the saying goes) jumps up and bites them on the bottom! ...or to quote the writer Sir Walter Scott "O, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive"