Proxy marriage and spouse visa

[legalalien]

I have searched and seen many topics covering this issue but I am still confused, so apologise if this seems to be a duplication of questions.

I am a British Citizen planning to marry my fiancée next year in August. I know that spouse visa takes a while to process so we are planning to have a religious muslim wedding in February and the ceremony will take place in our country of origin. The process is legally accepted in that country; whereby an agent for both partners undergo the proceedings on their behalf (on this case both our parents).

As such, I wasnt planning to travel to my country of origin (to save annual leave and money) for the big day ( the big day for me is the day we have the party - a bit of dancing a bit of food and cutting the cake etc).

But I am worried about the rules in terms of proxy wedding and whether the certificate would be accepted by UKBA. My fiancee lives in UAE (not the country of origin where the ceremony will take place) so she will lodge the application there (proxy weddings are recognised by the UAE).

I can see from latest UKBA document that whilst proxy weddings are not recognised in the UK, the wedding would be construed as valid if it is valid at the country where the ceremony takes place.

"13.2 However, the laws of certain other countries can recognise either form of marriage as valid where they are contracted in that country. Where the local law does permit marriage either by proxy or telephone and the proceedings of any particular marriage appear to satisfy the requirements of that law then, in accordance with the normal rules on recognition of foreign marriages (see paragraph 2, above), the marriage should be treated as valid for all purposes of United Kingdom law. Guidance on the local validity of foreign proxy and telephone marriages may be sought from INPD(L) (EOP2)."

I would appreciate any comments regarding this issue, whether the marriage will be classed as valid in my case. Note that we have met several times, back home and at the time of the engagement too.

Thanks in advance

[vinny]

See also Proxy marriages > CB (Validity of marriage: proxy marriage) Brazil [2008] UKAIT 00080 (10 October 2008).

[legalalien]

many thanks, interesting case and answers all my concerns.

Might still try to attend the ceremony to avoid giving UKBA any reasons to doubt the legitimacy of my wedding