Fiance visa questions

[Cooperbfs]

Hi,

I’m a UK resident and my fiancé, a US resident, and I have recently gotten engaged after 3 years of being together (yay!). Trawling these boards, I’m pretty confident on the overall materials that need to be submitted and we’re planning on getting help from someone to make the overall application go smoothly. However, me being a worrier, I have a few questions on the visa process that I hope someone could help me with:
*Can we apply for the fiancé visa with a specified starting date? The wedding is booked for October next year, so could we, for example apply in January 2020 to have the visa start in June?
*Will my fiancé be able to enter and leave the UK on a fiancé visa?
*Will my fiancé have to cease work in the states from the day the fiancé visa is issued or can he work at home until he enters the UK?
*For proof of relationship, do all of the materials need to be time stamped? We have a lot of photographs which it would be easy to include stamp on, but just wondering how to handle cards and letters etc?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[KristianDLloyd]

Hi, congratulations on your recent engagement! I've just gone through a similar application and was fortunate enough to have had pro bono legal advice. So let me help...

*Can we apply for the fiancé visa with a specified starting date? The wedding is booked for October next year, so could we, for example apply in January 2020 to have the visa start in June?

Not that I am aware, but others may have more guidance to offer on this point.

*Will my fiancé be able to enter and leave the UK on a fiancé visa?

Yes.

*Will my fiancé have to cease work in the states from the day the fiancé visa is issued or can he work at home until he enters the UK?

Your fiancé's visa will have a 'start date' which they must enter within 30 days of this date.

*For proof of relationship, do all of the materials need to be time stamped? We have a lot of photographs which it would be easy to include stamp on, but just wondering how to handle cards and letters etc?

No. My only advice would be to provide as much information as possible (we had >400 pages). We also included letters from family and friends, some of which were from legal professionals.

Hope this helps.

[CR001]

*Can we apply for the fiancé visa with a specified starting date? The wedding is booked for October next year, so could we, for example apply in January 2020 to have the visa start in June?

You can request a visa start date up to 3 months in advance of intended travel date. Ho don't always do this though.

*Will my fiancé be able to enter and leave the UK on a fiancé visa?

Yes but remember it is only valid for 6 months and she must enter the UK, marry within that time and switch to the spouse visa before expiry. There is no "must enter within 30 days" requirement.

*Will my fiancé have to cease work in the states from the day the fiancé visa is issued or can he work at home until he enters the UK?

Her work in the us is completely irrelevant to the visa. She isn't allowed to work in the UK.