Is it possible to get a tourist visa to visit my boyfriend?

[whimsey]

I have been denied entry to the UK before. This was a long time ago and i have not tried to enter the UK since. I went with two of my roommates and they both got denied entry too. My third roommate this was unfair because she was just going to see museums but me and my other roommate got denied because we were visiting our boyfriends, so they were looking for a reason to turn us around.

The reason they denied me is because they asked me if i had met my boyfriend before and i panicked and told them yes even though i had not. I only said this because i was afraid they wouldn't let me in the country had they know i had not met him. On top of that i didn't want to tell them what i did for a living (nor did my other roommate and they denied her solely for this), so these two things combined gave them enough to deny me because they said it ruined my credibility. In my own defence, the only way they knew i was being dishonest is because i admitted it. I didnt know why they even stopping me, so i called the US embassy and they told me they were doing this because women meeting men from the UK on the internet have reputations for overstaying. Once i learned this is why they were questioning me (and all of us for that matter) I told them anything i could that i thought would help them see i wasnt going to overstay. But they said since i had been dishonest in the first place, this ruined my credibility and so they denied me.

Since then i have met my boyfriend and we are thinking about marriage. We want to spend sometime living together before we make this big decision. The easiest for us would be for me to go there because my work will let me take off as much time as i want to. Is it possible to obtain a visa to go visit him and meet his family for two months with my past history? I was told that i needed to get a visa before i came back to the UK whether he is my boyfriend or not. Can anyone give me any advice ? on this situation?

[Mr Rusty]

Is it possible to obtain a visa to go visit him and meet his family for two months with my past history? I was told that i needed to get a visa before i came back to the UK whether he is my boyfriend or not. Can anyone give me any advice ? on this situation?

As a US citizen you don't have to get a visa to travel to the UK for a visit. However, passengers who have previously been refused entry are quite often advised to obtain a visit visa before travelling again. It's probably the best thing to do in the circumstances, because if you are granted a visa you can be assured of entry on arrival, unless there is proof of deception or of a change of circumstances since the visa was issued. The fact that you've been refused entry before doesn't condemn you to being refused again. A fresh application has to be considered on its merits.