Kodama

Greetings

I'm looking for some advice on getting my Chinese Fiance a UK visa- we're in what seems like a pretty hopeless situation as a consequence of both our age and circumstances, so I'm praying someone has been in a similar situation to what we're in now and had some kind of success.


My main question is whether we should try and get her a Marriage Visitor Visa or a Spouse Visa.

The Gov page for the 'Marriage Visitor Visa' makes it sounds as though it's just for foreigners who want to come to the UK to get married (god knows why anyone would do that) and leave- not, as we would like, to get married then have her live/work in the UK.

I'm also uncertain as to whether or not we qualify for the spouse visa, as we've not lived together for long enough, and cannot even provide adequate documentation to prove we've lived together at all.



Anyway, our situation is as follows:


I'm 20, and she's 21.
This means we can't get married in China, as the minimum age for men is 22.

I have a place at a UK university starting in October that I fully plan to take up, meaning there's no way I can stay in China. In addition, it is my understanding that a degree is required for a work visa, so I couldn't feasibly stay regardless.

We've lived together in the same apartment for three months, but neither of our names are on the contract.

We're both students: She's due to graduate as a qualified nurse in a couple of months, and I'll be a student in the UK come October.

We have no money: She doesn't get paid for her 'training' at the hospital, and I'm relying on what little savings I have to stay in the country.

I should mention however, that I may be able to access the required sum of £64000 required for the Spouse/Marriage Visitor visa from family members. I might be able to have this money within a couple of months, and I've additionally explored with my family the possibility of getting some family property transferred into my name so that I meet the income threshold.

I don't yet have a house in the United Kingdom and, when I do, it will likely be a shared student apartment (not in the university of course). I also still have a room at my parents' house.

She doesn't yet have IELTS level 7, but can probably have it within six months.


Some additional questions:

Can we use someone other than me as the sponsor for either the Marriage Visitor or Spouse Visa?

Do we need the £64k for the Marriage Visitor Visa? Some websites suggest that we do if we plan to switch the visa to a spouse visa later on. Also, can we even switch the visa?

Can I use my parents' house as a property for either visa?

Do we have any hope of getting her into the UK?


Any help would be very much appreciated, Many Thanks in advance!

BritInParis

You are correct in your assumption - a Marriage Visitor visa is just that, a visa which allows you to visit the UK to get married. It's not possible to switch visa category in-country as a visitor so if your fiancée were to use this option she would need to return to China to apply for her spouse visa.

If you both want to come to the UK to marry and then stay you would should be looking at a fiancée visa. This gives you the same six months to come to the UK and marry but allows your fiancée to lodge an application for a spouse visa. The fiancée visa carries the same financial requirements as a spouse visa and you will need to pay for both applications so this is the most expensive option in terms of fees and most hassle in terms of paperwork. The benefit is that you do not need to be separated after you marry.

Another option would be to marry in a third country and your fiancée returns to China to apply for her spouse visa.

If your family is willing to gift you the £64,000 required to meet the financial requirements through cash savings then bear in mind that this will need to be held in your name for at least six months before an application can be lodged for a spouse or fiancée visa.

Property in and of itself cannot be used to meet the financial requirements however you can use rental income. If you plan on attending university then you'll need ensure that your accommodation will meet the accommodation requirements.

sayang

What two friends of mine did in similar situation.

1) The chinese lady was a qualified language (mandarin) teacher, and managed to get job in the UK while he was studying, they got married later

2) The chinese lady got a job as cabin crew. This gave her cheap flights to spend vacation time in the UK. After he finished studying in UK, he moved back to China to marry/ work.

Virgin/ BA/ Air China/ Lufthansa etc all need Chinese & English speaking crew, and a nurse qualification will help, so that is the path I would go down, postpone her moving to the UK until you have a dgree/ know where you want to live

Hoop

I have a few expat friends who married Chinese in Hong Kong. It is easy and you could book the appjnment online.

Hope this helps

sayang

Very true (you don't need to be resident in HK to get married there)

Doesn't get the spouse a visa for the UK though.

Hoop

No, it won’t get you spouse visa. Still have to follow the normal procedure, but it might solve the problem of “where to get married”. Can use the marriage certificate to apply for the visa