Jonny1882

Hi all,

First time poster here, so please direct me elsewhere if need be.

I'm a UK citizen currently living in Vietnam with my (Vietnamese) fiancee but will be moving back to the UK early in 2018. We've been together for 3 years, firstly in the UK whilst she was studying, and since in Vietnam when I came out here.

My question is essentially when it comes to applying for a spouse visa for her, is it seen as better to have married sooner (i.e. before I return to the UK) or can we do so just before the application, when I will have built up my 6 months of payslips to satisfy the criteria?

Tried to make this as brief as possible, thanks for bearing with me!

Any advice/past experience is welcome,

Jon

SanDiegogirl

If you have to return to the UK to work for 6 months in order to fulfill the financial requirements, then getting married in Vietnam before you leave is going to save you money.

Once YOU can meet the financial requirements, you apply for the spouse visa (expense) then she travels to the UK (expense).

If you do so just before the application, then either you travel back to Vietnam (expense) to get married and then apply for the spouse visa (expense) , or you apply for a fiance visa for her (expense), she travels to UK (expense) get married in the UK and then apply for the spouse visa (expense).

Jonny1882

Thanks for replying.

Yes, I agree that the Vietnam marriage would be cheaper than the UK one. I was wondering if it helped to have been married for longer prior to the application though, rather than marrying and then immediately applying.

mikelincs

No, you can apply the same day as the marriage, should cause no problems.

HKG3

If the Vietnamese marriage certificate is not in the English language, you will need to have it professionally translated into English for the UK spouse visa application.

Jonny1882

Thanks to everyone who replied, all points taken