Kevinsolis

I (a US citizen) want to marry my girlfriend ( uk citizen) but we have no intention of living in the US. We want to move to Ireland after we get married. I just want to know what exactly I need to do. What do i need to fill out, what does she have to do. How much are things gonna cost? I want to know every single thing

Noorah101

This forum is for people immigrating to the USA. You should check with a site called UK-Yankee.com. They have a similar forum for people immigrating to the UK.You basically have 2 options:1. Your girlfriend visits the USA using the VWP, you two get married in the USA, and then you apply for a spouse visa to immigrate to Ireland; or2. You apply for an appropriate visa prior to marriage, which will allow you to travel to Ireland for the purpose of marrying there and remaining to live there.Rene

Pulaski

Do you really mean "Ireland, or "Northern Ireland"? NI is part of the UK, but Ireland is not, and you aren't going to find many people here (BE) with expertise on marriage visas for Ireland, nor perhaps even uk-yankee as they are UK focussed.

Do you currently live with your girlfriend? If so it is possible that Ireland might grant a visa to you as a cohabiting domestic partner - some countries do, but I do not know if Ireland does.

Colorado calling

Have you looked on the website for the Irish embassy local to you?

alanmcc64

I am from Northern Ireland, my wife is from USA. We married in N.I in 2013 and applied for a visa for her to live there. Got turned down due to the fact that we got married without her arriving on a fiancée visa. Make sure you apply for this before you get married. Also costs quite a bit for the application and you need to have a residence and appropriate financial standing. All info is available on the uk immigration website.
Good luck

BritInParis

As a British citizen your fiancée has an unrestricted right to live in the Republic of Ireland. As her spouse you would also be able to live in Ireland under EU/EEA freedom of movement rights.

As US citizens do not require a visa to travel to Ireland you can fly directly to Ireland from the US and lodge an application for an EU Residence Card using Form EU1 after you arrive.

Note: This would not apply if your fiancée was born in Northern Ireland as she would also be considered an Irish citizen under Irish nationality law. Likewise if you planned to live in Northern Ireland, as it is part of the UK, you would need to apply for a UK spouse visa.

Pulaski

Now what happens? You are married, aren't you? So you can't get married again. I know that you "can't" get married in the UK without a fiancé(e) visa, so where do you go from here if you want to take your wife back to the UK to live?

BritInParis

I think alanmcc64 meant that his wife couldn't stay in Northern Ireland after they married because she didn't arrive on a fiancée visa. If she arrived as a visitor and got married then she would need to return to the US to apply for her spouse visa. If she had arrived on a fiancée visa and married then she would only need to present her marriage certificate to the Home Office to be eligible to stay on a spouse visa.

alanmcc64

We appealed the decisions (we had applied for her children aged 6 and 11 also).
Wife refused because she had previously broken immigration rules and they had no reason to believe she would not do so again. Kids turned down at appeal because we had not provided evidence that the home I own was suitable to raise children in. Nowhere on the application is this a requirement for eligibility...looks like they were looking any reason to justify refusing the kids also. I also earned twice as much as what was required and submitted letters from my local MP in support of the appeal also.
We were advised in the last line of the appeal that we could resubmit the applications, but having already paid for applications and appeals and lost the money without possible refunds we are reluctant to do this.
We return once a year for the maximum permitted 90 days and then return to USA.
Happy here, but someday it would be nice to stay an extended period in a home we own in Ireland also.

BritInParis

Which Immigration Rules did she previously break?

alanmcc64

By getting married in the Uk without arriving on a fiancée visa.
I proposed while her and the kids were there for 90 days and we got married at the local registrars office. Law changed in July 2013 and the registrar was not obligated to ask for the necessary visa in order to marry us.

ian-mstm

I didn't realize there was a 90-day restriction when visiting the UK. If you're a UKC, you can come and go as you please... but, unless things have changed recently (read = the last 15 years), a US citizen can visit the UK up to 6 months without a visa.

Ian

quiltman

I thought the UK border agents could issue a US citizen with a 6 month stay without a visa , but they have discretion to admit for a shorter period?
Apologies if I'm talking rubbish!

BritInParis

That's not quite right. If your wife had travelled to the UK with the intention of getting married then she should have applied for a marriage visitor visa from the US. However there's no requirement to hold a marriage visitor visa in order to get married if, like you, you decide to get married whilst you're here. If there were then the registrar wouldn't have been able to marry you.

The reason your wife and her children's visas were refused was that you cannot switch from a visitor visa to any other kind of visa from within the UK. The stuff about not having suitable accommodation for her children were thrown in there for good measure.

It's up to six months for a US citizen visiting the UK. The Immigration Officer has the discretion to give a shorter period at the border, i.e. up until the date of their return flight.

It's 90 days for British citizens visiting the US under the Visa Waiver Program.

Kevinsolis

So I don't have to do anything but apply after I arrive in Ireland?