Nicksterrr

Hey everyone. Been a while since my last post but have been enjoying hanging out in the trailer park reading various views and topics.
Anyway, I would like to get some useful advise from you lovely people, previously got some great help and direction. I have started looking into a plan B but seem to see conflicting advice

So, Long story short, met American girl in UK, we are pregnant (due July) and are engaged to be married. We were going the I-130 route - get married in the UK, kick off the I-130 visa app in London and hopefully get a visa later this year.
Plan was that I would join my fiance in California in May (she is moving back in April to start her new position) and look after our child until I was legally allowed to work (would certainly save on childcare and im looking really forward to being a dad!)

Problem is, we are still awaiting for the Certificate of Approval (permission for her to marry me in the UK). Its been 6 weeks now and have now been told that it could take up to 14 weeks which will mean we wont be able to get married in the UK as she will be back in the US in her new job.
Her visa doesnt run out until June but she has to start the new job at the beginning of April. To still go the UK 1-130 route would I guess mean her flying back to join me in giving 15 days notice of marriage when we eventually get the certificate, and then flying back again to actually get married! Something I really dont want her to do as a) money will be tight with the baby on the way and no certainty of when I can get work and b) I dont want her flying so much when she is getting rather pregnant.

So. I think plan B would be for us to get married in the US which will mean a longer wait period for the visa. Not ideal but as I say, I can be a house husband for a while which will save on childcare.

However. Does doing it this way allow me to stay in the USA indefinitely until my visa is hopefully approved? Im concerned that this wont be the case and I wont be able to be there for the baby and my wife to be. She earns decent money so am sure we could make a case that she can support me.
Any comments on this would be gratefully appreciated as we would be devestated if we cannot be together especially for the birth and once our baby is born.

Thanks

Nickster

ian-mstm

Are you sure you guys can't just get married now? I know she'd normally need permission to marry, but she's already in the UK in, I'm guessing, some sort of status other than visitor. I didn't read your other threads to find out.


You'd still become a PR the day you enter the US. No sitting around being a house husband for you!


No. You can not enter the US as a visitor for more than 90-days unless you already have a B-2 visa which, I'm guessing again, you don't.


You can visit and be there for the baby's birth... but you'll need to leave again before the VW expires... and that's IF you're allowed into the US in the first place (what with a US wife/fiancee and a baby on the way).

Ian

Nicksterrr

Hey Ian, Thanks for the reply. Response below.

Yup, she's been working over here on a skilled visa for her US company for 2 1/2 years, the company she works for is US owned but has offices over here. I was informed that she would still need permission to marry. If her having a valid work visa qualifies us to get married then I may have been missinformed and life will become easier! Pretty sure it doesnt but would be hapy to be told otherwise...!

PR? Sorry, not sure what that stands for, Permanent Resident?

No visa as yet

So could spend up to 3 months out there to cover birth of baby but would then have to leave... Plus I would be flagged as a high risk to overstay? Presume if I carry on working in the UK it would help initial getting in for the 3 months (Last thing I want to do is make any application for permanent residence difficult by overstaying, even if it means leaving wife and baby, saddens me but guess we have to think longer term.

Todays good mood is drastically disappearing...

ian-mstm

I sometimes (at least, when it's convenient for me) live by the mantra that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. I'm willing to bet that you can get married in the UK now without any formal permission. Even if you find out afterwards that you needed permission, I doubt it would invalidate the marriage - and the US isn't going to care that you bent the UK rules! Further, if you make a stab at getting married now (I suggest an informal wedding in the magistrate's office... or however these things are handled these days) and if you find out *at that moment* that she, in fact, needs permission... then you're only out the extra day or so it took you to find that out and you'll have a definitive answer.


Yes.


Unfortunately, yes.

Ian

discoviking

I would go with Ian's suggestion first. If you are able to marry in the UK before she leaves for the US in April, problem solved.

If for some reason you are not able to achieve this, and you want to avoid having her come back to the UK for a wedding later, or you flying to the US for a wedding and having to come back to the UK for a spousal visa, a K1 fiancee visa might be a viable plan B for you.

Nicksterrr

Thanks guys
I like the idea and would be happy to give it a go, however from the contact I had with the registry office a few weeks ago, they specifically said that they would need to see a Certificate of Approval along with passports when we give notice of intention to marry. Have just contacted them to see if any way around this, we shall see.....

If not then will start looking at K1 visa I guess, presume I would still have problems getting out there to spend time with mother and baby with a K1, as I say, was pinning hopes on I-130 so not really looked at any plan B as yet!

Right...how do I let my fiance know about this.......answers on a postcard please....!

ian-mstm

There may be a third option, mind you. Have you considered a marriage in Ireland or France (or the Netherlands)? If possible, it's got to be less expensive than a trip back and forth to the US. Where you marry isn't really important for submitting the I-130.

Ian

meauxna

Exactly my thought.

Destination wedding. Do it (it can still take up to a month to get rolling depending).

Ian, they've really cracked down on this 'permission to marry' business, you can't just go around it if you one of the party is a non-EU cit.

jeepgirluk

If Certificate of Approval is required you will not be able to get married without it. If it is required the registrar will know and will not perform the ceremony without it. I vote for ceremony in the US. Best of luck.

cathy22w

I was under the impression that the rules are different for getting married in a registry office to getting married in a church, as far as the Certificate of Approval. I don't think churches require it. I've probably got something wrong here, but I think there is a way around the Certificate of Approval.

S Folinsky

I don't know anything about UK law. I wonder who "informed" you? What makes you so sure? No advice intended nor given.

meauxna

That rattled around in my brain after I posted, too, cathy.. someone here reported that they did a CoE ceremony to get around that certificate.


edit to add the info:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...oaguidance.pdf

2. I WANT TO GET MARRIED OR REGISTER MY CIVIL PARTNERSHIP IN THE UK AND I AM ALREADY IN THE COUNTRY
2.1 If you
(a) are an EEA (European Economic Area) national exercising rights of residence
in the UK, or
(b) are the family member of an EEA national exercising rights of residence in the UK, or
(c) have settled status in the UK (i.e. are free of any restriction on the period for which you may remain; this is normally signified by an indefinite leave to enter or remain stamp or residence permit in your passport)

then you will not require a certificate of approval for marriage or civil partnership in order to be able to give to a registrar notice to marry or register your civil partnership.

2.2 If you do not fall into category (a) or (b) or (c) at para. 2.1 above, you will need to apply for a certificate of approval from the Home Office (unless you benefit from the present exemption set out at section 5.1 of this note).


5. RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES
5.1 The rules on certificates of approval do not currently apply if you plan to get married at an Anglican Church in England or Wales, after marriage banns or an ecclesiastical licence. You must contact a member of the clergy at the church where you plan to get married to make the appropriate arrangements. However the policy of excluding these religious ceremonies from the certificate of approval scheme was declared unlawful by the High Court. The Government has indicated it will change the rules to bring such marriages within the scope of the scheme.
The date of this change has not yet been determined.

agentpeppermint

Right, you can get married with the CoE without a COA ( looked into this when I was wanting to immigrate to the UK )

As shes all ready in the UK, I would suggest a destination wedding or a Church wedding to get around the registrar. Otherwise, your best bet would be to marry her in the us ( stay your 90 days as close as possible ) filing for the k-1 immediately before you go back to the UK, wait until you get a notice of action from the k-1 petition, come over for another as close to 90 day visit while waiting on your k-1 visa....get the visa, then come on over!

I was pregnant in July 08 when I applied for my UKC's petition, he came over on VWP in November, we got the petition approved scheduled his medical, he flew back to england on his 89th day in the US, had his med, interview and was back with me in less than 2 1/2 months ( it flies by! )

Things will work out, but you must act quickly if you dont want to miss much!

Noorah101

Not the K-1 visa, as they'll already be married. Theirs will be the CR-1 Immigrant Visa. They'd file an I-130 petition to get the ball rolling after marriage.

Rene

Bluegrass Lass

I seem to remember another poster that went the route of CoE, and found out that it would take several months? before the Church registered the wedding..thus taking months to get the marriage certificate - which is required to file the I-130.

Here's another option. Fiance flies out to the US to start her new job. She then files the I-129f to start the K1 Fiance visa process. IIRC, this is shorter than the stateside CR-1 process (only around 6-8mo as opposed to 8-10mo). The OP then enters the US on the K1 and gets married. The biggest drawback is the need to Adjust Status, of course, but it could wind up quicker than a stateside-filed I-130 (assuming it came to that).

Personally, though, I'd go for the destination wedding somewhere else in Europe (I'm romantic like that). But first, I'd do some research on what it would take to get married in each country, and how long it would take to get the marriage certificate (the marriage cert being the bottleneck to filing DCF) - this could decide which country you decide to marry in.

Also, OP, I'd recommend getting multiple certified copies of the marriage certificate, as it is necessary at many times throughout the process..depending on the route you take.