Partario

Hi everyone,

I hope this is the right folder to post in. I'm a UK national and want bring my Russian fiancée into the country to live together. Something I'm not sure of, though, is the smartest way to get married and obtain the required visa so that she can settle and get a job as soon as possible.

Some basic info for context first. I met her in early 2016 as she was studying for a masters in my home city - so she's lived in the UK before and I understand her degree will vouch for her English language skills. Her student (Tier 4?) visa ran out after she graduated, in September 2017, so she returned to Russia and since then we've met up on various holidays around Europe. Most recently I visited Russia for the first time myself, where I proposed and thankfully she said yes. Now we've opened the pandora's box that is the fiancée/spouse visa process!

We intend to get married quickly; we can worry about having a proper celebration in the UK & Russia once her spouse visa is granted. At first I assumed we should get the fiancée visa for up to six months, then get legally married at the registry ASAP and apply for the spouse visa. However I've looked into it a little and this seems like the most expensive option - essentially having to apply for two visas in a row, each costing over £1k. Additionally, it seems that she won't be able to work until the final spouse visa is approved. That's potentially a hell of a long time. I can support us financially, it's more a concern of her going out of her mind having nothing to do for months on end...

So I've come up with the following three options. When choosing between these, money is an issue but honestly the most important thing is time - I'm willing to pay more to have us live together sooner.

1) Play it safe with the UK fiancée visa, then the spouse visa. Am I right in thinking this will cost upwards of £3k for the visas alone? And if she's living in the UK with the fiancée visa, will she be able to work when we're legally married or does she have to wait for the spouse visa to come in? Will the spouse visa be any quicker to obtain than usual, if she's already living in the UK?

2) Get married in Russia and apply for a spouse visa in the UK before she comes over. I understand this is relatively straightforward from my end - I can get married using a simple tourist visa like the one I used on my previous visit to Russia. But there's all this weirdness about Apostilles and translating/notarising documents. Will the Home Office also treat a Russian marriage certificate with more hostility than one from the UK?

3) Get married in neutral territory (an EU country, or somewhere like Mexico). This does allow the opportunity to make the process of getting legally married more romantic by going somewhere nice on holiday at the same time. But obviously there will be costs involved in the trip, plus the same issues with obtaining and translating particular documents. We also have to worry about learning, then abiding to, the marriage rules for a 3rd country.

Any advice on what course of action is best would be greatly appreciated. I've been really impressed by the level of support that people provide on here. Hopefully when this whole process is resolved I can "pay it forward" and help folk out in future.

Thanks,
J

PS: One thing to note - I'm a member of HM armed forces (reservist) and I noticed when reading the more detailed rules on the UK government website that there are mentions for military personnel, but I didn't really understand how it affected things. Is it likely to help or hinder our application in any way?

BritInParis

1) This is the most expensive option. You will need to pay for a fiancée visa (~£1586), a spouse visa (£1523) and 2.5 years worth of Immigration Health Surcharge (£500). Your fiancée cannot work on a fiancée visa but once you're married then you can pay an extra £610 in order to attend a premium service centre in person and get a same-day decision on her spouse visa application. Her BRP will then arrive a few days later in the post and she can start working straightaway. If she plans on working then the extra cost will likely be outweighed by the potential loss of earnings that waiting for a spouse visa applied for by post is likely to entail. It would also reduce other costs like flights.

2) No, providing the marriage was registered correctly and the marriage certificate is present and correct. You will need a translation and apostille however.

3) This is also an option but I suggest you limit your options to countries that permit Russian citizens to travel to and marry in visa-free to reduce costs and hassle which would discount most of Europe and thus increase other costs, primarily flights. Thailand would be a popular option and Mexico as you mentioned. Again this would likely involve translations and apostilles.

There is also a fourth option which is your fiancée applies for a Marriage Visitor visa, you marry in the UK and she returns to Russia to apply for her spouse visa. A Marriage Visitor visa would be a much cheaper option than a fiancée visa in terms of fees at at £97 and you wouldn't have to worry about translations or apostilles. You could also plan a bigger affair with your family present rather than eloping to a third country.

All these options are possibilities and you will need to weigh the cost/benefit ratios. Money is one factor, but so is time, stress and the ability to have the wedding you want. You may decide that, all things considered, Option 1 remains your best option.

TimCypher

Personally, I'd got for option 2, which is the path we took. It's just a sad fact that getting married to a non-EU citizen is far simpler in any other country than the UK.

The Fiance Visa route, I'd rule out immediately. You do end up having to pay for two back-to-back visas if you wish to settle, so it's much more expensive. In addition, the six month fiance visa does not allow your partner to work, they cannot use the NHS, and it does not count towards the five years you need to accrue to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Not just that, but also:

1) There's no guarantee that they will approve your visa;
2) The visa may be delayed, potentially by many months over and above the published processing times if the Home Office consider your case to be 'not straight-forward'.

Now, 1) and 2) also apply to the spouse visa, but at least at the same time you're not trying to organise a wedding, laying down money and lining up guests to attend and all the logistics that revolve around an event of that magnitude. So, it's much less a headache to have that all done and dusted before you put yourselves in the hands of the UK immigration authorities. They work to their timetable, and not yours. For me, wedding planning and dealing with the Home Office are just not compatible things.

You could have a simple, legal ceremony in Russia, then, once you have your spouse visa, you could then organise a larger, grander 'dream wedding' in the UK, but *DON'T* book or commit to anything until you have the visa in your hands.

Nora_

Hi

I was in the same boat as you. And we chose option 1. Fiance Visa , then switching to spouse visa with priority service (when fiance visa is approved).

We looked at all the options that you stated and Marriage Visitor Visa too.

As you mentioned - for us being together is more important than extra cost through obtaining 2 separate visas. I had this feeling that getting a fiance visa is a little simpler - because you have to almost show identical documents and you have to pay the government again - and government have opportunity to have a look into your case again.
But I know it's something that I made up in my mind to make me feel a little safe.

Now - why we did not go for spouse route - we could have our marriage in his home country, but it means we have to have the registry and wedding and I have to leave him here for 3 month (maybe more) on his own. We did not want to be separated after marriage (because I had to return back to the UK to work).

With Marriage Visitor visa you have the sane scenario - you get married in the UK - then you spouse has to return back and wait appr, 3 month if not more.

Only with Fiance Visa, you wait that 3 month in advance as fiances (nothing changes in your life), then your partner comes to you for your registry and UK wedding, you can switch to spouse visa with priority and you can go back to the Russia and have your Russian wedding there. You can travel within wait period from the time you give notice of marriage and obtaining a date.

Hope it helped. I know it is the most expensive way to have a spouse visa at the end, but for us it was important to live togther after we are husband and wife, not get separated for months again.

johannalouise

It depends on your situation.
We went with route 1 personally as the cost of flying to my husbands home country to marry & back was expensive so kind of negated the cost saving of not going down the fiance visa route.
Also, getting married in my husbands home country was complicated & required a lot of documentation that wasn't easy to get together & I had to be resident for a certain period of time which meant I'd have to take time off work, potentially affecting my salary which I reliant on to meet the financial requirement.
He's also not a visa free national for many countries so it meant we'd have limited options for getting married in a third country.
We also paid for the premium service for FLR(M) as the loss of earnings for 2-3 months waiting by post would have been more than paying the extra money for the premium service.
There's many different reasons people go down the fiance visa route & you just need to decide what's best for you.
Tbh, we probably would have chosen the fiance visa route anyway, because I really wanted my family to be there for the wedding.

With regards to the stir crazy thing if you do go down the fiance - FLR(M) route & have a wait between visas. I think Russian driving licence holders have to take a new theory & practical test to be able to continue driving in the UK after the 1 year grace period allowed with foreign licences. So my recommendation would be to start studying for the theory straight away & take a few driving lessons (just to get used to the test structure & get advice as it's quite rigid) you can take lessons with your foreign licence. As soon as she's been resident 6 months, apply for her provisional licence, book the theory test & get ready to take the test.
My husband starting working before taking any lessons etc but found it so hard to book lessons on weekends/evenings & the test dates were booked up for months & he ended up not being able to drive for a few months which was a real hit to his independence.

Nora_

I though it's about showing that you will be in the country for 180 days then you can apply - you don't have to apply after 6 month of residence. As soon as one has spouse visa - then they can apply instantly? At least I was hoping to. Because I sent theory test practice kit to my fiance, we really hope he will get driving licence very soon after getting his visa.

BritInParis

Yes, providing you are a resident you can apply straightaway.

Nora_

Thank you so much. I feel better now.

johannalouise

I didn't realise this, though the wordings of a lot of these requirements can be a little ambiguous. Though admittedly I didn't look into it too much; I encouraged my husband to organise it himself whilst he wasn't able to work & he was spectacularly useless at it all.

Still, an even better reason to get the driving licence started as soon as possible, that first year will fly by!

spouse of scouse

That's just given me the biggest laugh I'm sure he's good at other stuff though

johannalouise

He's wonderful at many things! Organisation is just not one of them!
Tbh I think he took the view of "I can drive, so this will all be totally fine" when most people wouldn't be able to pass their driving test again if they had to sit it tomorrow!

Partario

Nora_

Good luck

Partario

Hello again everyone,

It's taken a lot longer than we expected - just stuff getting in the way, I guess - but my fiancée's just about filled in the form for a fiancée visa over in Russia. (We're still planning to get that, then get married in the UK). She's at the stage where they're asking her to book an appointment and pay for the visa application.

Something I haven't managed to understand yet is how I submit my documents/supporting information as the sponsor. I understand the authoritative list of documents is here: htt ps ://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270197/sup-docs-settlement.pdf (spaces added to the start of the URL as it's blocking me from posting one)

Do I have to send my payslips, bank statements, passport copy, employer reference etc. to her so that she presents them at the appointment? This would mean sending them by post, which seems a little risky since I understand things like the payslips have to be the original copy. It also doesn't seem massively logical since the application will get processed in the UK - I initially assumed I would just send my stuff to the Home Office separately - but I suppose this way all the documents are in one place for the staff to process.

Many thanks for any help. And apologies if I've strayed over to something covered in one of the sticky threads.

J

bookerw100

In our case, the sponsor had to send the supporting documents from the UK within 10 working days (if priority, 20 for non priority) of applicant giving their bio metrics in their home country. The applicant just needed to take the passport,2xphotos, signed application form and appendix 2 form to her appointment in the home country.