2pennyblue

Hi I joined a couple months back and never came back (I forgot my login details)...sorry.

I just wanted to update and say that my US fiance's experience of applying for the UK Visit Visa: Marriage, was incredibly simple. It cost £76, the form was simple to fill out, and then he had to get biometrics done in a local office. He received an email from the UKBA when they received his application. After that it took about 18 days for him to receive an email to say that it had been approved, and then received his passport back a few days later.

I would say, however, that I would apply for it further in advance just in case. I had been warned by people in the know (Pastor, MP) that people do leave it too late and have to rearrange their wedding/marriage.

Also, it may be worth knowing that to register a marriage (this is for Scotland only, as I live in Scotland), the General Register Office Scotland states that for foreigners to come and get married they need a certificate of no impediment, or an affidavit. This is not correct for US citizens as the US does not issue such documents. What they do need is a copy of the Visit Visa - so you cannot register the marriage until you have the visa.

For info, this is what we did:

20th Feb 2011 - US fiance's application for UK Visit Visa received by UKBA.
8th March 2011 - US fiance received email from UKBA to say visa was approved.
13th -21st March 2011 - I went to visit fiance in USA, where I picked up US fiance's birth certificate, registration forms, and a colour photocopy of his Visa.
21st April 2011- appointment at local registrar's office to register marriage. I wanted an appointment to do it in person rather than post all our docs.
23rd May 2011 - US fiance will arrive in the UK.
24th May 2011 - we have an appointment to pick up our marriage register doc, and they also need to see US fiance in person AND his passport with the visit visa in it.
28th May 2011 - we get married here in Scotland!

After that we will be on honeymoon until mid-June, where I will apply for a passport amendment with my new married name, and then expect to start the US visa process early July. On a personal emotional level I do second-guess myself and I'm not sure now if this was the best route to take, but it's what I thought was best at the time, and it's what we are doing...I was very keen to have my wedding in Scotland.

I should add that for weddings in England I believe there are minimum periods of time someone has to 'live' in England to get married, so if you are doing what I did, you'll need to factor that in for a timeline of registering marriage.

(if it's worth creating a new thread about the UK visit visa and doing it this way... I can do that too, if it'd make it more helpful).

Brucky

Yea, foreign nationals have to be in England a minimum of 15 days first. Which is why I also got Married in Scotland.

iray

It's taking them 18 days to process a simple visit visa in February? I see the consolidation of the work in to a single post is going well......

meauxna

Here is the memo about doing away with the advance permission thing; just posting it, not interpreting it.

Abolition of the Certificate of Approval scheme

07 April 2011