cookiecutter05

He is a US citizen, I am an EU citizen settled in the UK.

I am not sure if this is the right section so forgive me if I made a mistake in choosing it.

We met online roughly 2 years ago. He will be coming to visit me for the 1st time in February and has a return ticket. He is supposed to go back about a month later.

I have a place and a job and I'm not British as I said. He has enough money in savings to stay here for a month without any problems (he can easily prove it) but no job at the moment.

We plan on living together for those few weeks and if everything is fine we plan on marrying outside the UK, in another country in Europe.

Technically he wouldn't be coming to marry me in the UK. If we marry and then travel back to the UK as married he could stay as a family member of an EEA citizen.

What would you advise him to say at immigration? Thanks in advance.

Tr1boy

don't think that will work. He'd still be entering the UK as a visitor?

Novocastrian

I imagine that depends on which other European country and on their regulations.

He should say that he is visiting a friend of his.

BritInParis

He should say he's coming to visit a friend and staying for a month. If pressed further then he should always tell the truth but don't say anything other than answering the question that has been asked. Make sure if he has evidence of his return ticket and proof of funds in his carry-on. With no job to go back to then he may need this evidence to prove he is a genuine visitor.

If you do decide to get married elsewhere in the EU then that's fine providing that particular country allows a non-EU national to marry without applying in advance for a visa. Once married he can then apply for an EEA Family Permit to return with you to the UK and then an EEA residence card confirming his right to live and work in the UK for five years.

At the end of those five years he'll become a permanent resident and eligible to naturalise as a British citizen providing Brexit doesn't throw any spanners in the works.

cookiecutter05

Yes, since he's not gonna work, study or marry after entering. Don't see what else he'd qualify as other than visitor.

Thanks BritInParis and Novocastrian.

The EU country we'd marry in works like the UK for him and doesn't require me to have a visa for up to 90 days.

I was just wondering if saying he's meeting someone he is involved with would potentially cause him to be refused entry because they might think he'd overstay. As I said he's got a round-trip ticket and a few thousands in savings.

Tr1boy

I was reading your plan as to mean that if you marry outside of the UK, he will then return with you and apply for an EEA permit once in the UK. Maybe I'm reading that wrong?

BritInParis

That is a possibility. They'll be looking for ties to the US to show that he will return. If he doesn't have a job in the US to go back to and a girlfriend in the UK then that's not particularly encouraging.

Regarding the country you intend to marry in you should check whether there are any specific visa requirements in order to get married. A US citizen, for instance, come to the UK as a visitor without a visa but if they intend to marry in the UK then they'll need to apply for a marriage visitor visa.

cookiecutter05

No, we might be marrying (because things might not go fine once we meet lol) in a country in Europe but not in the EU. I checked the requirements and a US citizen is allowed for up to 180 days without having to apply for a visa in advance. I'm allowed visa free for 90 days. I guess you can roughly guess what country I might be talking about.

We excluded my home country as the notice to give to marry is too long and I can't be away from work for days on end. We would marry in a third country with which we have no ties.

@Tr1boy Yes, but the wedding wouldn't take place in the UK, if it does happen, and at that point he'd be travelling back to the UK as my family member and under EU regulations he will have the same rights as me. I don't see what difference it makes to them as he could visit me here, leave and come back say a year after and in the meantime we married somewhere. As long as the EEA family member route is still viable, he would be able to take advantage of it all the same. The intent isn't to settle here on this visit but to visit me and the country.

His visit here is to visit me and to also do some genuine sightseeing, not to marry me here in the UK, and he would indeed leave the country at some point, either to marry abroad or to go back to the USA.

Tr1boy

Understood. What I thought you meant is that is he would be applying for the EEA permit back in the UK after you were married, rather than applying for it in the country you are getting married, as I don't think that's allowed but I'm not an expert by any means.