lagerbreath

Hey,

Within the next couple of years i'll be marrying my american fioncee and moving to NYC. I'm disabled and don't work, she'll be earning around $100k per year and will be supporting me.

My first question is will me being disabled cause any problems? and would it be easier for us to marry in the US or the UK?

Thanks alot

BritishGuy36

As you don't mention your current locations or living arrangements, it's hard to know what would be the easiest thing for you to do.

If you are both living in your respective home countries now and don't appear to be in a rush, and you want to live together in the US, you, the UKC, obtaining a fiance visa to travel to the US and marry, then stay and adjust status, would seem to be the most convenient thing to do, as it involves the least travelling.

If costs are the most important thing, then if she visits the UK on a fiance visa then marries you, then goes back to the US to file for a marriage visa for you, that could work out cheaper as far as visas go, but of course she'd need to pay for a return flight to the UK.

Both routes should take about 9-12 months from start to finish.

You will need to pass a medical and I am not familiar with what stipulations there are on what disabilities disqualify you. You may want to research that further. If you are willing to disclose the nature of your diability, others here may be able to give you some general guidance on that point.

lagerbreath

Sorry if I was lacking in a bit more info,

I'm currently living in the UK and my fioncee is about to get an apartment in Queens, NYC. She wants to marry here but as I said I was just wondering what was easier.

You kinda worried me when you mentioned a medical, my disability is that i'm partially sighted with it gradually getting worse as I get older.

Thanks for the speedy reply

BritishGuy36

Not sure about the disability then. Perhaps someone with more experience in that aspect of the process will chime in.

If you plan to marry in the UK, then that's fine, as long as you are aware that you will be apart for about 9-12 months after you get married while your visa is processed, before you are together in the US.

She cannot travel into the UK on the VWP for that, she will need to enter on a fiance visa (not that difficult to get).

lagerbreath

Does she have to get a UK Fioncee visa in order to marry me over here? Because my disability (because I live on benefits) stops us getting her a Fioncee visa cause I can't live on public funds.

Tracym

You can't live on public funds and get a spousal visa for her I'd think. Are you sure she can't get a fiance visa? My understanding is that is intended for a person to visit the UK, get married, and then leave. I could be wrong of course...

Your medical condition itself is not a disqualification. The only concern I would see re. the sight problems at the medical is if they were to worry if you would be likely to become a public charge. Would your current benefits continue if you leave the country?

While I understand you don't intend to/need to work over here, it is of course possible for visually impaired people to work. I only mention this as perhaps they will not consider you as necessarily likely to be a public charge, as you in theory could find some form of employment if necessary.

The flip side, of course, is that you are currently receiving benefits, so they could assume you might be likely to require them at some time in the US as well.

Just my opinion, but you might want to seek a one-time consultation with an immigration attorney on this one.

lagerbreath

Thanks for the info,

I was told that I couldn't claim benefits in the US cause i've never worked and paid tax over there so I don't see why they'd worry about me being a public charge? and yes my benefits over here in the UK would stop as soon as I moved over there.

Another thing, my fioncee says I can use her medical insurance because we'd be married, is this correct?

BritishGuy36

No, you can't use HER medical insurance, because you aren't her!

She could pay for a medical insurance coverage for you, but obviously that would cost, and they would most likely exclude any treatment on your eyesight as you already have documented problems with that prior to coverage commencing. If she has decent health insurance through her employer then she may well be able to "add you to her policy" as it were for a reasonable premium.

She does need to get a fiance visa in order to enter the UK for the purpose of getting married. If the UK government won't grant her such a visa due to your status then travelling to the US to get married may be the only option for you - and you need to check into whether that is even an option given your disability (I'd be surprised if eyesight problems resulted in a flat refusal though).

Of course there shouldn't be much stopping you meeting in a third country (e.g. Canada?), getting married, then both returning home, and she starts the visa application process for you.

J-Man

There are two visas she could get to marry you in the UK. There's the fiancee visa (http://www.britainusa.com/visas/arti...=41000&a=41031) which you'd use if she was coming over to get married and then adjust to stay in the UK and then there's the visit to marry visa (http://www.britainusa.com/visas/arti...t1.asp?a=41191) which you use if you don't intend to stay in the UK after marriage. The second one sounds like the one you want and it probably cheaper. However if you're marrying to then apply straight away for a US visa wouldn't it be easier to go to the States and marry on the VWP then return to the UK for processing?

Good luck with what ever you decide though

Ray

I just dont see any problem at all with a K-1

bad sight is a condition ..not an infectious disease
Why would you clain benefit in the US
she agrees to support you anyway .and with a $100K income
won't find that much of aproblem

lagerbreath

Well one of the rules of the visit to marry visa is 'You can be supported without working or having recourse to public funds during your visit' so that is probably out of the question too

Michael

Many large company medical plans allow an employee to add a spouse or dependents to the medical plan at little or no additional cost. Also many of those plans do not exclude pre-existing conditions (unlike open market plans) so you will probably be fully covered.

J-Man

But she's only be in the UK to marry you so as long as she proves she has enough money to pay for her stay I don't think that would be an issue. I also think (but am not 100% sure) that not having recourse to public funds is only applicable to the person applying for the visa not the UK person supporting them. If you do go down the route of marrying in the UK then have a look on UK Yankee (http://talk.uk-yankee.com/) which is a very helpful forum.

ian-mstm

If you are going to shoot yourself in the foot (colloquially speaking) before you even try, you'll get nowhere. It sounds, whether true or not, as though you're trying to find reasons to not get married. Most of this stuff you won't know for sure until you try... if it works, great! If it doesn't work... well then, you try something else.

Ian

Tracym

You couldn't claim benefits from the US government for disability, correct, because you haven't worked here. If you were living here and "poor" enough, however, you probably could theoretically apply for some form of welfare type benefits- that would be the concern. I understand you wouldn't be, but if there was a concern, that would be the only one I could think of.

I was wondering if whatever benefits you were receiving in the UK would continue once you were in the US (from their current source).

Logic and common sense would certainly agree with you. But they do have as part of the medical, whether a person is likely to become a public charge. People do get divorced....

Perhaps I am worrying for nothing - the only reason I do is that he is actually claiming (honestly I'm sure) to be disabled and unable to work and support himself. So I just wonder if the US might have an issue with that.

She can prove she can support herself during the visit, correct? I'm not terribly knowledgeable about the UK visas, but I would think she could show sufficient fund to support herself during a visit.

Probably is not the word I would use.

Yes, companies often allow a spouse to be added - that is probably what his fiance is referring to. Some charge extra for this, some don't.

As far as covering pre-existing conditions - they might, and they might not. With a group plan, HIPAA law dictates that they must cover pre-existing conditions IF the person hasn't had a 63 day gap without coverage. Otherwise, there is often a 1-year wait before pre-existing conditions are covered.

Supposedly, the NHS counts as coverage. However, people on the forum have reported that they have not been able to make that stick.

Some policies also require the person to have permanent residency before they will be accepted. Others require 6 months in the country (thus invalidating the HIPAA requirements, as there would then be a more than 63 day gap).

Getting individual insurance in the meantime (even if possible) does not satisfy the HIPAA coverage requirements.

If the OPs medical treatment requirements are significant, that would be an area to look into very carefully prior to coming over.