lexelf

Hi all!!

I've posted in 2 other forums and everyone keeps saying "post in this forum" and I post there and someone else says "you shouldn't post that here, post it there" so I'm just posting wherever I see even a little relevance and hope I can get some help!!!

This is my situation:

I am an American citizen who is engaged to a British citizen. I'm planning on moving to England late June to go to school and be with him. We are planning a wedding for June 20th in the United States, but aren't sure whether to make it a legal celebration or wait until later.

Ideally we'd like to wed in the USA and then go back to England about a week later. I'm planning on filling out a Spouse visa to remain in the UK, but I have a few questions on this:

1--Is it easier to marry in the US and then move to the UK, or move to the UK on a student or spouse visa and marry there?

2--For the spouse visa (if we do marry in the USA) should I check fiancee for our relationship now, or wife for what our situation will be when I move??

3--If we choose to get married in England, should I bother with the spouse visa since I can go on the waiver program to attend college??

From what the british consulate told me, yes I can go just on the visa waiver to go to college!! All I have to do is show my letter of acceptance and a bank statement showing I have enough money to support myself, and I'm in the clear. Since I'm from the USA they don't require a visa for that.

Please help....sorry for all the questions but I REALLY don't want to mess things up for us I've read a lot of heartbreaking stories about couples needing to spend months or years apart because of messing up applications or misunderstanding qualifications, and I've had to spend enough time without my honey (as I'm sure is the same reaction to a lot of people in these forums )

Good luck to everyone who's trying to get through this (in my mind) rediculous length of papers and confusion!!

-alexis

Ingo Pakleppa

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 18:56:39 +0000, lexelf wrote:


    > Hi all!!
    >
    > I've posted in 2 other forums and everyone keeps saying "post in this
    > forum" and I post there and someone else says "you shouldn't post that
    > here, post it there" so I'm just posting wherever I see even a little
    > relevance and hope I can get some help!!!

You might have a bit more luck in alt.visa.us.marriage-based, but this
newsgroup should be OK for your question.

Although, I notice that your questions seem to be largely related to UK
immigration laws. Here, you'll find information about US laws. Try
misc.immigration.misc.

Below are some responses.

    > This is my situation:
    >
    > I am an American citizen who is engaged to a British citizen. I'm
    > planning on moving to England late June to go to school and be with him.
    > We are planning a wedding for June 20th in the United States, but aren't
    > sure whether to make it a legal celebration or wait until later.
    >
    > Ideally we'd like to wed in the USA and then go back to England about a
    > week later. I'm planning on filling out a Spouse visa to remain in the
    > UK, but I have a few questions on this:
    >
    > 1--Is it easier to marry in the US and then move to the UK, or move to
    > the UK on a student or spouse visa and marry there?

As long as you don't plan on living in the US, you can marry in the US
simply with a tourist visa (or, as a UK citizen, with just the visa
waiver). Sorry, I don't know if this is a good idea from the perspective
of UK immigration law.

    > 2--For the spouse visa (if we do marry in the USA) should I check
    > fiancee for our relationship now, or wife for what our situation will be
    > when I move??

My guess is that you can't apply for a spousal visa until you are actually
married. Of course, I could be wrong.

    > 3--If we choose to get married in England, should I bother with the
    > spouse visa since I can go on the waiver program to attend college??

Same answer: you probably can't get a spousal visa until you are actually
a spouse. If this was the reverse situation, you couldn't get a student
visa or the like for the US because you have the intent to immigrate. But
I think that the UK does not have this issue.

    > From what the british consulate told me, yes I can go just on the visa
    > waiver to go to college!! All I have to do is show my letter of
    > acceptance and a bank statement showing I have enough money to support
    > myself, and I'm in the clear. Since I'm from the USA they don't require
    > a visa for that.
    >
    > Please help....sorry for all the questions but I REALLY don't want to
    > mess things up for us I've read a lot of heartbreaking stories about
    > couples needing to spend months or years apart because of messing up
    > applications or misunderstanding qualifications, and I've had to spend
    > enough time without my honey (as I'm sure is the same reaction to a lot
    > of people in these forums )
    >
    > Good luck to everyone who's trying to get through this (in my mind)
    > rediculous length of papers and confusion!!
    >
    > -alexis

gonecountry

hubby came here(UK) as a visitor- stayed 6 months went to france for 2 weeksand then came back in -miracle they let him in we were heavily questioned and it was terrifying! we married 3 weeks before his visa ran out and applied for leave to remain he next day- this was apparently granted 6 weeks later but we heard nothing from them for 3 years- and we were afraid to ask in case they threw him out..eventually plucked up courage to ask and found out we'd been approved years before but they had lost ALL our documents-birth certs, marriage cert, passports, divorce decrees- absoulte nightmare to replace everything and all at our expense- completed that process in Jan and now we're starting all over again for us to all move to the US
Ginny