graceplant

I am a British citizen who has been living in the US for 3 years on an F1 visa. It will be expired as of February 2011. My fiancé is a US citizen and we are planning on moving to the UK together next year. He has an MA in Education and is a teacher. We are trying to plan where/when to get married. I was hoping we could get married in England next summer however we are wondering if it would make the process easier if we have a civil wedding here so we can enter the UK as man and wife. Is this easier than him entering on a fiancé visa or a work visa? We would like to stay in the UK for at least 3 years. After that we are hoping to have the flexibility to live back here in the US. Does anyone know if this is possible for a married couple, to live in both the US or the UK and go back and forth? Also, we are wondering since I am an EU citizen will he also have the freedom to live anywhere in the EU once we are married?
We are considering getting an immigration lawyer to answer all these questions for us and help us to make a plan of action that will be easy and straightforward (ha!). Has anyone on the board been through a similar situation? Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer who could answer all these questions for us? Is there any other way to get these answers without shelling out lots of money?!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Mummy in the foothills

You may want to look at the visa advice from the US to UK standpoint over at www.uk-yankee.com

lilybilly101

I think an immigration lawyer would be pricey - aren't all lawyers? If you are a couple and have the ability to prove that, you will be fine. Look up defacto visa and there's lots of info on line.

Also, if you are both thinking of moving back and forth he can't be out of the UK for longer than 6 months and retain his residence.

AmerLisa

I would think it would be advantageous of you to obtain US citizenship, before you move back to the UK. Especially if you want ease of going back and forth later on.