where is better to marry? HK or UK

[aniya]

hi everyone..
i was just confused of which way to go for..
basically i'm a HK resident holding a BNO passport ..but at the moment i'm in UK..
i did an islamic marriage with my husband who is a british citizen..but as i have heard that the islamic marriage aint legally recognised in UK.
So i'm planning to go back HK and apply for visa to settle in UK..
but the question is im not sure if we should marry in HK at the registrar first then apply for a spouse visa...OR apply for visa (not sure which one) then come UK n get married legally at the registrar???
which way is better n easier?
can anybody shine any light on this...
please feel free to ask any question if i have not made it clear in my post..
ur help is appreciated.
thank
aniya

[Administrator]

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Topic moved from 'Other countries' since this appears to be about 1) immigration into the UK and 2) by family (spouse) relationship.


I suspect (but don't know) that an Islamic marriage by itself is not the reason to accept or reject the marriage. I suspect it is the type of marriage ... how it was documented, where it was performed, what government records exist to prove it, etc.

A little research into exactly how your marriage was performed and documented is needed. It likely does qualify as a marriage (although how you prove it to immigration may be more complex than usual), in which case you just need to apply via a spouse visa.

IF your marriage is not recognized, then it's time to examine other options.


Since your marriage is already performed and is recognized under Islam (yes?), then you may just need to visit your appropriate religious authority in the UK to confirm and document it.

Where was your marriage? Are there government/civil records of it? Tax records? Abode records? Which government(s) hold official records?

the Admin

[aniya]

hi there.. thanks for the reply.
right my marriage was conducted in a local mosque..I am islamically married to my husband and is recognised under islam which allows me to live with him.
when i had my islamic marriage ..i was given a certificate from the mosque and thats all.
I just rang the mosque to find out more detail about the documentation and stuff. i was told that it is legally accepted by home office but its best to a civil marriage.
So basically to put myself right, so do i have to do a civil marriage in the registrar?
IF so, shall i do it in HK and then apply for a spouse visa or do apply for some thing else and then do my civil marriage back UK.
thankx.. i hope i cleared up a bit more

[Administrator]

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Other members (I hope) will step in with better advice. I am not particularly familiar with the details of British spousal immigration .. I have to address the topics on more strategic & theoretical grounds.


From what you wrote, it sounds like you got married in a local UK mosque.

That means your marriage occurred legally in the United Kingdom.

Correct?

I don't think you need to go through another ceremony, civil or otherwise.

[ On EDIT: even if you are not required to perform a civil ceremony, assuming it is not offensive to you for some reason, it certainly cannot hurt you to have one. It should be of fairly minimal costs in the big immigration picture. If you are currently legally in the UK, you should be able to have it done in the UK without traveling out of country. OTHER MEMBERS: please comment on this! ]


But, you need to confirm this point before submitting a visa application.


What I think is now needed is for you to take the marriage certificate to the local governing authority and have it registered in the civil record.

That record. combined with the certificate itself, should be all you need.

Other supporting evidence, such as documentation that you are domiciled together in an enduring relationship will very certainly help, so think about what you have to prove that (tax records are always a big plus that way).

Under a spouse visa, he will need to demonstrate the ability to support you (job, income slips, bank savings, etc.).

I'm giving a high-level summary of this because I don't know the details ... so, please continue researching and asking.

One final item: if you are already legally in the UK and are now applying for a spouse visa, I don't think they will require you to leave to apply from outside the country.

But, as above, get confirmation on that before planning on it.

the Admin

[VictoriaS]

There are a lot of assumptions going on on this thread, and I feel it is getting too confusing!

First of all, the marriage. If you were only married in a UK Mosque, and this was not accompanied by a civil ceremony, and you were not issued with a formal UK marriage certificate, signed by a registrar, then, as you suspect, you are not married in the eyes of UK law. At some point you will need to undergo this ceremony.

You have three options:

1) Get a Certificate of Approval, then marry in a register office in the UK. You can then go back to HK and apply to enter the UK as a spouse. The only issue with this is that if you are in the UK as a visitor the COA may take a long time to be approved, or may not be approved at all.

2) Go back to Hong Kong with your husband, undergo a ceremony which is a legal civil ceremony (if it is recognised as such in HK it will be recognised in the UK) and then apply to enter as a spouse

3) Go back to HK and apply to enter the UK as a fiancee. Once in the UK, you can then get married in a register office without the need for a COA.

I think option 2 is the easiest and will be the quickest.

Victoria

[Ben]

aniya, are you of Chinese ethnicity? If not, you may be eligible to "upgrade" your BN(O) status to full British Citizenship.

Full info here:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... e/guideem/