British citizen marrying Albanian citizen-any advice welcome

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:41 pm

Hi Everyone

I am a British Citizen and my finace is a Albanian citizen, he has lived in UK since 1999 and we have been together 2 and a half years. The past year has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster with court cases and appeals. My fiance has now lost his last appeal and so on Sunday we will be flying out to Albania to get married and apply for a visa. We have applied for the visa already and have booked an appointment for interview for next wednesday.

The judge of our original case did not believe that we had a substantial family life, as we were not living together or engaged at this point. We have now moved in and become engaged, we have been living together for 7 months.

I was just wondering if anyone had been in similar circumstances and if they could give me any tips on the visa application process or any other advice.

Im panicking at the moment in case we have forgotton something!!

The docs we have together are:
My birth certificate (which i am going to get legalised tomorrow)
CNI ( which we are picking up and getting legalised tomorrow)
My fiance's birth certificate
Travel docs for my fiance
My wage slips
Letter from my employer confirming my full time employment
My bank statements
My phone bills (highlighting calls made too each other)
Greeting cards and photos- evidence of our relationship
My fiance mortgate docs and proof of the buying of his house
My fiance's wage slips
my fiance's lease for the rent of his shop (he runs his own business)
my fiance bank statements and phone bills

I got a copy of my birth certificate as i believe that the authorities require one which has been issued in the last 30 days prior to marrying.

Are there any other docs we need to get married?
We have not booked a appointment at the registry office, as we have been told we do not need one, is this true? I still cant believe you just turn up on the day and get married!! so different to England!

As im sure alot of you know this is a very stressful time, i am flying bk without my new husband a week later and am worried about him out there by himself, it also adds to the stress as he has his own business and a mortgage to pay for.

Is there anything we can do to speed his application up?
Are there any docs i have missed?
Do we need any other docs to get married?
What is the % chance that he may be refused a visa especially as the judge seemed to think we didnt have a substantial family life... will the people who do the visa need to c why he was refused from UK in the first place?
Finally any other experiences that ppl have had will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Hannah

VictoriaS · Post by **VictoriaS** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:51 pm

You need to prove that this is a geniune relationship. I would suggest letters of support from friends and family, as well as evidence that you have been living together.

Victoria

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:53 pm

I got a copy of my birth certificate as i believe that the authorities require one which has been issued in the last 30 days prior to marrying.

That is true, your CNI and Birth Cert need translating also before you can be married ,and take a passport photo one of you and one of your husband to be , also a photocopy of your passport!

Take your documents to the Registrar there and she may give you a date to come back(notice was required we were told) to sign the book.... Good luck...

have booked an appointment for interview for next wednesday

that is the date you will submitt your documents maybe it is too soon because you will need the marriage certificate for that!! you may not have to give notice but the lady we went to got her rule book out.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:12 pm

Thanks for your replies

Victoria: We have congratultions cards from relatives regarding our engagement and also a letter from my mum and dad saying there are supportive etc. do u think we will need more?

Sammie: Yes we have translated the birth cert and will translate the CNI after we pick it up tomorrow, when you say a photocopy of my passport does this need to stamped by a solicitor or anything to show its legalised, because i will be there when he has his interview so they can see the real thing.
Also i think my fiance's dad has opened up the file at the registry office and when my fiance phoned them they said they can do it there and then... hopefully this is right cos im only there for a week.

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:21 pm

No the registrar wanted a photocopy of my passport to keep, since she did not have any way of photocopying it we had to go get it done for her plus get some passport pics of us that she also asked for,im not saying the same will be needed just things that i can think of that delayed us signing her book lol!!!
The visa workers will take your passport and copy it themselves if you are present with it.

You should be fine then if some type of notice as been given, i think we had the most annoying registrar possible, my experience i hope is a one off. Others will post later there are a few Ladies married to Albanian men who can give more input hopefully.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:26 pm

Thanks Sammie thats helpful, just wondering how long it took for your husband to get his visa? ive heard it can take up to 6 months, im hoping he'll be back within 3 months. x

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:36 pm

Well i went to Albania to marry him on the 8th of July this year, we married the 16th of July, we gave the documents in on the 20th of July and was given the interview date for the 21st of Aug 2007- i then returned to the UK on the 28 th July to work for 2 weeks before my maternity leave started on the 13th Aug..... i flew back to Albania the 12th Aug lol i missed and wanted to support him at his interview and was worried that if the visa was delayed i would not see him for a long time. Some stories i had read on here got me concerned because he was an overstayer his case would be delayed, the good news is he got the visa the same day as the interview and we came back together on the 23rd of Aug.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:39 pm

That would be great if it was the same for me, i hope you dont mind me asking but was he a refused asylum seeker? x

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:55 pm

No my husband did not apply for Asylum that i know of. But i think they check people out with the Home office in the UK.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:02 pm

Yeh my fiance is yet to close his case there, cos the HO cant stop mucking us around, hopefully we can do that this week, thanks so much for your replies, its helped to know other ppl who have gone thru the same thing. I bet your happy that he is home and everythin is sorted! I dont know about you but i am sick to death with sorting out paperwork, making phone calls and writing letters, i just cant wait for it to all b over, and to have my new hubby with me forever. thanks again.x

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:08 pm

I wish you all the best.... Enjoy Albania its lovely there.

VictoriaS · Post by **VictoriaS** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:28 pm

The letter and cards sound great.

Victoria

abbs33 · Post by **abbs33** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:45 pm

I advice you to apply on line as soon as posssible as there is a long waiting list at the moment for the document handling part of the process. Cant stress enough how important this is! I married an Albanian man on 30th Aug and hte date of handing in the documentation was the 24th September. On that day he was told that his interview would be 8th November !!!!! So I am missing him madly. Although I am booking tickets on friday to go out and see him. With regards to the birth certificate, you will have to get that legalised in London to verify it. No need for a certificate which is less than 30 days old.

Get in touch via PM if you need any help. Good Luck xx

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:11 pm

No need for a certificate which is less than 30 days old.

We got told by the Albanian Embassy that it had to be less than 30 days, so i had to get a new copy of mine too, but i here in England we do not ammend birth certificates, so a copy 2 years old or 30 days will always be the same. Unlike other EU countries that allow changes hence the confusion amongst staff at the Embassy maybe.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:35 am

I married an Albanian man on 30th Aug and hte date of handing in the documentation was the 24th September. On that day he was told that his interview would be 8th November !!!!!

Hi Abbs

He did his visa application online and has an interview date of next Wednesday, i thought this was when he handed in the documents and had an interview, i didnt realise that there were 2 seperate dates. Could you jut clarify this please.thanks xx

sammie121 · Post by **sammie121** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:40 am

You need to print out the application and take it with you on Wednesday...
Iam sure that all you will do Wednesday is hand your documents in and be given a date to return for his interview and maybe a list of documents to bring if they need more.

It looks like there is a 6 week wait now, going by Abbs dates.
I really feel for you both, 2 weeks without my husband was all i could take.

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:47 am

Oh ok i didnt realise this

thats quite annoying we've been thinking all along that he would do everything on Wednesday, that the thing with the embassy they never give you clear answers on anything when you ring them x

clairey · Post by **clairey** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:36 am

Hi Hannah,

I didn't get married in Tirana, but we did apply for a fiance visa. However this was in 2004, so there have been some changes to the way the visa section works since I was there. The most important documents are the ones that prove your financial status and your housing status. When we went along armed with all our documentation, they weren't interested in seeing our photos and cards, they just wanted bank statements, pay slips etc.

The embassy will ask you for certified copies of your documents, otherwise they will keep the originals. I'd get that done in Albania where the public notaries are a lot cheaper. Oh, DEFINITELY get your marriage certificate copied and certified. Friends of ours didn't do that and the embassy kept theirs, and now they can't apply for a Schengen visa to visit her family in Holland until they get a copy from the town hall in Korca where they got married!!!

I'm afraid Sammie is right, the first date will just be the handing over of documents and them checking them over. Your husband will then be called back for an interview at a later date.

Hope this helps, enjoy Albania - it's still nice and warm out there from what I hear from the in-laws!

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:44 pm

Thanks Clairey

When you say get certified copies of your documents, which should i get certified copies of? i have certified copies of my birth certificate, would you recommend any others?x

clairey · Post by **clairey** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:59 pm

Hannah,

I'm afraid at the embassy in Tirana, you'll need to give them a certified copy of anything you want back. If you want your bank statements, pay slips etc. back, you'll need to give them certified copies.

From the Embassy website:

With effect from 2 January 2006 applicants for United Kingdom visas are required to provide only original documents or certified copies of documents in support of their visa applications:

â€¢ UK documents should be either originals or copies certified by a recognised UK solicitor. (If an applicant submits original documents that they would like returned after the application has been processed, they should submit certified copies at the same time as the application is being made, to be held on our files)

â€¢ Albanian documents should be submitted only in original. Certificates issued by the local registry offices should be certified by the relevant prefecture office and legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

â€¢ Marriage certificates will be accepted only in the six-foreign languages version.

Faxed or e-mailed documents will no longer be accepted.

Probably against the rules, but hey, they're in Albania, they don't need rules!!!

Best of luck x

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:00 pm

oh ok, im not too worried about bank statements and things because i can print them from the internet.
What about my passport will i need a certified copy of this? thing is ive only got tomorrow now before i go, is it possible to get stuff certified in Albania. When i hand the documents in on Wednesday do you think they will want to take my passport away or will they just want to look at it?
thanks x

clairey · Post by **clairey** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:30 pm

I seem to remember there were lots of Public Notaries in Tirana where you can have documents certified - look for the sign "Noter/e Publik/e" (I haven't learnt my Albanian noun endings properly yet!!) They may well demand a certified copy of your passport too, I'm not sure.

Claire x

hannah27 · Post by **hannah27** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:41 pm

Well at least i know i can do it there if i need to. Dont know your noun endings! i can only say goodbye and thank you!! at least your making the effort! thanks claire x

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British citizen marrying Albanian citizen-any advice welcome

British citizen marrying Albanian citizen-any advice welcome