Spouse visa for my wife who in country, pls help

[zeddie]

Dear all,

Hoping you can advise us on our situation. My wife who is a US citizen is on a student visa till July this year. We got married (islamic marriage nikkah ceremony) in London on the 19th of Aug 2012. Since then we have been living together in the same flat in London.

We would now like to apply for a spouse visa so she can remain in the country after her studies, start work etc. Im very confused as to the process to do this, the forms and evidence needed etc. Some people say the nikkah certificate is enough but others say we need to contact our local council to have a registry marriage ceremony (which costs £110 in the cheapest room) and only then we can apply for spouse visa?

Can someone please help us and advise on the step by step process for our situation? I see most of the posts here are for people trying for visas for their spouse being out of country. My wife is already here on a student visa and we got married in a mosque in london.

What do I need to do next? Do i need to book this room with bromley council and do this registration ceremony before doing anything else or is the nikkah certificate from london enough?

thanks so much in advance

[CR001]

An Islamic marriage would only be recognised if it took place in a country that allows Islamic marriages.

You need to give 28 days notice to marry here with one of the approved Registrars and get married under English law. The Registrar has to inform HO of non-EU migrants wanting to marry and this notice period can be extended to 70 days for HO to investigate/interview both of you. Once approval is received to marry, then you can marry.

After that process, then you can apply for a spouse visa using form FLR(M)

[Casa]

Even the Islamic Cultural Centre in London informs couples marrying in the mosque "Original Civil Marriage Certificate (extremely important)." Without that certificate a marriage will not be recognised under British law.
Further to CR001's advice...before you take the next steps towards making a FLR(M) application, do you earn at least £18,600 per annum? This can be joint income, assuming your wife isn't working in excess of her permitted hours.

[zeddie]

Casa, CR001,

Thank you for your comprehensive and clear reply. So basically our Nikkah certificate from august 2012 is not even recognized and we must go through the registry marriage route here via the council. Is there any point mentioning to the HO that we got religiously married in 2012 in the UK? Yes when we called they said first we have to "give notice" and then we will be allowed to marry at bromley council with a registry ceremony where we must bring witnesses. Thanks for clearing this part. I didnt realize after giving notice we have to have an interview too.

After this ceremony we apply for the spouse visa using FLR(M). We can do this in country right, and can i also check what evidence we would need for this? Do we still need the joint bills, photos, chat logs etc?

And yes as far as the income goes im good..

Thanks again guys,

[CR001]

An interview by HO might be required. No one can tell you if it will.

You can mention your religious marriage, but it means nothing in the eyes of HO as it was performed in the UK. Had it been performed in India or Pakistan for example, it would have been recognised.

In the eyes of HO, you are not married at the moment.

Your spouse can apply within the UK, she does not have to leave but she must apply on FLR(M) before her current visa expires. For evidence, please read page 62 (there abouts) of the form, it gives a good list of what is required. You will not need chat logs, photos etc if you have lived together since 2012.

[Casa]

You may not be interviewed...it's a the Home Office's discretion. It's worth mentioning your Islamic marriage to strengthen the evidence of a 'genuine relationship'. Have read through the FLR(M) info and come back with any points your unsure of.
It's worth considering that the visa fees will increase in April. Your wife will also have to pay the NHS surcharge of £500 online before submitting her visa application. This is in addition to the visa fee (currently £649 for a postal application, £1049 if applied for in person).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _11-15.pdf

Edit: I knew it! Beaten again by Miss Speedy Fingers, CR001

[zeddie]

Ahh, CR001..

You mention a very interesting point. We had our reception in Bangladesh on the 4th of Jan 2013 and we DO HAVE a nikkah (islamic marriage) certificate from Bangladesh. Youre saying this could be recognised? In this case how would we do things differently in terms of the application with this certificate in hand? (lol i know we have gotten married twice) Basically we had our ceremony in Dhaka in 2013 Jan and then she moved here on a student visa.

Also its looking like in total this application will cost us around £1600?! o_O

Thanks again both for your continued help.. things are becoming clearer with every reply

[Casa]

In which case, still FLR(M) to switch from student to spouse and submit your marriage certificate issued in Bangladesh. You'll need it translated if it's not in English.

[zeddie]

Oh cool! So that would save us the hassle of the town hall registry marriage etc. Can i ask if there is any advantage to doing the registry marriage here? I mean does it make it a more solid or simpler application / better chance of success etc? And they wont say anything since she came to this country as a student only a a few months after our marriage in Bangladesh?

Cheers

[CR001]

No, it makes no difference. You are married as your islamic marriage (2nd one) took place in a country that recognises them.

Should not be an issue about her being on a student visa.

[Casa]

Alhamdullah! It all looks much straightforward than you (or we) first thought.
Check whether your wife meets the A1 English test from an approved test provider (unless she has a degree or is exempt).

[zeddie]

Indeed, Alhamdulillah! I dont think she will need the english requirements as she is a US citizen and is studying for her degree here at present but ill check

We decided to go down getting our marriage registered down here route anyways because by the time we translate the marriage certificate from Bangladesh, DHL it etc it would cos about £100 anyways. Might as well do it here to make things simple for the HO

We have to first "give notice" and will do this early next month. Thanks all for your help and ill keep you guys updated.