British national second wife?

[OmarAshraf]

Hi

I am from Saudi Arabia. I am married to my wife for five years in Saudi Arabia. Recently I have got into very good relationship with a British national Saudi Arabian lady and we are planning to get married.
I would like to know what if that lady comes to Saudi Arabia and we get married here, will she be able to apply for family visa for me from the UK?
I would also like to know in future, would that be possible to have both wives in the UK under any circumstances?

I would like to inform you that my wife fully supports this marriage.

Thank you and waiting for your guidance

Best Regards

[cosak]

polygamy is not permitted in the UK, it's in fact an offence and can lead to prison sentence if found.

[secret.simon]

There are two separate questions here.

Can a British citizen marrying you in Saudi Arabia sponsor you as a spouse in the UK?
Can you in turn sponsor your first wife to the UK?

My understanding is that neither situation is possible.

For a foreign polygamous marriage to be recognised in English law, neither party must be domiciled in England and Wales. As the British citizen would most likely be domiciled in England or Wales, her participation in a polygamous marriage would not be recognised in UK immigration law. Therefore, she can not sponsor you to come and live with her in the UK.

Assuming that she is not domiciled in England and Wales, the marriage will be recognised, but only one spouse (typically the first wife to enter the UK, not the first one to marry) of such marriage is allowed into the UK. As your British wife will be the first spouse to enter the UK, your other wife will not be allowed to come to the UK.

Casa is our resident expert on matters touching on such matter. I would wait to hear from Casa before progressing this query further.

Further reading
Marriage; specifically see Sections 2 & 8
Polygamy
IMMIGRATION DIRECTORATES' INSTRUCTIONS: POLYGAMOUS AND POTENTIALLY POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGES
Domicile

[seagul]

Unfortunately UK doesn't allow more than one wives in contrary to Arab and Asian countries where it is acceptable. Your second wedding will be considered invalid in the eyes of HO which usually one of the biggest requirement to positively fulfill along with other requirements (financial, maintenance, subsisting relationship, accomodation etc).

[Casa]

I agree with the advice given. It's immaterial whether the first wife agrees to you marrying another woman.

Any marriage that takes place while you are still married will not be considered as valid for UK immigration purposes.

[OmarAshraf]

Thank you so much for the replies.
Really appreciated.