Fiancée visa: unable to marry in 6 months due to wedding ban

[nick1961]

My fiancee's visa expires on the 18th of April. There is an obligation to get married and apply for the FLR (M) visa prior to this date. We were due to get married on the 26th March, however, the ban on weddings on the 23rd March prevented this.

The Home Office has said visas for all those in the UK unable to return to their home country will be extended until the 31st May if there are no flights. My fiancee is from the Philippines and, since some flights remain in operation, I am not sure if she is covered by this extension. Domestic flights within the Philippines have been suspended. Regardless, it will still not be possible to get married until July 15th being the provisional date the local registry office has given us subject to weddings being allowed then.

My fiancee has written several times to the Home Office CIH email since 24th March without reply (despite their 5-day indication/estimate for a reply) and my local MP wrote Home Office Immigration & Future Borders Minister on the 26th March and again without reply yet. My fiancee also completed the gov.uk online form requesting an extension.

I did speak to the CIH helpline and the advisor indicated that all visas would be extended to the 31st May but that information isn't validated in any Govt advice online that I have come across. The Gov.uk advice only suggests that this extension applies to those who cannot fly back.

I hope we have at least covered ourselves by the CIH emails and online form submission so she would not be regarded as an over-stayer after April 18th.

Those impacted by the loss of earnings have a campaign going to get the Home Secretary to adjust the immigration rules, however, I haven't seen any coverage for those in our situation impacted by the wedding ban and there must be many in a similar position.

Can anyone shed any light on how the Home Office intends to deal with situations like this? Hopefully, they will extend until 31st May and then allow a further extension until the time that the wedding ban is lifted.

[AmazonianX]

The far reaching steps and measures taken are commendable. Keep the records of stated communication and that hopefully be advantageous to you in due time.
This forum is people-helping-people. It's not an official government media so no once here can tell you the mind of HO (I stand to be corrected). People search for info, share experience etc but not stand and give official pronouncements.

[nick1961]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do understand the forum is not an 'official govt media' . Just to clarify the purpose of my post, I am not asking for anyone to give the equivalent of a Home Office response as you suggest. That would be very naive.

Those with better knowledge of the Home Office than me, however, may give their opinion on how the Dept. may respond to this issue. One immigration expert I have spoken to suggests waiting and he anticipates the Home Office will extend.

I also wanted to share my response from the telephone response I received from CIH in case it assists and eases concerns for others in the same boat:-

The advisor stated all those in my fiancee's situation will have their visas extended to the 31st May and there was a backlog in replying and the replies were in being done in order of expiry date. He was emphatic an extension would be given to my fiancee. The odd thing is though that this advice is not reflected in the Govt.UK web page which implies extensions are only provided for those unable to travel home due to flight restrictions. That would be extremely unfair so I am hoping the advisor was correct and the Home Office is being slow in reflecting that on their Govt web page.

Also, who knows, I may have missed something from the Home Office in the public domain that clarifies the issue. Lastly, someone might be in a similar position and have managed to get written clarification from a CIH email that I have been unable to achieve.

There has been a lot of representation to the Home Office and a few accompanying media articles (the Independent and one or two immigration advisor sites for example) from those seeking FLR who, due to the coronavirus pandemic, have had their earnings hit and may struggle to qualify. Obviously I hope they are successful.

In contrast, however, I have yet to see any coverage by immigration advisory sites or the broader media of those in my fiancee's visa position. It seems to have been completely overlooked in the media.

It would be good to hear from anyone in a similar position and perhaps get the issue aired in the media. It might also be useful to get some formal representation as a group to the Home Office - in the same way the FLR income issue group has done - in order to get clarity for those trapped by the wedding ban and unable to fulfill the marriage criterion in this fiancee visa category.

[andyse1]

Hi there

You may have seen this in the Guardian yesterday: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... aincontent

So there are definitely others in the same boat - myself included. My parter is on a fiance visa and it looks unlikely we will be able to get married in June as planned. I am also not sure we will be able to find a date when/if registry offices re open.

There is nothing on the gov.uk website yet. I also spoke to someone on the "covid immigration hotline" but they said that is really for people who need to leave the country not for settlement queries. When I called the UK immigration line they just said they cannot tell me anything more than is on the gov.uk website, so we will just have to wait and see I think.

I am not sure if it is possible to apply to extend a fiance visa in normal times - I had a feeling it was but I dont know how to go about that and finding help on the gov.uk website isnt the easiest.

[nick1961]

Hi Andy,

Yes, there must be quite a few couples in the same situation. I can't get any clarity from the Home Office or my MP. My MP wrote to Kevin Foster, Minister For Future Borders & Immigration on March 25th, but I haven't had any update despite trying. Everyone in this situation is in limbo.

There is an immigration rule 39E that allows an online application requesting leave extension due to exceptional circumstances. I understand that if an application is made before a visa expiry date then there can be no adverse repercussions (e.g 10 year rule) whilst the request is considered.

I can't find out if that is just a general extension online application for anyone with an expiring visa or what the cost is. Perhaps this is the route that allows a specific extension for a fiance visa with the £1,000 plus fee. Without completing the form it is impossible to say.

The fair approach would be a govt extension beyond 31st May but the email by the Coronavirus Immigration Helpline sent out says that anyone with leave expiring before may 31st should make plans to return to their country. Any attempt at getting answers to specific immigration queries doesn't get anywhere, unfortunately.

Let's hope we can get an extension and perhaps some more media publicity would help.

[ercalil]

Hi!

Any updates on this? Similar situation here, wedding (due 11th April) was cancelled and my fiance's marriage visa is due to expire end of July. CIH email helpline didn't offer much advise, just told us to wait and keep an eye for updates from the government. They said visas expiring after 31st of May are not subject to the "automatic" extension (yet). Same from the register office side, just wait and see as to when weddings can be conducted again...

[nick1961]

Unfortunately, no updates and the Home Office Minister has ignored my MP's two letters requesting an answer on whether they will extend.

The only option seems to be either to use the exceptional circumstances rule and try and extend with a cost of over £1500 and further delays or, in my case, my fiancee will have to return to her country and we would get married then when finances allow.

The Govt banned weddings so they should not penalise people who are unable to fulfill the marriage within six months crieria of the visa due to Govt regulations. There is already the financial 'penalty' of partners being delayed from being able to work as they are stuck on the fiancee visa.

It seems very unjust and akin to a Govt puncturing peoples tyres in MOT tests and then asking them to pay again for a re-test. Not the actions of a just and democratic system.

I spoke to someone who used to work at the Home Office who seems to think that they will extend nearer the May 31st deadline but that date is approaching fast.

Overstaying means at best a protracted and complicated battle probably resulting in, at best, a ten-year route to indefinite leave to remain or, at worst, deportation and an immigration ban.

There has been very little press publicity and it would be nice to see a minister asked directly and forced to give clarity. The CIH (helpline) avoids answering simple and specific questions.

Perhaps the only way is for those in this situation to join together to try and drum up interest and put pressure on the Govt to do the reasonable thing and extend.

[seagul]

It seems very unjust and akin to a Govt puncturing peoples tyres in MOT tests and then asking them to pay again for a re-test. Not the actions of a just and democratic system

MOT tests have been exempted for all car drivers for 6 months

[ercalil]

Hi Nick, I think it's a good idea to try and gather people in a similar situation, if not to push something to make it a little more public at least to share info on new findings regarding recommendations on what to do and so on. I'll share my phone number with you on a private message in case we might want to create a Whatsapp group or something similar? I'll post a message in a couple of Facebook groups that deal with visas/immigration issues and try to find other people.

EDIT: Ok, I can't seem to be able to send private messages for some reason, I guess maybe I'm not an old enough user or maybe not enough posts

[vinny]

EDIT: Ok, I can't seem to be able to send private messages for some reason, I guess maybe I'm not an old enough user or maybe not enough posts

Not enough posts.

[nick1961]

Hi ercalil, good ideas and it's a pity private messages aren't allowed. 31st May is coming up soon and, currently, the approach of the Minister for Immigration is to avoid answering any questions on the issue including ones from an MP of the same party. My MP as written twice now and can't get a reply which is quite shameful.

[nick1961]

The deadline approaches and still no meaningful statement is forthcoming from the Home Office on provision for those whose visas expire on 31st May.

The independent covered the issue a couple of days ago:-

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 06736.html

The Home Office did give this statement (presumably in response to the Independent article) :-

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have extended visas to 31 May 2020 for all foreign nationals who are lawfully in the UK and unable to return home and expanded in-country switching provisions.

“This is being kept under regular review, but no one will be penalised for circumstances outside of their control.”

Being unable to get married and apply for an FLR (m) visa due to the marriage ban are circumstances outside our control. Accordingly, my fiancee will overstay unless the Home Office do the decent thing and extend. I have told my MP to advise the Home Office that I intend to rely on this statement "no one will be penalised for circumstances outside of their control" and, if the statement doesn't apply to our circumstances, he should inform us (with reasons) in a timely way, that is well before 31st May.

[ercalil]

“This is being kept under regular review, but no one will be penalised for circumstances outside of their control.”

Right, I did see the article and that sentence also caught my eye and gave me some sort of hope, let's see if there's any kind of news shortly but it is true that 31st May is approaching very quickly.

Another article related (dated yesterday) here: https://www.newtownabbeytoday.co.uk/new ... ed-2851401

For info, there's been a bit of discussion in this topic about how to go about extending a fiancée visa (at least under normal circumstances, however still hoping for some extraordinary measures to take place!), not sure if you're already aware.

immigration-for-family-members/fiancee- ... l#p1899071