Wanting to get married?

[wandl]

Hi all, my first post on this board.

Im hoping this is a straight-forward question

My girlfriend and I want to get married, thats the easy part.
I am a UK citizen living in the Uk, she is a Chinese citizen and has been in the UK for 4 and a half years on a student visa (Masters and ACCA), she finishes her studies in June this year and her student visa runs out on 31st Dec 2006.

I already know she has to apply for a CoA (Certificate of Approval) before her visa runs out. What is the likelyhood of her getting that CoA, is it usually granted. I also know we then have to get married within a certain time limit. But then I think we have to get a spouse visa after the marraige, what is the likelyhood of getting that done before her student visa runs out in Dec 06?

I realise that there may be things that I have overlooked, any help would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks

[Mars007]

Why don't you get married and apply for settlement visa?

[John]

I already know she has to apply for a CoA (Certificate of Approval) before her visa runs out. What is the likelyhood of her getting that CoA, is it usually granted.

Yes it is usually granted .... as long as the applicant is here in the UK on a visa that, when issued, was for more than six months and at least three months is left on that visa now. From the facts as posted your fiancée should not encounter a problem. The CoA should be applied for forthwith ... no logical reason to delay applying for that.

After the CoA is issued the two of you will need to go to a designated Register Office and give the needed Notice of Intention to Marry. The notice will then be posted publicly on the Board, following which the needed licence will be issued. That licence is valid for 12 months but clearly your marriage needs to happen before the expiry of the current visa.

Because the licence is valid for 12 months, once you have the CoA there is no logical reason to delay going along to the Register Office, even if the planned marriage date is still a few months away.

After the marriage has happened application can be made in the UK for a two-year spouse visa.

So the important thing is ... get this process started soon! A delay will stop it happening. When do you plan to marry? Have you a date in mind?

[wandl]

Thanks for your assistance. We did plan to get married this year, November, then we wanted to wait until next spring. Although it seems now that it would be advisable to get married this year, before her visa runs out. Its all seeming a bit desperate/frantic now!

Im guessing we wound need to apply for the spouse visa after we're married with her still having 3 months left on her visa, which means we'd have to apply before the end of September?

We should have found out about all of this 2 years ago when we first started dating, although neither of us new at that time that we'd actually want to marry each other. In fact if I remember correctly at the beginning she thought I was 'coarse, over-confident and had a terrible singing voice' some things never change, haha

[John]

No, not all of that is right. Let's just recap :-

• Apply for CoA ... do that soon ... and absolutely before less than three months left on her current visa ... but no logic in delaying ... do it soon ... this month!
• Give Notice of Intention to Marry ... this cannot be given until the CoA has arrived .... but once it has arrived ... give the notice without delay .... no logic in delaying .. apply shortly after CoA arrives
• Just over two weeks later the needed licence will be issued. That is valid for 12 months, but in practice you have to get married in 2006.
• Get married ... if the current visa expires 31.12.06 then I would suggest that 27.12.06 is the final possible date ... you mention November ... that sounds fine
• After the marriage has happened, apply for the spouse visa ... before the expiry of the current visa! It is not necessary to apply for that 3 months before the end of the current visa. (It is the CoA that needs to be applied for when more than 3 months left on current visa .... but you are applying for CoA in March, aren't you!)

Does that help?

[wandl]

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate your help.

Yes that does help clarify things a lot.

Yes I am applying for the CoA, Ive downloaded the form already! The form looks very straight-forward, shouldn't be any problems filling it in.

I guess Im getting married this year after all, that'll please both of our parents. Guess my future wife will be moving into our house sooner than expected, just need to explain to her why I NEED 14 sports channels on my satelite dish, haha

Thanks again for your very clear help