Should we apply for a COA?

[bluenoser]

I am currently in the UK on a Tier-1 PSW visa, which expires early 2012. I got engaged a few months ago and we have planned our wedding for next summer, August 2011. We have booked our date with the church, paid the deposit on our venue, and we are about to send out our save-the-dates to inform all of our friends (our families already know the date).

We got engaged before the announcement about the COA being abolished was released, so we assumed we would be applying for one. However, now with the announcement out, that the COA will be abolished in late 2010 or early 2011, we are undecided:

- Should we apply for the COA in a couple of months (after I return from a holiday for which I will need my passport) to get it over and done with, even if it is abolished before we give our notice at the register office? I mean it does not cost anything anymore, so aside from being without our passports for 60-90 days, there is really no hassle.
OR
- Should we wait to see if it is abolished and therefore we will not need to apply for it, in order to give our notice at the register? I am only concerned that there will be a delay in abolishing it and we may end up needing a COA for our wedding and we will have to apply much closer to the date, as you can never tell with the government.

I have a feeling the COA will be replaced with another scheme and I am slightly concerned that some new hoop will come up that we need to jump through before next August.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[ElenaW]

I would apply for it if I were you. That way you won't have the added stress of a possible new hoop to jump through soon before your wedding.