Best way to proceed marriage with African

jp70 · Post by **jp70** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:22 pm

I just came from Africa where I met my girlfriend. Looks nice and promising. What would be the best way to proceed from here? Situtiation: low income, like Â£450/month. She works full time and gets like Â£250 which is ok there as rent is less than Â£100. She has like Â£1500 savings. I was thinking 2 options:

1) To rent a single studio/bedsits here in the UK: The cheapest one where 2 people can live. I found some Â£250 ones, but not sure if 2 are allowed to live there... Then apply for fiancee visa and get quite soon married here. Then she could start working and go from there. If we get married in 3 months, can she apply jobs immediately after that? Or have to wait 6 months in any case?

2) I would move to Africa and get married in like 3 months. Then try to get her a visa to the UK. Would this be easy? Can I apply visa from Africa in this case or I have to first move back to the UK and do it from there? I dont mind living in Africa up to year.
I just noticed that the income is definitely an issue here. So maybe this second option only possible atm. So, is it possible to get a visa for her after married there and build up funds there to be able to live in the UK (assuming I can build up my money via my internet business which I think is possible as living costs so low there)?

Which would be easier (to be succesfull)?

Loz27 · Post by **Loz27** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:34 pm

hey JP.

To be honest, my fiance was in India and i went to visit him.

We applied for finance visa there. we had no docs about living to gether but what we did have was evidence that had beeen in a relationship for 3 years. (inc calling cards, letters, photos, cards, tickets, hols booking) etc.

the finance visa is much easier and more likely to be successful if you are genuine!!

She can come over (pref to live with you).. she can work as much as she wants but you have to be married within 6 months of visa issue date.

After that u have to prove that u are married, and if you are living together and joint accounts would help too..

hope this helps ..

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:08 pm

She cannot work on a fiancÃ© visa. She can only work once you have married and she has successfully applied for leave to remain as your spouse.

Read the Guidance on settlement visa applications first. Then consider the Maintenance and accommodation requirements.

Post by **Casa** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:28 pm

We' discussed the financial side of your application before you left for Africa to meet your fiancee for the first time. Nothing has changed since then. Â£450 a month is well below the minimum level. The fiance visa and then the Further Leave visas will cost you over Â£1,000 which will swallow up the savings your fiancee has...assuming you don't have savings yourself.
What about the cost of the separate living accommodation you said would be necessary before the wedding takes place?

jp70 · Post by **jp70** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:42 pm

Loz27 wrote:hey JP.

To be honest, my fiance was in India and i went to visit him.

We applied for finance visa there. we had no docs about living to gether but what we did have was evidence that had beeen in a relationship for 3 years. (inc calling cards, letters, photos, cards, tickets, hols booking) etc.

the finance visa is much easier and more likely to be successful if you are genuine!!

She can come over (pref to live with you).. she can work as much as she wants but you have to be married within 6 months of visa issue date.

After that u have to prove that u are married, and if you are living together and joint accounts would help too..

hope this helps ..

"We applied for finance visa there"

So you lived in India with your fiancee and you applied from there to get visa to the UK? HOw did you arrange the house in the UK? Did you first rent it or you did not have any house before the Visa? YOu rented the house from the UK *after* you got the visa?

Loz27 · Post by **Loz27** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:29 am

She cannot work on a fiancÃ© visa. She can only work once you have married and she has successfully applied for leave to remain as your spouse.

Read the Guidance on settlement visa applications first. Then consider the Maintenance and accommodation requirements.

This is right, she can not work on a fiance visa.. i got confused sorry.

My husband was on a Student visa. I was engaged to him at this time. He went back to India as a dear family member passed away. While he was there i flew out and visited him.

We provided all the documentation to show we have been in a genuine relationship for 3 years also we showed that i could provide and support him on my salary.

He came to live with my Family. (we had a joint bank account opend) 2 Months after reaching UK we was married and couple weeks after that we applied for his resideancy card. Once he started work we moved out into our own place.

hope this helps?

jp70 · Post by **jp70** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:51 pm

It seems to me at the moment that my best option might be moving temporary to Africa and marry there. Also living costs/rent is much less there so we should be ok as I can continue my business online (the only thing I dont like there is slow internet, bad roads/trafic, risk of mosqitoes... but there are solutions for them).

My only question is still, that after married there, what are the steps to come back to the UK (where I want to be eventually)? Lets say we get marrried there after 3months. Do I need to move myself first back to the UK and then we apply visa for her, or I can apply the visa as I live in Africa (which I would prefer not to be separated)? I am not Bristish citizen, but am from European Union. Does this give any troubles? Also is there some time limit I must come back to the UK to be considered to be/remain "permanent UK resident" which I am at the moment as I have lived here for 8 years.

pennylessinindia · Post by **pennylessinindia** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:05 pm

after 86 posts you finally say you are an EEA national . As I am sure you know the rules are different .
Africa is a continent not a country why do you never say the country ?

jp70 · Post by **jp70** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:09 pm

pennylessinindia wrote:after 86 posts you finally say you are an EEA national . As I am sure you know the rules are different .

I just noticed that. They say its easier for EEA persons. Anyway, the point is that I can legally live in the UK.

"Africa is a continent not a country why do you never say the country ?"

but does it make any difference? i dont think so..

You still did not answer my question...

86ti · Post by **86ti** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:23 pm

jp70 wrote:I just noticed that. They say its easier for EEA persons. Anyway, the point is that I can legally live in the UK.

The point is that the EEA regulations are completely different from the UK immigration rules. This is why we have a separate sub-forum here. And if you are not a permanent resident then most of the advice that has been given to you above is useless (except for the fiancee visa, I think).

jp70 · Post by **jp70** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:47 pm

86ti wrote:
jp70 wrote:I just noticed that. They say its easier for EEA persons. Anyway, the point is that I can legally live in the UK.
The point is that the EEA regulations are completely different from the UK immigration rules. This is why we have a separate sub-forum here. And if you are not a permanent resident then most of the advice that has been given to you above is useless (except for the fiancee visa, I think).

I am permanent resident as I have lived more than 8 years.

86ti · Post by **86ti** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:17 pm

That alone is not enough. You must have been living here in accordance with the EEA regulations for a continuous period of five years, that is in what capacity have you been exercising your treaty rights (working, self-employed, student, self-sufficient)? It may also be important if you are from one of the A8 countries.

As advised earlier you apparently cannot make use of the UK route but permanent residence would help on the EEA route.

Post by **Casa** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:37 pm

I think we should move this to the EU section don't you everybody?
We've all wasted our time giving information which isn't relevant to EU regs.

Post by **Casa** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:58 pm

Having now moved this thread to the correct section of the forum after more than 5 pages!!...you may need to bear in mind that the EU route may not be as easy as you believe. Firstly, you will have to pay the full fees as a fiance is not considered a family member or an extended family member.
Also as you've already been advised, you will need to submit documented evidence that you've been 'exercising your Treaty Rights' in the UK for at least the last 5 years that you've been resident here. Strange you haven't bothered to apply for BC! In fact you may not be legally resident in the UK.
This is EUN.12 of the EU regulations:
An application as the fiancÃ© / proposed civil partner of an EEA national can only be considered if the specified fee has been paid. This is because you will need to assess the application under the Immigration Rules and not the EEA Regulations. An applicant who does not qualify for an EEA family permit can only be considered against the Immigration rules once the specified fee is paid. Regulation 31 of the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2009 clearly says that if an application to be assessed under the Immigration rules is not accompanied by the specified fee, the application is not validly made

Post by **Greenie** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:02 pm

Casa wrote:I think we should move this to the EU section don't you everybody?
We've all wasted our time giving information which isn't relevant to EU regs.

clearly the guy is a timewaster as we have established on all of his other threads. i'm not sure we should bother giving him advice at all to be honest.

86ti · Post by **86ti** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:02 pm

I would actually suspect that the rules for the fiance visa are tougher than for an EEA FP. Are there no income based tests for the fiance visa?

86ti · Post by **86ti** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:03 pm

Greenie wrote:
Casa wrote:I think we should move this to the EU section don't you everybody?
We've all wasted our time giving information which isn't relevant to EU regs.
clearly the guy is a timewaster as we have established on all of his other threads. i'm not sure we should bother giving him advice at all to be honest.

Ok, thanks for the hint.

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Best way to proceed marriage with African

Best way to proceed marriage with African