Tier 1 Dependant Visa from India for newlywed

[kunal]

Hello All,
I am a Tier 1 (General) migrant and I have been in the UK for more than 4 years. I will soon be getting married in India. My fiancée would like to apply for her Tier 1 (General) Dependant entry clearance shortly after our wedding.

We will have all the necessary supporting documentation, including the marriage certificate issued following the religious wedding ceremony, as early as a day after the wedding.

Here's the question: I've seen the guidance, I've searched posts here and the message is quite consistent - VFS will not enrol biometrics as long as there is mehendi on the fingertips. I don't suppose there are any exceptions (I can't imagine why there would be). There is no way biometrics can be enrolled before the rest of the application and supporting documentation is submitted, is there?

Given the above, do you have any advice? Short of going for a civil wedding (which has its own complications including a 30 day residence requirement) before the religious wedding, is there anything at all you can suggest that will enable her to obtain her visa without having to wait for the mehendi to fade?

Thank you.

--
Kunal

[silent_warrior]

Hello All,
I am a Tier 1 (General) migrant and I have been in the UK for more than 4 years. I will soon be getting married in India. My fiancée would like to apply for her Tier 1 (General) Dependant entry clearance shortly after our wedding.

We will have all the necessary supporting documentation, including the marriage certificate issued following the religious wedding ceremony, as early as a day after the wedding.

Here's the question: I've seen the guidance, I've searched posts here and the message is quite consistent - VFS will not enrol biometrics as long as there is mehendi on the fingertips. I don't suppose there are any exceptions (I can't imagine why there would be). There is no way biometrics can be enrolled before the rest of the application and supporting documentation is submitted, is there?

Given the above, do you have any advice? Short of going for a civil wedding (which has its own complications including a 30 day residence requirement) before the religious wedding, is there anything at all you can suggest that will enable her to obtain her visa without having to wait for the mehendi to fade?

Thank you.

--
Kunal

Hello Kunal
Assuming by marriage certificate you mean the marriage registration certificate issued by the local municipal body right?

[Manka10]

this is what people in your situation normally do, have the marriage registered, get a certificate & apply for EC before the religious ceremony

[kunal]

silent_warrior, thank you, that is what I mean.

Manka10, thank you. Presumably that will be the registration of a marriage pursuant to the Indian Special Marriage Act. The difficulty with this of course is that there is a need to have resided in India for at least 30 days before the date of the notice of intention to marry, and the date of the civil ceremony can be no earlier than 30 days after the date of the notice. Further, we won't have wedding photos (well, not the ones with a number of guests around), the wedding invitation cards will have the date of the religious wedding on them all of which will probably send inconsistent messages to the entry clearance officer, also because this will be an arranged marriage.

Nothing is ever easy, clearly.