Marriage and Immigration

[majo1978]

Hello everyone on board... I hope you can help to answer some some questions I have:

Situation:
I'm Malaysian and have been together with my British bf since Sept. 2005. We got to know each other from internet in July 2005. I'm currently still residing in Malaysia and he in UK.

No. of Times Met & Duration Spent:
Sept. 2005 - 1 month (I visited UK)
April 2006 - 1 month (I visited UK)
Aug 2006 - 4 months (he visited Malaysia)
Feb 2007 - 1.5 month (he visited Malaysia)
Planning to visit UK again this June

Our Backgrounds:
He's self-employed with annual income of about GBP24000.
I'm in a mid-managerial position with a German Multinational Company in Malaysia with annual income of MYR68000

We're now planning to get married. So the questions are:
1. Is a marriage certificate issued by Malaysia recognised by the British government? We plan to get married in Malaysia, then attach the cert to VAF2 Form to apply for visa as a spouse entering UK (so that I can work too). Is this practical?
2. Or must we go through the fiancee visa first before we can apply for extension for me to stay in UK as a spouse after getting married in UK?
3. Questions about savings in the VAF2 Form - what if neither of us have much savings? Will that be used against us?

Please do kindly advise how we should go about doing this as we'd very much like to be together for good finally...

Thank you!

[Docterror]

A marriage certificate issued in Malaysia and recognised by the Malaysian authorities is also recognised by the British authorities. So you will be able to appy for the spouse visa after you get married in Malaysia. Having not much in the form of savings will not be a problem as long as you can show that there is a steady source of income for you not to become a burden on the public funds.

[majo1978]

Dear Jabi,

Thanks for your info!

Another question is if we're planning to get married in Malaysia in August and then submit the spouse visa application in October, will that be an issue? Will the UK immigration reject the application on the basis that the period between marriage and application is too short?

[ilm]

Never heard of a spouse visa being rejected for the period between marriage and application. We didn't apply for 5 months after, as part of the covering letter we explained our reason for this. It never came up in the interview.

2 months doesn't sound very long to me anyway and should be very easy to justify.

[Docterror]

A look around the board will show that a lot of applications made right after the marriage will not be rejected just because of the short time between the marriage and the spouse visa application. Also attach photographs as proof of a marriage ceremony and any proof that you had of contact with each other prior to the marriage to strengthen the application.

[ilm]

I read the question wrong. I assumed you were concerned the gap was too much!

[Docterror]

No bigie ilm, I do that all the time. But just to mention that while a short period between the marriage/first-meeting and the time of application is not usually something to fret about, if a marriage of convenience is suspected it can become a factor as it is one of the strictly applied criteria to exclude such cases.

[majo1978]

Hello all,
Thanks for all your responses. You have been very helpful indeed.
I'm truly hoping that the application will be smooth-sailing with quick approval!

[majo1978]

Yes Jabi, you're right. That was my concern, too.

But I reckon it very much depends on luck. If they choose to suspect, then it can be quite challenging!

[ilm]

But I reckon it very much depends on luck.

That is why the advice is always to provide as much evidence as you can, even for apparently straight forward cases.

With the money it cost these days and the delays that can occur if an application fails you can do alot to ensure 'luck' is on your side.

[DavidJ]

2. Or must we go through the fiancee visa first before we can apply for extension for me to stay in UK as a spouse after getting married in UK?

If you try on the Fiancee visa, they will almost certainly have the refusal "We are not satisfied you intend to marry".

I am married to my wife. However, I did not have my decree nisi and had to reapply for it in the UK. In ignorance, we assumed that having a registered religious marriage, with documentation, and a copy of the photos and DVD of the ceremony, they would accept - with five months living together, that she intended then to marry me in the UK as well.

We were wrong. They used the "We are not satisfied you intend to marry" excuse. A big insult to my wife and her religion.

Take nothing for granted. Be prepared to be strong in the interview.

Good luck.

[majo1978]

Ilm,
Yes you are right. I should really gather all evidence I could to prove our relationship. With the cost and time involved, I really cannot afford to 'lose this battle'.

Ilm, Jabi & David,
With pointers from all of you here, I hope I will report back on the success of this application. Truly appreciate the info.

Lastly, before I proceed to apply - any other info I should know of?

Thank you!

[DavidJ]

Ilm,

Lastly, before I proceed to apply - any other info I should know of?

Thank you!

Read this:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front ... 1606064820

It is the instructions the ECO's should be referring to for all applications.

Make sure you read all of the relevant sections.
I would suggest printing each section that is relevant, and referring to it by section/paragraph number in the application to show that your evidence shows you comply.

We didn't do this, and it may be seen as adversarial. However, at least reading will let you know what they are *meant* to consider.

Unfortunately, reading this just made me realise how poor the ECO was at his job.

Good luck.

DavidJ.