Non Brit/European-Getting married in UK - Visa REQ?

[RedKite2010]

Hi.

Just wandered if my G/F comes to visit me without a visa (by travelling on her passport) would we be able to get married or would she have to go back to her home country (Honduras) and apply for a marriage visa?

We are going to take the Surinder Singh route to be together, and once married move to Ireland, Germany or France for a few months.

I am currently in Honduras but it probably wont be possible to get married here before I leave in 3 weeks.
We will have to get married in the UK, but the marriage visa application seems complicated and an additional expense.
Is it really necessary?

Thanks for your time
K.

[MPH80]

You can get married on the visitor visa - but she would then have to return back to Honduras to apply for the spouse visa.

I'm stunned you'd regard the singh route as less of a hassle than simply applying for the british route. Upping your life and looking for work in another country is a significant upheaval ... finding places to live etc ... just to avoid £800 in visa fees. Wow.

[RedKite2010]

Thanks MPH80.

Should have mentioned that I won't have a job when I get back to UK + I don't have a lot of savings.

Why does she need to apply for a spouse visa if once married we will go to another EEC Country to live?

I just copied this from the UKBA web site, which states you can't get married if you come as a visitor.

Confused...! Could you please advise.

***********************
Tourism and visiting friends:

If you want to visit the UK as a tourist or to stay with friends in the UK, you should apply to come here as a general visitor (or as a child visitor if you are under 18 ).

If you are a Chinese national and you will be coming to the UK as part of a group for a maximum of 30 days, you can apply for a visa as an ADS visitor.

There are restrictions on what you can do in the UK in these visitor categories. For example, you cannot get married.
***********************

[RedKite2010]

* double post

[MPH80]

If you DO intend to go to the EU - then she doesn't need to return to apply for the spouse visa. My comment about that was in response to your original post where you implied about the marriage visa.

Yes - there are restrictions on the 'standard' tourist visa - and if she turned up at the border and said 'I'm here to get married' - she'd get turned around. But if she's here on a tourist visa, there's nothing stopping her once she's here 'changing her mind' and getting married, aside from, perhaps, timeframe.

You need to carefully look at the rules of the Singh route - it does require that you actually work in the country you intend to move to. Keep in mind that a lot of jobs are going to need you to be a native speaker in France or Germany - you wouldn't be able to be a waiter or a builder for example without it and the unemployment rate in Ireland is higher than here.

Meanwhile, you wouldn't have any savings to live on and would have to survive.

I'm not trying to talk you out or in of any one route. After all - without an income you can't qualify in the UK either. I just want to make sure you've thought it through.

M.

[RedKite2010]

Thanks MPH80.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply, especially as there are so many people asking for help and looking for answers on these forums.

Just wanted to say that I am British National.
(parents/grandparents born here.)
Girlfriend is Honduran, we have been a couple for over 12 months.
(which we can prove) genuine relationship etc...
We want to get married and use the Singh route to be together.
(because I don't meet the financial requirements)

I/We have friends, family & contacts in France, Germany, Ireland & Canary Islands. Also in Jersey but I don't think Jersey is classed as being outside the UK ??
I speak a little bit of German and don't care what jobs I have to do in order to make it work.
I have a drivers licence and a car so that could help.

As for the Surinder Singh Route I believe I need to:
----------------------------------------------------------

*To be working & living in an EEC Country outside the UK for 3-6 months.

*Obtain a work/residence permit for that country.

*Have a joint back account with my spouse with money going in from work & paying out to things like, Rent, Electric, Water, etc....

*Once moving back to UK via a port (I have car), we need to produce evidence of our living together and working + marriage certificate to obtain a EEA2 visa at the port....
(I don't know what an EEA2 is just that you get one at the port when you come back to UK so maybe you could explain what an EEA2 is and what it entitles you to do?)

*I don't know what the rest of the steps are once back in the UK, but she wants to be able to work and eventually apply for a British Passport we will probably end up starting a family at some point.
(she is a hard worker, and currently working here in Honduras and will be giving up her job + a pay rise in January 2014 to be with me)

Totally genuine situation and like many we are suffering because the UK immigration law is working against its own people.

I realise this isn't the Forum to discuss the Singh route, but if I am missing something or wrong about the necessary steps required then please inform.

I have been doing endless reading and looking at different options so that we could be together and its driving me crazy.
I am totally new to all this and there is so much jargon I don't understand and really just need it in plain simple English.

----------------------------------------------------------

Okay back on subject............................

So my G/F can come to UK on her passport without applying for any type of visa at all, and if I surprise her with a marriage proposal once she is here, and she accepts then we can legally get married in the UK and don't have to worry about deportation because she didn't apply for a marriage visa. Correct?

Another question on the subject of Non EU Citizen coming to UK-

Will UKBA somehow put a block on her eligibility for marriage if she tells them she is travelling to the UK to visit her boyfriend?
Or should she also mention that she is here to improve her English do some sight seeing, visit other friends in the UK and possibly travel to Spain & France to visit family and friends?

Does she need to provide an address of where she will be staying?
Will she need to provide evidence that she will be staying there?
(a letter from the home owner for example)
Will she need to produce a copy of her bank statement to show her funds?

Thanks again.
k.

[MPH80]

I'll be honest when I say that the ins and outs of applying under the EU law are beyond me having not ever followed that route.

So for me to provide any more opinions would be poor form on my part.

Please keep this in mind when reading these forums - all anyone can offer here is opinions and if you are basing your future life on those opinions - you should make sure you're 100% comfortable with the rules and regs about what you're doing. If you're not - you should find a competent immigration advisor. Yes - it's expensive - but this is your future wife we're talking about. You don't want to go through years of pain trying to get her here.

However - I can help with the latter portions of your questions:

Will UKBA somehow put a block on her eligibility for marriage if she tells them she is travelling to the UK to visit her boyfriend?

In itself - no - but the problem is that if she gives up her job and income AND has a boyfriend in the Uk - then this is a concern.

What UKBA ... ahem ... sorry - the Home Office (can't keep up with all these rebrands) are looking for is whether a tourist will return home. The evidence for this is strong ties to their home land. E.g. a job, financial responsibilities, property, family etc. The less someone has tying them to their homeland ... the more of a risk they are. You've said she's planning to give up her job - and presumably her home - so what evidence is there she'll leave in 6 months?

Or should she also mention that she is here to improve her English do some sight seeing, visit other friends in the UK and possibly travel to Spain & France to visit family and friends?

She can say that - but if she then magically gets married (to a boyfriend she failed to mention) and you have to, for whatever reason, follow the UK route - if her comments get recorded, you could end up coming under a lot of scrutiny.

Rule number one when dealing with any immigration authority - always always always tell the truth - even if it means having to take a different immigration path than the one you'd like to.

Does she need to provide an address of where she will be staying?
Will she need to provide evidence that she will be staying there?
(a letter from the home owner for example)
Will she need to produce a copy of her bank statement to show her funds?

Yes, Yes and definitely yes.

The way I told my wife to think about it when we went through our fiancee/spouse/ILR/Citizenship process was this: If you assert something to an immigration official - you should provide evidence for it.

So - if she says 'I've got £500 to spend' - she needs to show the cash or the bank statement. If she says "I'm staying with a friend" - she should have a letter from the friend welcoming her - or have the friend meet her at the airport - or have the friend's phone number!

Simple really - but surprising how few people think like that.

M.