Marriage - while on WHV

[marlasinger]

Hello all,

I stumbled across this forum while looking for information to help me with my situation.

I am an Australian citizen, and my boyfriend is a British citizen. We met on the internet in November 2003. I came here on holidays in July 2004, and January 2005 (both for about a month at a time) to meet in person, so we could see if we get along. Well, we got along great, so I decided to apply for a WHV, so we could spend some time living together to see if things work out.

I came here on my WHV in September 2005; things have been great with us, so we are looking to get married and for me to live permanently in the UK (he has a 9 year old daughter, who lives with his ex, so he wants to stay in the UK).

From what I've read, I have to apply for a COA Marriage/Civil Partnership (downloaded the form already), and then if that is approved, we can get married, and then I apply for Leave to Remain. Is this correct so far? I guess I have to apply for the Leave to Remain, before my WHV runs out (end of August 07)?

I have a few concerns - firstly, my boyfriend has been out of work for approximately 2 years (due to personal problems), but is now looking for work, and having a pretty hard time finding some. Will this be a problem for my application? I have a fair bit of money saved (about £16K) - can I use this as evidence that I can support myself, or does my partner have to prove that he can support me? Also, currently this money is in my bank account in Australia - would I be better off transferring it to my account here, and using a UK bank statement as evidence of the savings?

My other concern relates to the documentation required to prove that we are a couple. (It's Section 6 on the FLR(M) form). Will this be required if I am applying for Leave To Remain as a spouse, or is that specifically for unmarried or same-sex relationships? I know what it says on the form, but I just want it confirmed, as we don't really have anything in both our names. Will this be a problem?

Any input would be appreciated.

marlasinger

[John]

You are right, apply for CoA, get that, give Notice of Intention to Marry at a designated Register Office, get married, apply for 2-year spouse visa using form FLR(M). But rather than applying for the spouse visa before the end of the WHV, I would say .... apply for the spouse visa soon after the marriage. There is not logical reason to wait. The sooner you get your spouse visa, the sooner you will get your ILR, and thus the sooner you can apply for Naturalisation as British.

Section 6 on the form FLR(M)? I am not sure I understand the problem? Which part of Section 6 concerns you?

[marlasinger]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. I was initially worried about Section 6C (all the "proof of relationship" stuff - but I think that doesn't concern me as it only relates to Unmarried and same-sex partners?

marlasinger

[John]

Exactly, Section 6C clearly will not apply to you. Accordingly I suspect you should have no problem gathering the supporting evidence that is actually required.

[ppron747]

Not sure whether this is relevant or not, but Jennifer23, in this topic seems to have had a problem because she went on her honeymoon to Australia after the wedding, before having applied for further leave to remain as the spouse of her husband. When she submitted the FLR(M), the Home Office wouldn't let her "switch" in-country because she was a spouse when she last entered, not a working holidaymaker, as her visa said...

The result is an unscheduled trip back to Australia to submit a "spouse" application from there...

Jobsworths rule, IMO, and I don't know what your plans are, but it might be worth bearing in mind that it would be a Good Thing to apply for your further leave as a spouse before you leave the country again, if you want to avoid the same experience.