Advice on fiancee visa - proof of intent to marry

[am2999]

Hi,
I and my fiancee currently are in the process of readying our application for a fiancee visa so she can join me here in the UK. I am a UK citizen. I have looked into the application and it says something about you have to have proof that you intend to marry within the 6 month visa period. To do this I guess you have to set a date to marry at the registrars office but I can't see how you can do this until the fiancee is here in the UK! I saw that you first have to give notice to get married but both parties need to be staying in the area of the registrars office for 1 week or something like that. I did read something about maybe showing wedding invites..places you'd booked for a reception, etc..but I don't want to do that until I am sure we get the visa and I know exactly when we can get married. It seems like a bit of a catch-22 situation to me...but I think...no..I am sure I am missing something simple..or have something wrong...help!! I would be grateful if anyone could put me straight on this...and I'd be interested in hearing from someone who's been through the whole process and knows the dos and don'ts...and what is needed and what isn't. I'd especially like to know about this in regard to the proof of funds to support the fiancee in the UK...what exactly is needed..and also about having accomodation too. Right now I am living with my dad but the place is too small for someone else..plus..I want some privacy when my fiancee arrives of course! Basically I think I will have to rent a place before we make the application just to show I have somewhere we can live. If anyone has any ideas about how I can get around that without wasting 3 months rent or more before she gets the visa and arrives then I'll be really grateful for any advice too. Cheers! Andy (am2999)

[Mangwisto]

Hey.

I'm sorry I can't help you with your query but I was hoping you could help me with something. I am in a similiar situation.
Have you been granted Certificate of Approval? If so how did you get it? It seems that my fiancee would need to have been granted more than 6 months leave to enter or remain. How would she get that? She's currently here on a visitors visa.
I hope you feel sympathetic to us as we are in a similiar situation. Any information you could give me would be hugely appreciated and if I discover any information regarding your query whilst I am trawling through the legal waffle of Home Offices immigration laws I will let you know.
Many thanks and good luck.

Mangwisto

[ppron747]

Mangwisto

Even if you can get one, I don't think a Certificate of Approval is really what you need. Yes, it allows your fiancée to marry you in this country, but that is all. It doesn't allow her to remain in the UK as your wife. There is a "no-switching" rule that has been in force for a couple of years, and visitors cannot switch categories without leaving the country, save in the most exceptional circumstances.

What she needs to do is to go home and apply from her home country for a fiancée visa. Alternatively, you could go with her, and you could marry in her home country, after which she would apply for a spouse visa. The requirements are outlined here, on the UKVisas website. But whichever way you decide to play it, it is fairly clear that she will have to go home in order to come back.

I hope someone will now come along and give Andy the more detailed advice that will address his concerns.

[busubi]

Depending on where your partner is from my advise would be to marry in her country then apply for a spouse visa. I think it's a little less hassle and slightly cheaper to do it this way. Myself and my Wife went this route and even with the translation of documents from Japanese to English and viceversa it was fairly straight forward and full proof providing the other criterias are met for the visa application. I'd be happy to assist you further if this is the route you wish to take.
To apply for the fiancee visa is just an extra visa application to deal with and pay for also I had a job already lined up for my wife which she wouldn't be allowed to take if she had been on a fiancee visa.