My fiancée wishes to move to England, please advise. :)

She would still be an international student.

With that in mind, if all went well with the EEA, would she then still be classed as an international student or a UK student? I'd imagine it wouldn't change and she would still be recognised as an international student as before. Is that correct?

The criteria to qualify for home/EU fees is:

- she has been resident in the UK or EU for 3 years prior to the start of the course date

AND

- she is a UK or EU citizen OR she is free from UK immigration restrictions (she has permanent residence in the UK)

So, to meet the first requirement, she must have lived in the UK or EU for 3 years, but for the second requirement, she won't be free from UK immigration restrictions until she has been in the UK for 5 years... so she may find she can't qualify for home fees for 5 years.

Having said that, the difference between home fees and international fees isn't all that great anymore (£9,000 for UK fees, around £12,000 for international fees), so it might be that she decides to just pay the international fees anyway instead of waiting for 5 years.

Ah, okay, that's exactly what I thought with regards to her remaining an international student. Thanks for the clarification.

I'll be honest, the extra £3000 a year (on average) is manageable and would definitely be the better road to go down as it therefore means she can/could get her career under way far sooner. Well worth the extra money rather than waiting five years and being in a mediocre job, and then having to go back to school again, and then starting her career a number of years after completion of said course.

I would also be inclined to think that it would complicate/change things too. 

You'd think so wouldn't you...

But strangely (and for you it's great news) it makes things a lot easier.  No earnings requirement, nothing.  Lucky you!!   

Brendy it is much easier to marry in the US and you wouldn't need a visa to do so.

In New York for example it's really rather simple. You and your partner go to the City Clerk's Office to obtain a marriage licence (cost $35). You then need to wait a minimum of 24 hours and then you can you go back to the City Clerk for the ceremony (cost $25). The only requirements are proof of identity (passport) and a witness. There's no residency requirements for either you or or partner and no long notice period, which is required in the UK.

That's what we did, except it was closed when we went for the licence, ended up having to get a judges waiver to marry the same day.

Ah, okay, that's exactly what I thought with regards to her remaining an international student. Thanks for the clarification.

I'll be honest, the extra £3000 a year (on average) is manageable and would definitely be the better road to go down as it therefore means she can/could get her career under way far sooner. Well worth the extra money rather than waiting five years and being in a mediocre job, and then having to go back to school again, and then starting her career a number of years after completion of said course.

The big difference between home/international isn't the cost these days, it's the fact you have to pay the fees upfront.  Once she's a home student she could pay it over a long period of time (and only one she earns over a certain amount).

It makes me so happy that it is a lot easier for us. We were expecting this to be an impossible feat for at least another four or five years due to our age, jobs etc.

Shandy, when you say that it has to be paid upfront, is that the entirety of the year in one go, so ~£11-12000 in one big lump?

I don't think it'll be too much of an issue as she has a college fund back at home which will cover two years if she didn't put anything towards it and I will be saving up all of my cash that I earn from my job(s) as much as possible to help fund both life and her final year of university too.

It makes me so happy that it is a lot easier for us. We were expecting this to be an impossible feat for at least another four or five years due to our age, jobs etc.

Shandy, when you say that it has to be paid upfront, is that the entirety of the year in one go, so ~£11-12000 in one big lump?

I don't think it'll be too much of an issue as she has a college fund back at home which will cover two years if she didn't put anything towards it and I will be saving up all of my cash that I earn from my job(s) as much as possible to help fund both life and her final year of university too.

Yeah, as far as I know, you have to fund it yourself, upfront, year by year.  Home students can use the student loan scheme for fees and other stuff.

If she's a US citizen it's worth checking with schools that she's interested in attending as some of them can accept FAFSA applications/US student loans. Not all schools obviously but certainly work a check.

Oh really? I know she gets FAFSA but she doesn't have a student loan. It would still help out but I expect that it is only a very select few that would take it over here.

Thanks for the suggestion though. We shall have to look into it.

I think fafsa is taken by most major universities actually. It's not as uncommon as you might think. And universities can obtain fafsa numbers if they haven't got them. So it's worth asking if they'd apply for one.