Marriage Visa (6 months)

Hello!

I am about to apply for a UK Marriage Visa (not to settle) and I'm nervous about it being denied.

I have plenty of money, have been over three times prior and for about two months per trip.   I've met all of her family, we have photos a plenty and have been together for almost two years.  I have appraisals for materials to be used in engagement and wedding rings.

My concern arises from her own application for a regular US 6 month Tourist visa, the officer at the US Embassy in London did not look at her evidence.  This officer gave her the 'risk of staying' stamp and ushered her on.  The entire meeting I'm told was less than five minutes.

I worry this could happen here.  Is the UK visa with the marriage stipulation, a fairly assured thing? or?

Looking for reassurance really, very nervous.


Thank You

Do you mean a visit for marriage visa (up to six months and will return to the US)?  Or a fiancé visa (marry within six months and remain in the UK)?

Marriage to visit, not settle.

'Do you mean a visit for marriage visa (up to six months and will return to the US)?'

This one.

Thank you!

A US visa has nothing to do with a UK visa application.

Well, I know that.

My concern is the off hand nature of the officers in charge and how UK Visitor visas are looked at.

Her evidence was in order, but not looked at.   My evidence is in order, but that fear is there and I am curious about how these are treated.   Chance of success, etc.

If you want, list the items you are going to send with your application and members on the board will let you know if you have included the appropriate items.

As long as you meet the requirements of the visa and demonstrate this with your evidence, you will be approved.

The US visa system is quite different.  If your girlfriend wanted to visit you, she should have applied for an ESTA if she met the requirements.  If she did not meet the requirements, she would have needed to go to the embassy to apply for a visitors visa.  Here's where it gets tricky....  if she qualified for an ESTA but applied for a visitors visa, they deny the visitors visa.  But now that she has a refusal, she no longer qualifies for an ESTA.  It's a catch 22.  But my guess is that she qualified for ESTA and "accidentally" applied for a visitors visa (thinking that was the right thing to do) and that's why it was denied.  This would also make sense why the case worker didn't look at any of her evidence, as she didn't qualify for the visa that she applied for.

Yeah, she had come over one before on ESTA and thought this time a 6 month stay would be nicer.  Had I known about the ESTA being canceled out, at the time, I would have settled for 90 days instead of 'no days'.

As for information:

I am sending two signed letters, one from her mother (who we will be staying with briefly) as well as from my fiance.

With the letters, bank statements/payslips from both my fiance and her mother.

My own bank statement showing that I have income equal to 20k USD coming in over a period of 3 months.


Photos of us together in both the USA and the UK

An appraisal for parts and labor for our engagement and wedding rings, as well as a design of the engagement ring itself.

I'm going to register our wedding date for the 18th of October with the Newcastle City Council (the UK.gov website said that helps)

Anything else you think I should include?


My biometrics appointment is next Wednesday, so I still have time to gather more materials.

Yeah, she had come over one before on ESTA and thought this time a 6 month stay would be nicer.  Had I known about the ESTA being canceled out, at the time, I would have settled for 90 days instead of 'no days'.

Yeah, the problem with that is that they don't grant visitor visas just because you want to stay for more than 90 days. You have to have a very good reason why you want to come for longer and why you cannot use the ESTA to visit the US - for example, because you have a criminal conviction or a refused visa for the US or you have been deported in the past. As she was not in this position when she applied, and could have travelled using ESTA, there was no need for the visitor visa, so it was refused.

Unfortunately though, she is now in the position of having a refused US visa, which means she can no longer qualify to travel to the US without a visa on ESTA and must apply for a visitor visa to visit the US for the rest of her life.

I have a 10-year B2 visitor visa for the US, but I wish that I hadn't had to apply for one. It's such a long, expensive hassle to get one, but unfortunately I have no choice as I have a DUI and cannot travel on ESTA anymore (for the first 2 visas I applied for after the DUI I had to pay £200 each time for a blood test to prove I was not an alcoholic).

As for information:

I am sending two signed letters, one from her mother (who we will be staying with briefly) as well as from my fiance.

With the letters, bank statements/payslips from both my fiance and her mother.

My own bank statement showing that I have income equal to 20k USD coming in over a period of 3 months.


Photos of us together in both the USA and the UK

An appraisal for parts and labor for our engagement and wedding rings, as well as a design of the engagement ring itself.

I'm going to register our wedding date for the 18th of October with the Newcastle City Council (the UK.gov website said that helps)

Anything else you think I should include?


My biometrics appointment is next Wednesday, so I still have time to gather more materials.

The other most important things to include are evidence of your ties to the US that you must return for, for example, a job, a home and a life in the US to go back to.

For example,

- a letter from your US employer stating that you have been given time off for your UK trip and that you are expected back at work on X date

- evidence of your home in the US that you will be maintaining while in the UK... either mortgage statements or an ongoing, valid tenancy agreement.

If you don't have enough ties to the US that show you will return and won't be tempted to stay on in the UK illegally to be with your wife, the visa can be refused.

My own bank statement showing that I have income equal to 20k USD coming in over a period of 3 months.

I would recommend including a cover letter describing how this income will be earned, as it's illegal to work on a visitors visa.  So you would be smart to clarify that this is something that you are aware of and won't be violating the terms of the visa.

For the registry office, you don't need to have the date booked.  Just some email communication with the registry office showing you are exploring dates and such will suffice.

I am self employed as a Freelance Illustrator, but I did ask my most recent and consistent (US based employer) to create a letter explaining that I have been and will be working for him and could take a break.  I have a book I illustrated coming out in about a month.

Am I allowed to do that if I'm not working for a non-UK based company?

As for living arrangements, I've lived with a friend of mine in Virginia for about 6 years with no agreement.  I just paid her rent and paid for a few bills.  I DO have medical bills I am currently paying that go to my address, can I use those as proof of return? Because legal action most certainly would be taken if I did not.


I really appreciate all of the help.

I am self employed as a Freelance Illustrator, but I did ask my most recent and consistent (US based employer) to create a letter explaining that I have been and will be working for him and could take a break.  I have a book I illustrated coming out in about a month.

Am I allowed to do that if I'm not working for a non-UK based company?

No, it is illegal for you to carry out any work-related activities while in the UK as a visitor. Even if it's remotely for a US company and even if it's unpaid.

So, you cannot do anything to do with illustration at all for the entire duration of your trip to the UK (unless it's just as a hobby and you will not be making any money from it in the future - i.e. you could do it for your own entertainment, but you can't illustrate anything for a client or that will appear in a book), otherwise you will be breaking the rules of your visa.

As for living arrangements, I've lived with a friend of mine in Virginia for about 6 years with no agreement.  I just paid her rent and paid for a few bills.  I DO have medical bills I am currently paying that go to my address, can I use those as proof of return? Because legal action most certainly would be taken if I did not.

Well, you have to prove that you have commitments that mean you need to be physically present in the US after your trip and that you cannot stay in the UK because of those commitments.

For example, things like: attending an important appointment or interview, returning to work, attending classes for school, going to an important meeting or perhaps a family wedding/graduation, or maybe you have a child or an elderly relative that you care for who is relying on you to return etc.

If you can prove that you must be physically in the US to pay your medical bills (and not just pay them from abroad), then that may help.

For your home, can you get a letter from the friend who you live with stating that you are living there, that you contribute to rent and bills and that you will continue to pay rent while you are in the UK and/or will return to live there after your trip? What about evidence that you have paid rent/bills to her?

For your job, ideally you would want to prove that you will not carry out any work at all while in the UK, but that you have work already lined up for when you return to the US.

How long will you be staying in the UK for?

You said that you are not getting married until October 18th, but if you are applying for the visa now, I'm guessing you will be trying to stay for the majority of the 6 months, since October is 6 months away and the visa cannot start any later than July (you can apply online a maximum of 3 months before you wish to travel to the UK and the travel date you put on the application (which must be within those 3 months) will be the date that the visa is made valid from).

Essentially, the longer you try to stay in the UK, the more evidence of ties to the US you will need to show. For just a short trip, maybe up to 4-6 weeks, your application won't be scrutinised so much, but for trips of a few months, they will need to make sure you are a genuine tourist and not trying to use the visitor visa to 'live' in the UK without a proper visa.

So they will be asking questions like: How is he able to take so much time off work to visit for this long (most people only take short vacations)? How will he be able to support himself for so many months without working or earning any money while he is in the UK (most people can't afford to take several months off to visit the UK)? What about his home in the US, how is he able to leave it unattended for so long? What evidence is there that he won't try to stay in the UK illegally because he has no reason to go back to the US?

What are your plans for after the wedding? Where will you live together - will she be moving to the US or will you apply for a spousal visa for the UK, or will you move to a third country? Having evidence of what you plan to do afterwards and showing that you know the visa rules for what you plan to do can help too (i.e. that you know how to apply for a US spousal visa, or evidence that you know you must return to the US to apply for a UK spousal visa, or evidence of plans you are making to move somewhere else).

I am self employed as a Freelance Illustrator, but I did ask my most recent and consistent (US based employer) to create a letter explaining that I have been and will be working for him and could take a break.  I have a book I illustrated coming out in about a month.

I read this as:  I'm basically taking holiday but will receive payment for completed projects while in the UK.

See, it's easy for the same statement to be read differently by different people.  I would make sure this is really clear on your application (that you won't be working while here).

As for the settlement portion, whenever that comes; is it possible to live with the fiances family as the supporters? Or is that impossible.

Just a thought. A dumb one I think.


Also, are there any work arounds for the 18.6k per year?

PRoving you wont use public funds or having a lawyer, would that help that?

Yes, it is down the road.

You can live with family. There is no workaround for the financial requirement other than if the sponsor is on benefits such as disability benefits. And having a large amount of cash in savings. Proving you don't need benefits or engaging a lawyer won't have any effect.