So my fiance has just been accepted at uni and is in the process of getting a student visa. However we plan on getting married at the end of this year and I was wondering if we could be married on his student visa and then remain on that until we can apply for the settlement visa as I currently don't earn enough.
Yes, that should be fine - you should be able marry at any time on the student visa and then when you earn enough to meet the financial requirement he can switch to the FLR(M) spousal visa (I'm assuming you're a UK citizen?).
I've also had friends tell me that it is easier to get married in the US and then come back over here to live but I don't know how that would effect the visa situation.
In your case it won't affect the visa situation at all, because he will already have a visa that allows him to live in the UK and he can switch from the student visa to FLR(M) in the UK after you are married.
The time when it's easier to marry in the US for the visa situation is when he doesn't already have a visa to live in the UK and will be moving based on your relationship - in that case, he would need to get a fiance visa to marry in the UK and then switch to FLR(M)... but by marrying in the US before he moves, he wouldn't need a fiance visa and could just apply directly for a spousal visa.
However, in terms of the actual marriage process, it may well be quicker and easier to do it in the US because you would only need to give 24-48 hours notice and you could travel there to marry without a visa. So, you would fly to the US together, get married and then fly back, and he would still enter on his student visa.
If you marry in the UK, you both have to be resident in the county you'll marry in for 7 days before giving notice and then you have to wait a minimum of 28 days after giving notice before you can have the ceremony - and as he will have a visa, the case may be referred to UKVI to make sure the marriage won't be a sham, which can take up to 70 days.
So, you just need to decide if you're happy to marry in the UK, but wait the extra time (28-70 days) between giving notice and getting married, or if you would prefer to marry somewhere else (i.e. the US, or a third country) where the wait isn't so long.
