Declaration of Intent (new marriage requirements)

Hold on, peeps.  I asked very nicely for people not to flip out. 

You just need to take notice of something in the pipeline.  Also as I said, the 6 month period is an indicative figure mentioned in a white paper, there is no concrete assessment of how long the application process will actually take.  It could be a day.  It could be a month.  It could be an on-line thing, it could be an interview thing.

Vicky thinks it will not be implemented.  I think it will.  We are permitted to disagree from time-to-time. 

Please do not flip-out because it makes me reluctant to provide a glimpse of what's in the pipeline.

Yeah, now that I look back, and have given it some space, I'm kinda embarrassed that I flipped out So, I apologize for doing it, it was just a knee-jerk reaction, it's a personality flaw that I'm working on, and the visa process has brought out the worst in me

Can I suggest that the thread is retitled...

Vicky

garry ... i think that it's good to be kept in the loop ... the more information we have the better because to me there is nothing worse than being in the dark and trying to figure this all out ... so the more information the better ... there's an old saying about nothing being scarier than the unknown -- there are no truer words for me anyway ...

kittenfish, it's hard not to let your emotions get the better of you ... i have been a wreck for a month or so now ... the goalposts are always changing and if we didn't have this forum ... we wouldn't have a clue about what changes may or may not happen ... so it's good to know.  i'm sure you agree ... but you shouldn't be embarassed about getting upset ... and if you can't vent to the people here on the forum who will understand ... then you would be sitting there on your own freaking out ... if it had applied to me ... i'd be hysterical ... but someone would come on with words of reason and i would calm back down ...

i am so new to this forum and i've already lost count of the times that i've come on here a complete wreck, tears ... snot ... the whole 9 yards ... and found some comfort ...

so garry please keep giving us the insight even if people have a couple knee jerk reactions ... cause we need to know ... even if it is potentially upsetting ...

and kittenfish ... keep that chin up ... we're all pulling for you!

Thanks for that, songbird I would be a mess if I didn't have these forums, I've learned *loads* since I've been here, and I've gotten tons of reassurances. And I've been following your story as well, and I can't wait till I see your thread where you tell us you've gotten your visa

I would be sitting here, working myself into a mess if I didn't have you guys. I'm the only one I know of IRL who is going through this, and no one I know has any idea about dealing with the visas and whatnot. So this is where I come to learn, and debate, and cheer people on, and it gives me tons of hope to see the happy endings (even if I do get jealous, but in a good way).

I'm just kinda sore about things since like a lot of us on here, I *so* want to be with my fiance, I can't imagine being without him. And I'm a horrible pessimist, so I'm looking for that one something to come along and mess up all my plans

But we do need to know what might be in our future in terms of immigration law. I know I can't make heads or tails of the paperwork that comes out of the UKBA, and I would hate for something to bite me in the bum at the last minute.

garry I promise I won't panic anymore...I got all my questions out and you are right we have to wait and see what happens....so I will be calm I promise...thanks for giving us a heads up...

I very much look forward to seeing how they are actually going to implement this policy; I think in terms of human rights law it is generally a disaster (see also: why the CoA was finally smacked down in the courts), but am anxiously waiting to see if they will actually have the gonads to try and force this upon non-British EEA nationals.  I would say that I doubt it, but this is the same country that decided that the Metock judgment meant that there was no real need to change law as long as they amended ECO policy.  Well done that, especially as the (now updated in December 08!) VAF5 form still asks after established EU residence and accommodation/maintenance.   

I was just wondering about this, too! But I guess we'll see...

I'm just kinda sore about things since like a lot of us on here, I *so* want to be with my fiance, I can't imagine being without him. And I'm a horrible pessimist, so I'm looking for that one something to come along and mess up all my plans

But we do need to know what might be in our future in terms of immigration law. I know I can't make heads or tails of the paperwork that comes out of the UKBA, and I would hate for something to bite me in the bum at the last minute.

Yeah, I'm keeping a close eye on this thread, too. Tim and I aren't engaged yet, but IF there's going to be a weird waiting period, I at least want to be aware of having to wait for approval. I can't imagine being in your or Josy's place trying to determine what's going on before your wedding!  But one can always hope that IF this goes into affect before your weddings, there will be some kind of special dispensation given to people getting married in the next 6 months from starting the new policy if you prove the reservations or something. 

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I thought the whole proving the established relationship part of the application would prevent forced marriages, because if you couldn't show history of being together, wouldn't that look suspicious to the UKBA? Or is that just for the Fiance Visa?

Yeah, we're just proceeding as normal for the time being. It's not worth changing a bunch of things around when this isn't even law yet, and there's no real indication of when it'd even be put into place. And like Garry said, we don't know what it would consist of--it could very well be an online application, with a decent turn-around time. But, my fiance has forbid me from discussing it further until there's something set in stone (of course he's not being mean, he's joking, but he's working to keep me from flipping out nonetheless).

That's a point, hopefully they would make a 6 month, or 3 month exception or whatever. I have the papers from the court confirming our wedding date, so there you go

I thought the whole proving the established relationship part of the application would prevent forced marriages, because if you couldn't show history of being together, wouldn't that look suspicious to the UKBA?

The thing is, if this is an arranged marriage then they can't ask for proof of relationship.

Vicky

This will be near impossible to implement in real life with arranged marriages. I've come across many cases where people fly off to their country-of-origin (usually in South East Asia), meet with prospective brides/grooms that their parents have "lined up", and if all is well the choice is made in a matter of days, the marriage takes place and they fly off to wherever their new home is.

How the heck is this supposed to work in these cases. UKBA can't just say nada to arranged marriages... can they?!?! 

No, but they can make sure that the person can't be forced into the decision by their families and know that's what the trip is for. In the scenario you suggest, presumably the marriage would have to take place on another trip. Saying no to arranged marriages would undoubtedly get slapped down by the courts as discriminatory, so they can't stop it completely.

I'll be keeping my eyes of this- as my UK fiancees & I (on UK ILR) are travelling to the US on 6-June to get married.

Doubt they can get everything in place b/f then.

But also- I'm on ILR- and won't be applying for any "marriage" visa afterwards (only Naturalization)- so unsure if this would effect me.

meggles, I think it's supremely unlikely that this would affect you since you already have ILR.  Just my humble opinion.