Frustrated in Idaho!!

Hello Everyone!
My fiance lives in England and he just returned home once again after one of our all too short 3 month "visits". It gets harder each time we have to leave one another!
We have searched the internet for answers and always seem to end up in frustration. He has a son there and I have 2 under age children here. I want to live in England with him more than anything. My Great Grandmother was from Wales, but I have found out that isn't good enough for an Ancestry Visa    He is not a man of means, as he puts it, and although I own a health food store here in the States, the business is floundering at the moment...I do have a degree in Holistic Nutrition/Doctor of Natureopathy and would like to start a business in his hometown eventually.
I need all the help and suggestions I can get at this point. I am planning on flying over to spend a couple of weeks with him the first of August and would Love to get married while I am there. It sounds so very complicated though, and EXPENSIVE!!
My heart breaks everytime we go through this...please, can anyone give us any hope?
Thank you all in advance!!

Terri Sue

If you want to get married in the UK you will need to apply for a marriage visit visa.  You would then need to return to the U.S. and apply for a visa to return as his spouse.

You could also apply for a fiance visa and then get married in the UK, but it sounds like you want to go back to the U.S. for a while.

What are you having problems with specifically in terms of visas? 

Do you both just not understand what you need to apply for? 

His not having lots of money isn't really an issue, both of you having kids might be depending on custody.

At this time, we want to get married while I am there in August. I have to return because of my children which I have residential custody of, but it is also joint custody. My fiance's ex-wife has custody of their son and has recently relocated to Spain, so he only gets to see him on visits.
I guess the frustration is all the red tape and the cost. It is expensive enough for the plane ticket and then we have to add another thousand or more on top of that for the cost of a visa? Up till now we have been traveling on visitor visas, but they almost deported him this time because he has come back and forth too many times. I have not been there since August of last year, so I know I wouldn't have any problems witha visitor visa, but on that we won't be able to marry, is that correct?
Which is the better way to go...fiance or marriage visa?
Thank you so much for your reply and please be patient with me as I try to sort all of this out...I may tend to ramble and I honestly don't mean to.

The first thing we need to know before we can completely answer your questions is where you plan to live. You say you want to marry in the UK but then return to the US-- are you planning on living in the US with your new husband..or return back to the UK to live?

Eventually we will want to live in the UK, but until I can sort out the children and my business we will have to stay here. He has to be free to travel back and forth to see his son if he stays here, but he doesn't have to become a US citizen for all of that does he? I don't know how long it may take for us to sort out things here for me to be free to leave, but I would leave today if I could....

you can either get a visit for marriage visa, marry in the UK in August and return home and live apart until such a time as you're ready to move to the UK on a spouse visa, wait to get married until you're ready to move and apply for a fiance or spouse visa at that time, or you can apply for a fiance visa for the US so that he can live in the States until you want to move back.  Downside of the last option, though, is that getting a US visa takes months and is a lot more of a pain than the UK visa (so really only worth doing if you're planning on being in the US for a year or more, IMO.)

Approximately how much is a visit for marriage visa? What type of paperwork will I need to take with me? After we are married there will he need a spousal visa when he returns here?

Okay, I have been doing my research and reading a lot of posts on here since yesterday...it is, in some ways, a comfort to know that we are not the only ones going through this. I read the thing about crying at the airport and that made me smile...that is such a hard time for all of us.
I still am uncertain whether I need to apply for a marriage visit visa or fiance visa. Yes I will have to return to the US this trip after we are married. He is going to come here around Christmas time.
Two questions I would have at this time are:
1. Which is easier and more cost effective? Marriage visit visa, or fiance visa?
2. When he comes to the US again will he need a spousal visa or can he come on a visitors visa if he is not going to stay permanetly?
Thank you everyone for your help and support. This sight is a Blessing!!

Two questions I would have at this time are:
1. Which is easier and more cost effective? Marriage visit visa, or fiance visa?

It sounds like the marriage visit visa is more appropriate for you. The fiance visa will set you back £515 (or about $1030) and you would basically move to the UK on the visa, get married within 6 months and then apply for the spousal visa from within the UK (costing another $1030), whereas the marriage visit visa is only £65 ($130) and allows you to get married while you are visiting the UK for a short period of time, after which you would pay the $1030 for the spousal visa while in the US.

2. When he comes to the US again will he need a spousal visa or can he come on a visitors visa if he is not going to stay permanetly?

Not sure about this one - I would imagine he can come as a visitor, but you would probably have to check with the US embassy. He might need to get a visitor's visa if he has had problems with immigration in the US before. The US spousal visa can take up to 6 months to be issued and requires him to be moving to the US, which isn't the case so wouldn't be appropriate.

Thank you, that is what I was leaning toward as well. Is there another name for the marriage visit visa? Can I fill it out online?

I do have another question....as I stated at the first of my post, my business here in the US is floundering at present and there is quite a lot of debt involved. If I have to file bankruptcy will that ruin my chances of eventually moving to the UK?

Thank you, that is what I was leaning toward as well. Is there another name for the marriage visit visa? Can I fill it out online?

From what I can tell, it is just called 'visit for marriage', but actually it is just a section within the 'visitor's visa' application form (VAF1 form, I think). The visa itself is a visitor visa, but depending on your reason for visiting, you fill out different sections of the form (in part 6). Section 6.1 is for everyone to fill out, 6.2 is for tourists, 6.3 is business visitors, 6.4 is for student visitors, 6.5 is family visitor, 6.6 is medical, 6.7 is visit for marriage, 6.8 is visitor in transit and 6.9 is academic visitor.

Is the visitor visa something you can apply for online? I have always just used my passport the two times I have come over.

You must apply for a marriage visit visa on line.  A regular visit visa (the one where you jsut use your passport) won't allow you to marry int he UK without added complications and a possibility of refusal of entry.

Bankruptcy shouldn't have an effect on your application unless it was forced due to dishonesty and makes you a person whose presence in the UK is not conductive to the public good.


Vicky