Certificate of Approval for Marriage?

I am an American and I am temporarily living in London.  I am currently attending school here.  I do not have a student visa becase my course is only 10 weeks, so I wasn't required to go through the hassle of obtaining a student visa.  So I just came on my passport basically, and was just granted the usual 6 Months... (I came in Decemeber so my 6 months will be up in June.)
My fiance is British and lives in London as well.  We have decided to get married while I am in London now (we have been dating for a year, this is not someone that I just met or some internet relationship or anything like that, fyi).  I plan to settle in the UK with him after we marry, of course.
It is my understanding that for us to get married here, we need the Certificate of Approval.  However, it states that if I do not have permission to be here for more than 6 Months, which I do nt, then they 'may' require additional information, such as solid proof of our ongoing relationship.  I have seen posts in this forum about Spouse Visas and the proof that people are gathering for this.  Is this the same thing that I am going to be required to do, or is this Spouse Visa different?
It is also my understanding that after we marry in the UK, my visa status that I am here on cannot be adjusted, and that I will be required to return to the US after my 6 months is up, and from there I will have to apply for the Marriage Visa, since I will by then already be married to a British citizen.  Does anyone have any have any experience with that and what that entails?  I am scared that I will go back home and be denied my marriage visa and be away from my fiance/husband.
I phoned the UK Border Agency but they were not the most patient and helpful and this is the info they gave me, so hopefully this information I gathered is in fact correct. I just wanted to check my facts and see if anyone can offer any sort of advice for my situation? 
Also, my boyfriend is in the British Army if that helps at all.  I would think it might, since they are usually pretty big on not keeping spouses apart....?
Thanks to anyone who read all of this

Do not confuse a COA with the visa process.

You are correct however, a COA is not a visa and it does not give you permission to live in the UK. It only allows you to get married. You still must leave the UK once your time as a visitor as over and return to the US and apply for the Spousal Visa.

If you meet the maintenance & Accommodation requirements and you & your spouse are at least 21 years of age then you should have no worries about being refused a Spousal Visa.

As far as the COA itself there is detailed guidance found here: http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/coa/coa_guide.pdf and see page 4 for what they may request as proof of relationship...you may as well as gather this information and send it in anyway with your application just to cut down on waiting times (if they do indeed need the information then they do not have to request it from you).

Wait.. did you tell the IO that you were taking this course when you entered on a visitors visa?   Dont you need a student visitors visa to do this?

Wait.. did you tell the IO that you were taking this course when you entered on a visitors visa?   Dont you need a student visitors visa to do this?

Student visitor visas are issued at the border like regular visa stamps, so if she told the IO she planned to take the course, she should be OK. 

Just to warn you, I applied for a COA this past fall and it took several months to come through.  You may find that your visitor's visa expires before this is even issued if you don't apply right away.

Just to warn you, I applied for a COA this past fall and it took several months to come through.  You may find that your visitor's visa expires before this is even issued if you don't apply right away.

Really?  I was expecting it to be quick and similar to when people go get a marriage lisence in the US.  That's dissapointing

Wait.. did you tell the IO that you were taking this course when you entered on a visitors visa?   Dont you need a student visitors visa to do this?

Yes, I told the IO and showed them the paperwork for my course.  I studied in London once before without a student visa and it was fine, becuse the course is less than 6 Months long and I am not working so I did not require anything aside from my passport and just paperwork proving my dates of enrollment in said course. 

Do not confuse a COA with the visa process.

You are correct however, a COA is not a visa and it does not give you permission to live in the UK. It only allows you to get married. You still must leave the UK once your time as a visitor as over and return to the US and apply for the Spousal Visa.

If you meet the maintenance & Accommodation requirements and you & your spouse are at least 21 years of age then you should have no worries about being refused a Spousal Visa.

As far as the COA itself there is detailed guidance found here: http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/coa/coa_guide.pdf and see page 4 for what they may request as proof of relationship...you may as well as gather this information and send it in anyway with your application just to cut down on waiting times (if they do indeed need the information then they do not have to request it from you).

Ok, thank you!  I understand that the COA is not a visa, I was hoping to receive the COA before my visitors visa expires in June, and then go back to the US and apply for my Marriage Visa.  So, the Marriage Visa I plan to get is the same as the Spouse Visa that is discussed throughout these forums?
As I had said, my boyfriend is in the British Army so 2 weeks before our expected wedding, the Army provides us with the keys to our accommodation, which they of course provide for us, so that part is taken care of.  As far as “maintenance,” what does that entail?  And do you know about how long they estimate it to take to receive the Spousal Visa so I can return to my love in the UK??  
I do have page 4 that you referred me to, and it’s difficult because they want info on wedding arrangements of proof of bookings for venues and stuff, but obviously we cannot arrange a date because we need the COA first… like, if we set up a date and a venue and the COA has not been approved yet, ya know?  One has to come before the other…  It also asks for ‘letter and photographs’ … which we do of course have tons of photographs over the course of our relationship, but as far as letters, we mostly use the phone or things like facebook.  Would it be appropriate to include phone bills showing our numerous calls to each other, or print out emails?  We have also gone on trips together, would it be appropriate to go so far as to include proof of those things as well?  I don’t know what is appropriate and substantial??
I have tried to do a lot of research but it’s hard to get a straight, specific answer to any of my questions, so I really appreciate you taking the time!

Phone bills with each other's numbers highlighted would certainly be good.

Can you make preliminary arrangements for the wedding and show that?  I think for my fiancee visa we had a letter from our pastor that we had tentatively booked the church or something.

Phone bills with each other's numbers highlighted would certainly be good.

Can you make preliminary arrangements for the wedding and show that?  I think for my fiancee visa we had a letter from our pastor that we had tentatively booked the church or something.

Yes, I can definitely sort out preliminary arrangements, wasn't sure if that would be good enough.  And thanks for the advice on the phone bills- certainly have thousands of dollars worth of international calls between the two of us.

 So, the Marriage Visa I plan to get is the same as the Spouse Visa that is discussed throughout these forums?

A 'Marriage Visa' is a visa issued outside the UK that is a Visitors visa that allows someone to get married in the UK and then return to their home country. Once you are married you need a Spousal Settlement Visa...please do not confuse the two.

As I had said, my boyfriend is in the British Army so 2 weeks before our expected wedding, the Army provides us with the keys to our accommodation, which they of course provide for us, so that part is taken care of. As far as maintenance,” what does that entail?  And do you know about how long they estimate it to take to receive the Spousal Visa so I can return to...the UK??

If you gather all the necessary documentation before you leave the UK you should be able to apply, do your biometrics & submit your application to the Consulate via a Visa Expediter and have a decision in the span of a week or two.

Maintenance can be found here: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=57076.0

A 'Marriage Visa' is a visa issued outside the UK that is a Visitors visa that allows someone to get married in the UK and then return to their home country. Once you are married you need a Spousal Settlement Visa...please do not confuse the two.

If you gather all the necessary documentation before you leave the UK you should be able to apply, do your biometrics & submit your application to the Consulate via a Visa Expediter and have a decision in the span of a week or two.

Maintenance can be found here: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=57076.0

see, I am constantly being told by the Border Agency that the Fiance Visa is the one allows you to enter the UK to marry and then return home, which is what you described as the Marriage Visa.  They also keep telling me that the Marriage Visa is the one where you enter the UK as the spouse of a British national.  And then as far as they've told me, settlement comes after 2 years or 4 years I believe, when you apply for ILR.  I don't know what information is correct and what is not between what they tell me on the phone and what I am reading here??

There is the Marriage Visit Visa (without the COA) which allows someone to enter the UK, get married & then REQUIRES that you return to your home country to get the Spousal Visa.

There is the Fiancee visa that allows someone to travel to the UK, get married (without the COA), then while still in the UK apply for the FLR(M) which is the equivalent of the Spousal visa.


The Spousal Settlement Visa is issued outside of the UK to those persons already married to a British Citizen.

The problem is that you're talking to someone from UKBA when you're already in the UK. Because you're a visitor you cannot change to another visa and you need to look at the visa options that you have to consider 'outside' the UK.

When you apply for a Spousal or a Fiancee visa OUTSIDE the UK it comes under the 'Settlement' Category...but when you're already IN the UK it means something COMPLETLEY different.

IF you marry in the UK as a visitor you must then leave the UK and get a Spousal Settlement Visa in order to be allowed to live in the UK.

This is where you should be looking for visa information for persons who have to apply OUTSIDE the UK: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf4husbandswivespartners.

I don't know what information is correct and what is not between what they tell me on the phone and what I am reading here??

It is often difficult to reconcile what UKBA tells people on the phone and what people read on the internet.  Both sources are horribly unreliable, out-of-date and ill-informed (UKY excepted of course   ). 

Having said that, I doubt you will achieve harmony between the two sources; and it may be more fruitful to select the one that you believe and ignore the other.