UK Spouse visa

i am sorry this post is a bit long but i would love a few opinions.Im an irish citizen who after finishing university in june '05 in Dublin met my fiancee in new york while on a VWP.between june '05 and sept '06 i visited and stayed with her on 3 different VWP (always returning when one expired). In sept '06 i moved to london, uk and obtained full time emplyment.soon after she came and stayed with me on a tourist visa until march '07 with me being the sole financial provider. in june last year she came to visit and stay again on a tourist visa.during that time here we saw a lawyer to try and apply for the unmarried partner visa for her to stay in london but were advised that we could not due to the fact that we did not have enough proof that we have lived together for 2 full years.she has since left in dec '07 and i have just been to visit her and we have to decided to get marrried.i believe i can enter the US on a VWP get married then return to the UK.my wife could then apply to come to the UK as my spouse and would apply at the british consulate in new york.if this is at all possible how long do would the spouse visa take to be approved??i know there is the fiancee visa for either the UK or US but from what ive been reading the UK spouse visa is the quickest.looking at the situation what do people think?

Application for spousal visa, including timelines, is covered in detail on this board. Just search around and post back if you have any questions about what you find.

Good luck.

You need to make sure you have your finanicial situation sorted via bank statements for yourself or both of you showing regular income and if at all possible savings but deff a regualr income that would support both of you.

Also proof of seeing each other and staying with each other, proof of accomadation that you have in the UK and proof she can live with you there, so letter from landlord and proof of rent, letter off your employer giving employment details how much you earn is your job perm, bills with your address on and name.

If it is straight forward and you have all your financial proof it would not take to long for her to send everything off and most people have been approved in a few weeks or so, there may be some that have taken longer.

But you need to make sure you have all your paper work together.

You can go and get married over there on the VWP we did, and my wife and I stayed for a month to see my family and friends and a honeymoon.

Good luck I hope some of this will help get you started on the right path. Also think about where your going to be living what area of the UK and budget for the bills rent ect.

Again good luck.

Indy and wife

Bear in mind that you can apply using either UK laws or EU laws.  There are pros and cons to each, but basically the EU route is free and a little easier, and the UK route leads to her getting permanent residence faster (2 years instead of 5).

Vicky