Marrying EU citizen outside UK

Hello. I believe I read in this forum that it is easier to marry a UK/EU citizen outside the UK in order to remain in the UK (also search function is not working for me at the moment for some reason). Can anyone recommend any particular country/-ies where the ceremony can be done relatively easily, where residence requirement and certain documents aren't required? My fiancé is Belgian and has been living in the UK for 5 months.

I will be on a student visitor visa- will that cause any problems?
Are there any fees associated with the visa application and how long will it take?
Are there any restrictions for me while we wait for the residence permit (?) to be granted? Will I be able to travel outside the UK/EU? Will I be able to work?

Have you considered marrying in the US and then you could go to the UK on a family permit?  You wouldn't need a special visa to marry where you live.  Otherwise, have you checked to see what the Belgian requirements are, or you could do a destination wedding.  I imagine anywhere outside of the USA would require some sort of marriage visitor visa.

Have you considered marrying in the US and then you could go to the UK on a family permit?  You wouldn't need a special visa to marry where you live.  Otherwise, have you checked to see what the Belgian requirements are, or you could do a destination wedding.  I imagine anywhere outside of the USA would require some sort of marriage visitor visa.

I am already in the UK and it would be too expensive for both of us to fly there. We are considering going to Denmark as the ceremony is quick (few documents, low residency requirements (days)).

Hi,

If you're following through with your student visit and switching to Tier 4, you could wait and marry in the UK when you're  on Tier 4.

If you marry in another EEA country and don't have a visa to come back to the UK you'll need to apply to the British Embassy for an EEA Family Permit. If you have a visa to enter the UK, you can enter on that and then apply for a Residence Card.   There is no fee for either application. .

Thank you for your reply, Steve_G.

I am currently here on T4 visa; however, that will expire next week. I will return to the UK on a student visitors visa (multi entry) in order to complete some work. My Belgian bf has been living here for 4-5 months but only recently started a new job. We are thinking of marrying overseas then applying for a UK residence permit as the spouse of an EU national - is that faster than giving notice to marry in the UK?

Steve_G

Hi,

If you're following through with your student visit and switching to Tier 4, you could wait and marry in the UK when you're  on Tier 4.

If you marry in another EEA country and don't have a visa to come back to the UK you'll need to apply to the British Embassy for an EEA Family Permit. If you have a visa to enter the UK, you can enter on that and then apply for a Residence Card.   There is no fee for either application. .

We are thinking of marrying overseas then applying for a UK residence permit as the spouse of an EU national - is that faster than giving notice to marry in the UK?

It depends on the country as to what their requirements for marrying are.

If you'd had time, you could have married in the UK before your student visa expired (you would have just needed to give 15 days notice before being able to marry) and then switched to the residence permit without leaving the UK.

This would have extended your Tier 4 status so you could have continued to work and study in the UK while waiting for the residence card, and you could have finished your work while waiting for the card.

However, if your visa is expiring next week you aren't going to be able to do this.

Instead you'll have to leave the UK, come back on the student visitor visa, marry in another country, return to the US, apply for an EEA family permit, fly back to the UK and then apply for the EEA residence card!

Or, I suppose technically you could leave the UK, come back on the student visitor visa, marry in the UK and then apply for the residence card without leaving the UK (technically you're not supposed to marry in the UK on a visitor visa, but it can be possible and you are able to switch from a visitor visa to an EEA residence card from inside the UK).

Or another alternatively is return to the US, marry in the US (usually only a waiting period of a day or two), apply for the EEA family permit, move to the UK and then apply for the residence card.

We really don't have the time or inclination to go to the US for the wedding. We are thinking of going to Denmark where the residency requirement is only 3 days (I heard of a 0 day requirement in one kommune). As my bf has just started a job we want to do this as swiftly as possible.

We really don't have the time or inclination to go to the US for the wedding. We are thinking of going to Denmark where the residency requirement is only 3 days (I heard of a 0 day requirement in one kommune). As my bf has just started a job we want to do this as swiftly as possible.

But you're gonna have to go back to the US for at least a couple of weeks anyway, in order to apply for a student visitor visa.

It's going to take a minimum of 2 weeks or so once you are back in the US to get your visa application sorted out, submit it, attend biometrics, mail the documents to NYC and then wait for the visa to be issued.

Why not just combine that trip to the US with getting married? You could fly to the US together, get married maybe 24-48 hours later (depending on the state laws) and then your husband could fly back to the UK while you stay in the US to apply for your visa and wait for it to be issued.

You could then apply directly for the EEA family permit, for which you only need evidence that you are married to your husband and that he is working in the UK, and you won't need to worry about meeting the requirements for a student visitor visa, as the EEA family permit will allow you to work and study in the UK without restriction.

If your visa is expiring next week, you're going to have to leave the UK anyway and you're also going to have to go back to the US to get a student visitor visa.

By combining it, you could theoretically be married in the US in the next couple of weeks and be legally back living in the UK on the EEA family permit by maybe mid-February or so....and so you can skip the hassle of qualifying and applying for  student visitor visa first.