Lawyer recommended we get married on a visitor visa..?! Please help!

Dear all,

Firstly, thanks so much for reading this and seeing if you can share any advice.

I am a British Citizen, and my boyfriend is American. We have been together for nearly two years, in which time we've spent lots of time flying over the atlantic and also spent 6 months traveling around the world. At the beginning of July this year, my boyfriend came over to stay with me for six months on a tourist visa. We now want to get him the right to reside here and work, and it seems, after visiting a immigration lawyer, the quickest way would be for us to get married, him to leave in January (which is when his visitor visa expires), apply for a spouse visa and (hopefully) live happily ever after.

My Question is this: The immigration lawyer we visited recommended to us getting married in the UK as soon as possible, DESPITE my partner only currently being here on a tourist visa. She said immigration rules state that, upon entering the country on a visitor visa, you must not INTEND to marry, but as long as the registrar is happy, you can and people do. Even if this is the case (and on the UKBA website it explicitly states you can NOT marry on a general visitor visa), I can't help but worry that if we do this, our subsequent application for spousal visa will be refused on the grounds that my partner got married in the UK while he was on a tourist visa.

PLEASE HELP! This is an absolute minefield. If there is anything that could risk a successful spousal visa I would not want to do it. But the immigration lawyer was adamant that this was a safe thing to do.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this matter?

Many thanks in advance,

rnjlj

No experience but I was always told it was a horrid thing to do things like that. Does it happen? Sure. Does it look like you were trying to buck the system? Definitely.

Now you can get married in the US because their visitor visa allows it but not the other way round. I recommend applying for the fiancé visa which I just got today and then having your wedding legally and upgrading from there to the FLR.

Your lawyer is correct.

You are not permitted to get married in the UK with a visitor visa if that is your intention upon arrival.  You must have either applied for a marriage visitor visa, or fiance(e) visa.

However, if you entered the UK with the genuine intention of just visiting, and decided to get married at some point during your visit, that is permitted.

This should not cause any issues with applying for a spouse visa.  You (the UK sponsor) must include a letter of support for the application, and you can include an explanation if you're concerned.

As Aquila said, the lawyer was correct, it's about intent. 

You really do not need a lawyer for this process unless the applicant has an overstay or serious criminal conviction.  It's straightforward and simply a case of "ticking the boxes".

Just be sure that he returns to the US to apply for the spouse visa--he can't switch in-country regardless of whether you're married.

We're getting married with me being on a visitor visa. my Intention wasnt to get married when my plane landed. But due to the fact my fiance' cannot get approved for a B2 visa for the states, we went and gave notice in August. Didn't have a single problem at all.

Yes, as long as it wasn't your intention to marry as a visitor when you entered the UK, and you can find a church/registry office willing to marry you, it's not a problem to marry while you are here, and it won't affect other visas .

Okay, I have to ask as I've been wondering for months after reading similar posts and never seeing anyone say how they did it.

How does that work?
For my civil ceremony at the local Register's office I had to set up a tentative appointment with them, then I had to travel to one of 15 or so specific Register offices to give Notice of Marriage, as I'm not a UK citizen.  I HAD to have a bill with my name on it, either council tax or utilities.

How does it work for visitors? Would someone be able to fill me in?

Some registrars don't require proof of address.

Okay, I have to ask as I've been wondering for months after reading similar posts and never seeing anyone say how they did it.

How does that work?
For my civil ceremony at the local Register's office I had to set up a tentative appointment with them, then I had to travel to one of 15 or so specific Register offices to give Notice of Marriage, as I'm not a UK citizen.  I HAD to have a bill with my name on it, either council tax or utilities.

How does it work for visitors? Would someone be able to fill me in?

I don't think everyone is required to produce a bill with their name on - maybe it's only if you have a visa to live in the UK. If you have a visitor visa, you obviously won't be able to produce a bill in your name because you don't live in the UK.

There is a visitor visa specifically for people to get married in the UK without moving there (i.e. for a destination wedding or for people who intend to marry at the time when they enter the UK)... and so if you were both US citizens and were just coming to the UK for a couple/few weeks, staying in a hotel, in order to marry and then go back home, you can't provide any bill at all.

I do know about the Marriage Visa. I looked into Marriage, Fiance and Spousal visas after my Brit and I were engaged last April. (edit. by last I mean 2013) We were trying to figure out what made the most sense for us.

Ah, I suppose it just comes down to the registrar in your area then?