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Topic: Applying for a Fiance/Spouse visa to the UK but getting married abroad?  (Read 994 times)

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Hi there,

Me (A British Citizen) & my fiance are looking to apply for the fiance (settlement) visa so we can begin our lives together sooner rather than having to wait until we are married. We plan to get married abroad in South Africa (for a lot of her family live there and we love the country), but does this impact whether or not we can apply for the fiance visa?

We meet all of the other requirements for her to live here with me (fiances, accomodation, etc), but this is the only thing that is concerning us. Does anyone else have any experience with this? If it is a problem, is there an issue with us doing a simple registry office marriage in England and still doing the full ceremony in South Africa.

Thanks all :-)
« Last Edit: April 10, 2016, 10:01:12 AM by username1234 »


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Yes, it will impact - you won't qualify for a fiancé visa if you will not be marrying in the UK... Because you need to provide evidence that you are planning a wedding in the UK in order to get the fiancé visa.

Also if you were able to get a fiancé visa, when you leave the UK to get married, you likely won't be able to get back in again after the wedding because you will no longer be a fiancé and therefore will not meet the requirements to enter again on your fiancé visa.

Plus, how are you going to explain your foreign marriage certificate when you are switching from a fiancé visa to FLR(M) after your wedding... When the purpose of the fiancé visa is to marry in the UK and therefore have a UK marriage certificate.

You have a couple of options:

1) apply for a fiancé visa, marry legally in the UK (at a registry office), apply for FLR(M) visa, wait for it to be granted, and then have a celebration in South Africa (you can't leave the UK between the wedding and getting FLR(M) so you would have to wait to go to SA).

2) come to the UK as a visitor for a few months (if you want to be on the safe side, you can apply for a visitor visa in advance for about £85), then fly to South Africa to get married, then fly back to the US to apply for a spousal visa... And finally, move to the UK

3) don't come to the UK at all before the wedding, just fly to South Africa to get married, then fly back to the US to apply for a spousal visa and move to the UK

4) get married legally in the US, apply for a spousal visa, fly to SA for the wedding celebration and move to the UK


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We did something similar. We had a symbolic ceremony in Mexico so friends and family could come. My fiancé visa arrived a week before, so we met in Mexico then I moved to UK a week after. We had our legal marriage here at the registry office. It was MUCH simpler this way for us, because we were a able to start living together sooner than me going back to America after Mexico to apply for a spouse visa versus a fiancé, had we done a legal ceremony there.

However, we had planned on doing the registry office beforehand {we were told by an awful solicitor we hired that I could renter UK as many times as I wanted on my fiancé visa, not sure if this is true} then doing Mexico after but the timing of the visa worked out differently. I was upfront about our plans in our visa application and explained what we were doing. That way I could show evidence of the wedding planning. It didn't cause any problems for us doing it that way.

Some of my family threw a stink about us having a big wedding but it not being legal, so if you have a bit more traditional/non understanding people don't tell them logistics lol. I still consider Mexico our anniversary because it was my grand, beautiful wedding... Unlike our registry wedding. Happy planning!


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