Visa Confusion!

Me and my fiance are due to get married in Michigan next week.. but we are still confused about a few things with regards to our visa application post marriage...

1 - Once married, will changing her surname affect the visa application? e.g. is it better to do one before the other? does it affect the passport the visa goes in?

2 - Is it better for me to bring the application back by hand and post it from within the UK or better to use priority service straight from the USA? - if so how much is the priority service?

If anyone could help me out it would be much appreciated

1 - Once married, will changing her surname affect the visa application? e.g. is it better to do one before the other? does it affect the passport the visa goes in?

The visa can only be issued in the name on her passport, so if she wants the visa to be issued in her married name, she must change the name on her passport (i.e. renew her passport) before she applies for the visa.

If she is happy for her visa to be issued in her maiden name, then she doesn't need to change her passport name and can just start using her married name on everything else in the UK. She must remember to book travel in her maiden name though, as it must match her passport.

If she thinks she may want to change her passport name, I would do it before she applies for the visa, as it is a hassle (and expensive) to change it on the visa after it has been issued.

2 - Is it better for me to bring the application back by hand and post it from within the UK or better to use priority service straight from the USA? - if so how much is the priority service?

The Settlement Priority Service has nothing to do with how the application is mailed - it is a service that is applied AFTER Sheffield have received it. It costs $612 and gets the application put to the front of the processing line after you have mailed it and it has arrived in Sheffield. It can speed up the processing times considerably. At the moment, priority applications are taking about 5 weeks or so, while non-priority are well over 60-70 working days (the applications mailed in June are just being processed now). During quieter periods, priority can be as short as 1-2 days, with non-priority being 2-4 weeks.

In terms of shipping, there is a Courier Service offered on the VFS Global website, either for round-trip shipping or just the return shipping back to the US. This is just pre-paid, fixed price UPS shipping.

- if she uses the round-trip shipping, the application will need to be mailed directly from the US
- if she only uses the return shipping, she can either ship it to Sheffield directly using UPS or DHL, or you can take it back with you and then forward it to Sheffield from inside the UK

Thank you so much - you've done it yet again. Love this forum.

If she wants to change her name, DEFINITELY do it before applying.  It'll take a week or two to change but is seriously expensive and time consuming to do at any point after she has started her visa journey.

What exactly are the pros/cons of changing her name before the application? As I gathered from the replies she can use her married name once she is in the UK either way?

Also if she chooses to change her name before hand wont this take longer than 2 weeks?

The marriage certificate has her changed name on it, will this mean that we have to change it before the application now?

When I married before I changed the name on my visa, my employer would not allow me to use my married name.  I am NOT the only member of this forum that has had this.  There is at least one other.  Some will let you use your married name, some will not.

All travel will need to be booked in the maiden name.

If you have kids, you won't all share the same family name.

The marriage certificate is what you present to the US passport agency to change the name legally on the passport.  Just the name change on the certificate is not enough.

Changing a name is a very personal decision.  A lot of people decide not too.  There is no right or wrong.  For me, I wanted the same name as my husband and I wanted the name name as my child.  So I changed it.  I'm glad I did.

If you change it now, it will be very quick and easy.  If you wait, it will take many months and cost hundreds of £££ (as you will be at the mercy of UKVI again).

Again, there is no NEED to change it.  But if she WANTS to change it - do it now.  Expediting a US passport is $60.