Marry in UK but not stay- how?

My fiance is due to come here to the US in 11 days, and we were to be getting married in two weeks. It may still happen, but he is having more health problems, to the extent that he may not be allowed to fly.
IF that happens, what do I need to do to get married there? Not to stay, but just go over for the ceremony and come back again to do our application. All I can find online is about the 28 days notice. Is there a way to let immigration know that I'm not trying to sneak in, I just need to get married over there because he can't come here?
Thanks!

IF that happens, what do I need to do to get married there? Not to stay, but just go over for the ceremony and come back again to do our application. All I can find online is about the 28 days notice. Is there a way to let immigration know that I'm not trying to sneak in, I just need to get married over there because he can't come here?
Thanks!

If you want to get married in the UK, you need a specific visa in order to be able to do so. One of the restrictions of the regular visitor visa is that you cannot get married on it.

You would need to apply for a Marriage Visitor Visa, with proof that you have a life to return to in the US, and proof of wedding plans in the UK.

Once you have the visa, you must spend a minimum of 35 days in the UK before you can marry:
- 7 days of residency in the county where you will marry, before you can give notice to marry
- then you have to wait a minimum of 28 days after giving notice before you are allowed to marry
- if your case is referred to UKVI for further investigation, you may have to wait 70 days before you can marry, but if you already have the Marriage Visitor Visa, this shouldn't happen.

See here for how to apply for the visa:
https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa/overview

and come back again to do our application.

If you plan to live in the UK, then why not use the Fiance visa? Same financial requirments to meet for a spouse visa, but you won't be able to work in the UK on a fiance visa. You would also need to buy full health insurance as you can't use the NHS for free; 50% added to the NHS bill if you don't have insurance.

But on that visa you can switch (in country) to the next visa (ksand will know the name of that).

Ai ai ai... I wouldn't be able to stay there for 35 days Thank you for all the info, ksand.

Sirius, we've debated spouse vs. fiance visa, but came to the conclusion that doubling the cost was just not prudent and for us, it made sense to just go straight to spouse. But, if health issues prevent that, we may have to look into it
Thanks!

Sirius, we've debated spouse vs. fiance visa, but came to the conclusion that doubling the cost was just not prudent and for us, it made sense to just go straight to spouse. But, if health issues prevent that, we may have to look into it
Thanks!

If you got married on a fiance visa asap and then once married, applied for the visa that did let you work, your salary would cut the extra visa cost. You would also save the cost of his return flight to the US.

Plus you could stay togehter once you married, instead of him flying home without you.

Would he be able to claim his flight cost on insurance if unable to travel due to medical reasons?  If so, that may help ease the financial burden of going the fiance(e) visa route.

From what I can tell, Scotland still doesn't have a residency rule, so as long as your fiancé is able to go up to give notice in person any time between 3 months and 28 days beforehand, you can turn up just for the wedding. Only one person needs to be there personally to give notice.
http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/registration/getting-married-in-scotland/how-do-i-go-about-it

My UK husband and I married in Scotland because they don't have the residency requirements. You do still have to give up to 70 days notice, but it's by mail. The registrar's office in Edinburgh was very helpful to us. Just consider, the registrar for the wedding is quite pricey - I'm not sure how to have a low cost wedding in Scotland, someone else here may be able to give more details. We were married by a registrar at The Prestonfield House - it was beautiful, but $$ for the small number of people we had. The marriage visitor visa is also a requirement for that, and you do have to give the burden of proof that you will be returning to the US after the marriage when applying for the visa. The wonderful folks here gave me all the details I needed to get mine with no trouble.

According to the Registrar General site I linked to above, the cheapest you can get married in Scotland is £125: http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//registration/rm1b-leaflet.pdf
Several councils have really lovely registry office rooms where you can get married if you're having a small wedding, and in Scotland it's also legal to get married outdoors, so you can have a wedding on a beach or at a ruined castle.