Third entry on a tourist visa and plans to stay nearly 6 months. Should I worry?

So, my fiance and I decided recently to skip the fiance visa and marry in Gibraltar.  I currently have plane tickets to come to the UK September with a return in February, marrying in October in Gibraltar. 

I have entered the UK twice before since 2019, once for 8 weeks and once for just under 4 months.  I will not at any point have spent more than 180 days of the last year in the UK.

After having read some accounts of people being denied entry because their purpose is not tourism I'm concerned about is being turned away at the border even though I have a return ticket and zero intention of overstaying.  Both previous entries I was basically just waved through customs but I've read that scrutiny tends to increase after successive stays and possibly for longer stays.

I had planned to tell the immigration officers that I was there to visit my girlfriend  while my country is basically shut down because of Covid19 and leave out the fact that we planned to marry unless explicitly asked.  I also will mention (legitimate) plans to explore a couple national parks and a couple historic areas and the holiday in Gibraltar.

Is there anything to worry about here? Besides getting a visitor visa, which I think I'm probably too late for(flight is 43 days away), what's my best course of action

Would a shorter return ticket help?  If I changed to a 3 month instead of 6 month round trip could I extend it later once I'm in the country?  I certainly wouldn't outright lie to  an immigration officer, but plans change certainly.

A shorter duration would definitely help. Stays longer than a few months would beg the question 'how can you support yourself' during the 6 months. So be prepared to have bank statements or a means to show you are financially able to cover the costs. And that you have somewhere to live. If Immigration have any doubts then they will stamp your passport with a shorter exit date.

So, my fiance and I decided recently to skip the fiance visa and marry in Gibraltar.  I currently have plane tickets to come to the UK September with a return in February, marrying in October in Gibraltar. 





I had planned to tell the immigration officers that I was there to visit my girlfriend  while my country is basically shut down because of Covid19 and leave out the fact that we planned to marry unless explicitly asked.  I also will mention (legitimate) plans to explore a couple national parks and a couple historic areas and the holiday in Gibraltar.

Except that would be a lie as your "girlfiend" is really your fiance. And when you leave the UK just a few weeks later, marry in Gibraltar and then arrive at the UK border and ask for entry again, your "girlfriend" will be your wife.

If that works, then what? A few weeks later apply for a spouse visa to come to the UK, or apply for a spouse visa later with the date on that marriage certificate? When you had falsely claimed to the entry officers that you only wanted to be in the UK to visit your "girlfriend"? 

Why not just get a fiance visa, which will allow you to stay in the UK after marriage and apply for a spouse visa?

Or

Get a Marriage visitor visa, which would allow you to marry your fiance but you would then have then leave the UK?

Or

Your fiance goes to the US to marry you?

Or

Marry in Gibralter, but you return to the US from there and apply to sponsor your wife to the US?

Fair point that I need to be up front in regards to my fiance's status and not call her girlfriend, especially since we will be marrying in a few weeks. 

We plan to marry then have me stay there as long as we can while we wait for the immigration backlog to hopefully die down before applying for a spouse visa in February. 

Fair point that I need to be up front in regards to my fiance's status and not call her girlfriend, especially since we will be marrying in a few weeks. 

We plan to marry then have me stay there as long as we can while we wait for the immigration backlog to hopefully die down before applying for a spouse visa in February. 

For a visitor entry, you need to show that you do not intend to stay in the UK, you are not using visits to live in the UK and show you have strong ties to your own country, job that you need to return to, property you rent etc  to take you back to your own country. This, will be hard to do as now your main tie will be your wife and she is in the UK where you want to live. Will your employer let you have all this time off work?

Some have been able to show they will leave the UK (not just show a plane ticket as they can be cancelled). Take as much evidence as you can, but don't rely on being gratned 6 months as the time you are allowed in will be down to the entry officer and they might not grant you entry at all.

These are the UK immigration rules for visitors.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules

And remember that each time you enter the UK, you will "be applying for" another visitors visa.  You may get in the first time but after you marry it could look a lot like you're trying to live in the UK with your wife without the appropriate visa, which is just what you would be doing!

Whatever you do, do not tell them you'll be staying for a short while then change your flight. They are wise to that one and it does not look good on your immigration record.

Thanks for the advice, Larrabee. 

I do not have a job at the moment, though I do have some savings to support myself for these months.  I also don't have a lease or anything as I've been staying with my parents, so overall this is rather nerve wracking.  I'm left rather hoping that they are so overwhelmed with Covid precautions and enforcing 14 day quarantines that they are less critical than normal.

I hope to frame it in terms of my country being shut down because of Covid and I'm coming to stay there for a bit while things settle down here.  I guess I'll find out  

Do you have any idea how likely they are to deny me entry altogether vs. just giving me a shorter window of a couple months or something?

Wouldn't it just be easier to stick to your orignal plan to marry in the UK and apply for Marriage visitor visa rather them trying to claim you are just a visitor and then have to try to gain entry to the UK as a fiance and then as a spouse?
https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa

I hope to frame it in terms of my country being shut down because of Covid and I'm coming to stay there for a bit while things settle down here.  I guess I'll find out  

When really you want to be in the UK to be with your fiance, marry and then stay in the UK for a few months with your wife until you can apply for a spouse visa. Why don't you apply for a mariage visitor visa?

I can't see how your story of you wanting to be in the UK because of Covid shut down in your country, will work. The UK is still having to shut down areas too because of Covid. The Entry Officers are used to hearing all sorts of stories to try to enter the UK.

Thanks for the advice, Larrabee. 

I do not have a job at the moment, though I do have some savings to support myself for these months.  I also don't have a lease or anything as I've been staying with my parents, so overall this is rather nerve wracking.  I'm left rather hoping that they are so overwhelmed with Covid precautions and enforcing 14 day quarantines that they are less critical than normal. 

Do you have any idea how likely they are to deny me entry altogether vs. just giving me a shorter window of a couple months or something?

Honestly, there is just no way of telling. It entirely depends on the immigration officer on the day.

In normal times, we try to discourage people from applying for the fiancee visa and always suggest that they marry quickly in the US then apply directly for the spouse visa. (It's cheaper, less stressful, fewer visa applications to ILR and all around a better way of doing things, ... normally)

There have been a few couples recently going for the fiancee visa because of the circumstances and that is probably the easiest way to do it, as things are at the moment what with travel bans and the rest.

Maybe for you a good compromise would be to get married in Gibraltar then return to the US to apply for the spouse visa from there, as Sirius suggested? I know you're thinking about the length of time apart but the sooner you get on the actual spouse visa path, the sooner you'll be done with it all and able to properly get on with your lives..

I hope to frame it in terms of my country being shut down because of Covid and I'm coming to stay there for a bit while things settle down here.  I guess I'll find out  

You wouldn't be able to travel at all if that were the case.

Whatever you do, do not tell them you'll be staying for a short while then change your flight. They are wise to that one and it does not look good on your immigration record.

You've given me quite a bit to think about.  One more question regarding this - would this apply in general with leaving at a later date than originally planned, or only if they give me a short exit date?  The other times I have entered they haven't even stamped my passport or told me anything about leaving by a certain date. 

You're saying though that if I changed my return flight to November, was granted entry without conditions (both times) then extended my return to February it might adversely affect my spouse visa application later?

I certainly won't risk anything of the sort if that's the case, I'm just trying to get it straight in my head

No one can answer this question with ANY certainty.

They could deny entry and immediately put you on the first flight back to your flight of origin.

They may permit a short stay.

They may permit a six month stay.

Everything will be void when you leave for Gibralter and you'll go through the whole rigamaror again.  Only this time a denied entry will result in a refutrned flight to Gibralter and not the USA.

The only way to be certain is to apply for a visitor visa in advance.  But as you have no job or home to return to, the chances of this being granted are slim to none.  Which will be similiar at the border, unless you get someone 10 minutes from ending their shift who is happy just to wave you through.

I just wanted to update this post with my experiences for any future readers.  I consulted Chris at Medivisas before my trip and explained what I did here. 

He asked whether I've spent more than 6 months of the last year here and then told me i would likely be fine but to expect questioning at the border, so we chanced it and went ahead with plans

September 1st entry - spoke to a border agent but he literally just scanned my passenger locator form and waved me through, no questions asked.

Oct 16th entry again after getting married in Gibraltar, The e-gates were open and passed me right through after scanning my passport and locator form. 

Obviously I may have just been absurdly fortunate and I certainly wouldn't take this as gospel, but I wanted to post so anyone reading in the future doesn't think it's entirely hopeless if they decide to roll the dice.