marrying abroad...

alright, as you all know that i came here on a fiancee visa with the intention of getting married in the uk. however my fiance has been reading about these weddings abroad (carribean ... thialand.. etc..) and has been thinking about it loads recently andwants us to get married in somewhere sunny and cheerful... i didnt like the idea first cos i want to have a wedding party and all that... but  he got me tempted and im thinking about it too!!
question is: under my current status here (fiancee visa) can we travel somewhere else and get married? i know it contradicts the whole point of having  the fiancee visa but its worth asking.
 thanx!!!

can't speak to the legality of getting married in another country on a fiancee visa (although I strongly suspect that it wouldn't be a huge problem as you simply changed your mind about where to marry and didn't do anything deceptive), but I do know that if you ended up doing it that way you would need to go back to the States to get a spousal visa.  You can't re-enter the UK on a fiancee visa if you are no longer a fiancee (ie, married.)

What you could also do is simply get legally married in a UK registry office and switch to FLR, then go off and have a exotic wedding abroad without worrying about any of the legal stuff.  That would probably be easier (and less expensive since you wouldn't have to worry about flying back to the states for a spousal visa.)

This could be problematic.  You have a fiancee visa, which is multiple entry, but if you are married when you attempt to re-enter then you risk refusal, as you won't actually be a fiancee anymore, you'll be a spouse.  You may actually be told to go back to the US and apply for a spousal visa from there.  Even if you are granted entry to the UK, you may have problems when you go to switch.

Basically, not worth the risk is my opinion.

Sorry.

Vicky

*edited to say - damn, Andrea, you are too fast for me!*

oh well .. at least i asked . i dont want to go on saying what if? hehehehe
thanx for the quick reply ladies:)

if you have your HEART set on this (which it doesn't really sound like you do)... you could...

go to caribbean and get hitched!
travel to US and apply for spousal visa
travel back to the UK on spousal visa.

but that's a lot of travel and def a hassle.

alternatively- andrea's idea of getting an official marriage done here and then having the WEDDING elsewhere is nifty.

I think that is a very cool idea.  I think i'd fancy Bali....

Vicky

Maybe the laws have changed, I don't know.

I came over on a fiance visa in July 2004. We went back to Indiana in November 2004 and got married within the 6 month limit that you have. We then flew back to the UK and applied for the extension to the visa, sending off our marriage certificate etc as proof of marriage and the 2 year extension I have is a spousal extension. Next step is ILR in January.

Don't know if anything has changed but it all ran like clockwork for us.

Yeah you guys could always have a civil ceremony, or small wedding first and then fly somewhere exotic to have a wedding. Or alternatively you could just have a 'vow renewal' at one of the places. We got married in Jamiaca (I'm american, hubby is English) and it was great. A lot of resorts have package deals and the vow renewals seem to be about half the price as actual weddings so that could be something to consider.

Maybe the laws have changed, I don't know.

I came over on a fiance visa in July 2004. We went back to Indiana in November 2004 and got married within the 6 month limit that you have. We then flew back to the UK and applied for the extension to the visa, sending off our marriage certificate etc as proof of marriage and the 2 year extension I have is a spousal extension. Next step is ILR in January.

Don't know if anything has changed but it all ran like clockwork for us.

The law about re-entering is the same, it is just that it is enforced much more strictly.

The law about approving the switch to spouse after the applicant has left the country has changed.

Vicky