COA questions and overstaying visa

Hi,

Very sorry if this has been posted before, but I do have some specifics and any new rules dealing with overstaying has me worried.

I'm still on my student visa until 31/12/2008, at which point it will expire.  What I'd like to know is how soon I'd need to send off an application for a COA for my partner and I.  If it ends up still pending and my visa expires, what then?  And does the COA just allow me the right to get married and stay, or just the right to marry?  I'm a bit confused and stressed out about overstaying and then not being to actually get all this done.

Obvious answer would be to apply now, but i'm still waiting on my university results, and i'd rather get married during the summer when my family could actually be here -- but if I have to resit an exam that won't be an option. 

Thanks for any help

The COA has no bearing on your visa.  It is only a permission to marry, not a permission to remain.

When are you likely to finish the maters?  On the post you made in June you mentioned IGS/PSW, why not go for this?

Vicky

I will go for that if by November I've had a response from the exam board. I'm still waiting on one of my papers that was submitted this summer.  If it is turned down, I'll need to rewrite it and have it marked again -- which wouldn't be done until next summer.  So if this is the case we'll just be getting married instead. 

So if i wait until November and the COA is just a permission, i'd then need to apply for a spousal visa, correct?  Sounds to me like I'd run out of time...

Yes, it does.  I think you'd have to extend the student visa.

Vicky

You said before if I apply for a COA it wouldn't hurt if I apply for that, get it, but then get my marks and could apply for the IGS--correct?  So if I apply soon, I might be able to get the COA in and file for spousal visa on time before my visa expires.

Do they usually take a substantial amount of time? 

The COA is totally irrelevant to your visa status.  You can apply for the COA anytime you like, but it is apart from the need to have to ensure you have legal status in the UK.

I think a COA is taking about 4 weeks at the moment.


Vicky

kais0088, the comment must be .... apply for your CoA as soon as possible! Clearly the sooner you apply, the sooner the CoA will be issued.

But it is not just a question of the CoA being issued before the expiry of your visa. After the CoA is issued you and your fiancé need to give Notice of Intention to Marry at a Register Office, and then wait for the 15 days that the Notice is posted openly in the Register Office. Only after the 15 day period will you be able to get married.

Time is tight ... if the CoA application is not already in the post, ensure that it is in the post tomorrow!