US licence to UK

Hi everyone - I hope you're enjoying the start of a super-long weekend!

My English fiance and I are getting married on 8th May in Michigan, where I'm from. I just realized that I have absolutely no idea what I need to do for the UK to recognize our marriage. Do we need to get married (or at least get a UK licence) here too or is a copy of our US licence enough?? I am currently on a FLR(m) as his unmarried partner - I don't need to let the Home Office know that we're getting married before we marry, do I? I am always amazed at how little I know about all this visa business!

Thanks for any help and advice you can give me 

You don't need to do anything at all. 

Angelini, the UK's Foreign Marriages Act 1892 (yes 1892!) says that the UK recognises as a valid legal marriage, a marriage that takes place outside the UK .... if the place where the marriage takes places recognises it as a valid legal marriage. As simple as that!

That is, if Michigan will recognise the two of you as married to each other, so will the UK.

Following the marriage, given that you already have a UPV, you do not need to make another visa application in the US. Your next visa application will be in the UK, to apply for ILR, near the end of your current UPV.

Hm, now here is an interesting situation- as Angelini is on FLR(M) but as unmarried partners, does she have to change her status in any way to qualify for citizenship in the same time scale as spouses, or can she just apply once she has ILR?

Hm, now here is an interesting situation- as Angelini is on FLR(M) but as unmarried partners, does she have to change her status in any way to qualify for citizenship in the same time scale as spouses, or can she just apply once she has ILR?

superl99 -- she'll just apply for ILR once her 2 years has passed & citizenship as usual after total of 3 years in the settlement catagory (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/settlement/applicationtypes/applicationformset(m)/):

If you were given permission to stay in the United Kingdom as an unmarried or same-sex partner and are now applying for permanent residence as the husband, wife, or civil partner of the same person, your two-year qualifying period started:

when you received permission to stay as an unmarried or same-sex partner; or
on the date when you arrived in the United Kingdom, if this was later than the date on which you were given a visa to come here in this category.

superl99, the Bill is of course still progressing through Parliament but I don't think the fact that she currently only has a UPV makes any difference to when she can apply for Naturalisation.

Angelini, when does your current UPV expire? And if it was issued outside the UK, when did you first enter the UK using that visa?

 

Okey dokey, I was just wondering since UPV has a different qualifying period for naturalisation.

Hi guys - thanks so much for the information, it's such a relief to have one less thing to worry about!

I need to apply for my ILR by October of this year (I assume I just need to include a copy of our marriage licence with the application?) I received my current visa while in the UK almost two years ago. I really am pretty clueless about all of this ... do you mean I can qualify for 'Naturalisation' after only one year of an ILR visa as I've been here for two on a FLR visa?

Thanks again, I appreciate it (c:

do you mean I can qualify for 'Naturalisation' after only one year of an ILR visa as I've been here for two on a FLR visa?

That is not quite the test. Whilst there are other tests, the one you are concerned about here is ... where you physically in the UK exactly three years before UKBA will receive the Naturalisation application.

It is all too easy to do the maths .... 3 years less 2 years on ILR and arrive at 1 year ... but it is not as easy as that. For example, prior to you getting your 2-year UPV, were you living in the UK? If so, on what sort of visa? Or if not, did you even visit the UK, even for a short holiday, in the 9 months before you moved to the UK?

For example, if your UK immigration history shows you were a student in the UK for 3 years prior to getting your 2-year UPV, it might well be the case that you can apply for your Naturalisation as soon as you have your ILR.

But do let us know what exactly is your UK immigration history.

Hi John - I was on a student visa for 3 years and applied for the UPV when my student visa expired. I was under the impression that one could only 'naturalise' after 3 years on an ILR - shows how little I know about it all!

No, as a spouse of a British Citizen you merely need to have ILR, and not for any particular length of time.

But do ensure that when you apply for your Naturalisation, following you getting your ILR, that you were physically in the UK exactly 3 years before UKBA will receive the Naturalisation application.

Angelini, if you apply for your Naturalisation shortly after getting your ILR, you might even be a British Citizen by the end of 2009!