California --> Bristol.....

Hi!

There are some very interesting and encouraging stories here, we are looking for some advice.  My fiancée is from Sacramento, CA and is looking to move to Bristol, UK with me - we wanted to know the easiest way to do this.  We have known each other for 18 months, and have just got engaged.  I have been there to visit, and she is coming to the end of her 5 week visit here right now.

We have considered the fiancee visa option and my income is sufficient to support us for 6 months.  But we are currently thinking it might an easier option for her to come here as a visitor for 6 months, then we would go to the US to get married and then apply for a UK spouse visa?  Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated, thank you.

The first question is are you aware of the financial requirements for a spousal visa? Meaning your job must have a salary of at least £18,600 per annum.

Your fiancée can come for up to six months out of any twelve as a visitor, so it sounds like she'll have about five months left if you go that route. It is cheaper to marry in the US and apply for the spousal visa there rather than doing the fiancé visa then the FLR in the UK.

Thanks for that, yes we've checked that, I earn around 26k so no problems there.  As she is going back to Cali next week we weren't sure if the 6 months would start again, so thanks for clearing that up too.

Great, that tends to be the first problem many people aren't aware of.

The thing with the six months is that it is general guidance, not a strict rule. She may be let in for another six months when she attempts to enter again, but she might not. So it is safest to not buy a ticket that assumes she will get another six months.