Hey Y'all

Hi everyone.  Just joined this board.  It looks like it's pretty active, so I hope to find lots of good info about this crazy immigration thing I'm trying to do.   

I'm a 33 year old American (female) engaged to my 31 year old British fiance (male,) and we live in Japan working as English teachers.  I've been here 7 years, he's been here 5. 

We are planning to get married here in Japan this December. After finishing his work contract next April, he'll return to the UK, and I'll apply for the spouse visa. (I'll stay here in Japan and keep working/saving while I apply.)  We are planning to apply using our savings to meet the financial requirement, as he may not find work right away upon returning, and as our Japanese salaries are, of course, not taken into account for the visa requirements.

We are very, VERY lucky in (hopefully) having enough money to meet the absurdly high savings requirement, and I feel sorry for ANYONE who is going through the stress of trying for a marriage visa right now.  I do, however, have a few concerns about the application, which I'll probably post about in the appropriate place sometime later. 

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello, and and big THANK YOU in advance to anyone who helps me out on this forum in the future.    Even though I'm really happy about starting out lives together in the UK, I'm pretty worried about us finding work and making ends meet once we get there... and worrying every day about getting approved for this stupid visa.   It's an uphill battle, and I have SO many questions and concerns... 

So yeah, hello, thank you, and nice to meet you all. 

Hi SnowFish! Welcome to UKY.   There's loads of information on here, so dig through and enjoy the journey 

I'm actually going to Japan next month-- If you have any tips, please do share them with mehere!! I'm about to update it with my current plans

Best of luck with your upcoming wedding, visa applications, and eventual move!

Welcome! I am on my way from Alabama to the East Midlands! Good luck with your journey.

Welcome! I hope your application goes very smoothly where abouts will you be settling when you're over here?

Welcome to the forum! I completely understand the stress; I'll be applying for my spousal visa in the next couple of weeks, and I'm also worried about finding work once I settle in Essex. I spent a month in Japan a few years ago - what a beautiful country! I loved the people and culture there. So very different.

Thanks, guys.  Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this forum.  To be honest... I really don't want to think about this stressful visa thing on my time off, ha ha.

Not sure where exactly we'll end up once we make it to the UK. His family lives in Northamptonshire (Wellingborough,) but where we finally settle will depend on what jobs we manage to find, I guess. 

In any case, we decided that I'll apply for the visa in spring of 2016, so I still have another few years in Japan. 

Hey snowfish, your story mirrors that of a couple I met in Uig, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Joy (from Tennessee) and Martin (from England) met while teaching in Japan, they fought a long hard battle to get Joy into the UK. They now run a beautiful B&B in Uig, Skye.

best of luck!!