UK Marriage Visitor Visa - Serious Confusion

Good Afternoon Everyone - I have been an avid reader over the last couple of months but I finally took the leap and signed up for real.

I am a British Citizen (male) currently engaged to a US Citizen (female).

We are looking to get married in the UK at the end of March next year (2019). I know, I know... it is way easier to get married in the US and apply for a Spouse Visa immediately. Whilst we haven't closed the door on this completely, if we can get married in the UK that is what we would prefer to do.

So, on that basis we are looking at the visa process required for us to achieve this, and thus the story begins:

At first, we were dedicated to getting a Fiancee Visa. Whilst my fiancee is currently in the UK with me as a visitor, she intends to return to the US in October and apply for a visa enabling us to get married. However, the more we went down that path the more we realised that showing that I meet the financial requirements isn't all that simple. I work in the Merchant Navy on cruise ships primarily based in the Caribbean. Now, whilst I am employed through the UK office, my salary is paid in US Dollars and my payslips are also shown in dollars paid by a Florida based office. Basically, when we showed this to a couple of immigration solicitors I think I melted their minds.

They were convinced that I am classified as a UK national employed overseas and returning to the UK. Whilst, as per Appendix FM, this isn't entirely true as their is a special clause for seafarers. I would also like to clarify that I am in no way allowed to work in the US - I have no visa, I have no greencard, there is no way I can legally be employed in the states. I am just paid in dollars. However, I have been told that "It simply is too complicated" to show that I meet the financial requirement and the resounding advice has been to get job in the UK, get married in the US or get a Marriage Visitor Visa as I find a shoreside job in the UK. Add to this that I have been on sick pay for the last month - and my salary isn't paid in the traditional fashion (I am paid whilst I am onboard the ship but not at home) the whole web of paper work is mind blowing.

So - we have been advised to get a Marriage Visitor Visa and I have been looking into that. After our UK March wedding we were both planning on heading to the US anyway for a honeymoon/ celebration for my partners side of the family. After which we would apply for a Spouse Visa.

What I can't clear up, despite asking several "experts" and looking online for days on end is whether this will be allowed. My understanding is that the Marriage Visitor Visa is for people who do not wish to settle in the UK. But - we do - at least in the long run. What we are trying to give ourselves time to do is ensure we meet all the financial requirements for a family visa which, as it stands, we believe would be difficult to justify for just the fiancee visa. However, in six months time we hope that would have changed (I am now seeking shoreside employment in the UK).

HOWEVER, on the flip side I have also read that this will be fine. We will meet the immediate criteria for the Marriage Visitor Visa i.e. leave the UK after getting married etc., and begin the process of obtaining a different visa to meet our changing circumstances.


Okay - all in all this is a lot of information, and quite a confusing situation so to summarise:

I am wondering whether it is allowed to get a Marriage Visitor Visa enabling us to be married in the UK in March next year, for us to leave the UK to honeymoon/celebrate in the US (my fiancees home country), and then a few weeks later in April apply for a Spouse Visa to enable her to reside in the UK. To clarify, I will probably have to be back in the UK by this point for work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

All the best,
J

Hi, and welcome to UKY!

It's absolutely fine to marry in the UK with a marriage visitor visa with plans to apply for a spouse visa on a later date!

If dead set on marrying in the UK, most people prefer the fiance(e) visa because it means the US partner can remain in the UK after the marriage and switch from within the UK to a spouse visa.  There's no period of separation from your new spouse after marrying. 

With a marriage visitor visa, the US partner MUST leave the UK and apply for a spouse visa from the US if wanting to return to settle in the UK.  There's no way around this.  Unless the UK partner can return to the US and wait out the visa processing time there, the newlyweds will face a period of separation after marriage and for some people, that's not an attractive option.

But there's no rule that you must do one option or another - it's down to personal preference and what suits your circumstances.

ETA - The only thing I would advise is that in an application for the marriage visitor visa, you make it clear that you understand how this visa differs from the fiance(e) visa, and that you are aware that your US spouse will need to leave the UK and apply for a spouse visa if she wants to return to the UK to settle.  You will also need to demonstrate that she will have a reason to leave the UK, so will need evidence of ties back to the US even if temporary until a future move (like pets back home she'll need to look into moving or rehoming, a property to sell or end a lease on, a job to give notice to, a car to sell, and so on).

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

Yes - it isn't ideal, but I have also been told that you can 'speed up' the spouse visa process by basically paying more to 'put your application to the top of the pile'.

Honestly, our relationship has endured long stints of being apart - often without an idea of when we would see each other again (thanks to my job.) So the simple fact is that we are just happy to be able to start our lives together in the same country. If that means a little more waiting then I think we can tolerate that!

If anyone else who has done that same can chip in any info that would always be appreciated!

Yes, there is an optional service that you can purchase to put the application forwards in the processing queue.  Depending on how swamped the processing centre is, it could potentially shave off several weeks of waiting compared to non-priority applications, though if the application volume is already pretty low, there might not be a huge difference between priority and non-priority applications (maybe only a few days or week).  We recommend that as the time approaches to apply, keep an eye on people posting their timelines here.  You'll be able to get a sense of how long priority and non-priority applications are taking and make a decision then. 

Welcome to the forum .

Yes, there is an optional service that you can purchase to put the application forwards in the processing queue.  Depending on how swamped the processing centre is, it could potentially shave off several weeks of waiting compared to non-priority applications, though if the application volume is already pretty low, there might not be a huge difference between priority and non-priority applications (maybe only a few days or week).

That’s not really the case anymore, since all the processing times have increased in the last year and a half and  show no signs of going back to the fast amount of time they use to take.

It’s been about 2 years since the Priority and non-Priority processing times were similar (which was a few days for priority and about 3 weeks non-priority)... since Feb 2017, it has been taking at least twice as long to get the visa if you do not use priority processing.

The average processing times, which have been pretty consistent for the last 18 months, are:

Priority processing = 30-40 working days (about 6 weeks to 2 months)

Non-priority = 60+ working days (about 3-4 months on average, but some can take 6 months)



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One thing to be aware of on the marriage visitor visa is that there is still the notice period. So you have to be resident for 7 days, give notice to the registrar's office that you intend to marry, and then wait 28 days. My husband and I elected to get married in Scotland because you could give notice by mail while waiting for the visa to come through (It's processed in NY and only takes a couple weeks, you submit it 3 months before you plan to be married.)

We went the marriage visitor visa route because i had so much to tie up back home. I'm glad we did, it was a lovely ceremony. We still haven't had a honeymoon though!

That’s not really the case anymore, since all the processing times have increased in the last year and a half and  show no signs of going back to the fast amount of time they use to take.

It’s been about 2 years since the Priority and non-Priority processing times were similar (which was a few days for priority and about 3 weeks non-priority)... since Feb 2017, it has been taking at least twice as long to get the visa if you do not use priority processing.

The average processing times, which have been pretty consistent for the last 18 months, are:

Priority processing = 30-40 working days (about 6 weeks to 2 months)

Non-priority = 60+ working days (about 3-4 months on average, but some can take 6 months)

Thanks for the update/clarification.  I could have sworn I recalled seeing a few relatively fast non-priority applications going through before the summer rush began.  Must have mis-remembered that.

@jc5515, another thing you could think about is doing a private legal marriage in the US and having a blessing in the UK.  If you prefer to have the entire event officially done in the UK, that's totally fine - it's your day!    But if it's more a matter of being able to celebrate with UK guests and working out attendance logistics, a UK blessing could be 99.99% the same as a wedding.  The only difference would be the actual legal bit, but you could still have a ceremony, venue, catering, music, and so on.  As I said before, it's totally up to you both and there's no right/wrong way to do it, but I just wanted to throw out another option. 

Thanks for the update/clarification.  I could have sworn I recalled seeing a few relatively fast non-priority applications going through before the summer rush began.  Must have mis-remembered that.

I don't recall any of them taking less than about 60 working days in the last 12 months or so, though I could be wrong.

Having said that, there doesn't seem to be much difference between summer applications and non-summer applications anymore... because although processing times have increased a little in the last couple of months, it hasn't been by that much, because they were taking pretty long before the summer rush began.

The VFS Global website now gives a standard year-round processing time for priority of 30 working days... though at the moment it seems to be taking 35-45 working days.

Makes me nostalgic for when settlement priority used to be [mostly] guaranteed 15 working days and you sent your application to a US hub...