Moving to UK

I'm planning to move to UK late this year to join my boyfriend. I've been visiting London every 4mos the last year.  I'm not so sure on how to go about settling in UK. I read one article in this forum about getting a fiance visa first then fly to UK to get married. What if it's the other way around? Can i have him come here, get married and then i apply for a visa to settle in UK as a spouse?

Any advice??? Thanks!

It depends on where you want to get married.  If you want to marry in the UK, apply for a fiancee visa in the US and then fly over, get married and then apply for your FLR.

If you want to marry in the US, have him fly to the US, marry and then apply for your FLR at the Consulate.  Marrying in the US saves you the cost of the fiancee visa. 

I'd say marry in the US and then come  over.. seems  to be less hassle..

Thanks!

My husband (UK) flew to the US for our wedding.  The link below gives you a run-down of our experience.

Good luck!   

The cost for a fiance visa or a spousal visa is the same (about $530 at current exchange rates.) The difference is that the fiance then has to apply for Further Leave to Remain which is £150 (or £250 to do it in person).  Of course you are spending the extra money to have your fiance fly to the US for the wedding, so depending on airline prices, you probably break even.

One advantage of the spousal visa is that the financial burden of proof is lower, as you are able to work right away.  With the fiance visa, the sponsor has to prove he/she can support you until you are married and legal to work.  Also, the waiting period to marry in the UK is longer than in most states in the US (about 3 weeks... see the visa faq thread for my experience) so that's nearly a month you can't work, even if you apply for FLR in person as soon as you have the marriage certificate.

We got registered on Jan 31, just before the new law takes place, which is how I'll be able to marry as soon as I arrive, but we very nearly got into trouble.  The registrar told us that by registering before the law change on Feb 1, I wouldn't need a fiance visa, and I could just come in on a visitor's visa, get married, and then apply for FLR while in the UK.  I didn't think that sounded right, but I had to do a lot of digging online before I could prove it.  (And if I'd known earlier, I'd have brought all of his documents with me, and saved the hassle of having to wait for them to appear in the mail!  But that's behind me now.  My application will be at the consulate this morning, and hopefully will be approved very quickly!)

Whoever told you that you didn't need a fiancee visa to marry in the UK prior to 1st February of this year was woefully misinformed.  Because if (after April or August? 2004) you had arrived in the UK and gotten married without entering on the Fiancee Visa, you would have had to return to the US to get a Spouse Visa - you would not have been able to simply apply for FLR(M) within the UK. 

Yes!  I'm so glad I didn't trust what the registrar said.  I would have been devastated if I'd gotten to the FLR interview and been told I had to leave!  My fiance and I looked all over the FLR form and it didn't say that you couldn't use it if you were in the UK on a visitor's visa.  But I finally found online on an immigration advisor's site (sorry, can't find the link now) that you cannot adjust status from visitor to spouse.  Other classes of visas can be converted to spouse, but not visitor.  So I'm very glad for my suspicions and the internet, and I wish the FLR form was a little more specific about who qualifies to apply.

I think the registrar got confused because before Feb 1, she didn't have to look for a fiance visa stamp in the passport in order to register the marriage, and after the 1st, she does.  But that doesn't have anything to do with what happens afterwards with my immigration status.

The best thing about having beat the deadline is that I've already satisfied the waiting period and if the visa takes that long, I can arrive the day before the wedding and still get married.  Then I'll get my FLR as soon as I can get an appointment at Croydon and start job hunting much sooner.

Lola was asked about a warning stamp in her passport.  She had admitted she was entering the UK to visit her boyfriend (Richard, obviously) in 2001 and the immigration officer had made a note of the situation.

Lola, why did they put a warning stamp in your passport? I mean, coming to UK on a visitor's visa because you're meeting/visiting your boyfriend isnt allowed??? 

Anyway, I got another question ... I have 2 kids, 19 & 13. My 19yr old daughter will be staying here for college but i will have to take my son with me. Will his visa fee be the same as mine? How's the school system in UK? Is there a big difference between the public school (i think they call it state school there) and private school system? My son is in junior high now (7th grade), will he advance to the next grade or will he have to go back to 7th grade again? My boyfriend lives in East London (East Ham), is that a good area to live in? Lastly, how difficult is it to find a job in London? And for a family of 3, how much do we have to earn to get by each month?

What love can do ha .... 

Lola was asked about a warning stamp in her passport.  She had admitted she was entering the UK to visit her boyfriend (Richard, obviously) in 2001 and the immigration officer had made a note of the situation.

Lola, why did they put a warning stamp in your passport? I mean, coming to UK on a visitor's visa because you're meeting/visiting your boyfriend isnt allowed??? 

It's perfectly legal to enter the UK on a visitor's visa to see a boyfriend or fiance or whomever you'd like to see.  However, the immigration officer has the discretion to put a mark in your passport if he/she feels that you might overstay your visa, get married while you're here, or basically try to circumvent the immigration rules.  I think the stamp also serves as a record that you have been asked about your visit in detail.  It was my second trip to the UK, but the first to see my boyfriend.  I said I was visiting my boyfriend and the IO wanted to know how long we'd known each other, how we met, if we were engaged, etc.  I guess my answers led her to think that our relationship was serious (which, hey, we're married now!) enough to merit the stamp! 

The warning stamp was just another stamp that reiterated my 6-month limit and had some numbers across the top that linked to my "case" in the "system".  It wasn't a big deal when we applied for my spousal visa, but I was really surprised to be asked about it after nearly two years!

Your son's visa fee will be the same as yours.

I won't give any opinion on schools as I don't live in London.  I'm very happy with the schools where we live.  I moved here when my oldest was 14 (just ended 8th grade) and he started in Year 10 here.

My boyfriend lives in East London (East Ham), is that a good area to live in?

I suppose 'good'  depends on where you come from, and what you're used to. 
I used to work in East Ham and i hated the place.   I found it really filthy-dirty and semi-violent.  I worked in the Halifax bank in the High Street,  and members of staff were regularly threatened by customers, and i saw 2 assaults on bank staff (by customers) while i worked there.
On the plus side, though, East Ham has some amazing curry shops, Asian grocers and halal butchers!  Yummmmmmm!!

Wow, that pretty scared me

Well i'm from what they call here "America's Finest City" ... sunny San Diego, California ... where the sun shines 300days of the year. I guess that's one thing i'll miss when i move to UK. 

His whole family lives in East London. If we are to find a place to live in i'm pretty sure he still wants to stay along the East side. Can you suggest a better place than East Ham considering that i have a 13yr old son to look after too.

I'm coming to visit my boyfriend in May. And i only have 5days to scout around for a good area to live in. Please i really need help on this one as i'm pretty much concerned about my son's safety.

Well, to be totally honest with you, the East End of London is not known for being a 'nice area'.   There are nice pockets here and there, but it's considered to be relatively rough.
I lived in Stratford, E15... i hated where i lived because my neighbours were complete scum... but Stratford itself wasnt completely useless as it had good transport links, and a few good restaurants.
There are bright spots even in dodgy areas... you just have to look a bit harder to find them.

I cant advise on anything to do with your son, as i dont have children, but when i lived & worked in the East End, i found the teenagers to be more scary than the adults.   

Good luck.

Thanks for the info...