Marriage on a student visa?

Hi! I'm American and my fiance is English.  
I'm currently enrolled in an MA program in the UK, and on a student  
visa through October 2004.  My fiance is a student and will most  
likely be doing a PGCE next year.  Is it possible for us to get  
married while I'm on a student visa?  Would we have to have someone  
cosponsor to prove adequate funds in order for me to get a marriage  
visa?  If I find a job here after finishing my degree, is my income  
considered in the application for the marriage visa?  Also, how  
difficult is it for foreign students to find a permanent job in  
England (my MA is in modern history, my BA is in history and political science, and my previous work experience  
is two and a half years with the US government doing legislative  
research)?    Thanks for any and all help!!

Hi!  Welcome to the site.  

 Is it possible for us to get  
married while I'm on a student visa?

Yes.  A visa is really for entry purposes.  Once you're here, you can get married.  However, getting a spousal visa would require you to a) prove that your marriage was a bit spontaneous and that you didn't come over here on a student visa to get married (this is rather tricky sometimes) and b) you will have to travel back to the US to get your new visa.

It's not recommended you get married here on a student visa because they it can be tough to prove you didn't mean to get married here in the first place.  The thing most people do is travel back to the US, get married there, get a visa there, and then come back.  This generally regarded as the easiest option.

 Would we have to have someone  
cosponsor to prove adequate funds in order for me to get a marriage  
visa?  

It all depends on your circumstances.  There is no set amount required for the visa...and sometimes it depends on who gets your application about whether or not they want to see more funds.  However, it doesnt generally require a large amount of money.  You just need to prove that you can survive without needing public funds.

If I find a job here after finishing my degree, is my income  
considered in the application for the marriage visa?  

Not too sure about this one.  I did send my CV/resume in with our application....I figured it couldn't hurt!

Also, how  
difficult is it for foreign students to find a permanent job in  
England (my MA is in modern history, my BA is in history and political science, and my previous work experience  
is two and a half years with the US government doing legislative  
research)?    Thanks for any and all help!!

If you have a marriage visa, you are legally able to work here.  Your abilty to find work then will not be impeded by your nationality.  Finding jobs in your field will depend entirely on where you live, your skills, etc...just as it would anywhere else.

Hope that helps and good luck!  

Actually, it seems that you CAN just switch your student visa to your FLR after marriage without leaving the country - AS LONG AS you have been in the UK longer than 6 months and your program of study is longer than 6 months.

Just found that out last week.

Actually, it seems that you CAN just switch your student visa to your FLR after marriage without leaving the country - AS LONG AS you have been in the UK longer than 6 months and your program of study is longer than 6 months.

Sorry, I know I posted this topic in October, but I was considering other options, and have come back to this one.  Do you (or anyone else who reads this!) have any more info on how to do apply for this adjustment of status?  I've been searching for it online and only found one site referring to it (an unofficial one).  Since I'm not sure what exactly the change of status to an FLR is called here, I don't even know what to search for!  Thanks for any help!

Quote:  "I'm not sure what exactly the change of status to an FLR is called here, I don't even know what to search for!"

Actually, you are would be changing your status from a student to a spouse - the change of status would involve you applying for FLR (further leave to remain) as a spouse - confusing, isn't it!!!  The form you would need to use is form FLR(M), which can be found on the IND website:  ind.homeoffice.gov.uk .

The immigration rules regarding the requirements necessary to apply for further leave to remain as a spouse can be found at http://ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=3204 (see paragraph 284).  Subparagraph (i) essentially says that you can change your status in the UK, as long as you already been given leave to enter and remain in the UK (i.e. a visa of some sort) and that leave was for longer than 6 months (unless on a fiance visa).

The immigration rules regarding the requirements necessary to apply for further leave to remain as a spouse can be found at http://ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=3204 (see paragraph 284).  Subparagraph (i) essentially says that you can change your status in the UK, as long as you already been given leave to enter and remain in the UK (i.e. a visa of some sort) and that leave was for longer than 6 months (unless on a fiance visa).

Thank you SO much!    

Okay....more questions (sorry  )....

My fiance is also a student (UK citizen) and is considering doing an MA starting this autumn.  We've been discussing getting married in the here sometime around August, but I'm not sure of the exact procedure since neither of us has a job and will have to ask his parents to co-sponsor.  I will have about £2000 in savings by the end of my study, and he has around £3000 (but we both have student loans).  We both live in student housing (his terminates in July and mine in September), so when we apply, he will be living with his parents in London while I will be living here in Nottingham, working on my dissertation.  Assuming our application was approved, we would be moving in together in September, and I would be working full-time while he does his degree (and possibly works part-time).

What kind of documentation would we and his parents have to send in?  Would I need to send in my housing information even though my lease expires in September and we aren't living together?  And will the co-sponsorship be enough to qualify even though he'll still be a student next year?  Would sending in our CVs and copies of our degrees make any difference?    

Sorry for all the questions!  I guess the main problem is that he will be a full-time student and we won't having housing together at the time I send in the FLR, apart from at his parents' house.