marriage on visitor's visa, (w/ no fiance visa)-

and for today's question i ask -

how many people have been married in the UK while on a visitor's visa and then have successfully applied for a spouse-settlement visa?

(as we do when we are preparing for a visa application, we read a lot of information, often some of it plants little bits of doubt and 'fear' in our brains; today i read that marrying in the UK while on a visitors visa can be grounds for the spouse visa being denied..)


i apologise well in advance for my neurosis with this. (i know somewhere out there in forum-land, others can relate/sympathise with me)


thank you for all replies...

-trish

We did it the other way--got married in US while DH was on a visitor's visa.

I have heard that getting married while on a visitor's visa in the UK can cause some problems.  Basically you'll have to be prepared to explain why you went the "easy" route and didn't get a fiancee'/spousal visa.  Do you have a good reason for being in the UK prior to the marriage (i.e., school, family, etc.)?  It has been done successfully, though.  (I remember reading one woman's account....she and her UK husband did it that way....but I can't remember where I read it!)

I have heard that getting married while on a visitor's visa in the UK can cause some problems.  Basically you'll have to be prepared to explain why you went the "easy" route and didn't get a fiancee'/spousal visa.  Do you have a good reason for being in the UK prior to the marriage (i.e., school, family, etc.)?  It has been done successfully, though.  (I remember reading one woman's account....she and her UK husband did it that way....but I can't remember where I read it!)

i've been looking around this morning online to see if there is anything legal stating that you cannot marry while on a visitors visa. (my search is so far proving unsuccessful.)
my reason for being in the UK prior to marriage is that my partner is the father of my baby and i was here spending time with him (& we were evaluating our relationship as well) and that is when we made the decision to marry while i was here. although this reason may not satisfy an ECO, its the truth. although if asked why we married without a fiance visa, i know we will have to word our answer a lot better than my reason.
i have to think to myself that if they had a really big problem with people marrying here on a visitor visa and then obtaining a spouse visa, it would be illegal. (well maybe not, but it helps my sanity to think that.)
i don't even want to think about what would happen if i got denied because of this...

If you're really worried, why not call the consulate and ask about the repercussions of marrying on a visitor's visa...they won't know it's you and you'll know what's going on.  If you call the consulate in NYC, ask for Simon--he helped me tremendously with my (millions of) questions!  :-)

If you're really worried, why not call the consulate and ask about the repercussions of marrying on a visitor's visa...they won't know it's you and you'll know what's going on.  If you call the consulate in NYC, ask for Simon--he helped me tremendously with my (millions of) questions!  :-)

:grins: my other half (& much calmer half!) tries to reassure me that it will be okay and we should not have any problems as long as we are completely truthful in our application (which we would never think of being dishonest about anything) -
i do think i will phone the consulate tomorrow. for today, i think i need to focus on something else for a bit

thanks again will let you know what the consulate says..

  Basically you'll have to be prepared to explain why you went the "easy" route and didn't get a fiancee'/spousal visa.  Do you have a good reason for being in the UK prior to the marriage (i.e., school, family, etc.)? 

Actually, what they'll want you to explain and prove is that you didn't plan the wedding before you came into the country on your visitor's visa.  You'll have to prove that it was a spur of the moment thing.  This is sometimes a very difficult thing to do because it is somewhat subjective.  If there are any bookings or engagement before you enter the UK, those might be used as grounds to deny the spousal visa. 

Why not get married in the US and then apply there?  You'll have to go back to the US and apply for your spousal visa anyway, since you didn't apply for a fiancee visa first.  And as long as you aren't planning on settling in the US, your fiance can enter the US for the express purpose of marrying you and taking you back with him.  Many others have done things this way and have found it very easy! 

Um, Lunar got married on the 16th...

Oh!  Well, then nevermind.   

Congrats Lunar.  And good luck!   

I got married on a visitor's visa. There is no law against getting married in the UK while visiting here. We were not questioned about this at all (we got married on 13 March 2004). I don't know if the rules have changed since then. However, I did still put down my US address as my permanent address on my application. We did not do a fast-track application, but hand carried the form down-loaded from the Internet.

Married in the UK while here as a visitor, going to the USA in a few days time and getting a spouse Visa while over there??  Provided you have all the paperwork required at hand, you should be fine.  Don't let any "profits of doom" put you off.  If you applied within this country for your spouse Visa you would be questioned heavily as the immigration folk would question whether you really entered as a visitor, but by flying out, you are complying with your visitor's visa - no question. 

This is how Lisa and I ended up doing things - but that was ** years ago.  We chose this route on the advise of the British Consulate in New York and it was all very easy.  Mind you, seeing others in line at New York, I would remind you to have forms filled in ahead of time and plenty of paperwork to proove each of the five requirements.  Take hubby too.   As far as I know, even with all the changes in the meantime this route / way of doing it is still good and fits in with "the system".

You'll have to prove that it was a spur of the moment thing.  This is sometimes a very difficult thing to do because it is somewhat subjective.  If there are any bookings or engagement before you enter the UK, those might be used as grounds to deny the spousal visa. 

i don't know how else we could prove that other than to tell the issuing officer the complete truth about our situation..  i can't allow myself to lose too much sleep over this..

Oh!  Well, then nevermind.   

Congrats Lunar.  And good luck!   

thank you:)

Married in the UK while here as a visitor, going to the USA in a few days time and getting a spouse Visa while over there??  Provided you have all the paperwork required at hand, you should be fine.  Don't let any "profits of doom" put you off.  If you applied within this country for your spouse Visa you would be questioned heavily as the immigration folk would question whether you really entered as a visitor, but by flying out, you are complying with your visitor's visa - no question. 

we married on april 16th and have a scheduled appointment in NY on April 30th. it's hard not to have some discouraged feelings when i seem to keep reading things about possible troubles or refusal, but i know that going with a positive attitude and being completely truthful and things should all work out fine.
i phoned the home office once we made plans to marry to see if i could apply for my spousal visa from within the UK and i was told that i had to return to the US to do so. (i only made this call because i did not fancy flying at 34 weeks pregnant!)

This is how Lisa and I ended up doing things - but that was ** years ago.  We chose this route on the advise of the British Consulate in New York and it was all very easy.  Mind you, seeing others in line at New York, I would remind you to have forms filled in ahead of time and plenty of paperwork to proove each of the five requirements.  Take hubby too.   As far as I know, even with all the changes in the meantime this route / way of doing it is still good and fits in with "the system".

being over-prepared for anything is usually how i am, i've already got lists of documents (required and supporting) that we will take with us for the application. and my husband is definitely coming with me (now whether or not he will be allowed upstairs with me is yet to be seen,...)

thanks for the reply
-trish

Hi there, it sounds like you was in the same boat as I was not too long ago.    In April of last year I took a 3 month leave of absence from work and came to the UK to visit my then boyfriend and one of the main reasons I came was so he could have time with our son, and even though I was only going to stay three months it lead to six, his mother is on oxygen and needs care, and his father ended up in the hospital with a collasped lung and so I stayed on to be with him, thus giving up my job and staying even longer than what was stamped in my passport which was six months. In fact I overstayed my visitors visa by six months.  :-\  We married in September on last year and only came back to the US this past March to sort out my spousal visa, and I too am pregnant again with our second child    and we had a three week stay in the US and applied for my spousal visa via the fast track system and I did have to do a phone interview with them which as terrified as I was ended up nothing, they just went over my application and it lasted no more than five minutes not once asking about why I got marired in the UK or overstayed my visa by six months or anything like that. But I also mentioned I was due to have another child in the coming months as well so who knows maybe that curbed some questions I guess I will never know, but after that interview we had our visas the very next day and we are all back home in the UK and very much happy.     So dont worry because it will all work out and you will wonder why you worried so much in the end I can promise you that. And congratulations on your baby. 

Hi there, it sounds like you was in the same boat as I was not too long ago.    In April of last year I took a 3 month leave of absence from work and came to the UK to visit my then boyfriend and one of the main reasons I came was so he could have time with our son, and even though I was only going to stay three months it lead to six, his mother is on oxygen and needs care, and his father ended up in the hospital with a collasped lung and so I stayed on to be with him, thus giving up my job and staying even longer than what was stamped in my passport which was six months. In fact I overstayed my visitors visa by six months.  :-\  We married in September on last year and only came back to the US this past March to sort out my spousal visa, and I too am pregnant again with our second child    and we had a three week stay in the US and applied for my spousal visa via the fast track system and I did have to do a phone interview with them which as terrified as I was ended up nothing, they just went over my application and it lasted no more than five minutes not once asking about why I got marired in the UK or overstayed my visa by six months or anything like that. But I also mentioned I was due to have another child in the coming months as well so who knows maybe that curbed some questions I guess I will never know, but after that interview we had our visas the very next day and we are all back home in the UK and very much happy.     So dont worry because it will all work out and you will wonder why you worried so much in the end I can promise you that. And congratulations on your baby. 

thanks for the peace of mind post i appreciate hearing other peoples stories. i really do not believe there will be any problems with my application, but i think having some fear (ok, a lot!) is natural. (not to mention, as i'm sure you can relate, my hormones are haywire because of being pregnant!)   :grins: i probably won't have to mention we are having a baby, as they will be well be able to see! -
i'm happy that things did work out so well for you

and congratulations to you as well on expecting your second baby!!:) when are you due is you dont mind me asking?