How many stamps on passport are too many?

This may be helpful as well:  http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/spouse.html

~Liza

Thanks SO MUCH, Liza!  Are you having him apply for the B2 visitor's visa then or is Simon going to come on the visa waiver?  When DF comes for our wedding next year it might give me piece of mind to have him get a visitors visa.  Can you imagine our whole wedding planned and then having him detained and sent back?  That would be the worst thing ever!!!

We are going with visa waiver.  And just hoping for the best. 

~Liza

Luxie you will be FINE.  MANY of us did it that way.

Mine came over on visa waiver on august 26th.  He TOLD the person he was there to be married and that i'd be going to NYC to get my spouse visa on september 9th.

we married, had a rocking 8 day honeymoon in hawaii, he returned back to work and i stayed, went to the consulate, got my visa and landed september 11th. 

trust me, it's fine.  tell the truth, have you paperwork done.  you are doing nothing wrong!

I think that's the biggest thing, Aimiloo, is being informed and sounding like you know what you are talking about.  If you are knowledgable about the laws and what you are required to do, then you don't look like you are trying to lie your way through.  I'm sure they can smell a liar a mile away anyway.

Good luck Luxie!!  You will be fine!

~Liza

I had the same problem as Lola. I had been 3 times prior, 1st visit was 1 month, 2nd was 4 months, and 3rd was 6 months. The 4th trip was only 5 weeks. On my 3rd visit, I got hassled as well. I even had an employment letter on that one since it was a longer visit. I was told to get married, and there was nothing stopping me from getting a fiance visa, and that next time there would be a hell of a lot more questions. And there definitely was!

The 4th visit, I didn't bring an employment letter (strongly suggest having one), didn't think it was needed for a 5 week stay. I did bring bank statements because on the last visit I didn't have one and was asked a lot of questions about my finances. I was detained for 4.5 hours. They had gone through all my stuff. I was asked a lot of questions of my family. Why do they live in one state and I live in another, when, and why did I move. They found a reciept I had from a car rental weeks before my trip to the UK (it was in my wallet). Whatever you do, leave all your receipts at home! I got asked a lot of questions about that. I even got asked about a trip I took to Australia I had taken over 4 years ago, who did I go with, why did I go there, for how long was I there, how did I pay for it, how could I have afforded it, etc. Very nosey.

Then they spoke with my fiance (boyfriend at the time) who was there to pick me up. We were repeatedly asked the details of our relationship. He said he may propose to me, and I had said, at some point I'm hoping he does. That was the wrong thing to say (but it was the truth) I was denied entry as a visitor, but was allowed a 5 week temp stay, which was just my return ticket. They kept my passport to make sure I did show up to the airport for my return. I was pretty much told, not to return unless I had a fiance visa (even though at the time we weren't engaged, and we had no intentions of being married in 6 months).

I was recently told, that you are actually only allowed a combined visit of 6 months in a 12 month visit, according to Home Office. It's not 6 months per visit, like we had assumed. If your combined is more then 6 months in a 12 month period then more questions will be asked by the immigration officer. It's not an automatic refusal, but the decision is up to the officer.

We did contact an immigration lawyer after the denied entry. The lawyer did make a point in...if you're not getting married (especially in 6 months), you do have the proof of means to support yourself, so what does that make you other then a visitor? Who knows. However, he did say, for visits like like ours, to have a visit visa before entering the UK, even though it's not required for a US citizen. It doesn't guarantee entry, but it may help with the 20 questions.

I think it also depends on who you get. I over heard the the entry officer (the one I had) speaking to another in the hall, and the other one didn't think it was a big deal for me to be there, at least not as a big of a deal as the entry officer I had was making it out to be.

We are going through the same situation as you, kysa.  We also assumed that you could stay up to 6 months at a time, and until I read it in this forum, had no idea about the "within a 12 month period."  Still can't seem to find that stated in any of the official sites I've been to. 

Anyway, I've looked at the entry clearance visa form, but don't know what to put in the "purpose of your visit" section.  If anyone has any good ideas about that, I'd appreciate them sharing. 

And talk about hassles....I went to visit bf for a week over this past Christmas.  When I returned again in early February, got tons of questions asked which was a total surprise to me.  Have since learned to be careful, while still being honest with my answers.  Since then, I've been hassled all but one time, so am dreading the next trip.  Plan to be better prepared with employment letter and bank statement and just hope for the best. 

We did contact an immigration lawyer after the denied entry. The lawyer did make a point in...if you're not getting married (especially in 6 months), you do have the proof of means to support yourself, so what does that make you other then a visitor? Who knows. However, he did say, for visits like like ours, to have a visit visa before entering the UK, even though it's not required for a US citizen. It doesn't guarantee entry, but it may help with the 20 questions.

I agree with your lawyer.  It's called an 'entry clearance', and they ask all the questions beforehand at the consulate then stamp your passport, and your passage through UK controls is much smoother.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=14400.0

Last year, about 1 in 2,400 were refused entry at port.  This year, it is closer to 1 in 1,000.  

Garry - how long does it take to get this entry clearance?  Would we have time to do this before Simon's visit on 17 December, just in case?

~Liza

Garry - how long does it take to get this entry clearance?  Would we have time to do this before Simon's visit on 17 December, just in case?

~Liza

If you go for the standard 6 month, it should take roughly the same time as a fiance visa minus the interview and background check.  Consulates that I work with frequently like Moscow and Minsk are issuing them routinely on the same day as the interview.  If you include all the stuff along with itinerary, address and what-not, there is really no reason for them to spend a long time wringing their hands and belaboring over it - it's just a standard entry clearance after all.

If you go for a period longer than the standard 6 month, it all depends.  I got a two year entry clearance processed through the Kiev consulate in less than a week,  But have also had major headaches at Saint Petersburg getting them to issue anything longer than 6 months without making a referral to Croydon.

He's only coming for two weeks.  I don't think we will bother, not to mention that we won't have time, it's only five weeks away.  I'm in the middle of a K-1 visa now - we have gone to the State Department and are awaiting transfer of the case to the Consulate in London.  We will just arm him well with letters that he has to return to England and hope for the best.

Thanks!
~Liza

We are going through the same situation as you, kysa.  We also assumed that you could stay up to 6 months at a time, and until I read it in this forum, had no idea about the "within a 12 month period."  Still can't seem to find that stated in any of the official sites I've been to. 

It is not going to be listed in the "official" rules, because it is not part of the "official" UK immigration rules.  It's a constructive rule for IO's at ports of entry, and the blurb on it is in the IDI's....

I guess you have too many when immigraiton tells you that they'll deport you if you come back on a visitor visa. lol

Thanks for the info, garry.  Thought I was just missing it somewhere along the way.