My budget, is all this sufficient?!

Oh, how little you know me!!! 

Listen I see where you are coming from.  It is my job to find loophols, and I find 'em, and I exploit 'em, and I damn well win my cases as a result.  But you haven't just sparked conversation, my dear, you misadvised, and that's never good.

And the 'sole advice of an internet forum' in this particular case could also be considered as a detailed in-depth discussion with an experienced qualified legal professional.  It's not like posting a question on Yahoo Answers...it's like sitting down with me as a client and getting advice.  Please don't dismiss me quite so easily!!!


Vicky

Look Vicky, I don't doubt that you are very good at what you do.

You accuse me of giving misadvise, but I see you telling this girl her case is going to get denied, when you don't know that for sure. It may be a risk for her to apply with the evidence that she has, but tell her that her only options is to change her wedding plans is a big deal.

Ok, I've brought up my points. I concede that nobody agrees with me, and everyone agrees with you.

Lola, you are right. I will do that. I can save some money. Probably won't be a hell of alot but definetly something. I will apply around june or july. Hopefully, everything will look ok. Thanks! I just hope the visa won't tale forever to come.

When I applied for my spouse visa it was June time and it took one week to get my passport back in my hands with the visa in it.

across - I most definitely did not say that it will be refused, I said that there is a very strong chance that it would be refused.  I never say yes or no either way, I can't possibly know as I am not the one who stamps the visa.  But it is my job to look at the worst case scenario, and knowing ECO's as I do (you should see this morning's refusal from New York that I have to get overturned ) it is essential to be pessimistic.

Moonfaery - £3k in savings would make all the difference in the world.  If you get wedding presents from family in the form of cold hard cash and the people who gave you the presents write letters to say that they are presents not loans, then the odds change dramatically in your favour.

I also like the idea of working your @rse of for the next three months and applying later.

If you do all this, a likely refusal turns into a likely approval!


Vicky

Thanks vicky! Sorry for being such a pain in the ars*! It's just such a hard thing to do.  But, I'm glad for everyones advice.

It's okay.  I had a feeling that once everyone clamed down and looked at this rationally that there would be a way around this; there usually is!


Vicky

hey,
i just wanted to say my part...
we also wanted to have our wedding in the uk due to my husband having all his family and friends there and being very close with them etc...not the case for me with most of my family.i had been around europe for along time so my friends that are my family could have been there..i got denied entry in edinburgh and had to come back to america,yikes!! and spent 3 1/2 months apart from my man,sleeping on my moms floor and working 3rd shift at target and cleaning during the day to pay back my really pricey ticket i had to get out of scotland with,and to be able to apply for my visa(i thought last fall)turned out we had to get married in america in my home town-not my happy place at all.none of his family could attend and he had one friend that wasnt "our"friend.talk about a budget,our wedding was very cheap.got married in the courthouse and had a reception at a friends,everything pretty much went totally wrong..but that doesnt really matter cos we got the job done which is the important thing..we decided to prolong the whole visa thing more to have a nice honeymoon and spend the longest amount of time together that we ever had..3 months!!now we have been apart for another 3 months and will be longer.the good thing though is with you both working to save for this goal the time goes by pretty quick as you are so frikin tired all the time!!!we do not make alot of money at all.i work right now for the lowest wage i have in my entire life and it sucks.every day of it,but i know its worth it in the long run.im getting to the point where i think i will be ready to apply next month and im scared shitless but i know ive been doing the right thing and i think we have a chance-wouldnt have though if i hadnt found this site!!!i think we barley make enough and i still have to explain alot but i know waiting has been the best thing...
i guess my point is to try and think about it as rational as you can(which it seems like you have started to do) and really talk it over...not to get all zen or anything and im sorry for unloading my situation but try and remember that everything happens for a reason and if you two are meant to be together it will happen when its supposed to even if the sh*t leading up to it feels like its sucking your soul or something..sometimes crappy things can be blessings in disguise!!
well i wish you the best of luck in dealing with this!!!!on that note im going to celebrate my one day off tomorrow with a few cold ones!!
cheers everyone!!!!!

I have posted this before but for anyone going for the spousal visa then ask for the cash to put in your accounts as wedding presents, the big wedding is great, but you can do a small budget and have the big one once you have your visa in your passport in the country of your choice, its called a blessing but it can look the same as your big wedding day, its not about the dress its about firstly 2 people who love each other being together for I hope the rest of their lives 2ndly the people they love being there for them either at the wedding or just in life itself.

We had money given us we did not put a letter in but its a good idea if you feel it helps, but once you get the spousal visa you can come back over and you really do not have to spend that much time appart and you can work in the UK to help the finances once you get it.

You sometimes have to settle for a little less to start with and go for the big one once the other issues have been dealt with.

I wish you the best and hope everything goes well for you

Indy and Wife 

Oh just like to add one thing unless you have parents that have been saving for this day for you since you were born or rich parents then you  have to think of how much a big wedding is going to cost I think the average here in the UK, for a big wedding is about £10,000 + and I am sure there are loads of people who have had this type of wedding, a budget one with the church and the dress you could poss do it for £3000/5000, and if you have that I would wait and apply for the visa first.

Again good luck to you both.

Indy and Wife