EEA2 question: better to marry in UK or France?

Hiya,

Great forum, would appreciate any advice!

I'm American, in the UK since 2005 on student visas (MA then PhD, good til April 2011). I met my partner here, he is French and has been working in the UK for eight years. We are living together, engaged, and for various reasons (won't bore you!) would like to get married sooner rather than later...

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it would be easier to get married in France or in the UK, if the intention is for me to switch from my student visa to a non-EEA family member residence card?

I know to get married here would require applying for the Home Office Certificate of Approval, then getting married, then applying for residence with EEA2 form. But since the COA process is under review, I don't fancy applying for it and having my app languish for months and months...or, cough up 300 pounds for it if they end up changing the fee!

Getting married in France seems easier, especially as I wouldn't have to apply for the family permit visa to enter the UK, since I can enter legally on my student visa (right?). But I'm wondering if it will be harder to get the non-EEA residence card if it's a foreign marriage, especially since I have not been resident in France.

Would really appreciate any advice! I've spent ages in the various websites but the EU family regulations seem pretty murky, especially now...
thanks so much!
jen

French or U.K. marriage doesn't matter. Whichever is easiest for you. The Home Office will recognize either. I think the French marriage certificate would need to be translated into English though if it already isn't.

I think the C.O.A. takes a long time to process too doesn't it? Like 8 weeks or something?

in this case (since you already have a student visa and are still in the middle of your studies) I think it won't matter that much where you get married, from an immigration standpoint.  Do what's best for you.

I agree. The only advantage to marrying in France os no COA.

Vicky

Yesterday my wife (American) and I (British) were married in New York.  She was on a BUNAC visa in London where we both live and we looked into the COA stuff because we'd initially looked at getting married in England.  It turned out that family-wise, it was better for us to get married stateside anyway, but the COA was certainly a worry since unless I misread it, their default position is to refuse permission if you're inside the last six months of your visa (assuming it was more than six months in the first place).

The paperwork's currently at the Consulate in New York and we're just waiting on the reply about the marriage visa.

Getting married over here cost $60 and can be done in 24 hours as opposed to far longer and more expensively in London.  We checked with the FCO and they said that the marriage was perfectly valid in the UK.

but the COA was certainly a worry since unless I misread it, their default position is to refuse permission if you're inside the last six months of your visa (assuming it was more than six months in the first place).

You didn't misread it, but this is out of date info, they just haven't bothered updating the forms.  Their default position is to grant the COA, even if you have no leave at all, unless they have reason to suspect it is a marriage of convenience.

Vicky

Thanks everyone!! Really appreciate the advice!

Vicky, I see what you mean about the COA being the deciding factor really -- what I can't get a handle on at the moment is how much of a nightmare it will be, given the House of Lords judgment. If the Home Office are having to review and change the COA process, does that mean they are not processing applications at all right now? Or are they still processing COAs under the old rules for the time being?

I think my case is pretty straightforward but I don't want to end up in limbo for months because of all the internal changes going on right now.

Thanks again!!
jen

COA's are being processed.  If you have less than six months on your visa they may ask for further evidence, ie affidavits.

Vicky

I don't know if this helps or not, but our COA was processed in about 2-3 weeks back in March, fairly painless.  I hear they take about 4 weeks on average?