Marriage--civil vs church

Hi everyone, my DH and I are planning on moving to NI in 2010. I've found lots of good information on the site and it looks like our case is pretty straightforward until I just thought of this question.  We were married twice--once by a judge here in the US then we had a church ceremony in Co Armagh.  That will no doubt be registered with the government offices in Armagh, so this brings me to wonder which marriage the immigration office will view as valid.

If it's the civil wedding--May 2004, I changed my name to his on all documents (legal & otherwise) then we will have no problem & I think we can get everything done in the timespan of my visitor visa by going into the office personally.  There's something called 'permission to live permanently' on the immigration website:

In some cases, we can give your husband, wife or civil partner permission to live permanently in the United Kingdom as soon as he/she arrives. To qualify for this, you must:
have married or formed a civil partnership four years or more ago;
have spent those four years living together outside the United Kingdom;
now be returning to the United Kingdom to settle here together; and
your spouse/partner must (unless aged 65 or over) have sufficient knowledge of the English language and about life in the United Kingdom.

Our timeline:
2/2003 met in NYC
4/2003 moved in together
5/2004 civil marriage in Ohio
4/2006 DH granted permanent residency in US
10/2006 DH joined US Army
11/2007 DH granted US citizenship
11/2008 Convalidation of civil marriage in Catholic Church in Co Armagh
10/2010--DH leaves Army & we'll move home

So with the rule from the website, we've been living together over four years outside of the UK.  But that will not hold if the immigration office decides to view our church wedding as the start of the marriage.

Any advice? Or am I just making things too complicated for myself so early on? Thanks!

I've only had the civil marriage in the US...and it was viewed as the start of our marriage. Looks like you may be able to jump straight to the permanent resident status without having to do the spousal visa temp status like me.

Best of luck to you. But I'm sure our experts will be along shortly to correct me if I'm wrong.

Because the church service was a Catholic church, then it is not recognised as a marriage in UK civil law..this is a good thing, as the civil ceremony you have previously has *is* recognised, and you can't get married twice!

Unfortunately, you can't immediatly get Indefinite Leave to Enter until you have passed the life in the UK test.  But you will be able to get an endorsement to allow you to get ILR as soon as you pass the test without having to wait the 2 years.

However, if you pass the test when you are in the UK as a visitor then you can apply for ILE.

I am a little confused about the idea of getting things done in person when you are in the UK as a visitor though.

Vicky

Thanks so much!  From looking at other websites, it wasn't entirely clear to me that the ILE depended solely on the passing of the life in the UK test.  I'm glad to know that I can take the test our next holiday--my SIL just got engaged over Christmas, so there may be a wedding 2009!

I am a little confused about the idea of getting things done in person when you are in the UK as a visitor though.

I assumed I could enter the country with a return ticket, but it looks like I'll need to research that end of things more.   No worries since we have plenty of time--sorry for my ignorance!  That really takes a load off my mind!  This deployment is really stinking lately, he doesn't come home from Afghanistan until next Summer.

Thanks again for your advice!

Ouch!  Hope his deployment goes well.

Assuming he was born in Northern Ireland, he is probably entitled to Irish citizenship as well, so you have a choice of going the UK or the EU route.  This may help  http://www.medivisas.com/irish-nationals-eea.asp

If you go the EU route then you can switch while you are in the UK as a visitor, if you go the UK route then you have to apply from the US.

Vicky

Did you say Afganistan?  Ooops.  It could be your lucky day.

There is a loophole in the Life in the UK requirement that allows the spouse of someone who has been in Crown Service to bypass the test requirement.  In these cases, the spouse only needs a letter from another Crown Servant attesting that the spouse already has sufficient knowledge of Life in the UK.

The guidance on this loophole is very woolly - I'm not even sure it's on the internet, so be sure that your spouse's tenure in Afganistan qualifies and that whoever writes the letter also qualifies. 

Why do they have this loophole?  Who knows, but presumably Crown Service has to take care of their own, so they put it in. 

Did you say Afganistan?  Ooops.  It could be your lucky day.

There is a loophole in the Life in the UK requirement that allows the spouse of someone who has been in Crown Service to bypass the test requirement.  In these cases, the spouse only needs a letter from another Crown Servant attesting that the spouse already has sufficient knowledge of Life in the UK.
 

Well does this count if he's in the US Army as stated in OP?

Sadly not.


Vicky

Well does this count if he's in the US Army as stated in OP?

It depends upon what capacity he's there in, how long he's been there, and etc etc etc.  Also, in these sorts of cases, there's no black and white.  And since the guidance is woolly, if the OP wants to follow up on it, she'll need a practitioner with privileged access to get a reading.

Yes my DH has a passport for UK, Ireland and now the US.  I looked into going through Ireland a few years ago and thought the UK process would be easier (and cheaper? I can't remember exactly).  I'll have to see if their laws have changed at all lately.

My DH is a medic working very closely with UK, Canadian, Australian military members.  I've never met any of them, so I'm not sure if we'd qualify for the loophole.  The test shouldn't be that hard, I've looked at one online, but who knows how accurate it was.

Please do read the link I posted..it should give you all the info you need.

If you have the money the UK route is probaby best in my opinion.

Vicky

Vicky--that link has great information, thanks! I've never heard of going that route, or if it was a formal possibility.

If coming to the UK under the EU provisions, permanent residency will be given after 5 years, and no Life in the UK test is needed for this. This application may also take 6 months to be approved; however, it is also the case that, even if no application is made, both the Irish national and their partner will be deemed to have permanent residency after 5 years. 12 months after PR is granted (or deemed to have been granted) both the Irish national and their spouse can apply for citizenship. A life in the UK test is needed for this.

I am confused by the bolded sentence, why would the Irish national need to make an application?  I think I may be missing an important key, thinking my DH would not need any special paperwork done to move home.

In your case this is different, as your husband is a dual national.  If he were not yet entitled to UK citizenship this would apply to him.

Vicky

The UK route does seem to be less confusing for me, especially since the entire process is shortened since we should be able to skip the ILR thing that was mentioned before.  

You're such a great help Vicky!

Vicky, I'm confused.  I had a religious marriage in the US that wouldn't qualify in the UK and would require a separate, civil ceremony.  It was my only marriage ceremony at all, but the UK had no problem accepting it as it was a legal marriage since it was legal and recognized by civil authorities in my state.

eta: sorry, just realized the answer to my question.  The Catholic ceremony was in NI, wasn't it?  Sorry about that.