Issues with the CoA Process

Wow, thats a bit rough.

I do point out the reason we done it this way was to plan the wedding but on the advice of worldbridge who were recommended by the UK Border Agency who at no point have said otherwise to what we have been told.

Didn't really want to come across as spoiled which is how you seem to pick me up.

Now she has the right to be here due to the visitors visa, the FLR(M) appears to just extend the right to stay, in otherwords extending her 1 year visitor visa to the two years it then takes for her to apply for the indefinate leave to remain, or I am I just reading this hopefully now. I hope not because they have already taken my £300 for the CoA which I am sure Jacqui Smith will need to pay for her husbands porn habits but that doesn't look good for my bank balance if I can't get it returned especially as so much money has been spent on the recomendation of the Border agency and Worldbridge who they recommended to us to answer the questions on the best way to do this.

ARRRRGGHHHH!!!!

I also think you're confused about your reading on this.  The visitor visa of 12 months is not a visa that allows your fiancee to remain in the UK for a full 12 month period (as springhaze mentioned earlier).  The FLR(M) is a totally different visa in its own right which your wife, as she would be then, applies for after the wedding and which she would need to 'be on' for two years before she could apply for ILR...

Wow, thats a bit rough.

I do point out the reason we done it this way was to plan the wedding but on the advice of worldbridge who were recommended by the UK Border Agency who at no point have said otherwise to what we have been told.

Didn't really want to come across as spoiled which is how you seem to pick me up.

A lot of us are just a bit jaded, that's all.  We learned a while ago what you're bumping up against now- namely,the inflexibility of immigration laws and the fact that they don't really allow what you are trying to do.  I don't think you had any bad intentions and you did get some really bad advice from people who should know better (but again, most of us regulars won't be surprised by that as you're not the first one to receive bad advice from "official" channels.)

Also- I repeat.  Visitors cannot switch to a spousal visa from within the UK.

Didn't really want to come across as spoiled which is how you seem to pick me up.

Not spoiled, no, but I do think you were quite badly misinformed and that you will have to seriously rethink your plans, or you will hear something much harsher from the immigration officer when your fiancee attempts to return from France.    

I think the best course of action would be to either get a fiance visa, or get married in the US and get a spousal visa. I can understand wanting to have her involved with planning the wedding if it's in the UK, but it might have be done in a long distance format. I think you'll run into a lot of unnecessary complications trying to go a COA route when there's a lot of other easier options to reach your ultimate goal.

I don't think it's necessarily about being jaded so much as knowing that to a certain extent, ECO's done care about feelings--they don't care that you guys miss each other loads and want to be around each other all the time. They concern themselves with the law first and foremost. It sucks, and a lot of us have had to come to terms with that reality and just accept it for what it is--and to try and advocate changing the laws where we think there are problems

Everybody on this forum wants the best for you and a lot of people on here have way more knowledge than the officials who are supposed to be able to answer your questions, unfortunately the officials don't always know the answers.

I really think your best bet is to both fly back to the USA, have a quickie marriage in a civil courthouse ceremony and then apply for a spousal visa.  Which Consulate you use will depend on where your G/F lives permanently in the USA.  Having a quickie ceremony here in the USA won't take anything away from your big wedding day in the UK.  How about you both take a trip to her home and book a courthouse ceremony and while you are there apply for the Spousal Visa.

The other route is to have her fly back to get the Fiancee Visa, (it shouldn't take too long if you have all the documents you need.  Take the advice of others on here, they know what they are talking about.  You will end up a LOT MORE UPSET if she gets refused entry into the UK from France, it is not worth the risk.  She will be left in a foreign country having to pay for accommodation while she gets a flight back to the USA anyway which could cost her an arm and a leg if the ticket is bought at short notice. 

Go the easiest route, you will be glad you did.  It will mean having to be apart for a few weeks but it will give you less of a headache and less potential of heartache if she is refused entry.  You may not have to be apart hardly at all if ever if you can get enough time off at your work to go the Spousal route and go back to the USA with her.

Fiancee or Spousal Visa routes are very straightforward if done right from the start and there are loads of people on here who can give you advice on those routes.  If you are in a hurry though, hiring a Courier is the best way to go and will on average cost approx $100.00 +the cost of the Visa.

Let people on here know where your Fiancee lives in the USA and some others can guide you to the appropriate couriers and which consulate to use.

Read this as it will help you decide:

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/partnersandchildren/fianceeorproposedcivilpartner/

And this:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/partnersandchildren/husbandwifecivilpartner/

I'm just going to second and third what others have said in regards to her visitor visa. As someone who's looked into the possibility to see if I could apply for a visitor's visa to extend my visit to Tim, I can also agree that she does not have permission to be in the UK for 12 months as a visitor.  The visa is valid for 12 months, but she may only be in the country for 6 months of the 12.  So, if she's been in the UK since November 2008, she will need to return to the US in May 2009 and will not be able to enter the UK on the visitor's visa. She will need a Fiance Visa for the 6 additional months you want her there for.  (Or, you travel back to the US with her, get married, and immediately apply for her Spousal instead).

Unless I received wrong information myself, but I was very much under the impression that visitors ONLY get 6 months every 12, no matter if they hold a Visitor Visa or not.

I just don't want you to be disappointed if she gets turned away when you return from France in May.

Wow.  What a screw up.  There was absolutely no point in getting a 12 month visit visa, as as soon as she has spent six months within a 12 month period in the UK it ceases to be valid. 

There is a very high chance that she will be bounced.

I agree with everyone else.

Also, the COA application form states very clearly that 'a COA is not a visa'.  I am astounded that Worldbridge told you it was.  Which office was it?

Vicky

I'm not sure of the actual office we needed to call on a premium rate number given to us by the UK consulate in Chicago as they refused to answer any questions. Worldbridge then told us what I have posted previously.

They didn't actually tell us it was a VISA, we were led to believe that if she is the UK in the period this gives her the right to marry at which point she qualifies for a spouse's VISA. Which runs for two years at which point she can apply for indefinate leave to remain. So I appreciate it is not a VISA but we were under the impression that we can get married and change status with the 12 month visitor VISA and the CoA taken together.

I was led to believe that beig an American citizen my finace qulifies for entry to the UK on the VISA waiver program which dictates that she can't stay in the UK for any longer than 6 months in a 12 month period which is why we got the 12 month multipule entry VISA which we were told allowed her to be in the UK for a total of 12 months but not any longer than a 6 month stay at a time. So with it being granted in August she stayed with me for 3 months, we then went back to Chicago for her Brother's (and soon to be my Brother-in -Law I hope) wedding and returned to the UK. Giving her another 6 month leave to stay I was led to believe. This 6 month period is up on May 10th (180 days exactly from her entering the country again). So we were under the impression that then she could then return for the final 3 months left on her 12 month multiuple entry VISA.

I have began looking to get her a flight back to America before the 11th of May so she can go back and apply for the fiance Visa and come back home again, (I don't think she will have to get the biometrics redone as these were done for her 12 month VISA). Just a lot more cost from what we originally were led to believe was the correct course of action for us to take. If I was given the correct information to start with I would have not bothered getting her the 12 month visitor VISA at the time and made she could have came over on the VISA waiver program and then left in February and got the fiance VISA and returned as this would have then been within the 6 months of the wedding which we have organised. As it is with the Visitor Visa the CoA and the cost in changing flights due to them draging their feet with the 12 month visa they have cost me nearly £1700 which I now find out we didn't need to spend at all.

Still the wedding is now booked and we have documentation supporting this and she has lived with me for almost 9 months so hopefully there will be no problems getting the finace VISA in a reasonable turnaround. It's more the fact that if we knew this was how it had to be it would be fine as she could have prepared for leaving but now it has come as a shock to her and she is incredibly upset and worried that for some reason they will now refuse her finace VISA.

Still at least she gets to visit her grandparents who can't make it over for the wedding as they are not doing to well. Every cloud.

And once I get that there will be one hell of a complaint going to all the involved parties that created this situation.

(AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF GORDON BROWN NOW SAY'S THAT JACQUI SMITH SHOULDN'T RESIGN AS SHE IS DOING A GREAT JOB!?!?!?!)

glad you're getting it sorted out.

She will have to give her biometrics again for the fiance visa application, though, even though she already gave them for her visitor's visa (and once she applies to switch to spouse from a fiance visa, she'll have to give biometrics yet again in the UK!)

I was led to believe that beig an American citizen my finace qulifies for entry to the UK on the VISA waiver program which dictates that she can't stay in the UK for any longer than 6 months in a 12 month period which is why we got the 12 month multipule entry VISA which we were told allowed her to be in the UK for a total of 12 months but not any longer than a 6 month stay at a time.  toSo with it being granted in August she stayed with me for 3 months, we then went back to Chicago for her Brother's (and soon to be my Brother-in -Law I hope) wedding and returned the UK. Giving her another 6 month leave to stay I was led to believe. This 6 month period is up on May 10th (180 days exactly from her entering the country again). So we were under the impression that then she could then return for the final 3 months left on her 12 month multiuple entry VISA.

Er.  I think if she entered in AUGUST on the Visitor Visa, she actually needed to leave no later than FEBRUARY.  At this point, she very well may be overstaying her visa.  I'm no expert though.

Still the wedding is now booked and we have documentation supporting this and she has lived with me for almost 9 months so hopefully there will be no problems getting the finace VISA in a reasonable turnaround. It's more the fact that if we knew this was how it had to be it would be fine as she could have prepared for leaving but now it has come as a shock to her and she is incredibly upset and worried that for some reason they will now refuse her finace VISA.

Does she have internet access?  We've got a pretty good support system right on this board, and she might find comfort talking to other ladies (and men) who have been in similar situations.

Er.  I think if she entered in AUGUST on the Visitor Visa, she actually needed to leave no later than FEBRUARY.  At this point, she very well may be overstaying her visa.  I'm no expert though.

Does she have internet access?  We've got a pretty good support system right on this board, and she might find comfort talking to other ladies (and men) who have been in similar situations.

August to February is 6 months, so she might be I was always under the impression it was 6 months out of 12, and then when the 12 was done you'd get another 6 months, etc etc.

If someone has been issued a 12 month visit visa, they can only remain in the UK for 6 months in that 12 month period.

Vicky

August to February is 6 months, so she might be I was always under the impression it was 6 months out of 12, and then when the 12 was done you'd get another 6 months, etc etc.

That was my assumption, too, and one o the reasons Tim and I were waiting until April 2010 for my return. 

If someone has been issued a 12 month visit visa, they can only remain in the UK for 6 months in that 12 month period.

Vicky

Would that cause problems for TheGlovner's fiance applying for the fiance visa and eventual spousal if she has stayed for 8 months instead of 6?

According to the OP, she arrived in August 2008, stayed until November 2008, went to the US in November, then returned to the UK (presumably) later in November.  So if she was granted 6 months in November, she shouldn't be in breach, right?  If the IO was worried she was going to stay longer than 6 months out of 12, shouldn't they have ascertained in November that she had spent the previous 3 months in the UK and so was only entitled to 3 more months?  Is the 6 months in 12 a hard and fast rule, or just a guideline?