a question of residence

I looked for this answer but i couldn't find a thread about it...
Now that it looks like Jimmy and i will most likely be getting married soon... how do i go about establishing residence... i'm told i can get married while i'm here on my visitor waiver but that i have to show i have a residence here to do so... I don't work and i have no money coming in other than what Jimmy makes so looking to sign up for something so i can get a bill in my name is kinda hard... any suggestions on how i can prove i am a resident??? any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

All I said was that I lived with Richard in his (our) house.  This is for the Registry, right?  I can't remember if I even had to bring anything to prove it.  If so, it was a letter from a friend.

well... if youre visiting youre not resident.

residence can be demonstrated by presenting council tax bills, bank statements, university correspondence, utility bills, credit card bills and / or phone bills addressed to you personally at a UK address. You can also show residence by having an ILR or FLR stamp in your passport or by showing the letter that would have accompanied your passport w/stamp. you usually cant obtain any of that without first being actually resident in the UK. UK credit companies, phone companies, utilities, and banks wont give you their service without you first being able to show that you can and do reside in the uk. you usually demonstrate that to them via the LR stamp in your passport.

Im sure people have gotten married while on a visitor's visa before - but why bother? why not just do it the right way?

Yes, what MarsBar said.  If you're there under visa waiver program, then you're NOT a resident and would be lying if you said you were.  Why not just apply for fiance visa beforehand?

Yes, what MarsBar said.  If you're there under visa waiver program, then you're NOT a resident and would be lying if you said you were.  Why not just apply for fiance visa beforehand?

Because, if she did that she would have to return to the States and get the visa and then come back.  Oh, the fun (not) of redtape!   And, it's MUCH easier to get a spousal visa than the fiance' visa anyway.   Less stress is always a good thing (believe me, I suffer from anxiety).


The thing is, visitors (just plain visitors) get married here all the time.  Sort of like all the people who come to Disney World in Orlando, Florida to get married there.  They come from all over the world, they aren't planning to stay, they just want to marry there and they get a licence and marry....it's done everyday.  As long as you do things right you can get married where you want.  Here is the site I was given here when I was asking these questions and I will gladly share it with you.  
  http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/marriages/acivilmarriage/marriagec2a3.asp

Thankfully, I am having no problem with this one, seeing as my name is on the lease here.  Jamie was told, when he got this place (which we are renting with one other person), that even though I wasn't going to be paying rent, if I was going to be staying here for over 3 weeks that my name needed to be on the lease.  Not a problem, and - actually - a great blessing now.

I wish you all the best, and congratulations on your marriage.

It's been some years since we married, but neither of us were resident in the village/parish where we married.  In order to have a church wedding, we had to have special dispensation from the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury to marry in that village (I still have the lovely certificate).  If I'm not mistaken, the vicar applied for this on our behalf.

I landed in the UK on 13 November and married on the 21 November.  Normally this wouldn't have been long enough to satisfy the residency requirement, but with the dispensation, we married without a hitch.

You can find more information on this license at:

http://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/marriage.html

Look under Residence, Special License and Archbishop's Requirements.

HTH!

For registry weddings there is no longer anything such as a Special Licence.  There is no way around the 15 day requirement, unfortunately. 

Im sorry but this whole "inconvienience" attitude about going back to the US to get a fiancee visa is just silly. I was a visitor in the UK, went back to the US, got my visa ON THE DAY I APPLIED, and came straight back to the UK. It was no hassle. And saying that getting a spousal visa is so much more easy than a fiancee visa is just poppycock too. Its only paperwork and a bit of waiting. The fiancee visa was SO easy. Fill out the forms, take them in, answer a few questions, have lunch, pick up the passport stamped, boom, done. in and out. no problem. I was 19 (!!!) applying for a visa to go and marry at man 7 years my senior. How bad does that look to an already suspicious agency?! And yet they didnt bat an eye lid.

Im sorry but this whole "inconvienience" attitude about going back to the US to get a fiancee visa is just silly. I was a visitor in the UK, went back to the US, got my visa ON THE DAY I APPLIED, and came straight back to the UK. It was no hassle. And saying that getting a spousal visa is so much more easy than a fiancee visa is just poppycock too. Its only paperwork and a bit of waiting. The fiancee visa was SO easy. Fill out the forms, take them in, answer a few questions, have lunch, pick up the passport stamped, boom, done. in and out. no problem. I was 19 (!!!) applying for a visa to go and marry at man 7 years my senior. How bad does that look to an already suspicious agency?! And yet they didnt bat an eye lid.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the money available for several repeat trips back and forth across the atlantic, especially if several family members are involved in the visa process. I'm surprised to hear about how easy your fiancee visa was to obtain. I had sent away for the packet for my fiance to come here originally, and was told the whole process would take several months.

. I was 19 (!!!) applying for a visa to go and marry at man 7 years my senior. How bad does that look to an already suspicious agency?! And yet they didnt bat an eye lid.

 Um... my Jimmy's 13 years my junior... think that will raise questions or cause a problem???

Yeah....what Geally said.  If money was no object and we could all just fly back and forth all over the place it really wouldn't be an issue now, would it?  But ~~sigh~~, most of us just don't have that kind of money.  Plane tickets are expensive, accomodations are expensive.  Lunch in New York is expensive!  LOL!    It's more the expense than the inconvience.  Let's face it, if we love someone enough to travel over an ocean to another continent to be with them, we are going to be willing to put up with inconviences....it's part of the package.  And, we gladly accept that package to be with them.  But, we aren't all related to the Rockefellers, though we would gladly put up with any amount of inconvience to be with (and not be parted from) the one we love most in the whole world, too many of us just cannot afford what some call a mere inconvience.


On another note (and a lighter and happier one ).....  13 years your junior!   Woo-hoo!  You go, Girl!  Some would say you had robbed the cradle.  I just say, "congratulations"!! 

Songmistress & Geally, well frankly if you want to stay with the one you love money shouldnt be an object. shell out and you wont have to do it again. if you get yourself into an international relationship you have to cope with the cost. Im not made of money, nor are any of the people I know who have gone through this process the right and decent way, but we all managed. £275 for a round trip flight is hardly breaking the bank. Get a credit card and pay it off over time. Whats more important? The money? I think not.

Anyway, I assume that if the person who started the topic is in the UK on a VISITOR'S visa they MUST have a return ticket to the US or else they wouldnt have been let into the country in the first place. So going home to get a visa isnt a streach of the imagination.

And Nvrwas - I dont think that age is going to be an issue. It wasnt for me. Just present them with the straight-up information they ask for and that should be that. Genuine cases for fiancees are pretty easy to spot. I wouldnt worry if I were you. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

I would gladly shell it out....if I had it, that is.   If money was no object....well, then, money would be no object.  I have always had to deal with financial struggles....and, it's impossible for me to get a credit card.  I know that I'm not the only one that has this problem or has been faced with such a situation.  Sure, if I had it, I would be willing to spend it all - without a second thought.  If it was there I would do just that.  Where the problem comes in is when it just isn't THERE in the first place.  But, oh well...I'm really not trying to argue here.

Marrying on a visa waiver and trying to avoid buying plane tickets isnt a cost saving manuver. The whole institution of marriage is just plain EXPENSIVE. If you want to get married you have to cope with that. Any international couple who really want to be together will find a way to do it - money in the bank or not. It WILL cost money and there isnt any way around it. If money steps in the way of being with the person you want to marry... well... that HAS got me speachless. I deal with horrible financial issues every day but I deal with them a billion times over just to be with my husband. He is WORTH that to me.

I am really saddened by the animosity in this thread. I know I am fairly new to this forum, and I am sure there must have been some other "nasty" feeling and non-supportive posts in the past, but for the most part I have found members with differing views able to offer them in an objective and factual manner.

I am sorry you're speechless Marsbar, but the cold facts are that often times money is just not available. It has nothing to do with putting a price on one's love. I noticed on your information that you are very young. Hopefully, by the time you have lived another 20 years, you won't have to deal with the financial nightmare that can accompany difficult divorces, fathers who do not pay child support, past partners that have ruined your credit history, and the myriad other financial factors that most divorced men and women face in their struggle to remarry someone in another country. Many also have children to include in the total cost of plane fares and visas.

The original post by nvrwas was a question on how to go about marrying on a visitor's visa, which is legal. All that was needed to be included in the subsequent posts was information relevant to the process, not your personal views on whether or not someone's beloved is "worth" as much to them as your husband is to you.

If nvrwas (and many others as far as I can see from the posts I've read) finds herself with the opportunity to marry while on a visit, I'm very happy for her and wish her the very best.

Happily Love is freely given and has no price tag...unfortunately, money and visas are not so freely imparted.