Non-priority Spousal Visa Timeline

Welp today is 8 weeks since my 'docs received' email from Sheffield. Hope springs eternal and all that, but I'm feeling like this:

 

  lol

Yeah my partner and myself have applied for the marriage settlement visa so don't need to pay the nhs surcharge till we apply for the FLR.  It's all been handled through a solicitors.  It's just a waiting game now.  Think we are about 55 days today so fingers crossed.

Welcome ECHO.
Our situation is very similar to yours. Applied with a solicitor on 3/30. Day 55 but HOPEFUL that the wait is almost over -  really need to travel over ASAP. Wedding in late July.

Yeah we thought we had applied in good time to have the date we had picked.  But we have to wait now for the decision, then book the tickets.  Once he travels we have been told he has to be in the country for 9 days before we can register to get married and be interviewed.  Then we have to wait for 28 days after before we can get married.  Problem is we are going to have to travel for the interview as the local office to us has not got anyinterview slots till August    They just don't make it easy do they lol
Hopefully we will both hear soon x

ECCHO, just a caution about the 28 days you have mentioned. I don't know how it works in Scotland or Wales; but if a US citizen wants to give notice of marriage in England, the wait period can actually be as long as 72 days.

I have no idea if that applies to your situation, but the 28 days I was quoted in England actually didn't apply to me. I remember being really angry.

So I had to go to that meeting you mentioned and formally give notice in-person, and our 72 day wait period started from that day. Luckily, we didn't have anything weird in our backgrounds so we were able to get married after 28 days either way.

ECCHO, just a caution about the 28 days you have mentioned. I don't know how it works in Scotland or Wales; but if a US citizen wants to give notice of marriage in England, the wait period can actually be as long as 72 days.

I have no idea if that applies to your situation, but the 28 days I was quoted in England actually didn't apply to me. I remember being really angry.

So I had to go to that meeting you mentioned and formally give notice in-person, and our 72 day wait period started from that day. Luckily, we didn't have anything weird in our backgrounds so we were able to get married after 28 days either way.

The gov.uk website says the following:

Your notice period can be extended to 70 days if you or your partner:

are from outside the EEA or Switzerland
have limited or no immigration status in the UK
don’t give the registrar enough evidence to show you’re settled in the UK

https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/foreign-national

Hopefully, if you will have applied for and been issued a fiancee or marriage visitor visa by the time you are in the country to give notice, you will only have to wait the 28 days, but they do advise to allow 70 days just in case.  I believe this also applies in Scotland if you are under immigration control (the Citizens Advice Bureau website just links back to the gov.uk one).  The UK sure does like to suck all the romance out of planning a wedding, doesn't it?

*Edited to specify visa types

ECCHO, just a caution about the 28 days you have mentioned. I don't know how it works in Scotland or Wales; but if a US citizen wants to give notice of marriage in England, the wait period can actually be as long as 72 days.

I have no idea if that applies to your situation, but the 28 days I was quoted in England actually didn't apply to me. I remember being really angry.

So I had to go to that meeting you mentioned and formally give notice in-person, and our 72 day wait period started from that day. Luckily, we didn't have anything weird in our backgrounds so we were able to get married after 28 days either way.

What visa were you on when you got married?

Usually if you have a fiancé visa or a marriage visitor visa, you only need to wait the 28 days because you have already been approved by UKVI to marry in the UK... it's the entire purpose of your visa.

However, if you are in the UK on a different type of visa (i.e. Tier 2 or Tier 4), you're more likely to have to wait the 70 days while UKVI looks into your case.


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ECCHO, just a caution about the 28 days you have mentioned. I don't know how it works in Scotland or Wales; but if a US citizen wants to give notice of marriage in England, the wait period can actually be as long as 72 days.

I have no idea if that applies to your situation, but the 28 days I was quoted in England actually didn't apply to me. I remember being really angry.

So I had to go to that meeting you mentioned and formally give notice in-person, and our 72 day wait period started from that day. Luckily, we didn't have anything weird in our backgrounds so we were able to get married after 28 days either way.

Definitely something worth confirming/checking.  Registrar told my fiancé that because we will have the fiancé visa... that we qualified for the 28 days because they don't have to do all the work that the UKVI did already.  But you know how this works... one hand says something and doesn't know what the other is doing. 

I know you all have your personal reasons for choosing to marry in the UK but for anyone reading this who has not yet made up their mind, it's much, much easier to get married in the US. 

Ah yeah, I was on a different visa. Ignore my ramble.

Ah yeah, I was on a different visa. Ignore my ramble.

It's definitely worth mentioning because it could become an issue. It shouldn't, but you just never know. Better to be aware rather than caught off-guard later on.

For anyone wanting to get married in the UK, you might want to look into Gibraltar.

My partner and I got married in Gibraltar at the end of April. He's a UK citizen, I'm Canadian. I was in the UK on a visitor visa when we got married.

Gibraltar is like the Vegas of the UK The only requirements:

- book ahead of time (online or by phone)
- to book you need to provide copies of passports & birth certificates (and divorce certificate if applicable)
- arrive in Gibraltar at least one day before the wedding to fill out paperwork at the registry office (took all of 15 minutes)
- show proof that you've spent at least 1 night in Gibraltar
- get married!!!

It was super simple After the wedding we spent a week honeymooning in Spain and I flew back to Canada to apply for my spouse visa (still waiting).

We've been together since 2015, but wanted to avoid the fiancee visa. Gibraltar was perfect!

For anyone wanting to get married in the UK, you might want to look into Gibraltar.

My partner and I got married in Gibraltar at the end of April. He's a UK citizen, I'm Canadian. I was in the UK on a visitor visa when we got married.

Gibraltar is like the Vegas of the UK The only requirements:

- book ahead of time (online or by phone)
- to book you need to provide copies of passports & birth certificates (and divorce certificate if applicable)
- arrive in Gibraltar at least one day before the wedding to fill out paperwork at the registry office (took all of 15 minutes)
- show proof that you've spent at least 1 night in Gibraltar
- get married!!!

It was super simple After the wedding we spent a week honeymooning in Spain and I flew back to Canada to apply for my spouse visa (still waiting).

We've been together since 2015, but wanted to avoid the fiancee visa. Gibraltar was perfect!

No wonder John and Yoko made the trip. 

Where are you getting married at?

Yeah we thought we had applied in good time to have the date we had picked.  But we have to wait now for the decision, then book the tickets.  Once he travels we have been told he has to be in the country for 9 days before we can register to get married and be interviewed.  Then we have to wait for 28 days after before we can get married.  Problem is we are going to have to travel for the interview as the local office to us has not got anyinterview slots till August    They just don't make it easy do they lol
Hopefully we will both hear soon x