Fiance Visa Question

I spent 6 months in the UK and during that time I got engaged to my bf. We applied to get married. By the time we had our marriage interview, it was close to the end of my 6 months. She approved our marriage and said that I needed to leave the country in 4 days but was all good on the marriage. Just leave the country for a few weeks, visit with my family and then come back. I asked if there would be any problems with me getting back in the country, since I was here for 6 months and she said not at all. That she would even mark it on my account that we were a couple, when I come back into the country. Since she worked for the home office, I figured that she knew what she was talking about.

Of course, the border agents didn't agree with her and they didn't let me in the country when I tried to fly in last Wednesday. After being detained for a day (with not internet, or any kind of access to technology) I was sent back to the US on Friday.

Our wedding date is scheduled for April 7th. I talked to the British Consulate here in Seattle and he said I could go thru the VFS Global site and get a visa in 24 hours. It was a lot of money but since I have friends flying in for our wedding, I was willing to pay for it.

Unfortunately, while looking thru this forum, it doesn't seem realistic for me to get a fiancé visa in a week or even two weeks! Is there anything I can do, or am I totally screwed?

And if I'm screwed, I'm wondering if it would be a better option to get married in the states? We already registered to get married at the Birmingham Register's office and I know if we change that, then we need to re-file our marriage paperwork.

I'm trying to figure out the fastest way for me to get back to England and my love. I don't really care where we get married, I just want to marry him so that we can be together.

While being detained at the airport I was pretty devastated but now I just want to do what I need to do to get married and move to the UK.

Thank you so much for any input or advice.

That's such a shame. 

Yeah, there is no way you're going to get a finance visa in a week. The other option would have been a marriage visit visa but realistically, I don't think you don't have enough time for that either.

The best, cheapest and less stressful option would definitely be to marry in the US and apply directly for a spouse visa, presuming you meet the requirements.

Thank you larrabee, that's what I thought. It's frustrating because I never would have picked a wedding date if I had known there was going to be any issues with getting married, plus, I could have spent the last month working on my visa.

To get married in the states, does he need to re-file a wedding notice? What do we need to do to make it legal?

I'm sorry you received bad advice.  It's very complicated to marry in the UK.

All he need to marry in the USA is to travel in on his ESTA.  Then the individual county that you marry in may have a small waiting period (usually jo more than three days).

Have you looked at the visa requirements?  Does he qualify to sponsor a spouse visa for you?

Thank you KFdancer. I've already accepted the fact that we won't be able to marry on the 7th. More upset for my friends who were flying in and hoping that they can get airline credits.

Yes, from what I've read, I believe we meet all of the requirements and he does meet the financial requirements. I'm hoping the fact that immigration didn't let me in the country isn't held against me.

I'm already researching where to get married. He just got back from vacation so am thinking maybe we can get married in Gibraltar so he doesn't have to fly as far.

Thank you KFdancer. I've already accepted the fact that we won't be able to marry on the 7th. More upset for my friends who were flying in and hoping that they can get airline credits.

Yes, from what I've read, I believe we meet all of the requirements and he does meet the financial requirements. I'm hoping the fact that immigration didn't let me in the country isn't held against me.

I'm already researching where to get married. He just got back from vacation so am thinking maybe we can get married in Gibraltar so he doesn't have to fly as far.

You'll simply need to explain the refused entry in your cover letter and send in the paperwork you received.  The application may take slightly longer to process than someone who hasn't had a refused entry but it's not a big deal.  It happens quite a bit!

Thank you KFDancer! I'm going to see if I can contact the person who approved our wedding and gave the wrong info and add her name to my cover letter.

We decided since we can't get the fiance visa in time, we're getting married this weekend in Vegas, so we're actually getting married a week earlier, LOL. My friends lost some money but they are handling it ok.

Then we will begin the process of a spouse visa. I'll definitely be back with lots of questions. Thanks for having this great forum to help us thru this!

..we're getting married this weekend in Vegas,

Awesome! Have a great time! 

Thank you KFDancer! I'm going to see if I can contact the person who approved our wedding and gave the wrong info and add her name to my cover letter.

We decided since we can't get the fiance visa in time, we're getting married this weekend in Vegas, so we're actually getting married a week earlier, LOL. My friends lost some money but they are handling it ok.

Then we will begin the process of a spouse visa. I'll definitely be back with lots of questions. Thanks for having this great forum to help us thru this!

Have a great wedding.  We eloped and it was the best!

I wouldn’t worry about the employees name.