UK Fiance Visa

Our current plan is for me to find work to hit the income requirement, so I can sponsor him coming to England.
I'm a British Citizen, he's American.

1) How soon can we apply for the Fiance Visa?

2) How much is it, all in (medical, biometrics, living in the UK test)? Is the medical needed for the Fiance visa?

3) What are current real life processing times for said visa?

4) Checklist of what information and documents will be required for the application?

5) Is it possible for me to pay for the visa, as I have currently more funds than he does? Or does it have to go through his own account?

6) Pros and cons for Fiance visa?

I will likely have another few questions as it progresses, so I will keep adding onto this thread for ease of process.

Really really REALLY consider marrying in the USA first and then applying directly for a spouse visa.  No one has to know.  You can still do the big white song and dance thing in the UK afterwards but save a boat ton of money and visas.

For either the fiance or spouse visa:  You'll need to move to the UK and obtain a job that allows you to meet the income requirement (£18,600 annual minimum earnings).  If you have a job currently in Ireland that meets this requirement, you just need to prove you have a job offer and are starting in your new role in the UK within the next 90 days.

If you do not currently meet the financial requirement with your employment in Ireland, you will need six FULL payslips from your new employer in the UK.  This will likely mean working there for 7 or 8 months before you qualify to sponsor your partner.

Once you meet the requirement to sponsor your partner:
You collect all the paperwork (6 FULL months payslips, none dropping below £1550 per month.  6 FULL bank statements showing all deposits from your employer, a letter from your employer (details can be found in the guidance), a copy of your lease and a letter from your landlord stating your partner can live with you once the visa is granted (or mortgage statement and land registry if you own), and proof of your relationship.  There is no medical exam.

If your partner comes over as a fiance, you will have the following:
receive visa (valid for 6 months)
arrange partner to move to UK
Get partner on council tax bill showing they are now living in the UK
make appointment with registry office
give notice to marry (partner must have been in the UK for at least 7 days before you can give notice)
wait between 28 and 70 days for the Home Office to grant permission for the marriage
marry
apply for the next visa FLR(M) before the 6 month fiance visa expires

During that time, your partner CANNOT:  Use the NHS (must pay for any and all services, even if the GP insists its no charge - major headache), Work (even remotely for their US employer), volunteer

If you decide to marry in the USA first, you eliminate all that legal giving notice non-sense and can actually plan a DATE to marry - something you can't do with the fiance visa.  Also your partner can work and use the NHS from day one.

Fees are:

Fiance visa:
£1,523
FLR(M) after 6 months:  £1,033
NHS levy: £1,000

Spouse visa:
£1,523
NHS levy: £1,000

So you save just over £1000 currently by choosing the spouse visa over the fiance visa and get a teeny tiny bit of the romance of getting married back in your lives.

Non-priority visas typically take 60 working days to process (12 weeks).  Priority (an extra £573) typically take 30 working days to process (6 weeks).

Best of luck.  MARRY FIRST!!!

Really really REALLY consider marrying in the USA first and then applying directly for a spouse visa.  No one has to know.  You can still do the big white song and dance thing in the UK afterwards but save a boat ton of money and visas.

For either the fiance or spouse visa:  You'll need to move to the UK and obtain a job that allows you to meet the income requirement (£18,600 annual minimum earnings).  If you have a job currently in Ireland that meets this requirement, you just need to prove you have a job offer and are starting in your new role in the UK within the next 90 days.

If you do not currently meet the financial requirement with your employment in Ireland, you will need six FULL payslips from your new employer in the UK.  This will likely mean working there for 7 or 8 months before you qualify to sponsor your partner.

Once you meet the requirement to sponsor your partner:
You collect all the paperwork (6 FULL months payslips, none dropping below £1550 per month.  6 FULL bank statements showing all deposits from your employer, a letter from your employer (details can be found in the guidance), a copy of your lease and a letter from your landlord stating your partner can live with you once the visa is granted (or mortgage statement and land registry if you own), and proof of your relationship.  There is no medical exam.

If your partner comes over as a fiance, you will have the following:
receive visa (valid for 6 months)
arrange partner to move to UK
Get partner on council tax bill showing they are now living in the UK
make appointment with registry office
give notice to marry (partner must have been in the UK for at least 7 days before you can give notice)
wait between 28 and 70 days for the Home Office to grant permission for the marriage
marry
apply for the next visa FLR(M) before the 6 month fiance visa expires

During that time, your partner CANNOT:  Use the NHS (must pay for any and all services, even if the GP insists its no charge - major headache), Work (even remotely for their US employer), volunteer

If you decide to marry in the USA first, you eliminate all that legal giving notice non-sense and can actually plan a DATE to marry - something you can't do with the fiance visa.  Also your partner can work and use the NHS from day one.

Fees are:

Fiance visa:
£1,523
FLR(M) after 6 months:  £1,033
NHS levy: £1,000

Spouse visa:
£1,523
NHS levy: £1,000

So you save just over £1000 currently by choosing the spouse visa over the fiance visa and get a teeny tiny bit of the romance of getting married back in your lives.

Non-priority visas typically take 60 working days to process (12 weeks).  Priority (an extra £573) typically take 30 working days to process (6 weeks).

Best of luck.  MARRY FIRST!!!

OK, so the simple reason no one does the Fiance Visa is for the fact that doing that adds more time and money into closing the distance.

And for some reason, I had thought it was the other way about. 

The good news in this is that we can marry with his family and friends present if we choose, rather than the headache of getting them to the UK. I have only a couple of people I would invite from the UK, whereas he has a mountain of nieces and in laws.

Now I'm getting anxious about the thought of all those faces being present, I'm not sure if this is good news after all. 

1) Does this mean I should take down our engagement announcement from Facebook? (Half serious, half tongue in cheek)
2) Though I believe anything that goes onto fb is filed away somewhere regardless by some authority, so I suspect taking it down now would be pretty pointless?
3) Then again, as we'd be marrying in the US, would anyone even care?
Now I'm thinking I may have shot myself in the foot before we've even got started. 

Is it pretty obvious that I am an anxious overthinker? 

No one is going to be checking your Facebook; even if they were, announcing your engagement has nothing to do with a visa.

Overthinking is going to drive you round the bend during this, when in reality, this is a tick-box visa -- you tick the boxes, you get the visa. As long as you have a legal marriage somewhere and meet both the income and housing requirements, you'll be fine.

Where, when, and how you get engaged is irrelevant.

OK, so the simple reason no one does the Fiance Visa is for the fact that doing that adds more time and money into closing the distance.

That and you have to endure a whole extra visa application. Do not underestimate how excruciating the whole process is. The fewer of them you have to do, the better! 

That and you have to endure a whole extra visa application. Do not underestimate how excruciating the whole process is. The fewer of them you have to do, the better! 

Yes, I'm just listing the upsides to my man at the moment. I get so stressed about any form as it is, so the less paperwork the better. 

4) Checklist of what information and documents will be required for the application?

5) Is it possible for me to pay for the visa, as I have currently more funds than he does? Or does it have to go through his own account?

There is not a one size fits all checklist because it depends on how you are meeting the requirements.

You should read these if you haven't already to familiarise yourself with the financial requirements, what you need to provide and in which format.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826340/Appendix-FM-1-7-Financial-Requirement-ext_1.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

For the accommodation requirement. If you will be renting, you need the rental agreement and a letter of permission granting the applicant permission to live there when their visa is granted.

If you will be living with family, you need a letter of permission, the land registry document and a recent mortgage statement if applicable.

For your relationship evidence, if you do the smart thing (  ) and apply directly for the spouse visa, you will need your marriage certificate. A few photos of the two of you together. A couple of letters/cards. Boarding passes for trips you've taken together or to see each other. If you live together, evidence of joint life eg joint accounts, utility bills, insurance documents. If you don't, evidence of how you keep in contact. Divorce certificates from previous marriages if applicable.

If you go with the fiancee visa, you will also need proof of wedding planning.

It doesn't matter who pays, either of you can.

There is not a one size fits all checklist because it depends on how you are meeting the requirements.

You should read these if you haven't already to familiarise yourself with the financial requirements, what you need to provide and in which format.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826340/Appendix-FM-1-7-Financial-Requirement-ext_1.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

For the accommodation requirement. If you will be renting, you need the rental agreement and a letter of permission granting the applicant permission to live there when their visa is granted.

If you will be living with family, you need a letter of permission, the land registry document and a recent mortgage statement if applicable.

For your relationship evidence, if you do the smart thing (  ) and apply directly for the spouse visa, you will need your marriage certificate. A few photos of the two of you together. A couple of letters/cards. Boarding passes for trips you've taken together or to see each other. If you live together, evidence of joint life eg joint accounts, utility bills, insurance documents. If you don't, evidence of how you keep in contact. Divorce certificates from previous marriages if applicable.

If you go with the fiancee visa, you will also need proof of wedding planning.

It doesn't matter who pays, either of you can.

I'll be meeting the financial requirements through working myself.

We'll be in private rental accommodation.

And now, we will be getting married in the US. Probably AZ, but we might venture further afield. Time will tell. 

I'll be meeting the financial requirements through working myself.

We'll be in private rental accommodation.

And now, we will be getting married in the US. Probably AZ, but we might venture further afield. Time will tell. 

Great! 

You will need  pay slips and bank statements covering the exact same 6 (or 12)  month period. To get the correct amount of overlap, and to be on the safe side most people include 7 months worth of each.
The most recent of these and the letter from the employer must all be dated with the 28 days before you submit and pay for the online application.

The employment letter must include the following. (from FM-SE linked above)

(b) A letter from the employer(s) who issued the payslips at paragraph 2(a) confirming:
(i) the person’s employment and gross annual salary;
(ii) the length of their employment;
(iii) the period over which they have been or were paid the level of salary relied upon in the application; and
(iv) the type of employment (permanent, fixed-term contract or agency).

Optionally, you can include your contract of employment and most recent P60.

So at what point do the biometrics come into it, and how would he do those in AZ? Or are they not applicable for a Spousal Visa?

So at what point do the biometrics come into it, and how would he do those in AZ? Or are they not applicable for a Spousal Visa?

After the online application is submitted, as part of the process, you are directed to make a biometrics appointment.

He'll need biometrics taken with every. single. visa application all the way up to citizenship. It's to prove you are who you say you are!

He'll do them at his nearest USCIS office, they have them all over the US. It's not a big deal. Just fingerprints and photo.

Yippee!  Was easy to convert you to marry first.

My now husband and I were both living (together) and working in the UK, and we married in the UK because the rules were so crazy!   

We went to NYC just the two of us, hired a photographer to be our witness.  Have lovely photos all over the city.  Zero regrets!  7 years and 2 kids later, we don’t even care that we never had a big thing.

I do however have an awesome engagement ring and we went on the honeymoon of a lifetime.  Lol!

Does this mean we have to have an elopement, then?

Does this mean we have to have an elopement, then?

Only if you want to but we did too... I highly recommend it! So much easier. 

My man has been married before, and he said over a year ago that if he did ever find himself in that scenario again, that "Maybe on the next one if I go that route to just elope. (Saves on cash that way.)  "

I fully admit to being a stereotypical female in that regard and having dreamt about what my wedding might be like for years. Though the only things I had really decided were a budget of no more than 600 for my dress, mini love hearts, and a chocolate fountain. 
I've been to a few wedding fairs, and I used to buy bridal magazines. I have even wondered about becoming a wedding planner as I have an interest in most aspects they entail, and I'm a sucker for romance.