Marriage Visitor Visa

Hi! I am looking for any advice from anyone who’s happened to have gone through the Marriage Visitor Visa before? I’m from Scotland and my fiancé is from the USA. Been together five years now and engaged since last Dec, haven’t seen each other since January with the pandemic.

We want to get married whilst he’s over here at Christmas time, after he’s done his quarantine, with the date in mind in January 2021.  I’ve thought about doing the CR1 Visa when married and going to the USA, rather than doing the K1 as I know they’ve been halted at the moment with the pandemic & there’s probably a big backlog! would the marriage visitor visa be okay in our situation? I’m worried if we did change our mind and he wanted to come here to the UK permanently, would that be allowed even though we had earlier on, had a marriage visitor visa, if we went for it. I just want to make sure we do everything completely by the book! 

It says we can’t apply til 3 months before travel so that would be next week. I wondered can we still get provisional notice for the registrar, or do we need to wait for the visa to be granted?

I will probably have more questions hahaha! I’ve looked it up a lot but I’ve seen some people get rejected and it worries me!! Thank you

I did the marriage visitor visa to be married in Scotland. You have to show your plans to be married (inquiry on dates, proof of genuine relationship), the US citizen has to show they can support themselves for the trip and prove strong ties to return to. I had a letter from my employer confirming I was using holiday for the trip and my mortgage statements for my home to show I had no plans to remain in the UK after marriage. We gave our notice by mail so there was no waiting after I arrived in Scotland. There aren't the financial hurdles of the marriage settlement visa, so it's mainly on the USC proving they have enough money for the visit and will go home after the wedding.

We want to get married whilst he’s over here at Christmas time, after he’s done his quarantine, with the date in mind in January 2021.  I’ve thought about doing the CR1 Visa when married and going to the USA, rather than doing the K1 as I know they’ve been halted at the moment with the pandemic & there’s probably a big backlog! would the marriage visitor visa be okay in our situation?

Yes, that should be okay. Not sure how long Marriage Visitor Visas are taking to be processed at the moment though, given all the Covid delays, so the only issue could be that you might not be able to get the visa in time for his visit at Christmas.

I’m worried if we did change our mind and he wanted to come here to the UK permanently, would that be allowed even though we had earlier on, had a marriage visitor visa, if we went for it. I just want to make sure we do everything completely by the book! 

No, that's not a problem - lots of people have married on a Marriage Visitor Visa and then come back to the UK later on a spousal visa... as long as the marriage is legal, it's not an issue.

He would have to return to the US to apply for the spousal visa though - he couldn't just stay in the UK and switch to one.

It says we can’t apply til 3 months before travel so that would be next week. I wondered can we still get provisional notice for the registrar, or do we need to wait for the visa to be granted?

In order for the visa to be granted you MUST show proof that you are planning a wedding in the UK, so it's a requirement that you need to provide some kind of communication with the registry office/registrar enquiring about possible ceremony dates, to show that you are making plans.

You do need to give notice at least 28 days before the ceremony, which could be extended to 70 days if he has a visa and your case is referred to UKVI - hopefully the 70 days won't happen though. since his visa will have been granted specifically for getting married in the UK.

I will probably have more questions hahaha! I’ve looked it up a lot but I’ve seen some people get rejected and it worries me!! Thank you

The main things he will need to show are:
- he will leave the UK within 6 months (you're not supposed to purchase flight tickets before applying for the visa, in case the visa is refused, but if he has purchased them already, they can be included)
- he has enough money to support himself for the trip (bank statement(s) and payslip(s))
- he has ties to the US he must return to which mean he won't attempt to stay in the UK, such as a job and a home he is paying for (letter from his employer confirming his time off and when he must return to work, rental agreement or mortgage statement)
- he is planning to marry in the UK within the 6 months of the visa (communication with the registry office, any provisional bookings made, plus you can also include things like receipts for the dress and rings if you have them)

Yes, that should be okay. Not sure how long Marriage Visitor Visas are taking to be processed at the moment though, given all the Covid delays, so the only issue could be that you might not be able to get the visa in time for his visit at Christmas.

No, that's not a problem - lots of people have married on a Marriage Visitor Visa and then come back to the UK later on a spousal visa... as long as the marriage is legal, it's not an issue.

He would have to return to the US to apply for the spousal visa though - he couldn't just stay in the UK and switch to one.

In order for the visa to be granted you MUST show proof that you are planning a wedding in the UK, so it's a requirement that you need to provide some kind of communication with the registry office/registrar enquiring about possible ceremony dates, to show that you are making plans.

You do need to give notice at least 28 days before the ceremony, which could be extended to 70 days if he has a visa and your case is referred to UKVI - hopefully the 70 days won't happen though. since his visa will have been granted specifically for getting married in the UK.

The main things he will need to show are:
- he will leave the UK within 6 months (you're not supposed to purchase flight tickets before applying for the visa, in case the visa is refused, but if he has purchased them already, they can be included)
- he has enough money to support himself for the trip (bank statement(s) and payslip(s))
- he has ties to the US he must return to which mean he won't attempt to stay in the UK, such as a job and a home he is paying for (letter from his employer confirming his time off and when he must return to work, rental agreement or mortgage statement)
- he is planning to marry in the UK within the 6 months of the visa (communication with the registry office, any provisional bookings made, plus you can also include things like receipts for the dress and rings if you have them)

Thank you so much for all your help! That has definitely been a worry too, how long the visa would take with COVID   do people ever pay for the priority option? I saw that it’s available but with everything going on I just don’t know if it even would matter! 

I did the marriage visitor visa to be married in Scotland. You have to show your plans to be married (inquiry on dates, proof of genuine relationship), the US citizen has to show they can support themselves for the trip and prove strong ties to return to. I had a letter from my employer confirming I was using holiday for the trip and my mortgage statements for my home to show I had no plans to remain in the UK after marriage. We gave our notice by mail so there was no waiting after I arrived in Scotland. There aren't the financial hurdles of the marriage settlement visa, so it's mainly on the USC proving they have enough money for the visit and will go home after the wedding.

Thank you! That sounds really good. do you remember how long it took to get your approval/passport back etc? It may vary with covid this year!

Thank you! That sounds really good. do you remember how long it took to get your approval/passport back etc? It may vary with covid this year!

I think it was about 3 weeks after biometrics, but I don't remember. I honestly am not sure my experience would be comparable to current times though. I would just be flexible and hope that the visa is approved before Christmas.

Hi!

My daughter is OBSESSED with pandas.   

Hi! I am looking for any advice from anyone who’s happened to have gone through the Marriage Visitor Visa before? I’m from Scotland and my fiancé is from the USA. Been together five years now and engaged since last Dec, haven’t seen each other since January with the pandemic.

We want to get married whilst he’s over here at Christmas time, after he’s done his quarantine, with the date in mind in January 2021.  I’ve thought about doing the CR1 Visa when married and going to the USA, rather than doing the K1 as I know they’ve been halted at the moment with the pandemic & there’s probably a big backlog! would the marriage visitor visa be okay in our situation? I’m worried if we did change our mind and he wanted to come here to the UK permanently, would that be allowed even though we had earlier on, had a marriage visitor visa, if we went for it. I just want to make sure we do everything completely by the book! 

It says we can’t apply til 3 months before travel so that would be next week. I wondered can we still get provisional notice for the registrar, or do we need to wait for the visa to be granted?

I will probably have more questions hahaha! I’ve looked it up a lot but I’ve seen some people get rejected and it worries me!! Thank you

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your plans! 

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your plans! 

Thank you! I’m hoping it goes smoothly. This year has been awful, we have only seen each other in January just after we got engaged! I miss him so much and we just want to get the ball rolling for the CR1 Visa!

Hi!

My daughter is OBSESSED with pandas.   

They are so cute!!

We are going to be sending this off today! So I wanted to quickly check with people here: for this type of visa, is it worth submitting proof of my employment too or anything? He’d only be staying two weeks, he has a job he’s going back to and has proof of that with a letter saying his return date and payslips etc, so should I provide anything too? We also have photos of our meetings, proof of the registrar booking, wedding bands etc. We may try priority but not sure with Covid on the timescale. Thank you for all your help!

We are going to be sending this off today! So I wanted to quickly check with people here: for this type of visa, is it worth submitting proof of my employment too or anything? He’d only be staying two weeks, he has a job he’s going back to and has proof of that with a letter saying his return date and payslips etc, so should I provide anything too?

You only need to send your own employment proof if he has no money to pay for his trip and is relying on you to support him financially during his visit. If he has enough money in his bank account to pay for the visit himself, there's no need to include anything from you.

Just checking though: if he's only staying 2 weeks, and is likely to have to quarantine for 2 weeks when he arrives, how are you going to have enough time to get married while he's here? I know you can give notice to marry in advance in Scotland without him being there, but with Covid and everything right now, I'm concerned you won't have enough time to actually get married on a 2-week visit.

We also have photos of our meetings, proof of the registrar booking, wedding bands etc. We may try priority but not sure with Covid on the timescale. Thank you for all your help!

Just make sure that you have every document ready to upload before you submit the online application - you don't want to end up finding you don't have something important and then you don't have time to get it before the 5-day deadline after biometrics to mail his passport to New York.

If you haven't seen it already, there's also a page on the UKVI website about how to apply from the USA:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/usa-apply-for-a-uk-visa/apply-for-a-uk-visa-in-the-usa

You only need to send your own employment proof if he has no money to pay for his trip and is relying on you to support him financially during his visit. If he has enough money in his bank account to pay for the visit himself, there's no need to include anything from you.


Just checking though: if he's only staying 2 weeks, and is likely to have to quarantine for 2 weeks when he arrives, how are you going to have enough time to get married while he's here? I know you can give notice to marry in advance in Scotland without him being there, but with Covid and everything right now, I'm concerned you won't have enough time to actually get married on a 2-week visit.

Just make sure that you have every document ready to upload before you submit the online application - you don't want to end up finding you don't have something important and then you don't have time to get it before the 5-day deadline after biometrics to mail his passport to New York.

If you haven't seen it already, there's also a page on the UKVI website about how to apply from the USA:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/usa-apply-for-a-uk-visa/apply-for-a-uk-visa-in-the-usa

Thank you! he will be here for 16 days in total so we have the registrar provisionally booked for day 15, hopefully it will all be okay but his boss is being very accommodating for it so hopefully all will be fine if anything to change! You’ve been a great help!!

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if you are allowed to change the wedding date once submitting the application form? Like we put on the date we had planned to get married but have had to actually change this so we were wanting to move it to the next day - is this a problem and should we submit a new application form? Just really worried incase this would be an automatic rejection.

Of course you can change the wedding date ... in fact, you are not supposed to even set a wedding date until AFTER you have received the visa, because you never know if you will actually be able to get to the UK in time for the wedding or not.

All they need to see is evidence that you are looking at POSSIBLE dates within the next 6 months. There is no requirement to set a date or book anything at all... and they actually advise against booking anything concrete before you apply for the visa.

We have seen people in the past who have booked their wedding ceremony and paid a deposit, and have then had to cancel the wedding and reschedule for another date because their visa wasn't granted in time for them to be able to get married on that date.