Marriage visitor visa or fiancé visa?

My fiancé (US) and I (UK) want to get married and start our lives together in the UK as soon as possible, but we are very budget-conscious, and have a couple of logistical considerations when it comes to our next steps.

We are currently apart (he visited me this year from April to August) and he plans to fly back to the UK in Jan 2022, though this is flexible if necessary.

I plan to fly to Canada on 30 May 2022(edited: 27th June 2022) with my family for an important visit. Ideally, my partner would fly with me and be part of this trip. Our destination in Canada is very close to his family home in the US, a few hours drive across the border. Since we know we need to fly to North America in May anyway, I’d like to avoid having to book additional flights to this, but if it makes more financial and/or logistical sense to do so, it is an option.

Here are the options I’ve identified:

• Apply for a fiancé visa as soon as possible for entry in January, marry as soon as possible once he enters the UK, then immediately apply for the FLR(M) visa.
  
  This option would mean we won’t have to be apart - it allows us to travel to Canada together and return together.
  
  However, it hinges on his FLR(M) visa coming back before 30 May 2022(edited: 27th June 2022). The fact that we have this time limit is quite restrictive, and we don’t want to spend money on the priority service if we could save this money by spending a few months apart. Also, the fiancé visa and the FLR(M) visa combination is expensive.
  
  
• Apply for a marriage visitor visa, marry in the UK during his January-MayJune 2022 visit, travel to Canada together, he returns to the US after this and applies for a spousal visa.
  
  This is my favoured option at the moment, as although we would have to spend time apart, the price difference between the marriage visitor visa and fiancé visa is… a lot. Can you really do this? We do intend to settle in the UK eventually so it seems like the wrong visa for us.
  
  My concern in this case is his application for a marriage visa, he will have evidence of a booked flight departing the UK in MayJune, but to Canada, not to the US. Is this enough to satisfy them that he plans to leave the country after our wedding? His US workplace allows him to take large chunks of unpaid leave and then return to his role, so they may be able to provide a letter stating he has a job in the US to return to, which may help? Alternatively, we could book him a flight straight back to the US instead, and he could meet us in Canada.
  
  
• Travel to Gibraltar during his January-MayJune 2022 visit and marry, return to the UK together and fly to Canada, he returns to the US and applies for a spousal visa.
  
  This option allows us to skip the application for a marriage visitor visa, and he would enter the UK on a standard visitor visa. My concern with this is my partner’s ability to return to the UK with me after the wedding. If something could go wrong with this and mean we have to fork out for an extra flight to the US for example, it could easily negate all the money we saved making sacrifices elsewhere, plus presumably it wouldn’t look good on his spousal visa app if he was declined entry previously.
  
  
• He enters on a standard visitor visa in Jan 2022. We travel to Canada together in MayJune 2022 and then both travel to the US together and marry there. I return home to the UK and he stays and applies for his spousal visa.
  
  This option is at the bottom of the bucket for a few reasons. First, it hinges on the US borders even being open to me in the first place, which can’t be relied on. Secondly, it would require that I fly back to the UK on my own a few days after getting married, which seems like emotional stress I would like to avoid! However, if all else fails, and the borders are open, it is an option.
  

So, if you’ve read all that, I would really appreciate someone else’s perspective - am I overlooking something? Is the marriage visitor visa the best solution to our conundrum? Huge thanks to anyone able to offer their thoughts.

My fiancé (US) and I (UK) want to get married and start our lives together in the UK as soon as possible, but we are very budget-conscious, and have a couple of logistical considerations when it comes to our next steps.

We are currently apart (he visited me this year from April to August) and he plans to fly back to the UK in Jan 2022, though this is flexible if necessary.

I plan to fly to Canada on 30 May 2022 with my family for an important visit. Ideally, my partner would fly with me and be part of this trip. Our destination in Canada is very close to his family home in the US, a few hours drive across the border. Since we know we need to fly to North America in May anyway, I’d like to avoid having to book additional flights to this, but if it makes more financial and/or logistical sense to do so, it is an option.

Here are the options I’ve identified:

• Apply for a fiancé visa as soon as possible for entry in January, marry as soon as possible once he enters the UK, then immediately apply for the FLR(M) visa.
  
  This option would mean we won’t have to be apart - it allows us to travel to Canada together and return together.
  
  However, it hinges on his FLR(M) visa coming back before 30 May 2022. The fact that we have this time limit is quite restrictive, and we don’t want to spend money on the priority service if we could save this money by spending a few months apart. Also, the fiancé visa and the FLR(M) visa combination is expensive.
  
  
• Apply for a marriage visitor visa, marry in the UK during his January-May 2022 visit, travel to Canada together, he returns to the US after this and applies for a spousal visa.
  
  This is my favoured option at the moment, as although we would have to spend time apart, the price difference between the marriage visitor visa and fiancé visa is… a lot. Can you really do this? We do intend to settle in the UK eventually so it seems like the wrong visa for us.
  
  My concern in this case is his application for a marriage visa, he will have evidence of a booked flight departing the UK in May, but to Canada, not to the US. Is this enough to satisfy them that he plans to leave the country after our wedding? His US workplace allows him to take large chunks of unpaid leave and then return to his role, so they may be able to provide a letter stating he has a job in the US to return to, which may help? Alternatively, we could book him a flight straight back to the US instead, and he could meet us in Canada.
  
  
• Travel to Gibraltar during his January-May 2022 visit and marry, return to the UK together and fly to Canada, he returns to the US and applies for a spousal visa.
  
  This option allows us to skip the application for a marriage visitor visa, and he would enter the UK on a standard visitor visa. My concern with this is my partner’s ability to return to the UK with me after the wedding. If something could go wrong with this and mean we have to fork out for an extra flight to the US for example, it could easily negate all the money we saved making sacrifices elsewhere, plus presumably it wouldn’t look good on his spousal visa app if he was declined entry previously.
  
  
• He enters on a standard visitor visa in Jan 2022. We travel to Canada together in May 2022 and then both travel to the US together and marry there. I return home to the UK and he stays and applies for his spousal visa.
  
  This option is at the bottom of the bucket for a few reasons. First, it hinges on the US borders even being open to me in the first place, which can’t be relied on. Secondly, it would require that I fly back to the UK on my own a few days after getting married, which seems like emotional stress I would like to avoid! However, if all else fails, and the borders are open, it is an option.
  

So, if you’ve read all that, I would really appreciate someone else’s perspective - am I overlooking something? Is the marriage visitor visa the best solution to our conundrum? Huge thanks to anyone able to offer their thoughts.

Welcome to the forum!    And well done with your research, you've obviously done a lot of work.

I agree with option 2 for you. There is nothing at all wrong with using the marriage visitor visa in this way and all you would need is an explanation as to why the flight out is to Canada plus some evidence of having to be back in the US such as the letter from work.

Welcome to the forum!    And well done with your research, you've obviously done a lot of work.

I agree with option 2 for you. There is nothing at all wrong with using the marriage visitor visa in this way and all you would need is an explanation as to why the flight out is to Canada plus some evidence of having to be back in the US such as the letter from work.

Thanks Larrabee! Gotcha, that makes sense.

I actually found out I had the wrong info regarding the date of our trip to Canada, it's actually June 27th. I've thought it through some more, and I think the main concern is the FLR(M) visa processing time messing with our trip to Canada, and not the additional cost of the fiancé visa. Therefore, I wonder if it would be possible for my partner to enter the UK on a fiancé visa and leave for Canada (and return) still on that fiancé visa, applying together for the FLR(M) once we return. The question is if we were already married upon attempting to return from Canada, could this cause problems for my partner's re-entry on the fiancé visa? If we had not yet wed, and were still only engaged when returning from Canada, would this be ok?

In the above case, of course, we would have to consider our timeline carefully. He would enter on the fiancé visa in late Feb or March, leave the country from June 27th - July 5th, then we get married upon our return to the UK early July and submit our application for the FLR(M) visa right away. If this is a viable option, I'm leaning towards this, as it means once he completes his first flight over early next year, we can be together permanently and he won't have to fly alone again. However, we want to leave plenty of time remaining on the fiancé visa while we apply for the FLR(M). What's the recommended time frame, is he still ok to remain here while waiting for the decision on the FLR(M) even if the fiancé visa has run out, as long as we apply before it runs out?

I actually found out I had the wrong info regarding the date of our trip to Canada, it's actually June 27th. I've thought it through some more, and I think the main concern is the FLR(M) visa processing time messing with our trip to Canada, and not the additional cost of the fiancé visa.

There is usually the option to pay an extra £800 for Super Priority Processing for FLR(M) which gives you a visa decision within 24 hours of your biometrics appointment, and then the BRP card is delivered to you within 10 working days.

At the moment the service is only being offered to a certain number of applicants per day due to Covid, but it’s still an option.

Therefore, I wonder if it would be possible for my partner to enter the UK on a fiancé visa and leave for Canada (and return) still on that fiancé visa, applying together for the FLR(M) once we return. The question is if we were already married upon attempting to return from Canada, could this cause problems for my partner's re-entry on the fiancé visa? If we had not yet wed, and were still only engaged when returning from Canada, would this be ok?

The fiancé visa is multiple-entry so you can leave and re-enter as much as you like during the 6 months.

It used to be that you couldn’t leave between getting married and applying for FLR(M) because you would no longer be a fiancé anymore, however, they changed that a few years ago, and it’s fine to do that now, as long as you can show that you will apply for FLR(M) when you return and before the fiancé visa expires.

In the above case, of course, we would have to consider our timeline carefully. He would enter on the fiancé visa in late Feb or March, leave the country from June 27th - July 5th, then we get married upon our return to the UK early July and submit our application for the FLR(M) visa right away.If this is a viable option, I'm leaning towards this, as it means once he completes his first flight over early next year, we can be together permanently and he won't have to fly alone again.

Honestly, you have a number of different options:
1) enter on fiancé visa in say, Jan 2022, marry in late Feb/early March, apply for FLR(M) early March, get FLR(M) by May (usually 8 weeks processing), and then you can travel as much as you like

2) same as 1) but use the Super Priority Service and get the visa within 1-2 weeks of biometrics

3) same as 2) but enter the U.K. in late Feb/March and marry, say, in April or May, and use the Super Priority service

4) enter U.K. late Feb/March, marry at any time between March and June, go to Canada, come back, apply for FLR(M)

5)  enter U.K. late Feb/March, go to Canada, come back, marry, apply for FLR(M)

However, we want to leave plenty of time remaining on the fiancé visa while we apply for the FLR(M). What's the recommended time frame, is he still ok to remain here while waiting for the decision on the FLR(M) even if the fiancé visa has run out, as long as we apply before it runs out?

All you need to do is have the online FLR(M) application submitted before the visa expires. Everything else (biometrics, visa processing) can be done after the visa runs out, as his immigration status will be automatically extended under Section 3C while the visa is processing.


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That's amazingly helpful, thank you so much. It's good to know we can leave the country on a fiancé visa and still have time to apply for the FLR(M) when we come back. I'll get to work putting together our fiancé visa application!

Just a few things to be mindful of

The USC cannot work, volunteer, or use the NHS while on a fiancé visa. So just be sure you’ll be okay until the FLR(M) is *granted* financially.  And that you have insurance in case medical treatment is needed.