UK Fiancé Visa Application Process

Hugs everyone!  It's all chaos at the moment.

I would NOT have a solid wedding date set until AFTER the visa is approved.  That's always been the way.  Sadly visas and immigration have a way of completely sucking the romance out of a day many look forward to.

Well we initially booked it before we found out about them taking away priority visas, so we were planning on me getting my visa and getting there way before August.

And then we heard that news, and figured it would be 12 weeks (which would have still given us enough time).

But then this happened. Luckily the elopement company we are working with knows our situation and knew that things were subject to change, and they are willing to reschedule our date free of charge.

The other reason we picked a date ahead of time is because a lot of these elopement/wedding companies require you to book months in advance. Otherwise they get all filled up for the year pretty quickly.

Anyway, we're getting married in Scotland so the 7 day residency rule won't apply to us.
We're just going to have to reschedule our wedding for a date later in the year and hope for the best. 🤞🏻

I don’t know what the processing times are actually like at the moment, so I really couldn’t say what the chances are of it being faster than 24 weeks.

We always recommend though that you don’t actually book a specific wedding date until you have the visa and are in the UK, because you never know how long the visa will take or when you will actually be able to enter the UK. There have been several people in the past who have had to change their wedding plans because they haven’t received their visa in time.

Where will you be getting married?

If you are marrying in England or Wales, you need to be resident in the county where you will marry for at least 7 days before you can give notice to marry, and then you must wait at least 28 days from giving notice before you can actually have the wedding (this could be extended to 70 days if you have a visa in case they need to refer your case to UK immigration, though this shouldn’t happen with a fiancé visa as the visa will already give you permission to marry)… which means you will need to wait at least 35 days from landing in the UK before you can hold the wedding.

If you are marrying in Scotland, there is no 7-day residency period before giving notice, and I believe you can give notice by post… but you still have to wait the 28 days from giving notice (or possibly up to 70 days if you have a visa and your case is referred) before you can get married.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I really hope not.. I'm so sorry to hear about your situation as well. 

We were the same. First we thought one month or a little bit more than that, no problem. Then 3 months, okay that sucks but we can handle it. Now it's gonna be about 7 months total that we will have been apart by the time the visa is supposed to get accepted. Nothing prepares you for how difficult this can be..

Keeping you guys in my thoughts as well and I really hope all of us will be pleasantly surprised and not have to wait as long as 3 extra months!

Fingers crossed that it doesn't take that long.

I just got the same email today about the service time being extended to 24 weeks for my spousal visa. Is there a handbook on how to sell a house, figure out daycare for a toddler when possibly getting delayed by about 3 months coming from the US? Ugh. We were already anticipating being apart for maybe a month, but now adding possibly 3 more on to that....

  UPDATE!!!

VERY EXCITED!!!! UPS came today and I received my passport with the vignette! Approved!!


Quick question, when I book my ticket to the UK, I can book one way correct? because I intend to settle and apply within the UK for the next step after we get married.

UPDATE!!!

VERY EXCITED!!!! UPS came today and I received my passport with the vignette! Approved!!


Quick question, when I book my ticket to the UK, I can book one way correct? because I intend to settle and apply within the UK for the next step after we get married.

Congratulations! 

You can buy a single, yes. But often it works out cheaper to get a return ticket, so you could always buy the return with a date that you think you could use as a visit back home. You'd still need to get yourself back to the UK again afterwards though so probably only something you might want to do if you were intending to regularly visit the US.

Thank you for replying so quickly, I appreciate it! I am looking at tickets now it is actually cheaper for me if I book one way based on the airport I am traveling from. Very excited! I just wanted to make sure it would not be a problem when I go through border patrol/immigration at the airport. 

Thank you for replying so quickly, I appreciate it! I am looking at tickets now it is actually cheaper for me if I book one way based on the airport I am traveling from. Very excited! I just wanted to make sure it would not be a problem when I go through border patrol/immigration at the airport. 

Won’t be a problem at all.

UPDATE!!!

VERY EXCITED!!!! UPS came today and I received my passport with the vignette! Approved!!


Quick question, when I book my ticket to the UK, I can book one way correct? because I intend to settle and apply within the UK for the next step after we get married.

Ahhh congrats!!! I was actually about to post in this forum and ask if you'd gotten yours yet. That's such exciting news, I'm really happy for you two! It gives me a lot of hope that my visa will be coming soon too, it's been a very long almost 6 month wait!
What date did you apply for yours again? Was it pretty much exactly 6 months for you guys? Just curious, I'm wondering if their 24 week wait time is generally pretty accurate. If so, I should be getting mine within the next month! 

Ahhh congrats!!! I was actually about to post in this forum and ask if you'd gotten yours yet. That's such exciting news, I'm really happy for you two! It gives me a lot of hope that my visa will be coming soon too, it's been a very long almost 6 month wait!
What date did you apply for yours again? Was it pretty much exactly 6 months for you guys? Just curious, I'm wondering if their 24 week wait time is generally pretty accurate. If so, I should be getting mine within the next month! 

Thank you! The 6 month wait is an accurate timeline to receive your answer within that time frame. We paid for standard, so my timeline was from March 29th and I received my passport Sept 8th. When I checked online the average time was around 112-115 working days. Good luck! Hopefully you receive yours soon too! 

Hi,

I just wanted to get a head start on the next step after the fiancé visa. After we are married, I am going to change my name on my passport. I have a few questions about the passport renewal form DS-82.

1) When it says permanent address is that my US address or new UK address?
2) Under changed/previous names am I just entering just my last name since that is the only name changed not first/last?
3) the 2x2 photo is a standard US passport photo I need to include, correct not UK passport photo?

The next step would be preparing for FLR M, right? I wanted to make sure we are prepared and gather the right documents before we apply. I know the required mail will take some time to acquire. Below is the checklist I have so far, but please correct me if I am wrong or missing anything.  I also included questions below each category.

Applicant (me)
Passports
Cover Letter explaining mail shortage
2 UK passport sized photos of me (my full name on back)

Am I including all 3 of my passports? My expired passport, my current passport with the visa, and the newest passport with name change? (every page)

Sponsor
His UK passport (all pages)
1 passport sized photo of him (full name on back)
Letter of support signed with wet signature

Is the letter the same as before: How the financial requirement, the accommodation requirement and relationship requirement are met with trips listed and marriage date?

Financial
7 months of his payslips the last payslip within 28 days of applying
7 months of bank statements the last statement within 28 days of applying
letter from employer signed with wet signature dated within 28 days of applying
Employment contract
p60

Is the employer letter the same as before?
Accommodation
Landlord letter with wet signature
New tenancy agreement with my name included
Roommate letter with wet signature


Is the roommate and landlord letter the same as before?

Residence
6 joint pieces of mail or 12 individual pieces of mail from 3 sources

We will try to get 6 but I hope it will not be a problem. Right now he only receives paper bank statements in the mail. Would paper statements from cell phone bill work? I am not sure but I wanted to ask if Tescos bill/membership statements would work? We are renting and payments come out automatically all utilities included. Do you have any suggestions or examples of other paper mail that would be acceptable that we could gather?

Other
Marriage Certificate

Also, are these the right steps as follows?
1) Gather Documents
2)Fill online application
3)Pay for and submit application
4)Register on UKVCAS and book biometrics appointment for me alone?
5)Await Decision and BRP (is this received all via mail? letter?)

Do I have to mail anything this time?

For the US passport

1.  Address - in the UK
2.  Previous names - if only your maiden name, then that's all you need to put
3.  Yes, you need the US sized photos.  You can do this at any photo booth but I like paspic.com as you can take it at home and ensure you like the photo. 

For the US passport

1.  Address - in the UK
2.  Previous names - if only your maiden name, then that's all you need to put
3.  Yes, you need the US sized photos.  You can do this at any photo booth but I like paspic.com as you can take it at home and ensure you like the photo. 

Oh okay. I was not sure about the address I thought since it is a US passport it required US address. For the name change I am only listing maiden name since my first name has not changed. Thank you for the recommendation for the passport photo I was looking for an online source! I appreciate it! 

Hello again,

Can anyone take a look at my previous post with the FLR (M) questions? I was wondering if mail could be from places like Tescos Clubcard for example. Otherwise, I can update and say we do have a joint bank account so that is one form of mail we can get jointly monthly starting next month. I believe the requirement was 3 different sources? Right now it is just the bank statements. Does mobile statement count? I have mobile phone statements starting October and continuing every month going forward.

Okay, here's my list of what you need, missing items are in red, my comments and notes are in blue:

Applicant Documents
- Current US Passport
- Passport containing fiance visa, which you entered the UK on
- Cover Letter explaining mail shortage
- Signed sponsor declaration (part of online application)
- Consent to checks form Part 1 signed by applicant (part of online application)
- Consent to checks form Part 2 signed by sponsor (part of online application)
Notes:
- Passport photos are no longer required as they just use the biometrics photo instead
- you only need to include passports held since moving to the UK, so your previous expired passport is not required

Sponsor
His UK passport (all pages)

Notes:
The following are not required:
- 1 passport sized photo of him (full name on back)
- Letter of support signed with wet signature

Is the letter the same as before: How the financial requirement, the accommodation requirement and relationship requirement are met with trips listed and marriage date?

You do not need a sponsor letter at all for FLR or ILR applications.

Finances
7 months of his payslips the last payslip within 28 days of applying
7 months of bank statements the last statement within 28 days of applying
letter from employer signed with wet signature dated within 28 days of applying
Employment contract
p60

Is the employer letter the same as before?

Yes.

Accommodation
- New tenancy agreement with my name included
- Roommate letter with wet signature
- Latest council tax statement to show monthly housing costs

Is the roommate and landlord letter the same as before?

If your name is on the new tenancy, you do not need a landlord letter at all.

Residence
6 joint pieces of mail or 12 individual pieces of mail from 3 sources

As you have only just arrived in the UK, you do not need 6 items in each name - just include as many as you have, plus a letter explaining why you don't have enough yet (you are here on a fiance visa and haven't had time to get many yet).

Examples of acceptable items of correspondence are:
• Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies, for example HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, DVLA, TV Licensing.
• Letters or other documents from your GP, a hospital or other local health service about medical treatments, appointments, home visits or other medical matters
• Bank statements/letters
• Building society savings books/letters
• Council tax bills or statements
• Electricity and/or gas bills or statements
• Water rates bills or statements
• Mortgage statements/agreement
• Tenancy agreement(s)
• Telephone bills or statements

So, from what you've mentioned/what you need anyway, you could use:
- tenancy agreement
- council tax statement
- bank statements
- mobile phone bills

If you can get your name added to utility bills like electricity, gas and water, hopefully they will send some correspondence in the post with the new names on. Also, if you can register with a GP (if you haven't already), you should get a letter from the NHS as well.

Other
Marriage Certificate

Also, are these the right steps as follows?
1) Gather Documents
2)Fill online application
3)Pay for and submit application
4)Register on UKVCAS and book biometrics appointment for me alone?
5)Await Decision and BRP (is this received all via mail? letter?)

Yes

Do I have to mail anything this time?

No.

Thank you for clarifying! I just have a few more questions and edited the checklist, if you don't mind taking a look to see if it is correct I would appreciate that.

Applicant Documents
- My Current US Passport with Fiance Visa & Renewed Passport with name change (all pages?)
- Cover Letter explaining mail shortage
- Signed sponsor declaration (part of online application) what is this?
- Consent to checks form Part 1 signed by applicant (part of online application)
- Consent to checks form Part 2 signed by sponsor (part of online application) what are the consent to checks part 1 & 2?

Sponsor
His UK passport (all pages?)

Finances
7 months of his payslips the last payslip within 28 days of applying (Sept 2022-Feb 2023)
7 months of bank statements the last statement within 28 days of applying (Sept 2022-Feb 2023)
letter from employer signed with wet signature dated within 28 days of applying
Employment contract
p60

Accommodation
- New tenancy agreement with my name included
- Latest council tax statement to show monthly housing costs

Residence
As much mail as possible from 3 sources Sept 2022-Feb 2023
September
His HSBC Bank Statement
October
His Bank Statement
My Mobile Phone Bill
November
December
January
February

Other
Marriage Certificate

So, from what you've mentioned/what you need anyway, you could use:
- tenancy agreement
- council tax statement
- bank statements
- mobile phone bill

the tenancy agreement is usually handed to us, so it would not be mailed. For the council tax bill, would we just request a copy of the latest statement? do we each need to try to get 3 sources or is it 3 in total together?

If you can get your name added to utility bills like electricity, gas and water, hopefully they will send some correspondence in the post with the new names on. Also, if you can register with a GP (if you haven't already), you should get a letter from the NHS as well.

We should begin receiving joint bank statements this month, I have mobile phone statements turned on for my phone. Our rent includes all utilities so we cannot get mail with any utilities in our name. I was not aware I was allowed to register with a GP on a fiance visa, I will try that! So we can use our joint statements for most months and for the month of council tax statement that would be in his name and I could use mobile phone bill for that month? and then when I get mail from NHS or GP I can use that and then his bank statement for another month?


Our sources right now could be
council tax statement (him)
GP or NHS letter (me)
joint bank statement (both)
single bank statement (him)
mobile phone bill (me)