# UK Citizen to Marry Taiwanese Citizen - Visa Advice



## stickyfingers (Jun 23, 2014)

Hello

I am looking for some visa advice, if anyone would be able to point me in the right direction, that would be great.

I am a British Citizen, and my Fiance is a Taiwanese Citizen. After much thought we have decided that we would like to settle in the UK. We are now trying to work out which method is best to go about doing this. Eventually we will both be living with my parents while we save money for a deposit to buy somewhere.

She currently resides in Taiwan, and I live in the UK. From my understand there are two options that would suit us, but which would be the best?

1) Fiance Visa for her, we marry within the 6 months, then apply for spouse visa etc

2) We get married in Hong Kong (for example), and then apply straight for the spouse visa

What is the difference between a Spouse Visa and Leave To Remain, or Further Leave to Remain? I'm a bit confused between them and which one is the correct one in our situation. 

If we are successful with the Fiance Visa application, and we get married, is the next step Leave to Remain? Is it best to pay the £400 premium and do the same day service?

She is currently booked to take a Cambridge KEY exam at the end of July, and provided everything goes well we will then start the application process.

If we go for the Fiance Visa first, what documents do we need to supply and do they have to be originals? e.g. would i need to send my original pay slips to Taiwan for her to take during the application?

Documents i'm starting to prepare is:

Cover Letter from me
Cover Letter from her
Letter from my parents confirming we can both stay with them (Do i need anything else from my parents? House Deed? Utility Bill?)
Letter from my employer stating when I started and my current salary
Last 6 months of Pay Slips
Photocopy of my Passport, ID page
2 Passport photos of her
English Language Certificate

What i'm not sure on is how to prove we are in the relationship. We have been together for almost 4 years, and got Engaged last year, but we have never lived together. When we first started talking is was by email but soon after is was by Skype. We have photos of all the times we have met up, of me visiting Taiwan to see her family, and her family coming over to the UK to visit. What else can I provide as evidence?

Also, what about evidence that we will get married? Does that mean we have to book something in the UK at a venue before we apply for the Visa? Is this possible?

If anyone has any advice for out situation it would be greatly welcome 

Thanks very much in advance


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

First off, congratulations on your engagement.

The only real difference between Spousal Leave to Remain and Further Leave to Remain is that if you get married in HK and apply for a spouse visa, that visa is exactly the same as if Miss Taiwan came over as a fiancée, got married, and adjusted her immigration status after the wedding. The Fiancée Visa is her permission to come to the UK to get married before getting Leave to Remain (as the spouse of a UK citizen), while a spousal visa is the entry clearance *and* Leave to Remain all wrapped up into one visa.

As stated before, if Miss Taiwan came over as your Fiancee, she'd need to get further leave to remain which can be done as a "same day" premium appointment... not sure how much extra it costs (the fees went up in April), but it is a surcharge on top of the visa fee... if you have the cash to splash, I'd highly recommend doing it that way (I came over on a Fiancee visa and got my FLR(M) via a PEO appointment... I'm going for ILR in October and plan on going premium then as well).

For the English Requirement, she should aim for B1 or higher on the CEFR scale... also, be aware of any expiration dates on her English Language test credential... if you can get one that doesn't have an expiry, it will save time and effort later on down the line).

Bank statements, P60, and pay slips _must_ be originals. Please also submit a photocopy of _anything_ you want back or else there's a very good chance that you won't receive them back.

Your list of documents looks good. As for proof of a relationship, submit a selection (about a dozen or so) photos of you together across the length of your relationship. Also, emails, Skype Chat logs etc are helpful as well (take screen prints of your Skype Chat record)... be mindful of the type of email you send... while they won't be hanging on every word you have written to each other, there may be some conversations that you don't want complete strangers reading. *wink* 

For getting married... if you plan on tying the knot here in the UK, sending a provisional Registry office booking (if you're going the Registry Office route) and perhaps a contract for a wedding breakfast venue showing a definite date. When I got married, we were married in the Church (of England) and I had given the name of the Vicar and the Church we got married in (as well as a pamphlet from the church) as well as a copy of the contract for our Wedding Breakfast/Reception in London for November 3, 2012.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask here... we've all collectively been there and done that and are more than willing to help/give advice to anyone and everyone who is wanting to come over.


Good luck to you!


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## stickyfingers (Jun 23, 2014)

Thank you so very much

I think we are going to go for the Fiance Visa first, and then apply for FLV via the same day appointment.

For the English requirement, does it need to be B1? I was reading through and for the Fiance Visa I think she only needs A1, is that correct? She is doing the Cambridge KEY (KET) exam.

Thanks for the document info, i will send originals and photocopies, just to be safe. Do I need any documents from my parents other than a letter? Such as house deed or utility bill?

Due to her parents obviously wanting to come over to the UK for out wedding, even though it will be small, I need to plan as much in advance as possible. It can be quite diofficult for them to get holiday cover.

Would the following be a good time scale?

Prov book registry office for wedding in first week in November
25th July - She passes the English Exam
1st August she applies for Fiance Visa - at present this is expected to take 60 days according to the website
1st week in OCtober she comes to the UK and settles in
Get married 1st week of November
2nd Week of November we apply for FLR by same day appointment

Does that make sense?


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

A1 will get her into the UK, but she'll need B1 or higher once she applies to settle... check out the guidance here.

All of that said, I do believe that there is a course Miss Taiwan can take whereby she satisfies both the Language requirement _and_ the Life in the UK test that all prospective ILR/Citizenship applicants must sit and pass. This point of the process is still at least 3 years away for you, but if you plan ahead, it shouldn't be a problem.

Your timeline sounds reasonable. Once you have your initial visa in hand and all of your dates fixed, you can pre-book an appointment for Miss Taiwan's FLR(M) application... date are released 6 weeks in advance of intended appointment date (i.e. they're now taking bookings for August 4 as of this morning)... for guidance on how to book your appointment, look here.


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## stickyfingers (Jun 23, 2014)

Due to wanting to register the Marriage in Taiwan, as well as the UK, and to prevent too many flights back and fourth, we have now decided to go down a different route.

We are currently in the process of applying to get married in HK, so that the marriage certificate is in English, and then can make the short trip to Taiwan to register it there.

Does this change our Visa application? I assume that once we have the marriage certificate from HK she can apply for the Spouse Visa? Is that Leave to Remain? Are the documents required pretty much the same?

For the language requirement is it better to go for the basic KEY exam and try to get the highest on that at B1, or go for the next stage up exam which is the Preliminary one, and get B1 on that which is only a Borderline pass?

Finally, just to confirm, if we end up having children during the initial 2 and a half year leave to remain visa, would they be British Citizens by birth and would it change the visa situation for my (future)wife?

Thanks again


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

stickyfingers said:


> Due to wanting to register the Marriage in Taiwan, as well as the UK, and to prevent too many flights back and fourth, we have now decided to go down a different route.
> 
> We are currently in the process of applying to get married in HK, so that the marriage certificate is in English, and then can make the short trip to Taiwan to register it there.
> 
> ...


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