# Getting married and moving to UK?? Please advise!



## Eabie (Mar 16, 2010)

Hello,

I'm a Canadian citizen who plans to marry a Brit and move to the UK at the end of this year. I'm getting quite nervous/worried about the bureaucracy we have to go through to get this done... and I wanted to ask for help as it relates to our specific situation.

First, I'm a grad student who's currently supporting my boyfriend on scholarships (I have over $10 grand in the bank right now). He's going to be going back to the UK on April 30, and then the plan was that he'd come *back* to Canada for another 4 months or so. (He'll have been here in Canada 6 months when he goes back temporarily to the UK.) Then, as I'm on the hook for our apartment until October, he'd go back to the UK around late August/early September or so and look for work and accommodations. I would come to the UK then and get married and attain permanent residency status.

The problem is... I'm not sure that I can do that legally. I've heard about a special visa to go to the UK to get married, but you have to prove to them that you intend to leave the country afterward. Would I have to do that, then apply for a whole *other* visa to rejoin him in the UK afterward?? And I worry about the aspect of having to prove sufficient income - if he doesn't find work until September, then maybe I wouldn't be able to get a visa until then, and we certainly can't plan a wedding if it's contingent upon *that* so close to the wedding (we aimed for December) - not knowing how long it might take, or even if they'd grant me one.

Anyway, I'm clearly a little confused as to what the procedures are. Does the Marriage Visit visa apply to me? Is there any way to go to the UK to *get* married and not have to leave afterward? Any help and guidance would be appreciated.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Eabie said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm a Canadian citizen who plans to marry a Brit and move to the UK at the end of this year. I'm getting quite nervous/worried about the bureaucracy we have to go through to get this done... and I wanted to ask for help as it relates to our specific situation.
> 
> ...


Marriage Visit visa is only for those who want to get married in UK but then go abroad to live. If you both wanted to settle in Canada after your wedding in UK, then that's the visa you would need. For your purpose, you apply for a fiancée visa to the British High Commission in Ottawa, which entitles you to go to UK to be married within 6 months, and while you are still in UK you apply for a leave to remain as a spouse of a British citizen, which is valid for two years. Towards the end of the two-year probationary period, you then apply for indefinite leave to remain (permanent residency or settlement). 
There are no problems about your fiancé returning to UK to prepare for your wedding and for setting up a home - indeed that's what usually happens with most couples. You meanwhile wait in Canada for your visa to come through - it can take anything up to a couple of months. Read the 'UK in Canada' (British HC in Canada) site about fiancé(e) visa, and about documents you require in support of your application.
As for funds, you must have some capital to tide you over until you (and your fiancé) get fixed up with a job - maybe sufficient for a few months. You need a suitable marital accommodation (self-contained) - most people rent a small flat. It's important that you don't become dependent on welfare payments, which is not allowed ('no recourse to public funds').


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## Eabie (Mar 16, 2010)

Joppa said:


> Marriage Visit visa is only for those who want to get married in UK but then go abroad to live. If you both wanted to settle in Canada after your wedding in UK, then that's the visa you would need. For your purpose, you apply for a fiancée visa to the British High Commission in Ottawa, which entitles you to go to UK to be married within 6 months, and while you are still in UK you apply for a leave to remain as a spouse of a British citizen, which is valid for two years. Towards the end of the two-year probationary period, you then apply for indefinite leave to remain (permanent residency or settlement).
> There are no problems about your fiancé returning to UK to prepare for your wedding and for setting up a home - indeed that's what usually happens with most couples. You meanwhile wait in Canada for your visa to come through - it can take anything up to a couple of months. Read the 'UK in Canada' (British HC in Canada) site about fiancé(e) visa, and about documents you require in support of your application.
> As for funds, you must have some capital to tide you over until you (and your fiancé) get fixed up with a job - maybe sufficient for a few months. You need a suitable marital accommodation (self-contained) - most people rent a small flat. It's important that you don't become dependent on welfare payments, which is not allowed ('no recourse to public funds').


Thank you Joppa - that was exactly the sort of specific info we needed. 

I suppose the only possible hiccup - though it's something we can work around - is needing the small flat *before* I can get the fiancee visa. It might just mean he'd have to return to the UK even earlier to get things prepared... which isn't ideal, but if it's what we have to do then obviously we'll do it. (If we want to get married in December and he only gets a place in November, for instance, that could make things alarmingly tight!)

Anyway, thanks again for you help, it is very very much appreciated.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Eabie said:


> I suppose the only possible hiccup - though it's something we can work around - is needing the small flat *before* I can get the fiancee visa. It might just mean he'd have to return to the UK even earlier to get things prepared... which isn't ideal, but if it's what we have to do then obviously we'll do it. (If we want to get married in December and he only gets a place in November, for instance, that could make things alarmingly tight!)


Strictly speaking, you only need to give details of accommodation you intend to occupy following your wedding. In practice, most people, not just visa applicants, get their tenancy shortly before moving in, to get it ready (decorating, furnishing, moving in furniture etc). So you can give on your visa application details of the place you intend to rent, without actually having signed tenancy agreement. But it would I suppose make your application go smoothly if you have.


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