# Marrying an Italian in Texas



## AceTravis (Apr 26, 2015)

Hello everyone! I'm excited to be part of the forums and I look forward to figuring out this next step in my life.

My girlfriend is an Italian citizen living in London (where we met) and I am a US citizen living in Texas. We have been together over a year now and I haven't been able to get sponsorship for a job in the UK or Italy. Our last option is to get married because we really adore each other and we want to be together. What is the best way of going about this tricky situation?

We were thinking she could visit me in Texas and we could get married here. Then she would travel back to the UK and I would apply for the family visa. Later, if we decide to move to Italy together I would then apply for the family visa there. Does that sound right or am I missing some key things that need to be done.

Thanks in advance for all your responses! 

Cheers


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

spousal visa CR1
Immigrant Visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1)


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Get married in Texas and then apply for the Family Permit for the UK.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Getting married in Texas - check with your city hall in person about details of requirements. Unusual situations can throw wrenches. Been there


CR1 will take 9-12 months. What are your goals for the next four years in regards to family, employment, location?


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## AceTravis (Apr 26, 2015)

twostep said:


> Getting married in Texas - check with your city hall in person about details of requirements. Unusual situations can throw wrenches. Been there
> 
> 
> CR1 will take 9-12 months. What are your goals for the next four years in regards to family, employment, location?


Can you possibly go into more detail about unusual situations that you might have encountered.

If we get married in Texas I will then apply for the family visa in the UK and then move there once accepted. I believe the family visa takes up to 8 weeks if applied online or by post rather in person. Once there I will look for a job in either the chemistry or finance fields (I have a degree in Chemistry and Economics). We are not looking for her to move to the US but rather for me to move to the UK then later move to Italy to be near her family. Am I oversimplifying the process or is that what needs to be done?


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

AceTravis said:


> Can you possibly go into more detail about unusual situations that you might have encountered.
> 
> If we get married in Texas I will then apply for the family visa in the UK and then move there once accepted. I believe the family visa takes up to 8 weeks if applied online or by post rather in person. Once there I will look for a job in either the chemistry or finance fields (I have a degree in Chemistry and Economics). We are not looking for her to move to the US but rather for me to move to the UK then later move to Italy to be near her family. Am I oversimplifying the process or is that what needs to be done?


Seems like the best thing to do if you want to live in Europe.

The Family permit is for 6 months after which you can apply for the residency card. You wife needs to be a qualified person ie. exercising treaty rights by working or being self supporting, but unless you think you are both going to be jobless its pretty simple.

If self supporting you won't be eligible for NHS so will need comprehensive medical insurance.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

There would be no visa or family permit required in these circumstances (U.S. citizen legally married to an Italian citizen, the Italian citizen exercising her treaty rights by working in the U.K., the U.S. citizen-spouse joining her in the U.K.) Once married, the original poster can jump directly to a U.K. residence card.

AceTravis already enjoys visa waiver privileges to enter the United Kingdom, and that (plus legal marriage and proof thereof) is all he needs to settle with his Italian wife in London.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I would check on the requirements over in the British section of the forums here. Like twostep, I had the impression that you were looking to settle in the US after the wedding. But the UK rules for "joining an EU family member" are a bit different from those for the rest of Europe. There is something called an EEA family permit which is required - a bit trickier to obtain than BBC has indicated, though probably less involved than a full fledged visa. Probably best to ask over in the British section to get the official word. Britain Expat Forum for Expats Living in the UK - Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> But the UK rules for "joining an EU family member" are a bit different from those for the rest of Europe.


No, Bev, they're not. They cannot be, by treaty and continued U.K. participation in that treaty (the European Union).

The rules are different when the EU spouse is a *British* citizen. That's not the case here. She's an Italian citizen, and she (and her foreign spouse, the original poster) are subject only to EU/EEA procedures.

As with many countries, the U.K. offers visas (the EEA family permit in this case) to those non-EU/EEA citizens who need visas to enter the United Kingdom. The original poster has no requirement for a visa to enter the United Kingdom -- he's visa waiver privileged. Thus he need not have any prearrangement -- he can just get on a plane, with his passport and marriage certificate, and show up. Once he arrives in the U.K. he can zoom straight to his U.K. residency permit. (And even that's technically optional but recommended.) If you look at the requirements to apply for a U.K. residency permit you won't find "EEA Family Permit" listed -- for good reason.

Yes, I'm aware the United Kingdom tries to pretend otherwise and really would rather not tell you how this works legally, but that's how it works. The fact they treat their own citizens' foreign spouses shabbily whenever they can is not relevant to the original poster.

Sure, check this out, but I'm quite sure of this. This is no particular red tape to solve here -- it's very, very easy.

I would note that the Italian citizen-spouse is obliged to register her marriage (legally established in Texas) in Italy. She'll need an official, long-form copy of the marriage record from Texas, an apostille from the State of Texas, and a translation of the certificate into Italian. She'll submit all of that to the Italian consulate in Houston using the marriage registration form they provide on their Web site. She can do all that via postal mail if she's not physically in Texas (or even if she is). Once her Italian commune registers the marriage, she should then obtain an official Italian copy of her marriage record in so-called "international format." That form of the marriage record can also be used to prove marriage in the United Kingdom. It's a legal document from another EU country, so it's even slightly more bureaucratically preferred. But even without that form of the marriage record, a legal U.S. record is perfectly fine.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Oddly enough that's not what the UK government site says:
https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/overview

Note:


> You must be outside the UK to apply for an EEA family permit.


Seriously, ask over on the British section. We've had more than a few folks turned down for EEA family permits. Britain does things a bit differently. It's still a simpler process than going for a visa, but what can I say?
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> Oddly enough that's not what the UK government site says:
> https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/overview


Bev, where is there anything on that Web site that contradicted what I wrote? Yes, you have to apply for a _visa_ (the EEA Family Permit) to enter the United Kingdom while you're outside the United Kingdom. If you're, oh, to pick a random example, a citizen of Nigeria, and you're married to an Italian living in London, that'd be what you'd have to do. The EEA Family Permit is your initial step to emigrate to the United Kingdom. Citizens of Nigeria need visas to travel to the United Kingdom.

The original poster is a citizen _of the United States_. He can already enter the United Kingdom without a visa -- and without an Italian citizen-spouse -- for stays routinely approved up to 6 months. He already has, as a matter of fact. He simply does not need a visa to enter the United Kingdom, for tourism or for this purpose. Once he's in the United Kingdom, as the legal spouse of an EU/EEA citizen (non-British) he can proceed straight to a U.K. residence permit.(*) He doesn't need to pass Go, and he does not need to pay $200 (or anything else) for a visa he doesn't need.

Yes, do check all this out, but I happen to be 100% correct on this point. Even if the British government doesn't want to spell it out clearly, but this is the law and how it must be followed, even in the United Kingdom.

(*) _Technically_ he wouldn't even need a U.K. residence permit. The United Kingdom unusually imposes no residential registration on its own citizens, so it cannot impose such requirements on treaty qualifying residents, including legal spouses of treaty residents. However, getting a U.K. residence permit is _recommended_ in order to make future border crossing and employment eligibility verification easier.

Again, the rules are different when the EU/EEA spouse is specifically BRITISH. Then the U.K. government is shabby, and all sorts of extra hurdles apply (absent the Singh exceptions). That's not the case here.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I would suggest again, that the OP pose this question over in the British section of the forum. There are a number of "peculiarities" to the way the UK plays the game (the EU game, if you like) and I know in the past we have had cases where people (including US nationals) have been badly tripped up expecting things to work in the UK just like they are supposed to within the EU.
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

AceTravis said:


> Can you possibly go into more detail about unusual situations that you might have encountered.
> 
> If we get married in Texas I will then apply for the family visa in the UK and then move there once accepted. I believe the family visa takes up to 8 weeks if applied online or by post rather in person. Once there I will look for a job in either the chemistry or finance fields (I have a degree in Chemistry and Economics). We are not looking for her to move to the US but rather for me to move to the UK then later move to Italy to be near her family. Am I oversimplifying the process or is that what needs to be done?


Every municipality seems to have something odd.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

BBcwatcher - should, would and could. 
OP should ask the UK side of his questions in the UK forum. Joppa is extremely familiar with real life immigration to the UK.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

If the poster were to apply for the residence card while in the UK, take into account that this could take several months (some have been waiting 4 to 5 months) and that during this time the poster is in the UK *as a visitor* and therefore cannot work or use the NHS.

Having the Family Permit before he goes alllows him to work and have access to the NHS,

Something to think about.


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