# Uk and US citizen would like to marry



## Chan80 (Apr 26, 2010)

Hi

I would like to ask some advice on UK and US citizens marrying. I have been with my partner for 2 1/2 years. He is from the US and I am from the UK. He is currently in the UK with me on a 6 month visit visa but we would like to get married as he has recently proposed to me. We know that whilst he is here on the visit visa we cannot marry in the UK but I would like to return to the US with him and marry... Is this a good option- I do not plan to apply for a US fiance visa and our plan is to apply for a UK spousal visa for him once we are married. Our other option is to choose another destination for our wedding (not linked to the UK or US), are we allowed to do this? I know we would have to check with whichever county we choose about the legalities required for marriage and we would have to ensure that our wedding is legally recognised in the US and UK but is there anything that would go against us if we chose to go on holiday and get married? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Chan80 said:


> I would like to ask some advice on UK and US citizens marrying. I have been with my partner for 2 1/2 years. He is from the US and I am from the UK. He is currently in the UK with me on a 6 month visit visa but we would like to get married as he has recently proposed to me. We know that whilst he is here on the visit visa we cannot marry in the UK but I would like to return to the US with him and marry... Is this a good option- I do not plan to apply for a US fiance visa and our plan is to apply for a UK spousal visa for him once we are married. Our other option is to choose another destination for our wedding (not linked to the UK or US), are we allowed to do this? I know we would have to check with whichever county we choose about the legalities required for marriage and we would have to ensure that our wedding is legally recognised in the US and UK but is there anything that would go against us if we chose to go on holiday and get married? Any help would be appreciated.


You can do either, and provided the marriage will be recognised by both US and UK authorities, there are no serious problems. If you marry in the States, make sure you familiarise yourself with any State rules - some require blood test etc. AFAIK there is no problem getting married on your visa-waiver. Just ensure that you register with the local State authorities and get their marriage certificate, as that's the only document recognised by British consulate - not any paper given by wedding chapel or officiant. Sometimes this can take some time, so allow for it. If you get married in a third country, go to the British and US embassy websites and find out any local rules, such as residence, notice, paperwork etc. He will then have to return to US and do whatever is required to register his marriage there (if applicable).
Once married, your US partner has to submit a settlement visa (marriage) application to the British consulate that covers the State of his residence. There are very detailed requirements with a number of documents needed. It can take a few months to get your dossier/file together, so look at consular and WorldBridge websites (official handling agent for British consulates) now and start collecting evidence. Normally you return to UK to wait for his visa to come through, which can take as little as a week to as much as 2 months! It's impossible to tell in advance how long you have to wait, so it's best to return to UK first and get your marital home established. Some people have used and paid for an visa expediter to speed up the process.
There are a number of threads dealing with settlement visa application, which you may want to look at.


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## Chan80 (Apr 26, 2010)

Joppa said:


> You can do either, and provided the marriage will be recognised by both US and UK authorities, there are no serious problems. If you marry in the States, make sure you familiarise yourself with any State rules - some require blood test etc. AFAIK there is no problem getting married on your visa-waiver. Just ensure that you register with the local State authorities and get their marriage certificate, as that's the only document recognised by British consulate - not any paper given by wedding chapel or officiant. Sometimes this can take some time, so allow for it. If you get married in a third country, go to the British and US embassy websites and find out any local rules, such as residence, notice, paperwork etc. He will then have to return to US and do whatever is required to register his marriage there (if applicable).
> Once married, your US partner has to submit a settlement visa (marriage) application to the British consulate that covers the State of his residence. There are very detailed requirements with a number of documents needed. It can take a few months to get your dossier/file together, so look at consular and WorldBridge websites (official handling agent for British consulates) now and start collecting evidence. Normally you return to UK to wait for his visa to come through, which can take as little as a week to as much as 2 months! It's impossible to tell in advance how long you have to wait, so it's best to return to UK first and get your marital home established. Some people have used and paid for an visa expediter to speed up the process.
> There are a number of threads dealing with settlement visa application, which you may want to look at.



Thank you very much for your fast and informative reponse... I shall probably be asking more questions as we go through the process.... We already have a hugh arch lever file of proof of our relationship and had submitted this to the visa consulate in order to obtain this visit visa-we had to do this as he was refused entry the previous year so we wanted to give them everything porssible to proof our relationship i.e. 2 years of phone bills, instant message conversations, emails, receipts for presents, flights, hotels, pictures etc... ill look at worldbridge site and see what else they want. But thanks again for the help. x


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## halfnine (Apr 2, 2010)

My wife (an Australian) and I (an American) got married in the USA before I applied for a spousal visa to join her in the UK (on her Tier 1 visa). As Joppa mentioned, if you get married in the USA definitely familiarize yourself with the requirements where you'll be getting married. In addition to blood tests, etc. the UK individual may be required to have a second form of ID (birth certificate, etc) in addition to their passport. Nothing complicated, you just want to make sure you tick all the boxes.

Of course, the simplest way is to get married in Vegas where all you will need is one form of ID and that is it. No waiting periods, blood tests....


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