# Marriage visitor vs Fiancee visa



## elenapopova (Sep 12, 2012)

Hi all!

I have another fiancée visa question, because me and my boyfriend are utterly confused by the information on UKBA site and googling only makes it worse.

My boyfriend is British, I’m Russian, we’ve been together for over a year after meeting in our British University. Currently we live in our countries and travel to see each other as often as possible. We both have our well-paid jobs, he in London, me in Moscow. This begins to be very tough on us, because it’s difficult emotionally and gets expensive too. So we want to tie the knot and move in together at last. 

So. UKBA has two options: 1) marriage visitor visa – is when you come to the UK, marry and go back; 2) fiancée visa – when you come, marry, stay in the UK, apply for a spouse visa. My question is: can I get a marriage visitor and marry him in London and then return to Moscow to apply for a spouse visa? It’s not that we’re greedy to pay more for the fiancée visa, but I don’t want to give up on my income until I can have a right to work in the UK, because it means gaps in work experience and income for me.

Thank you in advance!
Elena


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

elenapopova said:


> Hi all!
> 
> I have another fiancée visa question, because me and my boyfriend are utterly confused by the information on UKBA site and googling only makes it worse.
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum.

Yes, you can.

The best timing for applying for your spouse visa is when your new husband has the proof needed to support you - having worked for six months with the same employer, each month earning at least £1,550 gross. Or if between you there are savings totalling £62,500 untouched for 6 month, you can apply immediately.

The only fly in the ointment is currently there is a very long processing time for settlement visa applications in Russia, typically 60 to 90 working days as of July, but I suspect it's even longer now. There is no priority service available for settlement visa. So you are likely to be in for a long wait - of several months - without your passport.


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## elenapopova (Sep 12, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> 
> Yes, you can.
> 
> ...



Thanks a lot, your answer makes thing clear now.

Processing time in July was awful indeed, but the Embassy did issue a notice that they'd take ages to do visas because of pre-Olympics workload. They should be back to sort of normal now. I hope, at least


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## Zama (Apr 23, 2012)

Elena, welcome to the forum! 
I applied to my fiance settlement visa in Kazakhstan last July and it took 1,5 months for UKBA to process my application. It should be back to normal now, as all students and olympic visitors have got their visas!


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## elenapopova (Sep 12, 2012)

Zama said:


> Elena, welcome to the forum!
> I applied to my fiance settlement visa in Kazakhstan last July and it took 1,5 months for UKBA to process my application. It should be back to normal now, as all students and olympic visitors have got their visas!


Hi, Zama!
Do you happen to know if the marriage visitor visas are refused often or are they fine to get, given that all the documents are correct?


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## Zama (Apr 23, 2012)

Elena,

I am sure Joppa can give you a more competent response to your question. Although, as far as I know, as long as you prove your financial standing, ties to your country (your work) and have a good immigration history, there should not be a problem. 
Just pay thorough attention to the documents you are submitting, they should be in accordance with the requirements stated in UKBA website.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Marriage visitor visa, a non-settlement visa, should be fairly straightforward to process, and I think you can pay extra for fast (priority) service within 48 hours. Only at St Petersburg, and at extra R 10575 (£210).


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## elenapopova (Sep 12, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Marriage visitor visa, a non-settlement visa, should be fairly straightforward to process, and I think you can pay extra for fast (priority) service within 48 hours. Only at St Petersburg, and at extra R 10575 (£210).


Joppa,

Thanks a lot for the information! Can I ask one last question, please? 

There seems to be a vicious circle. UKBA says that while I’m on a general visitor visa, I can’t go get a notification of marriage. But to get a marriage visitor visa, I should have a notification of marriage. How exactly do they expect me to get it then?

Elena


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

elenapopova said:


> Joppa,
> 
> Thanks a lot for the information! Can I ask one last question, please?
> 
> ...


You are not allowed to switch while on a regular tourist visa (it's nothing against you or where you are from... this rule applies to everyone)... you must apply for Marriage Visitor visa from Mother Russia and wait for the UKBA to issue your visa. Once your visa is approved, you can go to the UK to get married.

Good luck to you and congrats on your impending wedding!


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## elenapopova (Sep 12, 2012)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> You are not allowed to switch while on a regular tourist visa (it's nothing against you or where you are from... this rule applies to everyone)... you must apply for Marriage Visitor visa from Mother Russia and wait for the UKBA to issue your visa. Once your visa is approved, you can go to the UK to get married.
> 
> Good luck to you and congrats on your impending wedding!


Thank you!

It's no problem going back to Russia - I'll be doing that for maybe another year anyway, it's just confusing with UKBA rules sometimes and we wouldn't want to do anything illegal just because we didn't understand it right.


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## wmaid (Nov 26, 2012)

Hi there, i've been reading posts within this forum for the last two weeks every day, and find it very informative and helpful. But now, reading post of elenapopova i got confused again - i was thinking of applying as a fiancee, what is the marriage visa? Could you please give some details of what is the difference in marriage visa vs. fiancee visa? thanks in advance


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

wmaid said:


> Hi there, i've been reading posts within this forum for the last two weeks every day, and find it very informative and helpful. But now, reading post of elenapopova i got confused again - i was thinking of applying as a fiancee, what is the marriage visa? Could you please give some details of what is the difference in marriage visa vs. fiancee visa? thanks in advance


A marriage visit visa is for those who are just want to get married in the UK and once married they will leave the UK to go and live in another country. A fiance visa is for those who intend to marry in the UK and then take up residence in the UK.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

The Marriage Visitor Visa is a temporary visa that is granted to the applicant for 6 months, in which time they can marry and then leave the UK again. It's best suited to people who want to marry in the UK but not settle permanently in the UK.

The fiancé visa is a visa leading to permanent settlement in the UK. You are granted 6 months in which to marry, but then you remain in the UK and apply to stay as the spouse of a UK citizen (Further Leave To Remain - FLR).

EDIT - nyclon beat me to it


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## wmaid (Nov 26, 2012)

Thanks, clear now.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

'Marriage' is the category of visa you must choose when applying as a fiancé(e) on online application. Those who are already married choose 'wife' or 'husband', and those in a relationship akin to marriage select 'unmarried partnership.' Those who are in official same-sex relationship choose 'civil partnership.'


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## Glenemery74 (Jul 28, 2013)

Zama said:


> Elena, welcome to the forum!
> I applied to my fiance settlement visa in Kazakhstan last July and it took 1,5 months for UKBA to process my application. It should be back to normal now, as all students and olympic visitors have got their visas!


Hi  my fiancé just applied for fiancé visa too from kazakhstan. But we been waiting for 3 months now. All the website says is "under assessment at UKBA"  what happened with yours? Please. We are supposed to get married in September lol. Didnt realise it would take so long


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## Sofya.S (Dec 20, 2013)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> You are not allowed to switch while on a regular tourist visa (it's nothing against you or where you are from... this rule applies to everyone)... you must apply for Marriage Visitor visa from Mother Russia and wait for the UKBA to issue your visa. Once your visa is approved, you can go to the UK to get married.
> 
> Good luck to you and congrats on your impending wedding!


Dear WestCoastCanadianGirl and Jotta, do you know if I can apply for a "visitor for marriage visa", if I haven't given notice to register yet? It says on UKBA web-site that I need to confirm that I had given notice which is very confusing
Thank you very much for help!


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## Sofya.S (Dec 20, 2013)

elenapopova said:


> Hi all!
> 
> Elena


Dear Elena! How did things went with you? Did you manage to get your visa? Did you have to give the notice to register prior to applying for your visa? I find it the most confusing thing in all the "visitor for marriage" requirements))
Thanks
Sofya


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Sofya.S said:


> Dear WestCoastCanadianGirl and Joppa, do you know if I can apply for a "visitor for marriage visa", if I haven't given notice to register yet? It says on UKBA web-site that I need to confirm that I had given notice which is very confusing.


You can't give notice (except in Scotland) until you are in UK with a visa that allows you to marry, so you can't. All you can and should do is to make an appointment with the registrar, make a provisional booking for a venue and a reception, cars, catering etc and submit reservation letters/notes with your application.


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## Sofya.S (Dec 20, 2013)

Joppa said:


> You can't give notice (except in Scotland) until you are in UK with a visa that allows you to marry, so you can't. All you can and should do is to make an appointment with the registrar, make a provisional booking for a venue and a reception, cars, catering etc and submit reservation letters/notes with your application.


Thank you for the answer. But what if we do not plan a reception? We were thinking just of having a little wedding for two, with a nice dinner, and then a trip somewhere over weekend. We do not have time neither willing to invite guests and so on. Would the booking for the trip, maybe a bill for wedding rings, a dress and photographer qualify? We may book a nice car to bring us from the register office to the restaurant as well. That's mostly all.

And also what does it mean "to book an appointment for giving notice - is it formal, do we receive any kind of confirmation?
Thank you very much for the help!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

The best is appointment with the registrar to give notice. Just ask them to provide a letter or email confirming your appointment.


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## wmaid (Nov 26, 2012)

I was granted a Marriage visitor visa in Jun-2013 and got married on 11th-Aug. 
As Joppa mentioned in Scotland one of the partners can submit the papers to Registrar, no need for both partners to be present. So, to enable my partner to do so i have posted certificate of no impediment (translated), birth certificate (translated) and the completed Notice for marriage to my partner and he submitted those papers to register office by himself and booked our wedding. All these papers were sumbitted 3 months prior the planned wedding date. he has also paid required fee for the register services.

With my application for marriage visitor i have submitted following papers (again, each case is unique, but hope it can help)

-	Application form, duly dated and signed with passport size picture
-	Current passports showing my travel history and nationality
-	Certificate of no impediment (translated)
-	Employment letter stating my position, gross salary and start date
-	Payslips, bank statements
- Letter from employer about expecting me to return back to work at certain date
- Ticket booking
-	Letter from my partner stating that he is expecting me to come and that i will be staying in his house, supported by land register copy, and copy of his passport bio page
- Confirmation letter from registrar about receiving all my papers and booking for the wedding
- booking and receipts of wedding venue, cake, cars, flowers, photographer, invitations, DJ, etc.


Application was subnitted on 31-May, visa was issued 11-June.

Good luck with your application


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