# To get married in the UK or US?



## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi - I am new to these forums so please excuse my ignorance. I have read a number of posting and haven't come across an answer to my questions.

I am a UK citizen and my girlfriend is US. We have been together for nearly 5 years, partly her studying in England, part living (not technically with but down the road) in Asia, and mostly long distance with regular flights across the Atlantic!

We are not engaged yet but it's getting close. We are unsure whether to get married in the UK or US, although we would prefer the UK. We would then probably live in England for a number of years and look to re-locate to the US later in life. I should note that I am freelance worker so don't have a 'fixed' income nor do I own a house.

Questions - Is it 'better' to get married in the UK or US?
Is it necessary for her to obtain a fiance visa or can we just get married on the visa waiver programme? 
Is it necessary to get legal advice (we obviously want to avoid high costs where possible)
Does anyone have a ballpark figure in how much it will cost for all the paperwork (excluding wedding costs)

We are probably looking at getting married next summertime (and coping with long distance in the interim).

If anyone has any advice on whether it is straightforward to get married in the UK and live here, any general tips/advice it would be very much appreciated. 

I know there is a lot to research and with about a year to get it sorted, I want to be as prepared as possible.

Thank you for reading


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Sinclair said:


> Hi - I am new to these forums so please excuse my ignorance. I have read a number of posting and haven't come across an answer to my questions.
> 
> I am a UK citizen and my girlfriend is US. We have been together for nearly 5 years, partly her studying in England, part living (not technically with but down the road) in Asia, and mostly long distance with regular flights across the Atlantic!
> 
> ...


In most cases, getting married in US will be cheaper and less hassle, for several reasons:
1. The non-US citizen partner doesn't need a special visa to be married, unlike UK.
2. If you get wed in US, you only need one application for a spouse settlement visa, valid 27 months, and the US partner can work in UK straight after arrival.
3. To marry in UK, your US partner needs a fiancée visa, and then within 6 months of arrival, has to marry and then apply for further leave to remain (FLR), valid 2 years. And she cannot work until she gets her FLR. 
4. The cost of both fiancée visa and spouse visa is $1337, and for FLR it's £550 (£850 for sasme-day premium service).


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## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

Joppa said:


> In most cases, getting married in US will be cheaper and less hassle, for several reasons:
> 1. The non-US citizen partner doesn't need a special visa to be married, unlike UK.
> 2. If you get wed in US, you only need one application for a spouse settlement visa, valid 27 months, and the US partner can work in UK straight after arrival.
> 3. To marry in UK, your US partner needs a fiancée visa, and then within 6 months of arrival, has to marry and then apply for further leave to remain (FLR), valid 2 years. And she cannot work until she gets her FLR.
> 4. The cost of both fiancée visa and spouse visa is $1337, and for FLR it's £550 (£850 for sasme-day premium service).


Thanks for your help.

1/ Is getting a special marriage visa much hassle/expensive? Does this differ from a fiancée visa? Does anyone here have any first hand experience of that?
2/Sounds good - So hypothetically we could marry in the US on Monday, and fly to UK on Tuesday and legally start work on Wednesday?

Also, if we were going to marry in the US, would I need a fiancée visa if we were going back to the UK to live and work? I wouldn't want to compromise my future legal right to live and work in the US.

Thanks so much


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Sinclair said:


> Thanks for your help.
> 
> 1/ Is getting a special marriage visa much hassle/expensive? Does this differ from a fiancée visa? Does anyone here have any first hand experience of that?


Basically, the special marriage visa is a "fiancé" visa. The difference is, however, that if you marry in the UK, you in effect have to get (and pay for) two visas - one is the fiancé visa and then there is another visa fee for the spouse visa (though it goes by a slightly different title) after the wedding.


> 2/Sounds good - So hypothetically we could marry in the US on Monday, and fly to UK on Tuesday and legally start work on Wednesday?


Not quite so fast. If you marry in the US, you can't apply for the spouse visa until after the wedding. Once you've applied, it takes from a couple weeks to a couple months to get the visa, at which time you (or rather, the non-UK spouse of the couple) can fly to the UK. Starting work depends on finding a job first - which is not a trivial pursuit.



> Also, if we were going to marry in the US, would I need a fiancée visa if we were going back to the UK to live and work? I wouldn't want to compromise my future legal right to live and work in the US.


You can get married in the US on a VWP but just be careful on entering the country to have proof that you're not planning on settling in the US. (Having a residence back in the UK, plus a job to return to is usually a good start.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> Basically, the special marriage visa is a "fiancé" visa. The difference is, however, that if you marry in the UK, you in effect have to get (and pay for) two visas - one is the fiancé visa and then there is another visa fee for the spouse visa (though it goes by a slightly different title) after the wedding.
> 
> 
> Not quite so fast. If you marry in the US, you can't apply for the spouse visa until after the wedding. Once you've applied, it takes from a couple weeks to a couple months to get the visa, at which time you (or rather, the non-UK spouse of the couple) can fly to the UK. Starting work depends on finding a job first - which is not a trivial pursuit.
> ...


Thank you Bev.

I tried finding the fees on the UKvisa website but without success.

In order to assist our decision to get married in the UK or US, could you tell me the likely fees involved and if there is anything else to consider?

From what I gather, it doesn't look like it's that much hassle for us to get married in the UK (or am I being naive?!). It's basically that we have to fill out a bit more paperwork?

My understanding is basically apply for a fiance visa a few months before (e.g. March) we get married in the UK (July)> and then immediately apply for a marriage visa for her. 

It sounds quite straightforward?


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## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

*visa fees*

Sorry - I have found it on the UK visas website.


So I think that is £810 for the fiancée visa and then another £810 for the marriage visa? Is that right? Any other hidden costs involved?

Is the fiancee visa an absolute necessity?

Many thanks


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If you care to look at my original reply, I've listed current fees payable. £810 you mention is now £850 (from 6 April).
If you want to marry in UK, you need a fiancée visa, which must be applied for in US. The fee is $1337. It can take up to 12 weeks for the visa to be issued, so you can jump the queue by paying extra $300 for priority, when you normally get it in a week or so. After marriage in UK, you then have to apply for Further Leave to Remain (FLR), which costs £550 by post (but can take weeks and months) or £850 by same-day premium service, when you get in a few days. So the total fees you pay will be between $1337 = £810 plus £550 = £1360 and $1337 + $300 = £1010 plus £850 = £1860. 

If your fiancée arrives without a fiancée visa, she will not be allowed to stay on in UK after marriage and will have to return home within 6 months of arrival. She will then have to apply for a spouse settlement visa in US if she wants to come and live with you in UK. So by having her fiancée visa, she can wed here, and then apply immediately for FLR, and by opting for premium service she will get her leave (in the form of a sticker in her passport) and credit card-sized biometric residence permit within days. Very handy if you want to go abroad for a honeymoon or if she is keen to start work immediately.


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## Nita2011 (Apr 25, 2011)

Hi Sinclair,

I had recently gone through the same thoughts as you have. My now husband is american and we had a huge debate on where to get married etc as he lives in the US and I live in the UK.

We spoke to a lot of solicitors to understand the protocal of how to get married in the UK and couldn't believe the amount of hoops you have to go through and cost. I know Joppa has listed all the costs for the visas. Its not as easy as it sounds. As everyone has said you would need to get your fiancee to apply for fiancee visa, now there is list of documents you would need, but basically its to show that the relationship is real and you would be able to proof that you can afford for your girlfriend to live with you without using tax payers money. Thats the gist of it. However once that visa gets approved she can fly to yours and you would have to get married within 6 months. (Btw if you do this visa you have to have a set wedding date and supply proof that you have booked it to send with the visa application) Once married its very simple to change the visa to a spouse visa as the border control already know its a real relationship. However there is another cost for this new visa.

Now due to the fact of having to pay for a fiancee visa and then another cost for the spousal visa, we went and got married in Cyprus. Purely because there are no visa costs and it was suprisingly easy. We have now applied for the spousal visa and are awaiting the outcome. 

But if you do decide to marry in the UK you will need to apply for the fiancee visa. Unfortunately you wont be able to marry over here without it. 

UK Border agency has a lot of details on the website about the visas and what you need to include in them.

However I don't know much about the US side of things, apart from the solicitors we were speaking too did suggest it would be easier to go get married in Vegas then just apply for the spousal visa )

Hope you decide soon of what you would like to do

Nita


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## Angelkissedxx (Feb 25, 2011)

Hiya, my husband and I had this problem when we were deciding where would be best to marry as well. Get married in the US as it's cheaper, and you are able to fly to America from the UK on the UK visa waiver program. It's completely legal, and easy to do. After you're married apply for the Spouse visa, (if you expedite it for premium service you can get the visa back within a matter of days), and then move to the UK, after 27 months you're then able to apply for indefinite leave to remain which then will allow you to stay. The spouse visa will enable you to work in the UK as soon as you arrive, and you don't have to pay for two visas that way the fiancé and the spouse.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Angelkissedxx said:


> Hiya, my husband and I had this problem when we were deciding where would be best to marry as well. Get married in the US as it's cheaper, and you are able to fly to America from the UK on the UK visa waiver program. It's completely legal, and easy to do. After you're married apply for the Spouse visa, (if you expedite it for premium service you can get the visa back within a matter of days), and then move to the UK, after 27 months you're then able to apply for indefinite leave to remain which then will allow you to stay. The spouse visa will enable you to work in the UK as soon as you arrive, and you don't have to pay for two visas that way the fiancé and the spouse.


It remains to be seen what happens to those who want to marry in UK *but don't want to settle there straight afterwards*, following the abolition of the Certificate of Approval system on 9th May. Prior to that, those who arrive in UK who don't have a settled status have to get a CoA from Home Office to be married legally in UK. And those who come over with a specific purpose of marriage have to get in advance a marriage visitor visa. If after 9th May, marriage visitor visa is also abolished, then a non-EU partner can just travel to UK as a visitor (and many nationalities don't need a visa), get legally married and then leave, and apply for spouse visa in their home country. If the marriage visitor visa remains, then you have to get it first before flying over (but the cost is a reasonable $125). So if you look at in purely monetary terms, the comparative costs in marrying in US and UK can't be too far apart, as the travel cost of non-UK partner to UK cancels out the similar cost for a non-US partner to travel to US, and there is still only one lot of visa fees for settlement (plus a possible marriage visitor visa). 

So what I am saying is that it's still possible to get wed in UK, if that's what both want to do, without having to apply for two visas or a visa and a leave.


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## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

Joppa said:


> It remains to be seen what happens to those who want to marry in UK *but don't want to settle there straight afterwards*, following the abolition of the Certificate of Approval system on 9th May. Prior to that, those who arrive in UK who don't have a settled status have to get a CoA from Home Office to be married legally in UK. And those who come over with a specific purpose of marriage have to get in advance a marriage visitor visa. If after 9th May, marriage visitor visa is also abolished, then a non-EU partner can just travel to UK as a visitor (and many nationalities don't need a visa), get legally married and then leave, and apply for spouse visa in their home country. If the marriage visitor visa remains, then you have to get it first before flying over (but the cost is a reasonable $125). So if you look at in purely monetary terms, the comparative costs in marrying in US and UK can't be too far apart, as the travel cost of non-UK partner to UK cancels out the similar cost for a non-US partner to travel to US, and there is still only one lot of visa fees for settlement (plus a possible marriage visitor visa).
> 
> So what I am saying is that it's still possible to get wed in UK, if that's what both want to do, without having to apply for two visas or a visa and a leave.


Mmmm... an interesting loophole? At least, I think I understand. The only disadvantage I can see is that we would potentially be apart in the time between marrying in the UK and her returning to the US to apply for the spousal visa until she can then legally return to the UK. Is that right? I suppose there would be nothing stopping me visiting her in the US on the visa waiver?

Tempting as it is to go to Vegas and have a ceremony in the UK, I am not sure if that 'feels' right.... 



Thank you to everyone for your very helpful responses - I cannot tell you how helpful it is. I look forward to the time when I can come on here and offer others advice.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Sinclair said:


> Mmmm... an interesting loophole? At least, I think I understand. The only disadvantage I can see is that we would potentially be apart in the time between marrying in the UK and her returning to the US to apply for the spousal visa until she can then legally return to the UK. Is that right? I suppose there would be nothing stopping me visiting her in the US on the visa waiver?


If she pays extra $300 for priority service, she can get her visa in a matter of days, provided her application is complete with all supporting documents supplied.


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## Sinclair (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi Joppa -

I have tried researching this loophole but it still seems a bit risky?

We have time on our side (our wedding in the UK is now set for end of March 2012) and just want to make sure that we do everything legally and by the book....

Thanks again.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Sinclair said:


> Hi Joppa -
> 
> I have tried researching this loophole but it still seems a bit risky?
> 
> ...


I agree. Do it properly, with fiancée visa, marriage in UK and then FLR.


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## ConnecticutYankee (Jul 18, 2011)

I married my UK husband here in the States. We determined that it would be more cost effective to only have to pay for the one visa vs. a fiance visa and then a spouse visa. We eloped in NYC and it could not have been easier or more romantic. Whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck!


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## Mischief (Sep 10, 2011)

Hi, there, I was in your position a few years ago (I'm the US citizen) and opted to get married in the UK. I don't know if it's been abolished, but I had to pay biometric data fees (to get fingerprints taken, etc...), register fees, etc.. I was already moved over to the UK at the time, so that meant a trip back to the USA to file for the fiancee VISA and wait for the outcome. Luckily, my mom had me stay at her house while I waited. Although many people just get married in the USA and skip the fiancee VISA, I couldn't take the risk of any delays or problems. We had gone to a solicitor in the UK and also spoken with a VISA Immigration Agency; both recommended marrying in the UK, claiming the paper process would be faster. I am now hearing from other people that this isn't true, so I don't know why a lawyer would tell us this then? That was back in 2008. Maybe things are easier now, in 2011, for marrying in the USA and skipping all those costs? 

I was coming out of a divorce at the time and was going to run out of money if I remained in the USA for too many months, so that's another reason we didn't get married there when the lawyer said it could slow down the immigration process. Looking back, I guess we made the right choice to marry in the UK, although it did cost us a lot of money. UK Immigration approval is easier if you have known each other at least 2 years and have photos of you both with each other's relatives, have telephone bill records of calling each other up, saved emails of correspondence to send them (we even sent Instant Messenger conversations where we had declared our love for each other), etc... Plus, they will want to see the stamps in your passports which prove you travelled to see each other, and how often. This worked in our favour, as my husband came to America 3 times a year to visit me. Good luck to you!


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## confusedinny (Jan 14, 2012)

*Confused but trying*

Hi friends:
I've tried to keep up, but have a question.

I'm US, he is UK. We plan to live in the USA ASAP.

I was interested in the CR-1 route so that he could work immediately upon arriving in the US. He is currently in London working, so I thought it'd be easiest to fly there and get married.

Do I need a special visa? It seems that I do, but I don't need to stay for 6 months. I'd fly literally over there next month and marry him, then file CR-1 ASAP to get him here.

Can someone clarify? Do I really need a super expensive visa just to marry him in the UK on a week and a half trip?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

confusedinny said:


> Hi friends:
> I've tried to keep up, but have a question.
> 
> I'm US, he is UK. We plan to live in the USA ASAP.
> ...


You need to post on US forum to get help with US visas. CR-1 can still take 5-6 months to be processed. 

As for what sort of visa you need to marry in UK, you require marriage visitor visa, which only costs a modest $125. If you try to marry as a general visitor without a visa, you may be denied entry and put on the next flight home.


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