# How do I get to my fiance?! =[



## aislecheeks (Jan 8, 2011)

Here's the story...I'm 19 and he's 23. He's leaving the US army in March of this year and we planned for him to come and study here. For whatever reason, the university have said his application to a Computer Networking course was unsuccessful - they haven't given a reason and I don't see why they'd refuse him a place when the GI Bill would pay his tuition fees so it's guaranteed income for them AND he's been doing networking for the army for 6 years so it's not like he wouldn't get good results!

Anyways, now we're faced with trying to find an alternative way of living together. We've been engaged for about 6 months and the new law says we both have to be 21 to live in the UK. Right, well that rules that one out then. Although I have heard you can get married abroad then get a blessing in the UK and that makes it legal? Any info on that??? It'd mean moving the wedding up to this year instead of next year but hey, whatever it takes.

Other option and preferred option is for me to move to the USA. HOWEVERRRRR (lol) I have a genetic condition, cystic fibrosis, which requires a lot of hospital and medical treatment. How am I gna get healthcare over there? And would they refuse my immigration application because I'd be too much of a drain on their resources? I know they do that in Canada.

Any advice on how we can get around any of this??


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

I found nothing about 21 minimum age in the UK. Can you share an official link?

Universities/colleges have admission criterias beyond source of tuition payment.

Medical coverage will be an issue for you in the US. Insurance carriers are likely to turn down such pre-existing conditions. Your other problem may be visa sponsorship. I know nothing about your fiance's military career and his discharge. GI Bill recipient indicates honorable discharge and will pay a portion of his education. What other income are you anticipating in the US in the UK?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twostep said:


> I found nothing about 21 minimum age in the UK. Can you share an official link?


SET03 - Spouses

See the section SET 3.5 "What is the age requirement?"
Cheers,
Bev


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## aislecheeks (Jan 8, 2011)

twostep said:


> I found nothing about 21 minimum age in the UK. Can you share an official link?
> 
> Universities/colleges have admission criterias beyond source of tuition payment.
> 
> Medical coverage will be an issue for you in the US. Insurance carriers are likely to turn down such pre-existing conditions. Your other problem may be visa sponsorship. I know nothing about your fiance's military career and his discharge. GI Bill recipient indicates honorable discharge and will pay a portion of his education. What other income are you anticipating in the US in the UK?


It's a new law, both sides have to be 21.

Yeah I know that, I went to university myself but with the recent crisis they've had with student riots etc I would have thought they'd have jumped at the chance of some guaranteed income with someone who's had 6 years experience. Obviously not!

Yeah it's honorable discharge and because he's served 6 years they'll pay 100% of his education. In the US we would have to find him a job somewhere and fast, although I don't know how he would be received on the job market with no qualifications and 6 years experience computer networking. I could also do part time admin/office work, but it'd have to be very part time, like a few hours a week at least to start with. So we'd solely be living on his income and maybe i'd be able to do some eventually once my condition is stable but that could take ages.

In the uk, I'm on disability and income benefits because of my condition which SHOULDN'T effect any of his visa applications to come here because I'd be getting those benefits with or without him here. The only work I'm able to do is part time stuff and it can't be physically straining, like I can do office jobs sitting at a desk. Officially on my income benefits, the uk government should be providing me with help in to work, but they're not. As in, they've put on paper that I'm getting it but they're not actually giving me any appointments or any numbers to ring to make appointments etc - I've spoken to a welfare adviser and she just said yep, they do that sometimes. Good old britain hey! lol I feel I'd be able to work better and over all get fitter with my condition improving with the weather over in california, but it's hard to prove that without anyone letting me live there lol. We could live in the uk no problem with income, I just don't want to have to wait until May 2012 to get him over here, it'd be horrible.

Expenses of my treatment would have to include at least one check up every 2 months, anywhere between 6-10 weeks a year inpatient with IV antibiotics and physiotherapy, daily medications include vitamins, antibiotic tablets and nebulisers, inhalers, enzymes, a few other tablets for asthma and to help weight gain, plus a have high calorie feeds over night through a stomach tube. There's then the one off expenses of the feeding pump for those feeds and an oxygen machine for over night oxygen. Crazy. I know thousands of people in the usa have cf, i've tried to look through the cf foundation's website but their leaflet about insurance is all nonsense to me because i've never had to pay insurance for anything and there's nothing on there about immigration.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

I do not want to sound negative but there is a big difference between military and civilian job experience plus he has no degree. At 23 with 6 years he joined at 17. Does he have a high school diploma? That may have been part of the UK non-admission.
I know nothing about UK benefits. As Greencard holder you have limited access to the US equivalent. 
Your disability has no impact on your visa application. Does he have the income to sponsor your or does he have co-sponsor willing to sign a 10 year committment?


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## aislecheeks (Jan 8, 2011)

twostep said:


> I do not want to sound negative but there is a big difference between military and civilian job experience plus he has no degree. At 23 with 6 years he joined at 17. Does he have a high school diploma? That may have been part of the UK non-admission.
> I know nothing about UK benefits. As Greencard holder you have limited access to the US equivalent.
> Your disability has no impact on your visa application. Does he have the income to sponsor your or does he have co-sponsor willing to sign a 10 year committment?


Yeah I think he does and possibly, although this whole non-admission may have been due to a mix up when someone from the university emailed him about transcripts and he sent the wrong ones lol. We'll see.

That's good to know. He currently has no income, he'd have to find a job and preferably with health care benefits that will cover my health care too. He's leaving the army in March and can then claim some unemployment benefit for a year while he finds a job so he's been told. I'm sure that his parents would co-sponsor me or someone in his family. Is there a set amount the income has to be to sponsor me?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

To be rather brutally honest, in your situation I'd kind of forget about living in the US. The health insurance situation there is in a real state of flux at the moment, with the new health insurance legislation (that doesn't come fully into effect until 2014) and threats of repealing it all around. Although the repeal is unlikely to go through, there will be significant attempts to chip away at it before 2014, so you have no idea what you'll be left with.

Health care is a private enterprise in the US, and largely for that reason is very expensive. Even if your fiancé manages to find a job with good health insurance, there are the "co-pays" - which mean you pay part of every service, prescription and treatment you get, even if you have a chronic condition. (And the "co-pays" on medications can easily run a few hundred dollars a month.) These days, most employers split the cost of health insurance with their employees, and then the employees pay the premiums for their dependents added onto the policy. Health insurance is, however, not mandatory and many smaller employers don't offer it.

There is also the little matter of your fiancé finding a job when he gets out of the Military. Finding a job in any sort of computer field is difficult right now without a university degree. Military service is usually considered a plus, but I have several family members back in the States who have been out of work for a while now and they all have military service to offer as well as their training and experience.

Though two years sounds like an eternity right now, you may well be better served if your fiancé concentrates on finding a job and saving what he can until you turn 21 and can sponsor him on a fiancé or spouse visa. Or, if he can't find a job, use his GI Bill to take some courses back in the States to improve his employability when he gets to the UK or meet the entrance requirements for the program he was going for in the UK. 

It just seems kind of crazy to give up the sorts of support you have for your condition in the UK in the face of the very costly US insurance gamble (as it stands at the moment). 
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

aislecheeks said:


> Yeah I think he does and possibly, although this whole non-admission may have been due to a mix up when someone from the university emailed him about transcripts and he sent the wrong ones lol. We'll see.
> 
> That's good to know. He currently has no income, he'd have to find a job and preferably with health care benefits that will cover my health care too. He's leaving the army in March and can then claim some unemployment benefit for a year while he finds a job so he's been told. I'm sure that his parents would co-sponsor me or someone in his family. Is there a set amount the income has to be to sponsor me?


Unemploment claims are very limited in regards to amount and benefits. Him finding employment with medical benefits will not necessarily be a solution for your problems. He may not be able to cover you or only a fraction of your needs as they will be considered pre-existing.
Sponsorship will require 125% of federal poverty limit. Here is some reading material for you. USCIS - Affidavit of Support
FY 2009/2010 Federal Poverty Guidelines - LIHEAP Clearinghouse


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