# Marriage visa for gay couple living in Middle East, any alternatives?



## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

Hi All, 

We have a situation, me (Mexico) and my partner (UK) want to only get married in the UK and continue living in Dubai. 

Even though I dont need a visa for UK, we understand I need a marriage visa. 

We meet all the requirements (financial, proof, etc) there is just one thing: we need to apply in our country of residence, in this case, in the Embassy of the UK in Dubai (no problem as it is British staff)...but it has to be through a Visa Application Center (VAC, this is were we have the problem)) ... since this VAC does not belong to the UK government, they only process the paperwork and send it to the Embassy, we want to know if there is an alternative for getting the marriage visa in the UK or elsewhere (for example UK Embassy in Germany, or anywhere in Europe). 

We dont feel comfortable giving our personal information to an application center that is not related to the government, given the fact that being gay is illegal here and they can misuse that information. We have a very comfortable life here in Dubai and would not like to jeopardize it. 

Any advice\ help is appreciated.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You can only apply for a visa from your home country or your normal place of residence. So, your other option is to return to Mexico to apply.


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## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

We have considered this, but it states it needs up to 3 weeks to process, dont know if I can take that time off work...

Our country of residence is UAE, and thus, not possible. 

We would like to know if we can apply within the UK. 

Thanks for your response though.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

No. You can't switch from a visit visa to any other kind of visa. Your options are to apply from your home country or your normal place of residence.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There are additional problems on top of applying in Dubai. If you manage to get your marriage visa anyhow, your fiancé's name will be entered on your visa placed in your passport, which will be seen by UAE border officials as you enter and leave the Emirates. I presume you have Emirate cards to use as ID while living there, but having such details in your passport I'd have thought would lead to problems. So I don't know how sensible is your plan to have same-sex marriage in UK and then return to Dubai to live.


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## TheBigBean (Jan 16, 2015)

The other thing you might consider is having the wedding in a country where it is easy to get married (e.g. Vegas) and then having a reception and unofficial ceremony in the UK. A lot of people do this sort of thing and don't tell the guests where they were officially married. Whilst the complexity of getting married varies all over the world, once married most marriage certificates are equal. When I was looking at this, I found a lot of info on the internet about easy places to get married, largely because lots of people dream of eloping.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I agree. If you don't want to put any indication or hint of a same-sex union in your passport, just get married where you don't need a specific visa.


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## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

The stamp in my passport is no problem, as I have e-gate and I never pass through an immigration authority... Anyways, we saved enough money here and we are only planning on staying until our residences expire ( 2 more years)... 

Thank you all for the responses and advice, will consider Scotland or any other easy venues in Europe. Anyways, plan B is I go to Mexico on unpaid leave till I sort out... 

The reason we chose UK (originally we chose Canada, but my family requires visa, plus air tickets are more expensive than Europe) its because of easy convinience for all of our families and he being british national. 

Also the concern was that most of the venues require a non refundable deposit to secure the date, but its quite a risk if something happens to this marriage visa. 

Thanks for the advice!!


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

From my personal experience with Worldbridge, they just picked the application and put it in the envelope and did not really even look through it so it may be reasonably safe let's say for you to just go on your own and apply. Chances are, VAC people won't really pay much attention to the fact it's a gay marriage or may not even notice it at all. After all, the sponsor's information is not on the first page of the application form and if you are including any personal photos you can put them in a sealed envelope... 

It is a bit risky but I don't think the risk is great, VAC people are really little bit more than couriers.


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## TheBigBean (Jan 16, 2015)

miaux said:


> Also the concern was that most of the venues require a non refundable deposit to secure the date, but its quite a risk if something happens to this marriage visa.


This was the problem for us, you end up committed to huge costs (hotels, plane tickets etc.) and are not able to get the visa until relatively late in the day. With hindsight it all worked out well, but it was stressful at the time.

Note that you will need to provide lots of information about yourself such as letters from your employer.

PS My earlier post seems to have been deleted. That's a first for me on any forum on the internet and not a promising sign.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

miaux said:


> Thank you all for the responses and advice, will consider Scotland or any other easy venues in Europe. Anyways, plan B is I go to Mexico on unpaid leave till I sort out...


Scotland is in the UK so you'll need a marriage visit visa.


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## sktan (Feb 4, 2015)

Try to contact the UK Embassy in a Central/South American country (such as Colombia) where you can go without a visit, that might be the easiest option for you.


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Does Barbados do civil ceremonies? they might not require a visa for other guests to attend the wedding, and it is probably a bit nearer Mexico, plus a beautiful place to visit, for honeymoon as well.
Our daughter and son in law got married in Barbados, by a minister, and the marriage in registered in Barbados, but I am sure they also do registry office weddings as well.
Google Barbados weddings you will find more info.


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## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

Thank you everybody for the responses!

This thread was about an alternative for a Marriage visitor visa for the UK ( we do not intend to live in the UK)... fortunately, the embassy in Abu Dhabi was very nice and helpful, but still we will have to go through the VFS, BUT we will keep lots of the things in private envelopes, stating them not to open/ see them... so we will do that

Thanks again for the advice and we will come down with the ouput, in order to help other people... and fyi we chose a medieval manor for the ceremony, and it all looks to be great! we will keep you posted!


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## ashkevron (May 1, 2012)

Maybe put photos in the sealed envelope, I'm a bit worried that if everything is in the sealed envelopes it may draw attention and the VFS people may ask you to open them in order to make sure there is nothing dodgy in the envelopes.

Bear in mind they process dozens of applications every day and they are unlikely to be interested in what your application says if you don't draw any attention to yourselves. Maybe you could go with a female friend of yours and they'll just assume it's for the two of you.

Also, I just remembered that the pictures we supplied of ourselves had our friends and family on them as well, so if you like, you can only supply pictures with you two and other people on them.

As I said, when I applied, they showed no interest whatsoever in my future husband, all they wanted was my fingerprints, payment and pictures (the small ones they took for the visa itself, not our joint pictures), they took my documents and put them in their folder, closed it and that was that. Didn't look through anything at all, showed no interest in anything either.


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

miaux said:


> Thank you everybody for the responses!
> 
> This thread was about an alternative for a Marriage visitor visa for the UK ( we do not intend to live in the UK)... fortunately, the embassy in Abu Dhabi was very nice and helpful, but still we will have to go through the VFS, BUT we will keep lots of the things in private envelopes, stating them not to open/ see them... so we will do that
> 
> Thanks again for the advice and we will come down with the ouput, in order to help other people... and fyi we chose a medieval manor for the ceremony, and it all looks to be great! we will keep you posted!


Hey miaux, I have a sincere apology to make, for suggesting Barbados.
I have just googled various bits of information, and they still seem to have draconian laws there, I really didn't realise this.
Marriage, is marriage whether you are gay, lesbian or straight, love is the Impotant factor, and it amazes me how many places are still so draconian. Good luck with you quest, and future marriage.
Yes Barbados is still beautiful, but I think they must be well behind modern times in some ways.


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## miaux (Jul 16, 2014)

Hi, 

I would like to update just in case someone needs this information in the future. 

So I got the marriage visitor visa, and it was no problem of doing it in Dubai and through the VFS.. 

A bit of our journey: we did the online application, paid and selected an appointment 1 week later so we had enough time to complete the paperwork. 

To make it easier, we had an introduction letter explaining a bit about ourselves, how we were going to fund the trip and plans after the wedding. Then in another page, we made a checklist with all the documents referenced (salary certificates, bank statements highlighting my loans and deposits, tenancy contracts, confirmation from the registrar and venue payment) and after that we had another checklist of proof of relationship. We listed trips together (referencing the pictures later on, pictures with family and friends, and so on) and as suggested here, we put the proof of evidence in a sealed envelope. 

Went to the VFS in Wafi Mall ( 3rd floor) and a lady checked the application... I noticed she wanted to open the envelope with proof of relationship so I just told her " I would appreciate if you dont look at that, I will take responsibility if something is missing, but please dont look at the infomation, lets leave that for the UKVI". And after a frown and what she thought was me being rude, she just put everything in a huge plastic envelop and then I went for my biometrics. 

Here in Dubai there are 3 types of services: Normal ( up to 5 weeks), Fast ( you pay 750 dhs) but it takes max 5 days and Premium ( you pay 3000 dhs, ready the next day. 

I paid the Fast, and in 3 days I got my passport back with the visa on it. The good thing is that they put only the initials of my fiance and his passport number, so you cant tell its a same sex marriage. 

Hope this helps for someone else in the future!


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## sktan (Feb 4, 2015)

Congratulations and all the best to you and your soon to be husband.


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