Marry In Thailand Or Uk For Work Visa Purposes And General Convenience.

[Globaleyes]

Dear All,

My girlfriend and I have been together nearly 3 years, living for the first 9 months in the UK, then moving to Thailand for the last 2 years.

We now wish to marry and move back to the UK to live and work etc.

Sorry if this is an oft repeated point but what are the basic requirements for getting married THEN moving back, or moving back then getting married? She intends to work in the uk, from where she has an MBA already.

I plan to leave early April, she, asap thereafter so although time is short, there is no emergency.

With regards to 'evidence', we haven't been planning to marry for long, and although there will be some sporadic evidence of our relationship, I am not sure how much. How many phone calls / emails do you send to someone you live with?

Also, is it possible to work in the UK just as a fiancee of a citzen?

Many thanks.

[7by7]

You have three options.

1) Fiance visa. This lasts for 6 months, during which she travels to the UK and you marry. Once you have married she applies for Further Leave to Remain which lasts for 2 years at the end of which she applies for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

I personally not take this route as you will have an extra application to pay for (the FLR after you have married) and she cannot work until after the marriage and she has FLR.

2) Spouse visa. You marry in Thailand and she then applies as your wife. The visa lasts for 2 years at the end of which she applies for ILR. With a spouse visa she can work immediately she enters the UK.

3) If you can show that you have been living together for at least 2 years in a relationship akin to marriage then she can apply for an unmarried partner's visa. Like a spouse visa it lasts for 2 years at the end of which she applies for ILR and she can also work immediately.

Whichever you choose you will not have to provide evidence of contact, merely evidence that you have been living together.

See:-

Chapter 13 - Settlement : Fiance(e)s, proposed civil partners, spouses, civil partners, unmarried and same-sex partners

Chapter 9 - The maintenance and accommodation requirements

Guidance - Husbands, wives and partners (INF 4)

Requirement for Tuberculosis testing for applicants visiting the UK for longer than 6 months

and for how and where to apply, UK Visa Application Centre

[Globaleyes]

Many thanks - great informative reply (and good news too ).