Fiancee Visa

[crunchy24]

Hi,

My partner and i are in the process of doing our next visa which is going to be a fiancee visa, there are a couple of things that i read on the ukba website that im not to sure about and wondered if anyone could help me with it.

Firstly i read that i need to give notive and evidence of arrangement of marriage. What are the main documents that i would need to show proving this? Are there specific document i should give.

I now know that my partner needs to do an English test now before we can apply. Does anyone know the the amount of time it takes to process the results.

If anyone knows of any other main things that i should enter in my application that not many people would think of, that could help with our applications sucess it would be of great help and appreciated.

Many thanks.

[leon1503]

From what I have heard it could take up to 3 months to get this visa approved . We are also looking to apply for this kind of visa . or marriage visa .

[CharlieB]

Hi Crunchy,

Where are you planning to get married, in a church, or a registry office? I'm not sure about the church as my marriage was in a registry office, but for a registry office you need to give notice of marriage and have lived in the area for the 7 days preceding your application. After this period of notice, you'd get a form stating you have given notice and can get married. Unfortunately, there is a clause that if one of the people being married is subject to immigration control, which your fiance will be, you can't give notice without already having a visa allowing you to get married. So, it's a bit of a catch 22 situation. I would suggest maybe deciding on a place and date and detailing this in your covering letter. If you can, you could also arrange a place for the reception and maybe get a receipt for the deposit detailing what it is for etc. There's no other way of really doing this as you can't get the official document that would actually prove your intention of getting married on a certain date.

I'm not 100% sure on the English test, but I think you will probably know the results immediately, or pretty soon after she has taken the test. You may have to give them a few days to get a certificate done to prove it, so I'd leave a week at least afterwards before planning anything else.

As leon1503 pointed out, the whole process can take around 3 months, but it really depends on the time of year you apply and how strong your application is. We put our application in at the end of Jan 2008 and it only took about a week to process. If you put it in when everyone is putting their holiday visa applications or student visa applications then you may find it takes a lot longer.

C

[Thai Visa Express]

Just insert we cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK .

AECIP 83/03 states:

"A reminder has now issued to all our offices overseas (under referenceAECIP 83/03). The relevant section of this AECIP reads as follows:

"1. there has been some confusion over whether ECOs [Entry ClearanceOfficers] should be asking for confirmation of wedding bookings at a registryoffice. This should not be happening. Registrars cannot make arrangements untilthe foreign national has arrived in the UK.

"2. ECMs [Managers] are therefore asked to re-acquaint themselves andtheir staff with the procedures outlined in DSP 13.9".

[RAZZELL]

I didn't even mention a date in my fiancee visa application.

RAZZ

[VisasPlus]

Some register offices will provide a letter to say that you have either made enquiries or even booked a provisional date. There is no obligation for them to do so, but some do.

The English A1 level test can be taken at fairly short notice. There are several testers in Thailand now, in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai. There are details of one such tester on our business website under A1 English tests. The results of the test, and a certificate sent from UK, are usually completed in less than two weeks.

Other main points that you will need to consider, and produce evidence when necessary, are maintenance and accommodation in the UK for your fiancee. Remember that this a settlement application. Your fiancee will also need to have a TB test, with a negative result, before a visa will be issued.