Marriage Visa

[u2onelove]

Myself and my Thai girlfriend hope to get married in March.

She has a good job in thailand at the moment and holds a holiday 6 month visa for the UK.

I'm from N. Ireland but work and live in Dublin. She has applied for holiday visa for the Irish republic which I hope she gets in the next couple of weeks. This will be for 3 months and she will have to give up her job in Thailand.

Ideally I would like to get married in the Republic and apply for a marriage visa so we don't have to live apart. From what I have read I believe she can't get married in the republic when on a holiday visa. Can someone confirm this ?

I think we will need to return to Thailand and marry there but I'm worried that when she repplies for a marriage Visa in March that it will take them alongtime to process her application. Anybody have any experience of this ? is there anything I can do to speed up the process ? After we are married I will need to return to Ireland for work and hope that we will not be apart for long.

Could I marry her in Nothern Ireland ? in the republic you have to give 3 months notice of marriage . Any idea whats the situation in the UK.

All help welcome and appreciated.

[GU22]

I don't know about the Republic, but holders of ordinary visit visas cannot marry in the UK.

Do you have British or Irish citizenship? If British you can marry in Thailand and then apply for an EEA family permit so she can come to live with you in Dublin.

Visa Services from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Marriage in Ireland

Edited November 18, 2005 by GU22

[the scouser]

Whilst in the UK on a visit visa, your girlfriend will not be allowed to marry. I'm afraid I don't know about the rules in Ireland. However, once married, your then-wife should be able to get a family permit in order to enable her to reside with you in Ireland.

Family permits are issued to spouses of EEA nationals exercising their treaty rights in another EEA country. You would therefore present yourself as being British, working in Ireland. The benefits of applying for a family permit are that a decision to issue one cannot be unreasonably delayed, as to do so would impede your ability to exercise your treaty rights, and, one can only be refused in very limited circumstances.

Cheers,

Scouse.