Applying For A Marriage Visa While In The Uk

[LucidLucifer]

Hi all, my first post on here and i hope someone can help me.

I, until recently, was living and working in Thailand. In June i returned to the UK accompanied by my Thai girlfriend of five years. This is her second visit to the UK with me. She is currently on a tourist visa which expires in December.

Since returning home i have landed myself a good job and have decided to resettle here permanently (or a least for a while). My gf and i have discussed marriage before and now think it is a good time to go ahead and do it.

My question is this:

Is it possible to apply for her fiance visa while we are still here, rather than returning to Thailand and doing it there?

I fully appreciate that we cannot marry while she is on her tourist visa as this will break the conditions attached to it. But at the same time, would it be okay if we informed the immigration service of a change in our circumstances and our desire to now marry and apply for a new, different visa. Returning to Thailand together at the moment is difficult as i have work commitments and we feel it would be much more convenient if we could do it all from this end.

I hope i've been clear on everything and i want to say a big thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer my question and help us with this. I'm particularly interested to hear from anyone who has personal experience of actually doing this.

Cheers

'LucidLucifer'

[vinny]

No, unfortunately, she cannot switch from a tourist visa to fiancé status while in the UK. However, it may be possible to extend her stay under the unmarried partners provisions (paragraph 295E of the immigration ruiles), if you and she qualify.

Edited October 9, 2006 by vinny

[vinny]

See also Settlement Visa In Uk?

[LucidLucifer]

Hi Vinny,

I realise she cannot simply switch. What i'm asking is, can we apply for her new, different visa while here, or do we have to return to LoS. I mean, for example, when i went from my old Thai tourist visa to my Thai non-imm B visa, i had to leave the country to do so. Does the same sort of thing apply here?

Also while on the subject of unmarried partnerships, what proof would they normally require that we have lived together in a civil partnership for this amount of time. On the face value of it, we would qualify for this as we have been living together for nearly 5 years now.

thanks for the reply mate!! nice one!!

'lucidlucifer'

[LucidLucifer]

oh, and thanks for the links,

very useful and i'll give them a good read

cheers mate

[vinny]

Also while on the subject of unmarried partnerships, what proof would they normally require that we have lived together in a civil partnership for this amount of time. On the face value of it, we would qualify for this as we have been living together for nearly 5 years now.

From Unmarried (i.e. opposite sex) and same-sex partners and how they qualify:

The parties having been living together in a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more

"Living together", should be applied fairly tightly, in that we would expect a couple to show evidence of cohabitation in the preceding 2 year period. Periods apart would be acceptable for good reasons, such as work commitments, or looking after a relative which takes one partner away for up to 6 months where it was not possible for the other partner to accompany and it can be seen that the relationship continued throughout that period by visits, letters etc. Where a couple have been living together for the preceding 2-year period but have been dividing their time between countries and may, for example, have used the "visitor" category, then this will be sufficient to meet the requirement.

"Akin to marriage or civil partnership", is a relationship that is similar in its nature to a marriage or civil partnership which would include both unmarried and same-sex relationships.

In order to demonstrate a 2-year relationship evidence of cohabitation will be needed. In order to show a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership, ECOs should look for evidence of a committed relationship. The following types of evidence would be useful in this respect:

* joint commitments, (such as joint bank accounts, investments, rent agreements, mortgage, death benefit etc);

* if there are children of the relationship, a record of their birth entry

* correspondence which links them to the same address;

* any official records of their address (e.g. Doctors records, DSS record, national insurance record etc);

* any other evidence that adequately demonstrates their commitment to each other

It will not be necessary to provide all of the above: ECOs are looking for satisfactory evidence of relationship.

See also Immigration Directorates Instructions,

Chapter 8 - Family members, Section 9 - Unmarried and same sex relationships and

Chapter 8 annexes, Annex Z - Further guidance on the unmarried and same sex partners rules and required levels of documents.

[GU22]

I realise she cannot simply switch. What i'm asking is, can we apply for her new, different visa while here, or do we have to return to LoS.

If you qualify under the unmarried partner rules then she can apply in the UK, as detailed by Vinny.

If not, then she will have to return to Thailand and apply there for a fiancé visa so she can return to the UK and marry you. Or you could both go, marry in Thailand and then she applies for a spouse visa.

BTW, for different sex couples it's unmarried partners. Civil partnerships are for same sex couples.