To ask about spouse visa

[Farcry66]

Hi,

Long time lurker but this is my first post.
I've been in a relationship with a US national for nearly a year now and being separated by an ocean is getting frustrating. We meet all the financial requirements for a spouse visa (we just actually need to get married).

Has anyone gone through this before and have any tips to share?

Visitors in the UK are not allowed to marry without a visa, but from what I can see ..... and I've done a reasonable ammount of research, we can get married in the US without any visa restrictions and the marriage is legally recognised in the UK.

Yes this is the case. In some states you need to apply for a license first though. I don't know if any still require blood tests. I got married in Massachusetts 20 years ago and had to have a test for syphilis :-)

On your way into the US I would not mention that you're getting married though, unless you have plenty of evidence that you will definitely be leaving the US after.

No need for a lawyer if you meet all the requirements. As Anna says, the main thing to bear in mind is that you must meet absolutely every requirement and evidence it. I found UK Yankee forum really helpful - people share their contents lists for applications, you'll have a huge stash of paperwork! Be prepared to spend a lot - the visa fee, optionally the fast track fee, Fedexing documents back and forth!

Once you've done that, I highly recommend you look up the evidence requirements for the next visa - worth making sure your various accounts (bank, gas, council tax) send you paper copies. Being prepared will save a lot of hassle two years down the road!

I'm in a similar situation Farcry. I also agree with others that having an immigration lawyer would really help because the gov website doesn't say much. We have these 2 tabs on bookmark, the relevant rules: www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-8-appendix-fm-family-members (but GOSH there is a lot to read!) and migrate.org.uk/spouse-visa-uk-2018/ which is also detailed.

I am so glad for the internet - makes me feel like we are less alone with our visa efforts!

DH and I have done it both ways around. If you're a clear-cut case of meeting the requirements, you can do it without a lawyer.

However, you need to very meticulous and methodical in your approach. Clear, in date evidence for every item, and bring backups. We had a folder of all our evidence, with a context and indexing system. Seemed like overkill, but it worked!

I'm not sure how it would work out with your DH outside of the UK at present, but if there's any way you can do the one-day premium service it is 100% worth the extra money to get it all done in a day.

we can get married in the US without any visa restrictions

Ye-es but it's very dodgy to enter the US as a Brit on a regular visa-waiver tourist arrangement when you're actually planning to get married. I did it and it was not sensible; lying to immigration is not a good idea, and it's a big lie to forget to mention you're coming over to get married.