Advice needed - marriage visitor visa/ fiancé visa rules

[louisa888]

Does anyone have any knowledge about applying for marriage visas? I am from the UK but my fiancé is from Italy. We are planning to marry in England next year. We were planning to apply for the marriage visitor visa instead of the fiancé visa, mainly due to the cost and the fact that we will probably live in Italy for a few months while my DP finishes his work contract. The plan was to marry in the UK on the visitor visa, go back to Italy and apply for the spouse visa from Italy. We will then move to the UK when the spouse visa is sorted.

However, the government website says the non UK spouse cannot settle in the UK after marriage if they are on a marriage visit visa. Does this mean never, or just that they must leave the UK and apply at a later date for a spouse visa? Surely circumstances change and people may change their plans.

We are reluctant to apply for the fiancé visa because it costs a great deal more than the visitor visa and there is no rush to move to the UK immediately. But will our spouse visa be refused if we choose the marriage visitor visa instead of the fiancé one? We would not apply from inside the UK.

Would be grateful for advice from anyone who has experience of these visas or knows about the legal side because we are unsure what to do.

Have you read this?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/immigration/getting-visas-for-family-members/check-if-your-partner-and-children-can-get-visas-in-the-uk/

If you need legal advice the gov.Uk website has a search function for immigration specialists

Does this mean never, or just that they must leave the UK and apply at a later date for a spouse visa?

It means they would need to apply for a spouse visa. It does not mean "never'.

We married on a marriage visitor visa and spent 5 years abroad then returned to the UK on a spouse visa

This stuff is so fundamental and important to you that I wouldn’t take the advice of anyone apart from the gov.uk website, backed up by a consultation with an immigration lawyer.

As above. The Gov website explains it all clearly, and you can fill in your partner's details to see which visa he needs.

If you know you are going to relocate "permanently" to the UK, then he'll need a spouse visa.

You will also need to look at restrictions and/or paperwork for you to live in Italy

This ^^ x1000.

Please get proper advice as there are already confusing replies on this thread. It's so expensive if you get this stuff wrong - it is absolutely worth paying an immigration lawyer for good advice at the start.

Remember if you aren't resident here yourself you will need to return and get a job earning over the threshold before you can apply for your now husband to join you. He also will need to pass an English language test unless certain other criteria are met. These rules have always applied for outside the eu.

We emailed the UK gov with some questions but we felt they didn’t fully answer them, just pasted things from the website that we’d already read.

We are preparing what we need. My fiancé is revising daily for the English test, although I think he will pass because he speaks very good conversational English. He is working on grammar.

I will look for an immigration lawyer. We don’t have a lot of money at the moment, which is why we wanted to go for the marriage visit visa (which only costs £100) and return to the UK after a few months in Italy. But like many of you say, we want to get this right.

You can apply for a marriage visitor visa, leave and then apply for a spousal visa from outside the Uk at a later date. What you cannot do is remain in UK after the marriage and apply for a Spousal visa in country. However before you decide, do look at the maintenance requirements. They are onerous and often difficult to understand and it is likely to be more difficult for you to meet them if you are not in the UK at the time you apply. It is also not just about meeting the financial thresholds - it is about obtaining the correct evidence to prove it.

You need an immigration lawyer

My brother had been married 3 years and getting his wife to the UK was a lengthy process

No, he isn’t forbidden from living in the UK ever again.

A marriage visitor visa is just for the purposes of getting married in the UK. It won’t allow your fiancé to settle here.

He won’t be able to apply for a spouse visa whilst here on a marriage visitor visa. He will need to leave within 6 months, and then apply for a spouse visa from abroad. Applying for a spouse visa isn’t easy so that too will be a long and expensive process, and will require you to have an income over a certain amount.

Agree with others about an immigration lawyer. I know it’s expensive, but you want to get it right and ensure you don’t waste money by doing it wrong.