Which country to marry?

[Ian S]

Hi, I'm from the UK and am living in the UK. My fiance is Filipina but is working in USA and will be there for another year. We have recently got engaged and the plan is for her to move to the UK with me after she finishes working in USA.

We are asking for advice on how/where to get married (UK/Phil/USA). Which country is easier to get married in and to process the papers for her to come here. We are not clued up on forms, visa's etc yet, so we are just asking for some opinions. It would be ok for us to have civil marriage, and then church ceremony at a later date in her home town. Both of us are restricted to travelling for about 2 weeks at a time (due to the leave granted from our employers).

Also, after getting married how long do we expect to wait for to get the necesary papers to move here? I know it probably varies, but can anybody give us a rough guidline?

[hawk]

you can try web put in ukba.visa this will tell you visa info if you marry in phil and apply for spouse visa it will cost £810 but she will need to take a test called ielts english language test you must have this be4 you can get visa this is if your plan is to settle in uk i think this will be same case if you marry in us look on here under visa at top next to whats new hope this helps abit

[alanp]

Hi ian
if you marry here in uk you will have to apply for a fiancee visa what is vald for 6months and in that time you will have to marry her and then apply for a flr(m) further leave to remain paying the home office for two lots of visas.
If you marry in us or philippines then you apply for a spouse visa what is valid for 27 months paying just one visa fee.
Use the search on this website there isclots of good advice already posted on here

[Englishman2010]

Congratulations on your engagement, and good luck with your plans Sorry I can't help with your questions, but there are many on here who I'm sure will

[RickyR]

In my opinion, it will probably be easiest to apply for a fiance visa and marry in the UK, particularly if your intention is to remain in the UK.

[Ian S]

Thanks for the advice guys. Yes, I guess marrying over here (uk) would be easier, but it would be nicer for her if we marry in Philippines. But we are not ruling out any options yet. Does she need a Fiance Visa to marry here? She has a tourist visa already, can't she just extend that and come here to marry? Sorry for being lazy and asking these questions, when I get time I'm gonna search these forums for information.

[RickyR]

The difficulty in the Philippines it the red tape and procedures, which means you'd stuggle in 2 weeks to arrange a civil marriage, and would be impossible to arrange a church wedding.

[Terpe]

... Does she need a Fiance Visa to marry here? She has a tourist visa already, can't she just extend that and come here to marry? Sorry for being lazy and asking these questions, when I get time I'm gonna search these forums for information.

Plenty of couples think about the possibility of one party coming to the UK on a visit visa as they want to be involved with the wedding preparations etc, and find that being apart at that time is a daunting prospect.
However, to be successful in obtaining a visit visa the applicant must show that they intend to leave the UK at the end of their visit.
Of course in many cases (as in your question) this is not the intention of the applicant as they want to stay in the UK and then get married.
Unfortunately you cannot easily get married in the UK on a visit visa so a Fiancé(e) visa will need to be obtained from the Embassy of your Fiancé(e)’s country of origin or residence.
If, for whatever reason you did manage to get married on a visit visa, your spouse would soon be tracked down and requested to leave. If she was not tracked down she would be an illegal and unable to secure leave to remain.
All kind of problems would follow, which I'm sure you wouldn't want.

[andy222]

If you have enough money live in the philippines mate. Thats my advice.

[grahamw48]

Wish I hadn't come back, but had to for the kids' education. Sacrifices sacrifices.

[andy222]

I know graham. Catch22 mate.

[hawk]

my fiance is hopeing to get a special visit visa which allows you to marry you have to show she has a job to go back to she can only stay up to 6 month be able to support herself this costs £75 but if you get this and dont leave poss be banned for a long time check ukba.org for more info good luck in what you chouse

[RickyR]

Hi Hawk, yes the 'Special Visitor - Marriage/Civil Partnership' Visa is a non-settlement visa, and essentially issued under the same terms and requirements of the standard 'Visit Visa', but with the additional requirement of having full plans in place for the wedding.
The big difficulty will be providing adequate proof that the foreign spouse has no intention of settling in the UK.
It is a much cheaper option, at the same cost of a standard visit visa of 5472 php (circa £80).

[joebloggs]

Hi Hawk, yes the 'Special Visitor - Marriage/Civil Partnership' Visa is a non-settlement visa, and essentially issued under the same terms and requirements of the standard 'Visit Visa', but with the additional requirement of having full plans in place for the wedding.
The big difficulty will be providing adequate proof that the foreign spouse has no intention of settling in the UK.
It is a much cheaper option, at the same cost of a standard visit visa of 5472 php (circa £80).

Ricky is right, but your wife will have to leave the UK and apply for a settlement visa as she needs 'entry clearance' to stay in the UK.

also there is a risk she will be refused the visa as Ricky has said.

[Ian S]

I would move to the Philippines if I could, but unfortunately I don't have the money, and also I have kids of my own here. Is it really worth her getting the special visit visa if she plans to settle here? I know it's cheaper, but is there any other advantages? Wouldn't it be easier for her to come here with a fiance visa, then she wouldn't have to go back?

[Ian S]

Ok, here's our latest idea:

I meet her in Philippines in March, during that trip we will give Notice to marry to the registrar. She then goes back to USA to finish her work and we both go back to Philippines in October to marry. Does anybody see any problems with that?