Having only just got engaged, I am rather new to this game so would appreciate any advice you could offer.

During an international work assignment 2 years ago (whilst on a J1 training visa) I met Kelly. We quickly became friends and our relationship blossomed. I recently asked Kelly to marry me and she said yes! Kelly is an American citizen and if you can’t gather, I’m British!

We would ideally like to marry in her home town of Zionsville IN, then move back to the UK to settle. Reading through various posts, I understand I will need a K1 visa to enter the States and the basic process for this.

Has anyone on this forum married in the USA and soon after moved to the UK?
How long before the wedding should Kelly start the petition process for my K1 visa?

Does anyone know the process after we are married? – Of course I wish to arrange a honeymoon, but of more importance is ensuring Kelly can come to the UK straight away and work. Luckily her company is letting her transfer offices – don’t want any issues in her being able to start her new life in Blighty.

Any help / advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
James

Hi James,

There is no answer to how long it will take for a K1. If you look at the timelines at the top of the page you will get a good idea although your indivdual case may take less or lore time. You will not be able to plan on a wedding date to be relied unpon becasue it is so unpredictable. In my opinion it is a lot of time (maybe 4,5,6months+) effort (patientce and heartache) and money (at least £300) to be wasted if you apply for the K1 just to leave again.

Not to mention if you want to bring Kelly here to the UK you will need to go through the whole preocess again. We have a fiancee visa or a spose visa to be arranged too.

I'm sorry i can't be more specific, im not really in the same boat as you but i would say have a read through the timelines and guides on here. Refer the websites of the US and UK embassies and maybe try a post in the UK dedicated forum to see if anyone else knows more.

J

You should not need a K1 visa if you do not intend to live in the USA after the wedding. A friend of mine recently went into Texas on a visa waiver for his wedding (with evidence of his planned return ot the UK) and they were both back in the UK 2 weeks later.
I would suggest exploring this option as it is A LOT easier!!!!!

Hi James,

If you do not intend to settle in the US, you do not need a K-1 visa.

You can enter on the Visa Waiver program and get married; as long as you intend to leave within 90 days like any other visitor.

Your wife can then apply for a UK spousal visa. This is MUCH easier than getting a US visa! She can come to the UK straight away and it allows her to work, entitles her to NHS benefits, etc.; if you are able to apply in-person she can have the visa on the same day, if not, it takes a week or two. CHeck out www.uk-yankee.com for more detailed info on Uk visas.

First of all, congrats. I have two friends who JUST got married here then she applied for a UK Spousal visa and got it (by mail - I know Gwen went herself and got it that day) in 5 DAYS. That's amazing considering what we're all going thru here.

Here fiance flew here from Newcastle, came into Michigan for a week then they both flew to Jamaica for their elopement then BACK into the US where he stayed for another week. So technically he entered the country twice, once with the POE in Detroit and once with it in Miami. He was just fine, they just asked to see his return ticket home.

Good luck and congrats again!

http://www.uk-yankee.com and http://www.americanexpats.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl are both sites geared to Americans living in the UK. They would probably be much more help to you.

As everyone else has said, you can come here to visit, get married, then get her visa to the UK sorted rather quickly. I just wouldn't mention the marriage when coming into the US unless specifically asked. Remember, never lie to immigration officers, but don't offer more information than asked for. Saying you're coming here to get married may have them thinking you're looking to settle here and they might send you packing. You're coming on holiday.

This is great news! A scrawl through the US Embassy website confimed what you have all told me>

We only wish to travel to the United States to marry.
We will return to the United Kingdom after marriage. Do we still need a fiancé(e) visa?
A person traveling to the United States to marry a U.S. citizen with the intention of returning to his/her place of permanent residence abroad may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. Evidence of a residence abroad to which the B-2 visa holder or visa free traveler intends returning should be carried for presentation to an immigration inspector at the port of entry.

Essentially we can plan a normal wedding in the USA. Only worry will be to ensure Kelly gets her UK visa.. Will certainly be making an appointment in person! Luckily it seems this can be done in Chicago - a mere 3 hours from Zionsville by car!

Thank you all for you help and congratulations.
James

You don't need a fiance visa. Congratulations!

James Paul, the only comment I have to make is with regards to your J1 visa, I believe that once you have served your 2 years training, you are subject to a 2 year foreign residency requirement. You will probably come across issues if you try to get back in to the US.

source

I'm not 100% sure about the J1 visa as I've not had any experience with it, I would definately research the 2 year residency thing more before departing for your wedding. Good luck with your journey.

I do not think the Ji two year rule applies to a visa wiaver. You are not allowed to apply for another visa for 2 years after J1 finishes but visa waiver is just that - it waives the need for a visa.
Check it out but you should be fine!!

Hi,

I have been back in the UK just over 2 years since my assignment in the US so I guess if this was a concern, my time is up! Been back to the states countless times with visa waiver since.

Cheers
James

Thanks for clearing that up globetrotter!




Ah brilliant thats cool! Looks like you're all set to go! Good luck with researching the process for England!

IIRC, this only applies to residents of certain countries (mostly developing nations) and the UK isn't one of them anyway.

I agree. If you are not planning to live in the US, you don't need a fiance visa--but the USC will need papers to immigrate to the UK.

You ever actually driven to Chicago? Distance-wise it's about 3 hours. Time-wise, it's more like 5-6, depending on what time of day you go, where you're actually going, and if there's a baseball game that day. LOL

Why are you guys going to go back to the UK? Zionsville is a cool town, and you could sell a house in the UK and buy 4 of them in Zionsville! LOL

Most of the people have given you good answers. You don't a K1 visa to get married in the US.

Your wife to be can apply for a fiancee visa or for a spousal visa, I don't think this should be too complicated, I did it from once I got married in the UK, I was a student here, and got it within a month... All I had to do, was send the form woth both our passports, some payslips, and the original of our marriage certificate. I did by post (which is way cheaper) and as I said got it back in 1 month...

Congratulations and GOOD LUCK!

FYI, you can no longer apply for a spousal visa from within the UK unless you came in on a fiance visa. This was changed about three years ago. As of March, you can no longer even renew your student visa from within the country, you must go home to do it. IND issued new directorates in March regarding these rules.

Gwen, not sure about this, as I applied for mine in Sept 2004. I did not enter on a fiancee visa. I basically changed from my student visa to my spousal visa, perhaps they have exceptions?

It is absolutely, positively 100% true now, made even stricter by the changes in immigration in March. All visa changes have to be done from home; there are no exceptions to this anymore.

Right, so this is a change that has been made since March? 'Cause as I said, I did it less than 3 years ago, and didn't have any problems whatsoever....

Good to know though!

It was *about* three years ago they made the change; but bigger and stricter changes were implemented in March so there is pretty much absolutely NO workaround for it now. All applications have to be made at the home consulate.

Gwen,

just for info:
"If you don't have settled status in the UK, you will need to apply for a certificate of approval from the Home Office. To qualify for a certificate of approval, you must normally have been granted leave to enter or leave to remain for more than six months and three months of that leave must still remain. If you don't qualify, you will need to return to your country of origin, or the country in which you are normally resident and apply for a visa there. Read section 2 for more details." Link to this info

So you can still apply for this certificate and then change your status to spousal visa, at least that is what I understand.... Maybe I'm wrong....

Hi,

I have driven (or rather been driven) from Chicago to Zionsville quite a few times. A couple of months ago we stayed over and went up the Sears Tower - nice city.

We both prefer the UK as a country. Granted it is not as cheap to live in, but prefer the life style in Europe. Zionsville is nice - very quaint!

We are just starting to plan the wedding. How long before the wedding do I need to be in the States? I don't want to cut it too fine, but on the other hand have a limited amount of vacation and want to have a nice honey moon. Plus would like Kelly to feel settled before she starts her job over here. As previously mentioned, we will be marrying in Zionsville, IN (British citizen marrying an American bride). Could Kelly or her father get the marriage license for us?

Looking forward to your usually helpful and informative advice.

James

You both need to be present to get the licence as you have to swear an oath that you are free to marry... here in MA you only have to wait 3 days after applying for the licence to pick it up... get Kelly to check it out at her local town hall...

Good luck with the wedding plans

Kezzie

i think the change gwen mentions took place in Jan '05 -- so 3 years ago you would have been fine.

You absolutely must have the fiance visa to marry in the UK now -- you are asked to show proof of eligibilty/citizenship when you register for a marriage license in the UK

We've applied for a change of status in the last couple of months from Student to EEA Family Member. The EEA Family Permit is essentially an multi entry visa, and has to be issued from the relavent consulate - but -
we just sent the paperwork directly to the consulate, with our UK address down as acutal address, and my OH's mum's address down as the mailing address. They sent the paperwork and passport with visa in it to his mums house in the US. She sent it on to us.

The visa had to be validated, but we just had a quick trip out of the country, and bob's your uncle! The same method should work for FLR I reckon.

Getting British visas used to be a very quick process - a short trip to NY, and it was done in 1-3 hours.

My husband and I married in the USA, he went home, and we weren't sure if I was moving there or he was moving here, when we decided we started the immigration process to the USA.

You don't really need a visa to come here and marry if you don't intend to settle here. I don't know what the time lime for getting UK visas is anymore, but contact the UK embassy in New York to find out.

Best of luck!

The embassy website says that they aim to process most applications in 5 working days. Ours was sent on a Tuesday, arrived on a Wednesday and was approved 7 working days later.

Of course if you apply in person, the visa should be ready the same day I think. The processing times are for all visas.

um, this thread's from 06...I'm pretty sure they sorted it by now

must's hit one of them links at the bottom of the screen and didn't realise it was ancient.

ah well, hope it worked out for them

As this thread is rather old, I'll lock it now to avoid further bumping! Here's to the OP and his bride, more than likely happily sequestered in old Blighty!

*raises glass*