US and UK citizen want to live in US. Where to marry?

[Darnell 8,478]

uh oh. is u on a pc or handphone or tablet ? [hint - one of the three works verra well ! ]

[geosavygirl 0]

I am a USC that married a UK citizen in Nov of 2014 in the UK. I will quickly summarize my experience and if you want more info let me know (happy to help).

I applied for a UK Marriage visitor visa in July of 2014 and recieved my approval in Aug 2014 (they require a lot of information to prove a relationship). Dealing with this part was easy. Then you must visit the Registrar in the local area to apply for a marriage liscence but he can do this for you. (Note-our wedding planning took a year for venue etc) After we married, he stayed in the UK. I filed a I-130 and we are now at the NVC stage waiting on a CC!!! I have not physically seen my husband in 8 months.

If you want to go the K1 visa route, you will marry here and my opinion, based on what my congressman's office suggested, is that the UK citizen does not step foot out of this country until the green card is in hand which could take up to 18 months+. This route means you get to stay together but the UK citizen will not be able to work until green card is in hand.

I will post my timeline later but I just registered on here to answer your question.

[yuna628 9,528]

I am a USC that married a UK citizen in Nov of 2014 in the UK. I will quickly summarize my experience and if you want more info let me know (happy to help).

I applied for a UK Marriage visitor visa in July of 2014 and recieved my approval in Aug 2014 (they require a lot of information to prove a relationship). Dealing with this part was easy. Then you must visit the Registrar in the local area to apply for a marriage liscence but he can do this for you. (Note-our wedding planning took a year for venue etc) After we married, he stayed in the UK. I filed a I-130 and we are now at the NVC stage waiting on a CC!!! I have not physically seen my husband in 8 months.

If you want to go the K1 visa route, you will marry here and my opinion, based on what my congressman's office suggested, is that the UK citizen does not step foot out of this country until the green card is in hand which could take up to 18 months+. This route means you get to stay together but the UK citizen will not be able to work until green card is in hand.

I will post my timeline later but I just registered on here to answer your question.

The UK citizen is eligible to work before they get the green card in hand. That is what the EAD (which is filed in conjunction with adjustment of status and advanced parole) is for.

[nsharp 0]

Oh. I didn't think the UK citizen could work for a while which is why I have to prove that I can support him

[geosavygirl 0]

Good to know. Think my other UK friends would have liked to know that as well as a few of them have waited to work until receiving GC.

[nsharp 0]

Would love to hear some success stories. That your loved one is now in the states with you and working and things are great. Lol

[nsharp 0]

Geosavygirl would you do thinks different now looking back? Would the k1 have been easier?

[geosavygirl 0]

Our situation was different. I wanted to marry in a castle so I would not change that at all. Plus, he was not comfortable going a long period of time without working so we chose to go the route of I-130. It's been hard but we are getting close to the end-I hope.

I've had friends go the other route but they have had complaints about that because essentially they have felt in limbo here waiting for paperwork etc. Not being able to drive or work. So,

it depends on your tolerance.

[nsharp 0]

True true. I really wanted to do the castle thing too. However not my first marriage. Or second for that matter but it is his first. Just want to make thing somewhat easy.

[geosavygirl 0]

It was his first too so I felt it was important to his family for us to have it there. An excuse for some of my family to see the UK. I loved our wedding and can give you advice if you need ideas on planning from the US.

[Pennycat 880]

I am a USC that married a UK citizen in Nov of 2014 in the UK. I will quickly summarize my experience and if you want more info let me know (happy to help).

I applied for a UK Marriage visitor visa in July of 2014 and recieved my approval in Aug 2014 (they require a lot of information to prove a relationship). Dealing with this part was easy. Then you must visit the Registrar in the local area to apply for a marriage liscence but he can do this for you. (Note-our wedding planning took a year for venue etc) After we married, he stayed in the UK. I filed a I-130 and we are now at the NVC stage waiting on a CC!!! I have not physically seen my husband in 8 months.

If you want to go the K1 visa route, you will marry here and my opinion, based on what my congressman's office suggested, is that the UK citizen does not step foot out of this country until the green card is in hand which could take up to 18 months+. This route means you get to stay together but the UK citizen will not be able to work until green card is in hand.

I will post my timeline later but I just registered on here to answer your question.

Ohh, your congressman's office did you a real disservice there, I'm sorry to say. You may have chosen to go the spousal route anyway, because you wanted to marry in the UK, but they really aren't right about the travel thing. They can leave once they get Advance Parole which, along with EAD is free to apply for for K1s (submit when you submit your green card paperwork) and takes 2 to 3 months. People do it all the time, it's no big deal, especially for short trips to large countries that handle a lot of US traffic. Some people are afraid to use it because yes in theory if they don't let you back in, you've got a bureaucratic problem on your hands. But....it works. It says "does not guarantee re-entry to the US", but so does a green card. Traveling on AP is a similar risk to traveling on a green card, although sometimes trickier because often gate agents (airline agents, not customs agents) don't know what it is and it takes some explaining.

Here's several threads confirming that:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/534785-advance-parole-any-problems-returning-to-usa/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/516337-advance-parole-ap-experience-at-jfk/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/507152-re-enter-us-using-advance-parole/

So, OP, it would be about 6-9 months to get the visa (possibly quicker, depending on how lucky you are), and another 3 for AP. He'd be eligible to return to the UK for whatever you want to do there in a year's time, you could be living together in 6-9 months, with him eligible to work about 3 months after that.

[Soup Dragon 104]

My fiance' lives in the UK, and I live in the US. We would like to marry in the UK but live in the US. From what I am reading it seems like the better way to go is to Marry in the US. Very new to all of this, and all the advise is welcomed.

Hi!

My USC husband came over on a marriage visitor visa and we got married in Scotland. No waiting period and no residency requirements there. Cost 85 GBP and took about 3-4 weeks to be approved.

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa/overview

Good luck!

Edited July 30, 2015 by D&B18

[Soup Dragon 104]

True true. I really wanted to do the castle thing too. However not my first marriage. Or second for that matter but it is his first. Just want to make thing somewhat easy.

Just saw this!

As I stated in my previous post, Scotland is a great place to get married, we got married in an old tower (almost like a castle!), plus we didn't have the hassle of the waiting and residency requirements. It was a small wedding as it was second marriage for both us and it was perfect (plus he got to wear a kilt, nothing more sexy than a guy in a skirt lol)

[geosavygirl 0]

Yes, I have found you must do your own research. Starting this process was overwhelming. Which forms to use, what you can and can't do. The process really could be simplified. Plus, the immigration website is not 100% user friendly. However, we are getting close to the end of our journey.

[geosavygirl 0]

I married at Brodie in Scotland. Men in kilts