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

[nsharp 0]

D&B18. Fiance lives in England, but his mother lives in Scotland as he is originally from there. I thought that there were stricter requirements in the UK. We want to end up in MI as that is where I live.

[Pennycat 880]

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

Oh, sorry, meant to add. No, you don't have to prove that you can "support him" in the sense that you may mean it (at your current lifestyle level etc). You have to prove that you make 125% of the poverty level and are therefore ineligible for welfare benefits. They're pretty different things. And they don't ask for it because he won't be able to work for a few months--they really ask it in case he chooses to never work, he's your responsibility. Basically, they don't want people "importing spouses so that they can get free money", or whatever scare tactic about immigrants gets batted around.

[Soup Dragon 104]

I married at Brodie in Scotland. Men in kilts

Really wasn't sure how he would look but I nearly fell over when I saw him!

We got married at Bonshaw Tower, just outside Gretna. Not so much a castle but beautiful grounds. We had a piper play too and he was amazing! Definitely glad we did got married there!

[geosavygirl 0]

Really wasn't sure how he would look but I nearly fell over when I saw him!

We got married at Bonshaw Tower, just outside Gretna. Not so much a castle but beautiful grounds. We had a piper play too and he was amazing! Definitely glad we did got married there!

It really is a beautiful country! I loved our venue. And after a week of solid rain the morning of our wedding the sun came out to bless our day!

[nsharp 0]

so then after the wedding in Scotland your husband came back to US without you? and then applied for you to come to US as wife?

[Soup Dragon 104]

D&B18. Fiance lives in England, but his mother lives in Scotland as he is originally from there. I thought that there were stricter requirements in the UK. We want to end up in MI as that is where I live.

Scotland has different marriage laws than England in that there is no waiting period or the need to live in the area prior to the wedding. That is why we chose Scotland so he didn't need to come over for a month or prove residence. We are in MI too!!

so then after the wedding in Scotland your husband came back to US without you? and then applied for you to come to US as wife?

He was stationed in Germany with the Army so we both went back to Germany after the wedding and we filed for a spouse visa DCF (direct consular filing) via the consulate in Frankfurt.

[Pennycat 880]

so then after the wedding in Scotland your husband came back to US without you? and then applied for you to come to US as wife?

That's how you'd have to do it if you get legally married overseas. What D&B18 did--DCF is only available to people where the US citizen is residing overseas (and even then, not in all countries). Spouse visas take between 12 and 18 months (but they come with a green card automatically). Even a non-legally binding "wedding" can cause problems and is not advisable.

If you do fiance visa, he is here in 6 to 9 months. You marry (it doesn't have to be a "wedding" you can just get courthouse married), apply for green card, EAD and AP all at the same time. EAD (work) and AP (ability to travel) will arrive in 3 months. You can then go back to UK to have your religious wedding, or "big wedding" or whatever you want to call it.

This is the more expensive option, but it's quicker and has you living together sooner AND gives you a full year to plan your UK wedding. Otherwise, you'd need to take the time to plan the wedding, get married, apply for the visa (I'd say a minimum of 3 months and even then you won't get the venue of your choice), and only then does your 12 to 18 month wait begin. You could apply for a fiance visa tomorrow (or as soon as he can get signed paperwork to you) and start your 6-9 month wait now.

One visa isn't necessarily better than the other. Everyone's circumstances are different. But from what I hear you want out of this, it seems like this could be the better option in your situation.

Unless the 3 months of not working or the extra $800 (average) is going to make a huge difference. For us, the cost of maintaining two apartments is more than $800. So we don't mind paying more for the process to get him here 6 months sooner, and living frugally (possibly still with my current roommate) for a few months until he can work. Plus, we like the idea of not needing to put him to work right away so that he can adjust to life here, and the language and culture, and learn his way around etc. Even if he *could* work on Day 1, for us, we wouldn't do it anyway. But again....that's us. The language/culture difference from UK isn't nearly as difficult, he probably knows your town already etc. I'm just throwing it out there for thought.

Edited July 30, 2015 by CatherineA

[geosavygirl 0]

so then after the wedding in Scotland your husband came back to US without you? and then applied for you to come to US as wife?

No, he stayed there so he could continue to work while we go through the process. Was a better option for us. We were told the process would take roughly 9 months. I filed Jan. 7 after gathering all required info. NVC has all of our paperwork so I am waiting on CC and expecting an interview date soon. My paperwork scan date was July 10. So, if I don't hear anything in 30 days I will become a nag.