Nat & Nate

Also, I believe you need permission to marry in the UK (like a "get married" visa), so make sure to look into that.

A US citizen can come to the UK on holiday and marry without any kind of 'get married' visa as long as they do not intend to stay. The 'certificate of approval' was abolished in May. Usual visas apply to those intending to stay.

My fiance and I are getting married in the UK next March and all we need to do is register our intention to marry at a designated register office 8 clear days after his arrival, sit out a 15 day waiting period, then get married. Simple. If the US citizen has been married before then the divorce papers will need UK 'approval' which is usually done during the 15 day waiting period (they are usually faxed to a different office and I was told it's a pretty quick process and just a formality). Both parties need to attend in person to register their intent to marry and will need to provide details of residency (boarding pass or passport stamp to prove he's been in the country 8 days will suffice in his case), ID and original birth/divorce certificates. I visited my local register office this morning to clear all this up as I wasn't sure of the process. Since the abolition of the certificate of approval the floodgates have opened with non UK citizens wanting to marry here that my local designated office is taking 'intention to marry' appointments for December!!

At the moment I'm not coping very well as I'm sitting here writing this with tears in my eyes as I'm leaving my love tomorrow morning. I am hopeless at goodbyes!! I have already delayed my flight home twice because I couldn't face leaving him but I know I have to go home. Nathan is much stronger than me, he sees my leaving as 'see you later' as opposed to 'goodbye'. He focuses very much on the long term and sees the time apart as just an inconvenience for now. I find it harder and what really hurts is not knowing when I will see him next. Our instant chat is on constantly and we talk when we can, even if it is just for a few minutes, and we email every day and also talk on the phone every couple of days. We've made some exciting plans for our future in the six weeks that I've been here which have made our relationship stronger and which will hopefully make being apart more bearable as I know I have so much to look forward to. I know it's easier said than done but I plan on keeping busy with the usual(work, gym, seeing friends) and by talking to Nathan as much as I can.

If anyone wants to email me for a chat or a shoulder to cry on please feel free, I'd love to hear from anyone. Good luck to you all xoxo

Hello everyone – interesting discussion!

I think there is a difference between falling in love with someone and loving them and I believe that you can love someone before you meet them. We all have our own definitions on what love is so we cannot and should not judge another person’s feelings and reasons for what they believe love is. I agree with Kristy in that during an online relationship the physical distractions are removed and you can concentrate on the mental and emotional connections.

Nathan and I met online while he was stationed in Iraq with the US Army. I can’t say that I fell in love with him online but, over time, after around six months, I definitely knew I felt something for him. At first I tried to tell myself there was no way I could feel the way I did about someone I’d never met but the feelings just wouldn’t go away and they were feelings which I hadn’t felt for anyone else, even my ex husband (I was married for 12 years). It was the same for Nathan. It was only when we met for the first time that we realised we were more than just friends and we did in fact love each other and we quickly fell in love soon after. We haven’t filed our petition (we haven’t yet decided which route to take), but we are in no rush and are really enjoying being in our relationship. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the website and reading about everyone’s own journeys. I’m flying to the USA for three weeks on 19 December and can’t wait to be back with him.

Good luck to you all!!

Hello, I am UKC (female, 38) and my fiance is USC and he is 25. We don't ever think about our age difference (I have just now because I've just typed it!) and it's not something we discuss. Nobody ever questions us or comments about it. It really doesn't bother us, we are blissfully happy!!

Good luck!