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Hi There,

I can't seem to find a post that answers my question however I apologise for any double posting.
My boyfriend and I are looking to get married and settle in the UK. I have a Danish passport and am living in the UK (my family are all English and living here except my mother hence my Danish passport)
My fiance is south African.

How do we best go about settling in the UK?
I do not have settled status in the UK as I have moved around a lot and as my parents were never married I cannot get my British passport.

Many Thanks

Isabel

IsabelM wrote:Hi There,

I can't seem to find a post that answers my question however I apologise for any double posting.
My boyfriend and I are looking to get married and settle in the UK. I have a Danish passport and am living in the UK (my family are all English and living here except my mother hence my Danish passport)
My fiance is south African.

How do we best go about settling in the UK?
I do not have settled status in the UK as I have moved around a lot and as my parents were never married I cannot get my British passport.

Many Thanks

Isabel

If you have British heritage/ancestry there may be ways and means to invoke that.
Wait for other members to dig into those matters.

However, if sticking with EU migration route and assuming no Brexit then...
Are you exercising treaty rights in UK as a qualified person (or planning to do so, soon) ?
If so, bring fiance to UK with FP.
See https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/overview

Get settled in.
Plan wedding. Arrange wedding via local Registrar's office.
See https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-part ... s/overview

Live your life. Happy happy etc.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Exercising treaty rights? Get settled status? If that is the same thing then from my understanding I cannot do so unless I've lived here for 5 years?

Sorry , yes I have been working and will be again

So I could get my fiance here just on that basis and then get married here? Sorry I find it difficult to figure all this out

IsabelM wrote:Sorry , yes I have been working and will be again

So I could get my fiance here just on that basis and then get married here? Sorry I find it difficult to figure all this out

You don't have to have been here for 5 years first in order to do all this.

You just need to be in UK and working, self-employed or a student. That is how you exercise treaty rights.

Where is fiance now?

Actually if fiance is not already in UK its probably easier to marry abroad.
Otherwise you would need a UK marriage visa for fiance in first place (in order to marry in UK).

So suggest get married 'somewhere' (home country?) then bring hubby to UK as the direct family member of you the EEA sponsor.
Once married the entry visa is the FP if taking the EU migration route.

You can get up to speed on EU free movement & etc, here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

So if we marry in south Africa , can we apply for the family eea and travel here together even if I don't have a job yet?

IsabelM wrote:So if we marry in south Africa , can we apply for the family eea and travel here together even if I don't have a job yet?

Yes, you can.
Because, by virtue of EU free movement rights, you have a 3 months grace period in the member state (eg UK) before you (as sponsor) have to be exercising treaty rights.
How cool is that?!

Pretty cool yes
From what I can see it's only valid for 6 months though and then we have to apply to stay here ? And I a residence permit? Or am I confusing visas now?

Will it make any difference of we get married in a different Eu country than the uk, instead of marrying in South Africa?

If the marriage is valid, then it should be okay.

IsabelM wrote:Pretty cool yes
From what I can see it's only valid for 6 months though and then we have to apply to stay here ? And I a residence permit? Or am I confusing visas now?

Once you are both here and you (sponsor) are working (or etc) your hubby can apply for his optional RC. This, if granted, will confirm his right to reside, work, study in UK.

You make it round so straight forward. It seems like a maze to us. All we wanna do is be together and It would be wonderful if it is as easy as it sounds here. Optional RC ... how difficult is that to get?

IsabelM wrote:You make it round so straight forward. It seems like a maze to us. All we wanna do is be together and It would be wonderful if it is as easy as it sounds here. Optional RC ... how difficult is that to get?

Easy to get, might have to wait a while since it's free (or was), the UKVI tend to prioritise the money-making stuff....

It's needed really to prove to a potential employer that the holder has the right to work, since they are in the invidious position of being liable to huge fines for engaging in due dilligence in ensuring their employees have the right to work. And whilst the RC card is optional, the employee will naturally err on the side of caution in engaging someone, you can't blame them really.

We don't mind waiting as long as we find the solution to be together:)
I'll come back and work while we wait if need be.

Makes sense the employer wants that. Is it easy
To obtain?

Thanks so much to all. We feel heaps better.
Anything in small print we need to be aware of?

IsabelM wrote:We don't mind waiting as long as we find the solution to be together:)
I'll come back and work while we wait if need be.

Makes sense the employer wants that. Is it easy
To obtain?

Thanks so much to all. We feel heaps better.
Anything in small print we need to be aware of?

The devil is in the detail...

Study the FP and RC guidance (from Gov UK website) and assemble good supporting documentary evidence to backup your various applications.
That includes proof of your identities, your relationship, your residency (when you get to UK) and sponsor's exercise of treaty rights (etc etc).

Don't assume a caseworker will simply rubberstamp your application/s through - and don't give HO any 'wriggle room' (room for doubt or opportunity to refuse).

Yes I thought it would be best to send everything along with. Especially seeing as we'll be getting married shortly before applying. Would it be better for me to come back and get employed prior to applying or won't that top the scale?