American Marrying UK Citizen

[LadySilver]

Hi there, everyone.

I'm an American citizen, currently with permanent residence in Canada, who wants to marry a British citizen. We've known each other and have been best friends since 2002, and in a relationship since autumn of 2014 after the long, miserable breakdown between my husband and I finally became official.

I've gone through the immigration process before and all the confusion and emotional hoopla that goes with it, but I think Canada's is a tad easier. I feel like I'm slogging through mud and I'm so afraid.

My biggest, worst worry is that the UK will consider my desire to marry a British citizen to be a sham, since I married a Canadian citizen and immigrated to Canada and then the relationship failed. Will they think I'm simply trying to hop countries thanks to the convenience of marriage? I have no idea how to prove that that isn't at all what I'm doing. I don't want to raise any suspicions but I deeply fear I'm going to do just that, and I really don't know what to do. I feel explaining in my cover letter (do I actually need one of these for the fiance visa, or just for the spousal?) isn't going to cut it.

I'm currently visiting my boyfriend for the summer. We have met in person twice before this and have talked on various messenger services for these thirteen years, but neither of us have any evidence of all the chats prior to the beginning of our relationship. I'm gathering travel tickets, photos and other visual proof, as well as a Skype log of calls we've made since last August.

I will be able to file for a no-fault joint divorce in September, after I've returned to Canada. This tends to take 4-6 months to complete, and then thirty days after the divorce is granted I can ask for my divorce certificate. So we won't be applying for the fiance visa until next spring. Is there any amount of time my boyfriend and I should wait between the certificate arriving and the fiance visa application being sent out, or is this just going to look suspicious no matter what?

Thanks for any and all replies, everyone. We both greatly appreciate it and will be continuing to seek guidance and asking probably dumb questions throughout this process!

[CR001]

Is there any amount of time my boyfriend and I should wait between the certificate arriving and the fiance visa application being sent out?

You should ideally wait for the divorce certificate to provide the evidence with your application that you are free to marry.

[LadySilver]

Is there any amount of time my boyfriend and I should wait between the certificate arriving and the fiance visa application being sent out?

You should ideally wait for the divorce certificate to provide the evidence with your application that you are free to marry.

Thanks for your quick reply!

[Casa]

Just make sure that you are able to meet the financial condition of your fiance (as your sponsor) having £18,600 earnings per annum or over £16,000 savings to make up any shortfall.

[LadySilver]

Just make sure that you are able to meet the financial condition of your fiance (as your sponsor) having £18,600 earnings per annum or over £16,000 savings to make up any shortfall.

He definitely does Thank you, Casa!

[LadySilver]

Hey all, sorry to post again, but I honestly wasn't sure whether to keep things neat and tidy in one thread or make a new one.

I was asking on another immigration forum and kind of got reamed for this, so please... please just give me advice. Please don't ream me out, I've had enough already and with my current emotional state I can't take any more. I know now what I've done wrong.

It was my understanding that if I was given a 6 month visitor stamp in my passport, then I could be here for those six months. When I came over to visit, we'd planned for a two week visit, mainly to see if we thought we'd be happier in Canada or in England (my boyfriend was in Canada with me for two weeks prior to this). We ended up cancelling the ticket with me being here longer, under the 6 month limit and planning on leaving before the limit expired.

So, of course, I've learned today that I'm probably going to get the fiance visa denied because I've stayed here longer than my return flight showed at the border, and UK immigration will treat this as pure deception. I'm not sure how we can explain, since I know they don't exactly accept ignorance as an excuse.

Any advice? Should we even bother applying next year? Is it worth it for my boyfriend to come to Canada and we get married there, and then we apply for a spousal visa instead of fiance, or is this thing too big a red mark on me and it doesn't matter no matter what we apply for?

[manci]

If you had a 6 month visitor visa stamp in your passport, and left the UK before its expiry, changing the date of your return flight wasn't deception and it will have no bearing on any future immigration application.