Is a Fiancée Visa necessary?

[Chris_Lloyd]

am a U.K. citizen and my fiancée is from the US. The plan is to obtain a spouse visa so she can live in the U.K. with me. Our plan is to get married in the U.K. in a registry office for complete the paper work and then apply for a spouse visa. Once we have the visa we then want the ceremony in the US which of course wouldn’t be a ‘real wedding’ it would just be so everyone can get together.
The question is would we need to apply for the fiancée visa to be able to get married in the UK and could we still have the ceremony in the US after obtaining the U.K. spouse visa or would we need some sort of visa over in the US to to that ?

Or

would it just be easier to get married in the US and then apply for a U.K. spouse visa. That way we wouldn’t have to apply for a U.K. fiancée visa?
We just want to find easiest way that we’re more likely to get the U.K. spouse visa.

[Casa]

You won't be able to marry in the UK while your fiancee is here as a visitor.

Easier and cheaper to marry in the US and apply for a Spouse Settlement visa as it only requires you to pay the fees for one visa application.

What happened to her application for an Italian passport
eea-route-applications/us-citizen-entry ... l#p1640578

[Chris_Lloyd]

So if we legally get married in the US we can go straight ahead and apply for the Spouse visa? That sounds like a good idea. I was just worried because the marriage laws are different in the US. The marriage certificate will still be 100% valid? The thing is we would still need to apply for the US version of a fiancée visa before getting married in the US?

[Casa]

So if we legally get married in the US we can go straight ahead and apply for the Spouse visa? That sounds like a good idea. I was just worried because the marriage laws are different in the US. The marriage certificate will still be 100% valid? The thing is we would still need to apply for the US version of a fiancée visa before getting married in the US?

"if you do not intend taking up indefinite residence but will continue to live and work outside the United States after the marriage ceremony, you should apply for a B-2 visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program."

https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/fiancee-2/

Google is a wonderful invention.

[Chris_Lloyd]

U.K. Spouse Visa...

I mentioned we are able to use our savings along with my income to meet the required amount. My savings are in my ISA account and of course I have money in my current account. Would I just send bank statements from both accounts? Just making sure that the money is fine in the ISA or if it would need to be moved to my current account.

With my current employment I work on a contract basis with Princess Cruises. I go onboard at around 6 months at a time. I’ve checked with my accountant and she confirmed that it is a UK based company and I am ‘Employed’ by Princess Cruises.
Do they check my income for the past year (April to April) or more when we apply for the spouse visa?
Will I have to make sure I have a contract lined up for when we apply for the visa?
Our next cruise contract finishes in September 2019. We then want to apply for the Visa. Basically will I have to have a confirmed contract lined up for 2020?
Hope that makes sense?