fiancé visa or marry abroad

[KarmaPolice]

hi,

what is the better option, to apply for a fiancé visa (that is settlement/marriage, right?) and marry in the UK, OR marry in my fiancé's home country (outside EEA) and then apply for settlement/wife?

I do understand she won't be allowed to work until we marry and she successfully applies to change her status to spouse. How long does that usually take?
And what about the application itself, what additional proof is required that is different from settlement/wife? It says

You must prove that you plan to marry

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/eligibility
What sort of proof is sufficient?

We have registered a wedding in Germany at the register office (I just recently made the decision to move to the UK). Will she be allowed to travel to Germany with me?

[SoHopeful]

Firstly what citizenship do you hold?
You may be able to bypass all that and the financial requirement and just apply for a family permit.

If you are returning as a UK citizen are you aware of how you must meet the financial requirements to return?

The cheapest option is marrying abroad and then applying for the spouse visa. If you apply for the fiance visa you then have to pay the same amount again for further leave to remain as a spouse within 6 months. Your partner would not be entitled to work as they would be on a temporary visa until the FLR comes through.

Proof for the fiance visa would include details of wedding arrangements so for example evidence of the booking and receipts for wedding items. Once married and making the spouse application you would include the marriage cert, wedding pics and any evidence of same address such as bills or letters.

Application for further leave to remain after the fiance visa could be done same day if you book a premium appointment at your nearest office or cheaper option is by post which can take a couple of months.

[KarmaPolice]

Hi SoHopeful and thank you for your reply

Firstly what citizenship do you hold?

German

You may be able to bypass all that and the financial requirement and just apply for a family permit.

you mean after we marry? I gathered we were not eligible for family permit since we're not married yet

Once married and making the spouse application you would include the marriage cert, wedding pics and any evidence of same address such as bills or letters.

the last one kind of a problem since we have only lived together for a brief period, and that is quite a while ago. Could you point me to the official regulations? We're honestly planing just a shotgun wedding, could that be a reason to reject our application?

Best

[Casa]

Do you understand the meaning of a shotgun wedding? 'a marriage that is arranged very quickly and suddenly because the woman is pregnant'

[KarmaPolice]

sorry, not a native speaker. What I meant was for us to get married just legally without any festivities or guests.

I can't find anything in the appendix FM-SE about wedding party pictures.

[SoHopeful]

You don't necessarily need to have a big ceremony.

Take a look at this link as a good place to start...
https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/eligibility

[KarmaPolice]

oh, and about the EEA family permit: Can one apply for it from outside the EEA? Cause my gf currently lives outside of the EEA.

We had applied for a Schengen visiting visa once and it was rejected (gf had neither job not property in her home country, so they insinuated she planned to overstay). Don't wanna go through that again.