Brit marrying a yank in the UK. Help!

[whatum]

My brain is getting fried trying to work this all out without paying a fortune to a solicitor...

My fiancé is American and we plan to marry in the UK and predominantly reside here.

As I understand it we have to apply for Fiancé Visa (£1000-1500) which lasts 6 months and doesn't grant any right to work etc.
Once we're married (within 6 months) we need to upgrade that visa to a Spousal Visa which will grant her the right to work etc. for 2.5 yeats - which I assume is another £1000-1500?

So without solicitors fees we're looking at at least £3000, is that correct?

However... my fiancé is a freelancer and regularly comes to the UK on a three month COS visa to work. So... can we instead just pay the £95 fee for the Fiancé Visa that is for those who don't intend to remain in the UK - then we can go on the honeymoon and when we return to the UK she can do so on a new COS visa, then can we apply for a Spousal Visa as a married couple, saving ourselves £1000-1500?

It just seems crazy to me that we'd pay out £1500 for a visa that solely allows us to get married and then have to pay that out again to actually get some rights for her to be here. If she doesn't need to technically reside here (we both work as freelancers and work in the US for a time, then back to UK, back to US etc etc) then can we just get married and deal with her legal status later?

any advice greatly received!

[vinny]

Switching in the UK is subject to the environmentally unfriendly Immigration Status requirements.

[secret.simon]

You have a few choices.

(a) Marry somewhere else.

(b) Your fiance can come to the UK on a marriage visitor visa, which does require them to leave the UK after the marriage. The two of you can then get married in the UK, after which your fiance/spouse will need to leave the UK to return to the US and then apply for a spousal visa from the US.

Your fiance and you will need to have a full and frank discussion about what legal status they would want to acquire in the UK after marriage.

And I think you have massively underestimated the visa fees. While the fiance visa does not attract the Immigration Health Surcharge, a spousal visa does. A spousal visa is a huge financial commitment by itself (~£1500 for the application fee + the ~£1800 Immigration Health Surcharge; so about ~£3300 for a 2.5 year spousal visa, which will need to be repeated at least once for the spouse to become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain)

Broadly the Immigration Rules (and the laws on naturalisation) are not very friendly to people who don't reside in the UK.

In particular, absences from the UK for extended or multiple periods of time can cause issues five or more years down the line when it comes to naturalisation, which requires the applicant to have been physically present in the UK five/three years before the date of naturalisation application.

[whatum]

Thank you for the information. Yes we were aware of the additional health surcharge.

I think we might either have my fiance leave the country after the wedding to apply for the marriage visa from the US, or we might be able to get her a longer work visa (currently she's on a 3 month COS) which I've been told will allow her to marry and then we can apply for the marriage visa.

It's going to be an expensive year...