Uk Citizen Would Like To Marry Indian Passport Holder Who Is

[sam1111]

I hope someone can help me in a strange situation I have found myself in.
I am hoping to get married in India in December, however my fiancé is in the USA on a working visa and I am in the UK, I have a British passport and she has an India passport.
Now the dilemma I find myself in is where to make the application and what visa to apply for.
She is ready to give up working in the States, but then does not want to stay in India by herself after we get married. So the questions are:
1) Can she apply from the States as I have read that you can apply from the country you are normally resident of, she is living there and has been there for 3 years
2) Can I do anything from here; I don’t think I can other than provide the supporting documents needed.
3) Would it be better to apply for a fiancé visa or a marriage visa, I was informed by VFS in India that the fiancé visa could be issued within 10-15 days if she does not need an interview. I have read some horror stories about marriage visas and she does not want to wait for a few months.
4) If not and we have to apply from India, any idea of the marriage visa turn around times.
If the turn around time will be long then we will have to go for a fiancé visa and then once here pay a second fee to change the status again. But the issue with this is that she will be unable to work and she does not want to stay at home doing nothing.
She has already been to the UK, under a student visa and then she again migrated to the states under a H1B working visa.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks for reading
Sam

[John]

Sam, is there any particular need or desire for the marriage to take place in India? Couldn't it take place in the USA, if she still has a valid visa for there? Or indeed in the UK, armed with a fiancée visa, issued in the USA?

[sam1111]

thanks for the reply however i dont have much family in the UK.. they are mostly in India... there lies the major problem.

[John]

OK, I see that, and apologies in advance if the following breaches any religious taboo, but would it be possible to have the legal marriage in the US, and a religious wedding later in India?

If that would be possible, you would fly to the US for a marriage, proceed with that marriage, then your wife (as she would be) could apply in US for a spouse visa, and later the two of you would go to India for the religious marriage.

If she is to apply for a visa in the US do note that ordinarily settlement visa applications can take 3 months to be dealt with, except if you use a so-called expeditor, recognised by the British Consulate, the process can be cut to say a week or two. So budget for the extra cost of using such a firm.

[sam1111]

thansk for the reply John, however I am unable to get time off work for 2 trips, however my fiance is going to leave her project anyway so I guess it may be possible for her to come here first and we both go to India.. Getting married here in the UK first.. but not sure how that would work.. and if she came here I guess I would have to do a Fiance visa, then once married apply for a spouse visa but then I guess we would not be able to go to India as no-one would have a passport.. Getting very confused..

If we do get married in India I see that the processing times for Ahmedabad is very quick compared to other places, 95% approved within 15days, however that it self brings up problems as we cant get the marriage certificate to apply for the visa and by the time we do, I would assume she would have Henna on here hands therefore unable to complete the biometric aspects

thanks again for reading my posts

Sam

[John]

Sam, if she applies in the US for a fiancée visa, then comes to the UK, the two of you get married in the UK, then apply at a PEO for hopefully same-day service, she could actually have the spouse visa in her passport soon after the marriage.

Then the two of you would fly to India for the religious marriage.

If you do the above, I don't think she should give up her job in the US until she has the fiancée visa in her passport.

[sam1111]

Hi John thanks again for the reply, so if understand you correctly..
1) Apply for fiancé visa in usa
2) Receive passport, then make plans to come here (i,e leave job, make permanent arrangements to not go back)
3) Come to UK, get married
4) Slightly confused here, what is a PEO.. (any rough idea of time scales for Spouse visa) we would have to wait until the spouse visa is issued here
5) Go to India and do the dead and come back as she would have got her passport back over here with the stamp.. hopefully she would do her biometrics in the States when applying for the fiancé visa, so that aspect would be taken care off, she would not have to do anything in India
Thanks again John
Sam

[John]

Using your numbering :-

1. Yes, and biometrics would need to be done as part of the fiancée visa application process.
2. Yes, receive back Indian passport, hopefully now with fiancée visa
3. Indeed!
4. A PEO? A Public Enquiry Office, an office where it is possible to apply for a visa in person, rather than by post. There are now 6 PEOs in the UK, including a new one that opened in Belfast earlier this month. Whereabouts in the UK are you?
5. Yes, having got the spouse visa in the UK, she will have no problem going to India, and then returning to the UK. The visa will be endorsed "MULT" ... multi-entry. So as regards visa, nothing to do in India, and the reason for that is of course that she got (legally) married in the UK, and then obtained spouse visa in the UK.

Hope this helps.

[sam1111]

Thanks John, I live in west London, any idea of the timelines involved for turning around the fiance visa into a spouse visa in london..

Regards

sam

hope you are enjoying your weekend

[John]

Hi, there is no PEO in London itself, but there is one in Croydon ...... click here.

The process of converting fiancée visa into spouse visa? Let's not get ahead of ourselves! But needless to say, the marriage certificate is rather important evidence that needs to be produced.

You first need to get the fiancée visa! Suggest you use the search facility on this board to search for comments from those that have gone before you.

[sam1111]

Thanks John, I have done alot of searching and understand all the relevant documents that will be needed from her side and my side, I have just got timescale issues thats the main problem as I need all this to happen by December otherwise I can't get married till after atleast March maybe even later, possibly maybe not untill this time next year, neither of us want to wait that long.

and as we are in 2 different country's planning on getting married in a third, I have to think of the best way forward, It begining to become stressful and thats before the documentation has been prepared.

Thanks again

Sam