Please help - Is spouse visa the right route?

[alex73]

I met the love of my life many years ago whilst travelling in Africa- we parted due to travelling in opposite directions after a few months - it took 15 years to find her again via facebook - she is Brazilian and i am British - we had a year long internet relationship until she came over on a visitors visa with her young daughter - She fell pregnant very quickly and now she has 6 weeks until her visitors visa expires - we want to marry (as it seems the only way to be legally together here and for our child to be born here) so we intend to fly to Brazil to apply for a spouse visa once we are married - problem is in 10 weeks she will be too pregnant to fly - I am having problems finding a suitable country to marry with our short timescales - Is marrying so quickly really the only way we can be together and have our baby in the UK? - I hate to rush what should be the happiest day of our lives? If it is the only option available to us, is there an easier place to marry in europe to speed the process up? -Please help - as i am having sleepless nights with worry.

[ElenaW]

I met the love of my life many years ago whilst travelling in Africa- we parted due to travelling in opposite directions after a few months - it took 15 years to find her again via facebook - she is Brazilian and i am British - we had a year long internet relationship until she came over on a visitors visa with her young daughter - She fell pregnant very quickly and now she has 6 weeks until her visitors visa expires - we want to marry (as it seems the only way to be legally together here and for our child to be born here) so we intend to fly to Brazil to apply for a spouse visa once we are married - problem is in 10 weeks she will be too pregnant to fly - I am having problems finding a suitable country to marry with our short timescales - Is marrying so quickly really the only way we can be together and have our baby in the UK? - I hate to rush what should be the happiest day of our lives? If it is the only option available to us, is there an easier place to marry in europe to speed the process up? -Please help - as i am having sleepless nights with worry.

Yep, sorry it seems like marriage is the only way. I can't think of anywhere in Europe that's quick but I for example got married to my husband in Barbados and as long as you both have passports, they can marry you the day you both arrive. I'm sure if you do some research and other places in the carribean have similar waiting times.

[Kitty]

Her options for returning to the UK are:

1. Marry in the UK in a Church of England ceremony, return to Brazil and apply for a spouse visa. You don't need permission for a CofE marriage, but you will need to find a sympathetic minister (and I don't know how long it takes to arrange an Anglican ceremony: perhaps another poster could advise?)

2. Go to Brazil asap, and apply to return to the UK as your fiancée. You must marry within 6 months, and your wife can then apply for leave to remain as your spouse.

3. Go to Brazil with you, marry asap, and then apply for a spouse visa.

The processing times for settlement visas in Brazil are reasonable (most decisions seem to be made within a month), but if your aim is for your partner to have her baby in the UK then you will need to act quickly.

One other consideration: what is the situation with your partner's daughter? Is the father still in the frame, and if so does your partner have "sole responsibility" for her daughter? This will affect how straightforward it will be for her to come to the UK with her mother.

[John]

alex73, the suggestion from Kitty for her to apply for a fiancée visa in Brazil is probably best. She could apply for that visa shortly after getting back to Brazil, then when it is issued, fly back to the UK, and then the two of you can marry in the UK, after which she would apply for a spouse visa, in the UK.

But that is not a cheap way to go .... nothing is .... but it adds one visa application, converting the fiancée visa into a spouse visa. Not cheap.

Another possibility would be to think about getting legally married in Thailand. Yes I know the distances involved here! But as regards getting legally married, each of you would need to sign an affirmation document at your respective embassies in Bangkok, and after that there is a procedure to follow. But even so you might be legally married within 3 or 4 days after arriving in Bangkok.

The British Embassy is well used to dealing with the affirmation document. But I don't know about the Brazilian Embassy in Bangkok, and before thinking of going down this route, it would be a good idea for contact to be made with that embassy to check on their requirements.

You would need to use a translation bureau to assist with the process.

Following the marriage she would fly to Brazil, and then apply for her spouse visa, and then when that is issued, fly to the UK.

Just a thought.