Wait for Spouse Visa

[SiBannister]

Hi there!
Myself and my Chilean girlfriend have decided to get married in Santiago next Feb. (I'm British, btw) she has enquired at the British Embassy/Consulate there (I can never remember which one it is!) and they say that it will take 2-3 days to process the spouse visa after we get married.

I've read several stories on here, and heard from other people too, about it taking a lot longer than this sometimes. Hopefully, there won't be any delay, and I don't want to get married and then have to fly home a couple of days later without my wife! From the accounts I've read on here, I understand the importance of being well prepared in terms of documentation - but is there any way that anyone knows of that can spped the process up? I don't suppose you can apply for the visa BEFORE getting married??

Thanks in anticipation of any information that will put my mind at rest, at least about this one thing!

Simon.

[ilm]

2-3 days - how quick do you want it! The embassy are the best people to talk to about how to make the application as quick as possible as each has a different processing time.

It sometimes is possible to apply before the marriage but again is down to the embassy to advise you if you can do this. As they say the processing time is so short I doubt it is worth it though.

Find out from them exactly what how the application procedure works. For my wife it took two days but that was only because they couldn't interview her for two days from the day the application was made. Once interviewed it was about half an hour to get the visa in the passport.