Desperate.. French+Russian UK Settlement-Urgently need help

[pandaz]

Hello,

We have a very simple request, however it seems like the odds are against us.

I am French. She is Russian. We've known each other for a long time now, and have even been living together for a while in the UK under student visa.

We have decided that we want to get married in the UK and settle there, but for that she needs a visa.
We thought we could simply do a fiancee visa and settle afterwards, however, as the sponsor, I do not met the financial requirements because of the latest law of July 2012 (I do not have an income, my parents are helping us financially).

We have written down two letters signed by both our parents stating that they will help us financially until we can do that ourselves - along with that proofs of income from them, which is quite high - but because of the law of July 2012, we think this will not work. Is that correct?

Please, we really need help. Do you guys have any advice on what we can do to finally get married, and live together a pleasant life? Have you experienced that? Maybe we can get married and then change to another type of visa, and after a few years obtain a passport for her? Our relationship is completely genuine and we have all the proofs for that.

I am sorry if this is an already-seen scenario, however I feel really down right now and haven't been able to find something very helpful...

We need advice,
Thank you.

[Lucapooka]

Assuming she is outside the UK.

To marry in the UK she would need a fiancee visa (under UK rules, from which she would switch into EU rules) but you say you don't have the income for that. So, marry outside the UK and she can enter and live in the UK under EU rules.

Assuming she is still in the UK:

Just get married in the UK.

[pandaz]

Assuming she is outside the UK.

To marry in the UK she would need a fiancee visa (under UK rules, from which she would switch into EU rules) but you say you don't have the income for that. So, marry outside the UK and she can enter and live in the UK under EU rules.

Thank you. We do not know much about this EU rules... could you tell us a bit more about that?

Also we would really like to get married in the UK; Do you know if it is possible to do a VISITOR fiance visa - which we can do because for that one we can use the sponsorship of family/friends - and then switch to EU rules to settle in the UK? Or is it not allowed?

[Lucapooka]

She won't get a marriage visit visa in her circumstances. When she marries you she will have an automatic right of residence under EU rules and so it will not be possible to issue a visa that requires her to leave within six months. Her situation runs counter to the immigration rules that require marriage visitors to leave the UK after the event.

[pandaz]

But what about if she does this visit visa, get married, leave the UK and then join me back a bit later in France for example?

[Lucapooka]

If she applies for a general visit visa with the intention to marry it will be refused; if she does not mention the marriage that would be a false declaration of her intentions, but it happens and people do go this route, so she can take her chances. She would not have to leave the UK after the marriage.

[pandaz]

If she applies for a general visit visa with the intention to marry it will be refused; if she does not mention the marriage that would be a false declaration of her intentions, but it happens and people do go this route, so she can take her chances. She would not have to leave the UK after the marriage.

But I was talking about a fiance visitor visa, which gives her the possibility to come to the UK and get married legally, but have to leave the UK after we are married. I do not understand why it would be refused; maybe we want to marry in the UK, and then settle in another EU country?

[Lucapooka]

She won't get a marriage visit visa in her circumstances. When she marries you she will have an automatic right of residence under EU rules and so it will not be possible to issue a visa that requires her to leave within six months. Her situation runs counter to the immigration rules that require marriage visitors to leave the UK after the event.

[pandaz]

Why does this visitor fiance visa exist then?

[Lucapooka]

For people who wish to marry in the uk and then leave. The problem for her is that she cannot show sufficient motivation to leave the UK.

[pandaz]

What kind of motivation could we show? Because as I said, we want to get married in the UK, and then go live in France ...

[fysicus]

A UK fiance visa is excessively expensive. You may consider to marry in France or Russia instead.

And first of all, familiarize yourself with EU Directive 2004/38 and The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, which is the UK implementation of this directive. There is an awful lot of info about it on this forum as well as the UKBA website, and your situation is fairly straightforward.

[Lucapooka]

What kind of motivation could we show? Because as I said, we want to get married in the UK, and then go live in France ...

The title of the thread suggest otherwise! Even if you don't wish to remain in the UK, the fact that she can if she marries you will deny her the chance to get a visit visa for marriage. She can say what she likes but they will not believe her. There has to be a clear avenue to leave the UK after the wedding but marriage to an EU national can't show that, for the reasons already discussed.

[pandaz]

Thanks for your contribution; we have decided it is indeed wiser to make her come on a normal visit visa for the time being, and when my studies will be finish in early 2014 I will go back in France and she will join me to get married.

Wish us luck.

P.

[SouthWest1]

i know all gurus put their comments but can i ask about the point you mention regarding living together and she is on a student visa here?

if she has a valid visa here, then both can get married in UK easily. but bear in mind if her visa is due to expire soon, then expect a sort of tough interview when you put your notice of marriage.
also those changes you mentioned are for UK citizen sponsoring non EU spouses. i hope thats what you were referring to here ?

[pandaz]

i know all gurus put their comments but can i ask about the point you mention regarding living together and she is on a student visa here?

if she has a valid visa here, then both can get married in UK easily. but bear in mind if her visa is due to expire soon, then expect a sort of tough interview when you put your notice of marriage.
also those changes you mentioned are for UK citizen sponsoring non EU spouses. i hope thats what you were referring to here ?

Hey,

She is not here she is in Russia, she has no visa yet.

Our problem was simply that we wanted to do a fiance visa but they do not accept financial sponsorship from a third party (parents).

[Jambo]

Is there a particular reason you wanted to get married in the UK? You can get married abroad and settle in the UK as she will be a spouse of an EEA national.

[pandaz]

Is there a particular reason you wanted to get married in the UK? You can get married abroad and settle in the UK as she will be a spouse of an EEA national.

We wanted to do that in the UK because we love the city we are in, that's all, but we have to take decisions and we have now decided, indeed, to marry outside the UK later and do the EEA family permit afterwards