Fiance Visa + Premium Appointment OR Spouse Visa By Post

[WonderBread]

Hi Guys,

Im a UK citizen planning to marry my israeli grilfriend so we can live together in the UK.

I had originally planned that we would get married outside of the UK and then she would apply for a spouse visa by post at the Embassy in Israel, where she would remain living, and hopefully after a number of months it would be granted and she could come to live with me in the UK.

However, we recently spoke to an immigration solicitor who suggested it might make more sense to apply for a fiance visa at the embassy in Israel and then once granted, marry upon her arrival in the UK and immediately book an appointment at the PEO in Croydon for a Premium/Same-day application for a Spouse visa. She felt our case was straight forward and we should therefore have no problems.

Obviously we would prefer to be together as soon as possible (ie. the fiance visa route), however, the obvious risk of this route would be if we married but had some trouble converting to a spouse visa she would be both stuck in the UK and unable to work until it was resolved.

Any advice/experience regarding either route will be HUGELY appreciated.

Sam : )

[MPH80]

I've been down the fiancee route.

Converting to a spouse visa is a straightforward process. You just, really, need to show you've still got the income and are married and are living together. Easy peasy.

The thing that hasn't been highlighted to you is the cost. Going down the fiancee visa route introduces another visa into the cost profile - and in person adds even more to it - you're looking at £953 currently.

Processing time for a fiancee visa and a spouse visa are about the same and require similar evidence.

Do I regret going fiancee? no ... we wanted to get married in the UK so it was the right choice for us. If we'd not been bothered about that - we might of got married in her country and got a spouse visa.

[WonderBread]

Thanks very much for your reply, very helpful.

I guess I have to weigh the cost of the extra visa against the cost of marrying outside the UK. Unfortunately in Israel (where my girlfriend is from) they only perform religious weddings, no civil weddings so most people fly 1 hour to Cyprus and get married there.

Its recommended that you spend a week in Cyprus if you plan to get married there so I reckon for the two of us we're soon going to be hitting a similar cost to the extra visa.

I guess its another decision to add to the list!

Thanks again

Sam