Post
by Leesah » Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:32 pm
Hi cliff,
I'm a US citizen married to a British citizen. Basically,I think your fiance must apply first for a 6 month spouse visa ( and you must marry within that time frame).W did this,after which I applied for and received a 2 year "permanent residency" visa. Generally you are interviewed after the 2 years and if they are satisfied that you are still happily married and intend to stay that way,permanent residency visa is approved. What happened to us though, is we went to the Republic if Ireland for 3 & 1/2 years on a contract project, which unbeknownst to us basically re-set MY immigration, and upon returning to the UK was told I would have to return to either Ireland or the US for 10 weeks to apply for re-entry as a permanent resident. Since that was completely out of the question for us, we contacted an immigration attorney. What he did was re-submit my application as "the spouse of an EU citizen" instead of "spouse of a UK citizen", which was ultimately accepted for my permanent residency. ( and this was BEFORE my husband went back to work in the UK, so we really had no income, but did have cash and assets) Since your fiancee is coming from another EU country, this should be easier for you than it was for me. Seriously though, I think you will need to pursue the proper visas FIRST, and then look into an IRL after she has lived here 5 years. Best advice I could give you is to consult a good immigration attorney for a consultation to advise you of the proper steps, which shouldn't cost you more than £100...... GOOD LUCK!
Leesah
