Visit Visa for my fiancee, good idea?

[indi]

Hi

I am thinking of applying for a visit visa for my fiancee so she can come over to the UK for six months, spend time together and all that, but also, so we can build up some evidence of our relationship. The intention being that at the end of her visit visa we go to her home country, get married and then apply for a Spouse Visa.

The advantages as I see them:

- Much more evidence of the relationship.
- Having a history with the Home Office and sticking to the terms of a previous visa has surely got to go in your favour when you apply for a Spouse Visa.

The risks:

- They think that we are going to try and get married here (We are not. I'm a registrar, I know the nightmare that can lead to) and deny the visit visa, or they just deny it for some other reason. Meaning that when we apply for the Spouse Visa we've got less evidence and a previous rejection to overcome.

Does anyone have any advice, please?

My instinct is to go for the Visit Visa first, but do the risks outweigh the potential benefits? We wouldn't have spent very much time together (weeks) if we did.

All help and advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

i

[ariamus]

Seems a roundabout way when you can simply go abroad, marry and apply for a spouse visa.

You’ll have to evidence relationship up to the point of marriage but surely that’s simple enough to demonstrate.

Alternatively apply for a visa and get married when she’s here.

Either of above options are what is normally expected a couple would do...

[Frontier Mole]

You won’t be able to marry if she is on a visit visa... but you would know that with your job anyway.

The issue is intent here, the Home Office is not that bothered that someone is coming as your fiancé. As long as you say what your relationship is and be open about it. State your intention not to marry in the UK and that she is here to see if life in the UK is for her.

You will need to demonstrate she has medical insurance for the entire duration of her stay and that you can financially support her and accommodation is suitable. Basically everything you would do to gain a fiancé or spouse visa,

Why don’t you go for a fiancé visa and marry in the UK? It is a far more expensive option than a visit visa but at least you know you are 50% of the way to a Spouse visa.

How long have you known each other, what country is she from and how have you maintained your relationship to date?

[indi]

Thanks for the advice. The reason that I wanted to go for the visit visa first is that if we don't, we'll have spent hardly any time physically together, when we go for the spouse visa.

She's Senegalese and my friend's sister (he lives here). I've been over before and I know all her family, but I only actually met her at the end of my last trip, which was at the beginning of the year. We speak every day, (text, video, audio) on whatsapp, so I've got reams of evidence from that. I have loads of photos of me with various members of her family going back years, but I don't actually have a single photo of us together.
I'm going to go back there in the autumn when the flights start again, but I'll only be able to get 3-4 weeks off work, if I'm lucky. My family have spoken to her on video using whatsapp too, but again I have no physical evidence (photos or whatever).

I thought the visit visa would allow us to build up a load of evidence of the relationship and show that we had actually spent some serious time together. All my family want to meet her, so once she's here, that shouldn't be a problem. I hoped that combined with the evidence from when I go over there in the autumn would be enough. I was worried that if we went for the fiancee visa now they might reject it due to lack of time spent together.

The reason we're not going to get married when I go over there this time is because you have to give notice in Senegal at least a month before the ceremony (same as here) and I'll struggle to get the time off work to be there for that amount of time. We will probably have a non-legal religious blessing (which is important for her) and either get that made legal afterwards (I think that's possible in Senegal) or do a legal ceremony next time.

[CR001]

I have loads of photos of me with various members of her family going back years,

This is largely irrelevant if you have nothing of the two of you.

For a visitor visa, what evidence of strong ties to home country will she submit (employment, property, family, social etc)?

[indi]

I have loads of photos of me with various members of her family going back years,

This is largely irrelevant if you have nothing of the two of you.

For a visitor visa, what evidence of strong ties to home country will she submit (employment, property, family, social etc)?

Yeah, I know, that's why I think we need the time together on the visit visa.

She's a student at the moment, but she will have finished by the time of the visit visa, she might have got a job by then though. She has a big family all of whom are in Senegal, except my friend who is here and his wife (who is British) and they are staying with me at the moment. She lives with her sister and her sister's family. She's also got plenty of friends there. Do you know what evidence of that I'd need to provide? I've not looked into the visit visa that much yet, it looked quite straight-forward though, at first glance anyway.

Thanks

[Frontier Mole]

You are treating it a bit like Green Card the film

This is not a case of proving your relationship this is about ensuring she has significant ties in order to return.

How long would she stay for?

[indi]

You are treating it a bit like Green Card the film

Thanks for your support, it's much appreciated.

This is not a case of proving your relationship this is about ensuring she has significant ties in order to return.

How long would she stay for?

If you read my previous posts you will see that I have already answered that and explained why the proof of relationship is needed.

[Frontier Mole]

Ok based on the fact that your are sticking to 6 months visit and you are aiming hard on the relationship part of it - what you are failing to grasp you are actually stating a case for her not to return. If she was coming on a fiancé visa your information would be relevant. On a visit visa not so much.