Complex situation - no clue what to do

[concerned dad]

hello

My fiancee arrived here in UK on a Marriage Visitor Visa at the end of November last year (2020).

We had planned to marry on January 16th and she was to then return to China to apply for a Spouse visa for her and to include her 12 year old son.

The wedding has been cancelled due to our region going into Tier 4 and China is not currently allowing any flights in from the UK, so she cannot return.

We still want to marry and apply for the appropriate visa for this to happen and to bring over her son. But:

We can't apply for a Fiancee Visa because she isn't in China and the rules don't allow her to apply from the UK on her current visa.

She is currently still inside her allowed 6 month stay but this will end in May of this year and we don't know if we'll be able to marry before that. We assume that in this case she would need to extend her stay but we don't know if this will allow her to marry here during the extension (if it's even possible to find a venue that will do it.)

We don't know if there is any other route for bringing over her son to the UK in the meantime. Would a school offer of a place here be sufficient and would affect her visa applications for Fiancee/Spouse (if we are allowed to make them?

We would welcome any advice. We were separated for 11 months last year as a result of the pandemic.

Thank you

Colin

[CULLINAN]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -in-the-uk

[concerned dad]

Thanks for this - from what I can make out we need to see what is going to happen after the current deadline on 31st January. If we assume it will be a further extension then it looks like we'll need to apply for a Fiance visa from here in the UK.

That's annoying as there is a chance we would be able to marry in that time on the "extended" Marriage Visitor Visa and therefore be eligible to apply directly for the Spouse visa and save £2k.

But I think that might be the route we'll have to take if we want to get my wife's son here as soon as possible.

Unless I'm reading it incorrectly.

Thanks

[CULLINAN]

If you’re here with 6 months’ leave as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner and your wedding or civil ceremony has been delayed due to coronavirus you may request additional time to stay, also known as ‘exceptional assurance’, by emailing cihassuranceteam@homeoffice.gov.uk and providing evidence of when your wedding will take place.

Otherwise, you can apply to extend your stay for a further 6 months to allow the ceremony to take place.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -in-the-uk