Marriage??

My partner wants to get a spousal visa. We've been together two years but unfortunately only have documentation for one. Is marriage a sure fire way to get around this problem? Advice please. Cheers. Raoul.

I've been looking into this myself and I don't think it's a sure fire way as so much depends on what visa you have and what visa you're partner is on.

The first thing you'd need to do is apply for a Certificate of Approval through the Home Office. You should be fine to do this as long as you have at least three months left on your current visa. Once you get the COA you then have to go through the normal procedure of giving notice to marry (which takes about 16 days) and then you'll be free to marry within a year. The thing is, the COA doesn't mean you'll be able to stay in the country and work as a dependent of your spouse automatically.

My understanding is that unless your spouse has a British passport or leave to remain you would still have to return home in order to apply to become his/her dependent and then re-enter the country with your spousal visa. Also, you still have to convince the Home Office that your relationship is legitimate, which you MAY be able to do without the documentation you speak of. It's all a bit of an unknown quantity I'm afraid and without the details of your visa and your partner's visa I don't think there's an easy answer.

Good luck with it!

I don't think there's any straight answer to this! It depends on what visa you're on and what visa you're partner is on.

For instance, you need to have at least three months left on your visa to apply for a Certificate of Approval from Home Office (which you MUST have to get married here because you're on some kind of visa). Your partner if he/she is on a visa, will need one too. A COA takes about 6-8 weeks to get.

Once you get the COA you then have to lodge a regular notice of marriage at your local register office and then wait a further 16 days before you can legally marry.

The thing to remember is that your COA does not mean you have the right to stay in the UK as a dependent of your spouse once you are married. Once married, you will then need to apply for a spousal visa and the way this works will depend on what visa you and your partner are on. Ie, if you're partner has a British passport you can apply from the UK, but if he/she doesn't have a passport and is on a visa you'll need to return home to apply.

I'm not sure this answers your question, but I hope it helps a bit.

Good luck!

I don't think there's any straight answer to this! It depends on what visa you're on and what visa you're partner is on.

For instance, you need to have at least three months left on your visa to apply for a Certificate of Approval from Home Office (which you MUST have to get married here because you're on some kind of visa). Your partner if he/she is on a visa, will need one too. A COA takes about 6-8 weeks to get.

Once you get the COA you then have to lodge a regular notice of marriage at your local register office and then wait a further 16 days before you can legally marry.

The thing to remember is that your COA does not mean you have the right to stay in the UK as a dependent of your spouse once you are married. Once married, you will then need to apply for a spousal visa and the way this works will depend on what visa you and your partner are on. Ie, if you're partner has a British passport you can apply from the UK, but if he/she doesn't have a passport and is on a visa you'll need to return home to apply.

I'm not sure this answers your question, but I hope it helps a bit.

Good luck!

Raoul, what do you mean? does one of you alrady have right of abode in the UK? one thing i do know is that the authorities have really cracked down in recent years on those trying to stay in the country by getting married.

I don't think there's any straight answer to this! It depends on what visa you're on and what visa you're partner is on.

For instance, you need to have at least three months left on your visa to apply for a Certificate of Approval from Home Office (which you MUST have to get married here because you're on some kind of visa). Your partner if he/she is on a visa, will need one too. A COA takes about 6-8 weeks to get.

Once you get the COA you then have to lodge a regular notice of marriage at your local register office and then wait a further 16 days before you can legally marry.

The thing to remember is that your COA does not mean you have the right to stay in the UK as a dependent of your spouse once you are married. Once married, you will then need to apply for a spousal visa and the way this works will depend on what visa you and your partner are on. Ie, if you're partner has a British passport you can apply from the UK, but if he/she doesn't have a passport and is on a visa you'll need to return home to apply.

I'm not sure this answers your question, but I hope it helps.

Good luck!

Sorry. I have an EU passport. My partner doesn't. She only has a work visa

 A round about way of doing things but if they reject it could always get working holiday visas and get married in Ireland. 

I just want to add one more thing to his discussion about getting visa by merrying someone who has the right to stay in UK.

My Kiwi husband had to wait for his visa a whole year (yes, 12 monhts!) after merrying me (EU member). That's how long the process can take. During this time he was allowed to work but the passport was with Home Office all the time.

read here more stories about visa problems