Help with marriage visitor visa

LawrieZero1

New member

Member since 21 June 2022

LawrieZero1

21 June 2022 21:22:54

LawrieZero1

21 June 2022 21:22:54

Hi, my partner is Spanish, he lives there, I live in the Uk. We want to get married in the uk and applied for a marriage visitor visa which was refused on the grounds not enough info was provided about me.

We were told after home office clearance we didn't need the visa to legally marry in the uk. Everything was booked but he was turned away and sent back at Gatwick. Obviously we are devastated.

The question is how to successfully apply for the visa? It seems we'll have to pay a lawyer in the end which, after losing a lot of money we can Ill afford.

I'm reaching out for any advice or experience members could possibly share. Neither have a criminal record, we can support ourselves and we don't intend to live in together in the uk or Spain, happy to share time in both.

Thanks

Voyager_2002

Active member

Member since 25 March 2009

Exeter

Voyager_2002

04 July 2022 15:51:22

Voyager_2002

04 July 2022 15:51:22

Exeter

You do not need a lawyer for this: you follow to the letter the rules that are set out on the UK visas web site and if necessary refer to the guidance for immigration officers which is also provided there.

Now, a Spanish citizen does not normally need a visa to visit the UK. However, permission from the Home Secretary (I think this might be what you call 'Home Office clearance') is required for any marriage in the UK involving a foreign national. To simplify the process, one can apply for a "Marriage visitor visa" whereby with one application one applies both for a visitor's visa and for permission to get married in the UK. This would have been the most obvious application for your partner to have made, given that he does not want to settle in the UK.

Now, if I have understood your post correctly you had obtained the necessary permission to get married and your partner attempted to visit the UK without a visa. Under the circumstances you have stated he should have been admitted and allowed to get married before leaving the UK, but there may have been something else about him that made him seem undesirable to the immigration officer he met. Or perhaps the officer made a mistake. Either way, I suggest that you write to your MP, politely asking the MP to contact the Home Office on your behalf. See if the MP can find out (i) what was the reason why he was not admitted; (ii) if his refusal was an error what the Home Office will do to put matters right; (iii) if the decision not to admit him was correct then what should you do next timee to avoid a similar outcome.

You say that the two of you "don't intend to live together in the UK or Spain": does that mean you have plans to establish a home together somewhere else? If so, you should mention that (with evidence) in any future application. If an immigration officer suspects that you intend to overstay your 'leave to remain' then you will almost certainly be refused admission.

Paulabryant

New member

Member since 05 July 2022

Paulabryant

06 July 2022 11:14:42

Paulabryant

06 July 2022 11:14:42

@LawrieZero1 You cannot give notice of marriage, get married, or form a civil partnership while traveling to the UK on a regular visitor visa; instead, you must apply for a marriage visitor visa. Additionally, while you are in the UK on a visiting visa of any kind, including a marriage visitor visa, you are not permitted to apply for any other visas. You can travel to the UK to be married using the marriage visitor visa. You may be married in the UK with both the marriage visitor visa and the fiancé visa, but there is a big difference. Both visas are good for six months. With a fiancé visa, you may apply for a spouse visa after being married, which is not possible with a marriage visitor visa. Fiancé visas are intended for anyone wanting to get married in the UK to relocate permanently. You would typically apply for a spouse visa when your fiancé's visa expires, and after five years in the UK, you might then apply for permanent residence. Contrarily, marriage visas only provide you access to the UK for a brief period of time. You must then depart the country. A spouse visa or extension cannot be applied for from the UK.