UK Visas and marriage: a question

If you haven't already, have a look at form FLR(M) which you can download from the home office site, and maybe in particular section 7c, since proving you have been resident together for the past two years in the UK is U&K I believe.

caveat: it's not so easy to just get married here as a foreigner. you have to do it at one of the approved registry offices (many are in london, so if you're in london it's easy) and there's some kooky registration process and then you have to wait and stuff. they make you jump through hoops. i know people that have gone on a holiday to the states and married there, it's easier.

my situation is both complicated and helped, i think, by the fact that when we get married, i'll have lived here for 5.5 years, 4.5 of which were with a work permit, so i'll nearly be due ILR in my own right.

i find the website americanexpats.co.uk helpful, the 'home office' board doesn't require paid registration and there's loads of people going through similar issues (even if you're not american)

Now we're just waiting, they've had the forms for over a month now but I think the turnaround is around 2 months at the moment.

May also be worth asking the registry (or similar department) at your school if you haven't yet. Chances are they will have someone whose job it is to help you with visa forms, though mine only gives direct advice about extending student visas, but at least they were able to direct me to which others to investigate. Are both of you having (and hopefully passing) vivas in January? Could one or both of you extend your student visa should the other find a job?

SGS, I am having lunch with my American friend who is now working at LSE after finishing her doctorate and worrying about her visa status, which is now sorted. I will ask her to make you a flow chart or something; also I thought of you when I saw a book bindery job going in the paper. I'll mail you when I've seen her.

Mädchen: Alas, we're both at colleges in London, so cannot be confused with 'Fresh Talent'

SGS: Yeah, extending student visa(s) is certainly an option, particularly given the delays often encountered with vivas (i.e., we may legitimately need to stay here!). I'm also gonna talk to my department and see if I can get writing-up status for a whole year, even though I plan to submit in Oct/Nov.

Colette: Thanks for the website tip; I'll check that out. We do know about the process that precedes being able to get married--that's why I'm asking now. Basically, we started talking about doing this as a sort of pre-emptive legal strike at the many unforeseen circumstances that may come our way when we're both done with our programs and our visas expire. We would rather get married a little later (and prob. not in this country), but it might make things a bit clearer if we're a legal unit when any shit starts flyin'.

Gooblar, what uni are you with? I don't know if the process I'm dealing with is standardized across all UK schools or particular to mine. I go to G0ldsmiths, part of U of L, and my department's been actively encouraging me to take advantage of the whole year of writing-up period possible, though I'd be required to apply/pay for 'completion status' 6 months at a time, beginning this October. Extending it that way will definitely give you much more leeway to look for a job, and nothing says you have to have your viva right at the end of your visa anyway, right? Sucks that there's no 'fresh talent' scheme down here. Convincing the bureaucracy of my freshness might be much more entertaining than showing them 20 proofs of address.

Suzy, thanks for thinking of me--I'm always curious how other people manage to stay here. Other PhDs in my year have found several plum visa-sponsoring jobs, but since I'm not going into academia, the path is much less clear.

So, what, you (sgs) get 'completion status,' then if you haven't finished after 6 months, you get it again? Can you keep extending that? Or is it (as I think I've heard about) a hard one-year deadline once you switch to writing-up status?

This October will mark 3 years for me, so in order to apply for completion status I have to have a more-or-less complete draft--i.e. a draft which should require no more supervisory meetings to discuss, and wherein I'll no longer require the college library. In other words, all my research should be done and the thing written (and given tacit approval) apart from relatively minor tweaking. And to clarify, yeah, I'll be locked into finishing the thing within a year once I gain completion status, although for some stupid reason I can only apply for 6 months of that year at a time (each 6 month period requiring a separate fee). Bit of a faff. I'm aiming to have a viva within the first 6 months since I can't afford to extend longer. If UCL offers you the chance to take the whole year at a time, I'd probably take it if it were me, sounds like it would save some hassle, both viva- and visa-wise.

Also, at my college there's an office dedicated to postgrad stuff across the departments, and they publish a handbook for everyone that sets out all the rules, regulations, etc including copies of forms. They handed this to us when we first got there and it all had little relevance, but it's coming in handy now. I'd assume UCL has a similar setup? If so, you might try contacting them too, they're up on the latest requirements more so than my department for example.

In the meantime we'd (stupidly) taken a day trip out of the UK (Eurostar to Brussels) and Pam very nearly got deported for that - we spent an hour on the train fretting after her passport had been checked entering the Chunnel...fortunately we had a nice guy on passport control at Waterloo who simply gave her another 12 months' stampage and a stern talking-to.

A friend's lawyer husband helped us with the immigration procedure after that (guiding us through the paperwork) and we queued for four hours with the rest of the hopefuls at Lunar House in Croydon early one morning in Jan '99 to turn it all in, prepped for searching interviews - of which there were none. Pam got her 12-month LTR six weeks later and was upgraded to ILTR in Mar 2000 with the minimum of fuss.

She's still not on the electoral roll, which has caused us some problems, so she's going to finally do the UK Citizenship thing this summer.

Er, yes, getting married is a big plus though the official way to do it (eight years ago, it may be different now) for the non-Brit is to go back to the country of origin and apply for a fiance(e) visa. Also helps if you're white and have a few quid, I'm afraid.

Now she can quit her job and go on the dole! Or not.

She still has to get a National Insurance number, despite already working for over a year. It's pretty hard to get one for some reason.

Good luck everybody else trying to get through this process, I can at least offer some good news that we didn't have too much of a hard time getting through it.

She does know she is Mrs Poo, right?

I want to be Fresh Talent.

There is no more romatntic word than "Chunnel".

Does anyone know anywhere (in Britain) where one can get immigration/visa advice free or on the cheap?

bump 'cause I need HELP

I think a couple of the admins on the ukresident forums are actual lawyers or something, or have studied immigration law etc etc. You have to register (it's free) to be able to read anything but if you post something you'll usually get a pretty quick response.

Could also call the immigration offices directly if you have a while to sit on hold...

Thanks, will try. I've also just discovered UKCOSA, which has tons of helpful info and is making me hyperventilate a bit less.