My fiancée and I are US nationals. We want to get married in the UK. Do we need visas?

If you and your partner are not British citizens, Irish nationals or settled in the UK, and would like to get married or enter into a civil partnership in the UK but are not planning to live in the UK, you must apply for a Marriage/Civil Partnership Visitor visa.

You must meet certain requirements in order to be eligible to apply for this visa as an overseas national and you will need to apply for this visa even if you can usually visit the UK without having to obtain a visa first.

The conditions are that you must be at least 16 years old, not already be married or in a civil partnership and your partner must not be closely related to you. If you are under 18, you will require permission from your parents or guardians. There are additional requirements, which include:

• Your relationship is genuine
• You’re visiting the UK for less than 6 months and do not want to settle in the UK
• You’re able to support yourself during your trip, including being able to pay for your return journey

You also need to provide evidence that you intend to give notice, marry or form a civil partnership, such as an appointment confirmation with a registrar or booking confirmation for your reception.

You can apply up to 3 months before you travel. The application is made online and you will be required to pay £100. In addition, you will need to book and attend an appointment at a visa application centre. The processing time is usually 3 weeks from the date of your appointment.

In some locations you can purchase priority processing, which should give you a quicker decision. However, the current processing times may be significantly longer due to the UK authorities having diverted resources to dealing with applications under the UK’s Ukraine visa schemes.

The Marriage Visitor visa will allow you to stay in the UK for up to 6 months.

How can we help?

Gherson’s Immigration Team are experienced in marriage visitor visa applications. Please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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