Has anyone gone through the UK marriage visa process?
 

My American daughter has recently become engaged to a gentleman from the UK. They are hoping to be married in the UK in the next year. However, the UK visa process seems overwhelming already as they cannot reserve a wedding ceremony place without a marriage visa.They cannot apply for a marriage visa as.my daughter works outside of the country and needs her USA passport for work but she will also have to give that up for 6-10 weeks to obtain the visa.

My questions are:
Has anyone gone through trying to get a UK marriage visa in the past couple years?
Would she be allowed to get a second USA passport so that she can continue to work but also have the one to send into the UK visa bureau?
Any ideas on a basic fee for a UK immigration attorney over there?

Any tips or information would be greatly appreciated!

This being a travel forum I do not not hold too much hope you will get an answer to the Visa question.
Maybe you stand more chance on a forum like this:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...-visas-uk-196/

As it happens....

There is an absolute misconception in the proposal. You can, and, indeed, pretty much must, book a wedding before you apply for your visa.

I happen to be an immigration lawyer, but the application must be made in the U.S.

Where does your daughter work? Does she have permanent residence there?

From the USA embassy London

The issuance of a second passport is not automatic and should be considered an exception to the regulations. An application is approved on an individual basis and only when justified.

Second passports may be issued for a validity of up to two years if:

A passport is needed both for confirmed travel and submission for foreign visa applications simultaneously;
The primary passport is held by the U.K. government or foreign embassy and the applicant has confirmed travel; and/or
The applicant has confirmed travel plans to a foreign country which will deny a visa or entry to the bearer of a passport containing markings or visas showing travel to certain other countries.

Please

(1) listen to Sheila

(2) suggest that getting married in the UK is only the beginning of their issues if they plan to be resident in the UK thereafter. Marriage by no means allows immediate residence to the new spouse.

(3) if they do not plan to reside in the UK immediately, they might very well get married in the bride's home country

My US citizen daughter married a Scot in Scotland at a time when she was legally resident in the UK, but there were substantial bureaucratic hurdles from both countries, and it was important that she was in country to deal with them. The difficulties were repeated when they came to reside in the United States; a Green Card is not automatic.

No, but so long as the marriage is not a fake, and the Brit earns more than £18600, it should be fine

There are two kinds of visa for marriage in UK. Fiancé(e) visa (also called marriage visa) which is for marrying in UK and then staying on, eventually settling (living permanently) in UK. Then there is marriage visit visa, which is a special kind of visitor visa that allows you to marry (within 6 months) and then leave, for continuing your married life outside of UK. There are very different requirements for these visas. Which one does your daughter need?
As for giving notice of marriage at a register office, they now require either of the two visas. You may be able to book a provisional wedding date, but this is at the discretion of register office if you don't hold either of those visas. You can book or buy other wedding-related items like a reception venue, a dress or rings, which can be submitted as evidence of intention to marry.
As for submitting passport for visa application, this is something she needs to sort out herself. She must hand in or mail her passport to the visa office (procedure differs between countries she applies in), though a few locations allow her to just show her passport but retain it, and only hand it in for the visa to be affixed. For fiancée visa, there may also be a priority service that cuts down on waiting at extra cost, but availability depends on the country of application.

Who knew, Alec?

Fascinating.

I am a born British Subject. I met my wife to be, proposed and amazingly she accepted.
She gained a tourist visa to enter the UK and we married.Five years latter she became a subject of the crown.

meuniere, there are very few subjects left, most of us became citizens in the 80s.. :-)

From HMRC

Who is a British subject?

You became a British subject on 1 January 1983 if, until then, you were either:

a British subject without citizenship, which means you were a British subject on 31 December 1948 who didn’t become a citizen of the UK and Colonies, a Commonwealth country, Pakistan or the Republic of Ireland
a person who had been a citizen of the Republic of Ireland on 31 December 1948 and had made a claim to remain a British subject

You also became a British subject on 1 January 1983 if you were a woman who registered as a British subject on the basis of your marriage to a man in one of these categories.


Republic of Ireland citizens.

You’re a British subject if you were a citizen of the Republic of Ireland on 31 December 1948 and made a claim to remain a British subject.

If you didn’t make a claim to remain a British subject you can apply to the Home Secretary to become a British subject if either:

you’ve been in Crown service for the UK government
you’re associated with the UK or a British overseas territory by descent, residence or another way