Immigration from US to UK
Discussion
Chaps,
Decided to get married a few weeks back in the states to a US citizen (I'm a UK national), and whilst we have the ball rolling via a contact on the US immigration, we are just embarking on the UK side of things (it looks a lot easier) but wondered if anyone here had any previous tips/legal suggestions/warnings (bar not getting married in the first place). The reason for both is that both of our jobs can change quite quickly and we don't have firm plans on where we will reside in the future...
Many thanks in advance
Decided to get married a few weeks back in the states to a US citizen (I'm a UK national), and whilst we have the ball rolling via a contact on the US immigration, we are just embarking on the UK side of things (it looks a lot easier) but wondered if anyone here had any previous tips/legal suggestions/warnings (bar not getting married in the first place). The reason for both is that both of our jobs can change quite quickly and we don't have firm plans on where we will reside in the future...
Many thanks in advance
A friend of mine married an American guy and they moved to the UK together BEFORE they were married.
It made her application for citizenship much easier becasue it didn't look then as though she was trying to remain in the US by marriage.
As you say they found the UK part easier anyway so that never became an issue.
It made her application for citizenship much easier becasue it didn't look then as though she was trying to remain in the US by marriage.
As you say they found the UK part easier anyway so that never became an issue.
A very good mate of mine went out to the USA and married an American girl about 7-8 years ago, and it took about 3+ years to get all the paperwork sorted and everything..... and it wasn't cheap.... lots and lots of checks over time to make sure it isn't a marriage for a green card situation.
You can do it at the Consulate.
Apply, then they will send you a letter when it is complete.
Return to Consulate for coffee and signing.
I suspect it would be more difficult in UK due to lots of foreign types trying to do the same thing
ETA I should have more clear. This was for Naturalisation (citizenship)
Very easy, I've had more trouble registering a car.
Apply, then they will send you a letter when it is complete.
Return to Consulate for coffee and signing.
I suspect it would be more difficult in UK due to lots of foreign types trying to do the same thing
ETA I should have more clear. This was for Naturalisation (citizenship)
Very easy, I've had more trouble registering a car.
Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 6th October 13:22
Keep every piece of correspondence you receive jointly, if you don't now, start doing this, get both your names on council tax bills, utility bills etc. Save all your bank statements, both of you if you don't have joint accounts. The more proof you have of it being a legitimate marriage the easier it will be for you.
I went through all this 7 years ago and the paper trail was the most problematic aspect.
I went through all this 7 years ago and the paper trail was the most problematic aspect.
My wife is American. We got married over here as the paperwork was a lot more straightforward. It took a few weeks for her to get a marriage visa (valid for 6 months) before she could come out to the UK. We got married and then she obtained a 2-year residency permit.
We are now going through the green card process through the US embassy in London. It's more straightfoward that doing it in the US and is quite a bit quicker. The key thing to ensure is that you provide strong evidence of your marriage when going for your green card. We had to provide numerous joint account statements, bills and sworn affidavits from friends and relatives testifying the marriage was genuine.
From my experience so far, the UK immigration process is less stressful than the US one.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
Bertie W
We are now going through the green card process through the US embassy in London. It's more straightfoward that doing it in the US and is quite a bit quicker. The key thing to ensure is that you provide strong evidence of your marriage when going for your green card. We had to provide numerous joint account statements, bills and sworn affidavits from friends and relatives testifying the marriage was genuine.
From my experience so far, the UK immigration process is less stressful than the US one.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
Bertie W
We haven't bothered with any attorneys as we found the paperwork for both immigration processes was fairly straightforward so unfortunately can't advise on that one.
There are a couple of websites / forums that I've found useful however:
UK Yankee - for Americans in the UK
http://www.uk-yankee.com/
Dive Into America - forum for Brits moving to USA
http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/
Bertie W
There are a couple of websites / forums that I've found useful however:
UK Yankee - for Americans in the UK
http://www.uk-yankee.com/
Dive Into America - forum for Brits moving to USA
http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/
Bertie W
Was much easier to do in the day.
We applied for a UK Fiancé visa.
She moved over, we got married.
Was given temporary residence.
A year later was given permanent residence.
This was 17 years ago.
When we went for the follow up for the permanant residence, we missed the date by two weeks, we turned up without any paperwork but we were in about 5 mins.
It was a rubberstamping episode back then.
I don't think it's too much different now, If she's coming to the UK from the US she's hardly an economic migrant.
We applied for a UK Fiancé visa.
She moved over, we got married.
Was given temporary residence.
A year later was given permanent residence.
This was 17 years ago.
When we went for the follow up for the permanant residence, we missed the date by two weeks, we turned up without any paperwork but we were in about 5 mins.
It was a rubberstamping episode back then.
I don't think it's too much different now, If she's coming to the UK from the US she's hardly an economic migrant.
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