We are frequently asked, ‘What visa do I require to marry in the United Kingdom?’ If you wish to travel to the United Kingdom to marry, you have two main immigration options: a marriage visit visa or a fiancé visa.
The Marriage Visitor visa is for individuals over the age of 18 who wish to travel to the United Kingdom in order to marry, form a civil partnership, or give notice of a marriage or civil partnership. The UK Fiancé visa category is for engaged partners of British citizens, as well as individuals with indefinite leave to remain in the UK or limited leave to remain under Appendix EU or ECAA who wish to enter the UK and marry within six months of arrival. This post will compare and contrast these two options.
Marriage Visitor Visa Requirements
To qualify for a Marriage Visitor visa, you must demonstrate the following:
- You are over the age of 18;
- Within six months of your arrival in the UK, you are free to give notice of marriage and marry or enter into a civil partnership.
- You are engaged in an authentic relationship;
- You intend to stay in the UK for less than six months and then depart;
- You have sufficient funds to cover the costs of your visit and return journey without requiring assistance from the government.
- You must not intend to work in the UK, study for longer than 30 days, or make frequent visits to the UK your home.
Fiancé Visa Requirements | How To Get Married In UK?
To be eligible for a UK Fiancé visa, you must demonstrate to UK Visas and Immigration that you:
- Your partner is British, has indefinite leave to remain, or has limited leave to remain under Appendix EU or Appendix ECAA;
- Both of you are over the age of 18;
- You have met face to face;
- Both of you are free to marry;
- Your relationship is genuine, and you intend to live permanently together in the United Kingdom;
- You intend to marry within six months of moving to the United Kingdom;
- Any previous relationships have ended irreversibly;
- You will be provided with an adequate standard of living in the United Kingdom without recourse to public funds;
- There is sufficient lodging for you and any dependents;
- You communicate and comprehend in English at the required level.
The Significant Distinction Between a Marriage Visitor and a Fiance Visa
1. The Intention
As a visitor, you must have a genuine intention to visit and, consequently, an intention to depart the United Kingdom at the conclusion of your visit.
As a fiancé, you must demonstrate your intention to live permanently in the UK with your partner.
This is a critical distinction between the two applications, as the motivations for each application are entirely different. When deciding which application to submit, you should first determine whether you intend to visit the UK for a brief period or if you intend to permanently relocate to the UK.
Marrying in the United Kingdom on a marriage visitor visa does not preclude you from applying to come to the United Kingdom in the future as a spouse. As detailed below, you would, however, be required to apply for entry clearance as a spouse from outside the UK. If you intend to apply for a marriage visitor visa immediately upon your return to your home country following a period as a marriage visitor, this must be explained in detail in the marriage visitor visa application.
2. Possibility of applying as a spouse from within the United Kingdom
To apply as a spouse from within the United Kingdom, the following immigration status is required:
“E-LTRP.2.1. The applicant must not be a resident of the United Kingdom-
- a) as a visitor; or
(b) with valid leave granted for a period of six months or less, unless the leave was granted in the capacity of a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, or was granted pending the outcome of family court or divorce proceedings.
As a result, you cannot apply for leave to remain in the UK as a spouse as a visitor. It is possible to marry in the United Kingdom while on a marriage visitor visa, exit the country, and then apply for entry clearance as a spouse.
There is currently a coronavirus policy in place that allows certain applications to be submitted from within the UK that would normally require submission from outside the country. However, the duration of this policy is unknown.
As a fiancée, you will be granted six months leave to enter the UK in order to marry. You should apply for leave to remain in the UK as a spouse before this six-month period expires. The requirements for applying as a spouse are similar to those for applying as a fiance, except that you must be legally married at the time of application. The requirements are outlined below.
Individuals in the UK on other types of leave, such as as a student, can switch to the spouse route from within the country.
3. Financial Prerequisites
As a marriage visitor, you must demonstrate that you have adequate funds to cover the costs of your visit and return journey without relying on public funds.
As a fiance, you would need to demonstrate that you can maintain and accommodate yourself adequately without relying on public funds. Numerous previous blog posts have discussed various methods for meeting the financial requirement.
4. The Fee for Application
The current Home Office application fee for a UK Fiance visa is £1,523. The Home Office application fee for switching from the fiance category to the Spouse category from within the UK is £1,033. Additionally, at the spouse stage, an IHS fee must be paid, which is currently £624 per year of your visa.
Currently, the application fee for a Marriage Visitor visa is £95.00. If you then leave the UK and reapply as a spouse, the current Home Office fee for a UK Spouse visa application submitted outside the UK is £1,523.