Originally Posted by Shipresa

I received my spouse visa on June 3, 2009.

I was living in UK with my then-fiance. We researched fiancee vs. spouse visa and since all the sites and info were conflicting, we consulted an attorney in the UK. His advice was if we are marrying, then simply do that and do the spouse visa. The Fiance visa required the same process, the same $$ AND if we married in UK, we'd need to go through the Registry Office AND do the COA which cost more $$.

With that advice, we decided to holiday in USA, get married in my USA state (after ensuring the marriage is recognized in UK, which it was.)

We married on 17 May, my biometrics were done on 20 May, and finalizing all the docs (we had to wait 5 days for the certified marriage certificate), applied for the spouse visa on June 2 (via an agent who hand carried the docs after his professional review). June 3, the visa was placed in my passport.

I'd do it the same way again! We avoided the fiance visa process (essentially a duplication of spouse and $$), and the COA in UK.

The process was easy, but the documentation took months. We took 3 months to gather information, including joint bank accounts, adding me to council tax rolls - ANYTHING to prove you are in the marriage for MARRIAGE, not work, benefits or immigration. We also did a long narrative of our coming together, with pics of each of us with each other's parents (to prove it was for marriage and family, not immigration.) Your sponsor, too, must document how he/she can support you so UK is sure the spouse is not going to go on the UK dole. We also had recommendation and intent letters written by our employers and long-term friends willing to attest to our intentions. Documentation is key!