Hello everyone. I'm a chicagoan who just got engaged to an englishman, and we're trying to get our act together in a hurry so we can plan a wedding, after which I will live in the UK with him.

I am TOTALLY overwhelmed and not even sure of the best places to start getting information. Has anyone here done this recently? Would you say that the paperwork was confusing enough to warrant hiring an attorney? I looked a little bit for immigration attorneys but to be honest, most of them looked pretty shady. I'm organized, persistent and not working at the moment, so I would have time to do it if it's not impossibly hard.

Here are the things that worry me most at the moment, in case you have any advice:

- Is there any reason to have the wedding in the UK over the US? Would it make it easier for him to come to the US with me later (say in ten years) if we had been married there?

- If we marry in Chicago and then apply for a marriage visa, how long does that usually take? Will we have to spend some months apart while waiting for things to go through?

- Is it better to apply for a fiancee visa?

- Is staying in the UK on a tourist visa going to mess any of this up, so long as I don't overstay it? (I have been here about two months now, but am going home in a week and staying for two months. I will probably come back here for three more months in the spring.)

- How long does all this usually take? How much did it cost you?

I have SO many questions about moving here and I'm really glad I found this forum. I'm sure I will have other things to wonder about, like getting my dog his passport (so glad the rules have changed on that since I was last here in 2000) and moving my things (though, I have gotten rid of most of it), but until I get the visa handled, that stuff has to wait, I think.

Thanks in advance for all of your help. I sincerely appreciate it!!