I'll Cut Right to the Chase

[whitewolf09]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums because I stumbled on them while looking on the UK Border Agency's website and trying to wade through all the confusion there. 'Yall seemed like a nice gaggle of folks, so I figured you may be able to answer my questions a bit better and maybe without so much of the bureaucratic aftertaste.

My name is Ben, I'm in my early twenties, and I'm a US citizen by birth. Back in 2007, I met a man who, though I didn't know it then, was going to be the one I wished to spend the rest of my life with. We talked off and on during the five-plus years hence, but then certain events happened whereby I kind of became his support system through a very difficult time, during the course of which we fell in love. He came over here to visit me when I was living in Colorado back in April, and I'll be visiting him towards the end of this month for a couple of weeks (waiting with bated breath ).

We have absolutely decided beyond a shadow of a doubt that we want to be married (civil partnership, life partners, whatever you want to call it, means the same to us, lol) The only problem is...there's a huge puddle of water between us. He lives in the UK.

Now, he has a few ideas himself, but we're both very confused as to where we should start after we've done my visit in September. Please be patient with me and forgive my ignorance, because it wasn't until less than a year ago that I even realized that I'd end up an expat.

I'll give you the relevant details, and I'm totally friendly and open to answering any questions, and again, please forgive my confusion...

• I am a US citizen by birth, he is a UK citizen by birth.
• We both have passports for our respective countries (obviously)
• The plan is to have me move over to the UK, unless things change for him in terms of his employment, that's what the idea is
• We have not lived together yet, as we haven't really had a chance to do so for more than six months, so we've only spent a few weeks (as of mid-September) together.
• This is a same-sex couple situation.
• We have not actually made any wedding plans nor are we officially even engaged yet, but we do know that this is something that is going to happen.

So with all that laid out, what do you think would be the best first step? Thanks in advance for all of your responses.

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by whitewolf09

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums because I stumbled on them while looking on the UK Border Agency's website and trying to wade through all the confusion there. 'Yall seemed like a nice gaggle of folks, so I figured you may be able to answer my questions a bit better and maybe without so much of the bureaucratic aftertaste.

My name is Ben, I'm in my early twenties, and I'm a US citizen by birth. Back in 2007, I met a man who, though I didn't know it then, was going to be the one I wished to spend the rest of my life with. We talked off and on during the five-plus years hence, but then certain events happened whereby I kind of became his support system through a very difficult time, during the course of which we fell in love. He came over here to visit me when I was living in Colorado back in April, and I'll be visiting him towards the end of this month for a couple of weeks (waiting with bated breath).

We have absolutely decided beyond a shadow of a doubt that we want to be married (civil partnership, life partners, whatever you want to call it, means the same to us, lol) The only problem is...there's a huge puddle of water between us. He lives in the UK.

Now, he has a few ideas himself, but we're both very confused as to where we should start after we've done my visit in September. Please be patient with me and forgive my ignorance, because it wasn't until less than a year ago that I even realized that I'd end up an expat.

I'll give you the relevant details, and I'm totally friendly and open to answering any questions, and again, please forgive my confusion...

• I am a US citizen by birth, he is a UK citizen by birth.
• We both have passports for our respective countries (obviously)
• The plan is to have me move over to the UK, unless things change for him in terms of his employment, that's what the idea is
• We have not lived together yet, as we haven't really had a chance to do so for more than six months, so we've only spent a few weeks (as of mid-September) together.
• This is a same-sex couple situation.
• We have not actually made any wedding plans nor are we officially even engaged yet, but we do know that this is something that is going to happen.

So with all that laid out, what do you think would be the best first step?

Your first requirement is financial. Your partner has to sponsor you for a settlement visa, and he needs an income of at least £18,600 before tax, for the last 6 months. If he doesn't earn enough, it can be supplemented by some non-earned income (such as property rental, investment etc) or savings (his, yours or joint). With savings, the missing amount (i.e. what you would need to make it £18,600) needs to be timed by 2.5 and you add 16,000. So if he is £2000 short, you need in savings £21,000.

You also need suitable accommodation in UK. If he owns or rents a property, that should normally be fine, provided the property won't be overcrowded and there's no objection from his landlord (if renting) to your joining.

You require proof of ongoing, genuine relationship, and here your record of mail, email, Skype etc plus trips to see each other will become important.

You can enter civil partnership, same-sex marriage etc either in US or UK. To do it in UK requires a prospective civil partner visa, which will be followed by application for further leave to remain as civil partner after the ceremony. If you make your union in US, you apply for CP settlement visa to the British cosulate in NYC.

[2farapart]

Welcome to the forum!

You sound like my partner who also did not realise she would be an expat! Nor did she foresee being married to an English-woman! But it happened.

First things first, the on-paper bit is easy. You can come here as a proposed civil-partner (dumb alternative moniker for same-sex marriage, but the government is edging away at changing that). Anyway, your rights as a married couple are exactly the same as a hetero couple here, legally recognised next of kin etc, and total equality regarding immigration to the UK. Using this route means you don't have to have lived together (just prove that you have met). Long distance relationships are regarded equally (just have evidence to support how you keep in touch, that it is genuine etc). This visa lasts 6 months to allow you to become wed, after which you can apply for Further leave To Remain (a probationary period consisting of 2 visas over 5 years) after which you can apply for Indefinite Leave To Remain (entitlement to live in Britain yet retain your US citizenship if you wish).

Everything you've said is absolutely do-able, and very quickly too (if you pay for the premium service you could have a visa in two weeks). The hard part is the financial requirement, and the stumbling block for many people. Your partner (as the UK citizen) must have held a job at £18600 or more for at least 6 months (any pay you earn doesn't count). You can jointly supplement this with savings if he doesn't earn enough but the amount is huge.

If he does meet the financial requirements, then I don't see much standing in your way. Have a read here: UK Border Agency | Fiance(e) or proposed civil partner of a British citizen or settled person

ETA: typed same time as Joppa

[whitewolf09]

Originally Posted by Joppa

Your first requirement is financial. Your partner has to sponsor you for a settlement visa, and he needs an income of at least £18,600 before tax, for the last 6 months. If he doesn't earn enough, it can be supplemented by some non-earned income (such as property rental, investment etc) or savings (his, yours or joint). With savings, the missing amount (i.e. what you would need to make it £18,600) needs to be timed by 2.5 and you add 16,000. So if he is £2000 short, you need in savings £21,000.

I believe we've easily got that with his job alone, which in this case is the only one that matters, correct? I can't very well continue in the job I'm working at now from overseas. That being said...is it really six months that he has to have that income for, or is it annual of 18,600 pounds? Over here, when we talk about income, it's always referring to one's annual or monthly income, and on the UKBA website, they don't specify whether it's annual or a six-month block of time.

Originally Posted by Joppa

You also need suitable accommodation in UK. If he owns or rents a property, that should normally be fine, provided the property won't be overcrowded and there's no objection from his landlord (if renting) to your joining.

Done

Originally Posted by Joppa

You require proof of ongoing, genuine relationship, and here your record of mail, email, Skype etc plus trips to see each other will become important.

What about phone records, text message logs (we sent lots of texts), e-mails dating back five years to show that we've known each other that long, etcetera? Could those also qualify as evidence? We also have quite a few photographs from his trip here, and will probably have even more from my trip over there. Will those be legitimate evidence too?

Originally Posted by Joppa

You can enter civil partnership, same-sex marriage etc either in US or UK. To do it in UK requires a prospective civil partner visa, which will be followed by application for further leave to remain as civil partner after the ceremony. If you make your union in US, you apply for CP settlement visa to the British cosulate in NYC.

We've been talking about this one actually. We kind of want to have a "legal and official" ceremony so that we'll satisfy the visa requirements and all, but then have a more celebratory ceremony at a later date. If it was kind of a basic ceremony at first, would that raise any red flags? Or even yellow ones? Would it just be better to have the full on wedding ceremony and reception first just so that they can be satisfied that its all legitimate? Or am I viewing them as too Orwellian?

[MacUK]

Hi whitewolf09!

For the financial requirement, if your partner has been making 18 600£ annually, over the past 6 months, with the same employer, then you are in the clear.
If he has changed employer over those 6 months, then they will look at his finances over a 12 month period, and he has to prove that he has been making also a minimum 18 600£ over that 12 month period. Remember, the ECO will take the lowest amount made during those 12 or 6 months to calculate his minimum gross annual salary.

For the ceremony, me and my husband had a basic civil marriage ceremony, and after a year, we had a proper wedding, but in the beginning we did not intend to move to the UK, and so there was not the issue of raising any flags, just convenience.
Hope this helps a bit!!!

[Joppa]

About income, it's annualised £18,600 kept for at least 6 months, so if your partner has been in employment for at least 6 months that pays an annual salary to meet the requirement, that's fine.

All those pieces of evidence count, so I suggest you select representative samples of them for each 6-month period of your relationship, starting with the earliest. Keep it reasonable, just enough to give them information about the state of your relationship.

As for the ceremony, all you really need is a legal ceremony. If you want to conclude CP in UK, you need evidence of preliminary appointment and proposed date. Reception is optional, though if you are doing it in US and applying for visa afterwards, enclose some photographs of the day with your friends and family present.

[whitewolf09]

Thank you all for all your support and advice. It's all a lot clearer now. Sorry it took me so long to get back on and thank you, life gets in the way. You know how it is.

I'll keep you updated on everything that happens!

[WestCoastCanadianGirl]

In regards to the photos and emails - Ed and I (who have only known each other for 11 months) submitted a selection (~20 double sided pages) of emails, 3 double sided pages of Skype screen shots and 4 photos and the UKBA were satisfied with that... they just want to be assured that sponsor and applicant have actually met each other.

If you submit a selection of emails and photos along with a letter to the ECO giving a brief explanation of your r'ship, you should be o.k.

In regards to the sponsor/applicant letters, here's a sample of draft letters written by a couple of posters here.

[whitewolf09]

Hey all, just wanted to tell everyone who was so helpful that we are now engaged, and have started the long process of getting a fiance visa...which over the next five years will lead to a few more long processes. :-P