Please help!! this is so confusing!!

[ely77]

Hello!

first of all, thank you for reading this as i am so confused with all this visa dramas...

Here is our story, my fiance and have been living together in Australia for four years, he is a UK Scottish citizen as well, I am guatemalan born but australian citizen now.

We are getting married in June 2010 in Scotland and thought that we would move to Spain after that and open a business there, but due to the situation in Spain and how difficult it is to research everything from here, we are thinking it would be best to stay in Scotland for around 6-10 months and do short trips to Spain to suss things out properly...

Our drama now, is to work out what visa to apply for me to stay in the UK, as by one look at the website indicates that they want him to be 'settled' in the UK before i can go and stay there...how can that be?

We would have enough savings to get us by for a couple of months, his parents are also moving back to scotland in time for our wedding and will provide us with a place to stay free of rent, (although reading here, it seems like they dont like people to say they would be with relatives!!?) and the plan is to open a business together, set it up for them to keep running it and then we move to Spain and set up there so they have also a place in the sun...

i know what i need to do to get a 'visitor marriage' visa, which only allows me to stay for 6 months and have to get married in that period, which is fine, but my questions are;

-once in the UK with a visitor marriage visa, can i apply to stay after we get married? is that allowed?
-if so, how long does that take?
-can i work??
-can i travel in the meantime?

im thinking of this, as not only the visa visitor marriage thing is easier to get, but also so much cheaper that 585pounds for the fiance/marriage prospect visa, but not sure if i can do it this way?? how long the process takes if i can do it from the UK after getting married is not so much of an issue as ill be able to work setting up the business in the mean time...

i should also mention that 4 days after we get married we are travelling to central america for about a month, so i need to make sure i can get back into the UK around july, but i guess i can use a visitor visa for that??? even if i have to buy a cheap easyjet ticket to europe?? and then get our marriage certificate once back in Scotland and then started the staying/working process??

If anyone can please shed some light into this it would be so much appreaciated it as this whole visa thing is driving me nuts!!

thank you so much!!!


ely

[Joppa]

Let me try to unravel your situation and narrow down your choice of suitable visas.
First, a Visitor Marriage Visa is no use to you. Yes, it's cheap, but it' only for those who just want to be married in UK but not to live (settle) there afterwards, and live somewhere else. You can of course use that visa just to get married, and within 6 months leave the country and move to Spain, to establish your residence and set up business there. In fact this is a much easier and cheaper way, as you get the visa to live in Spain free of charge from the Spanish consulate in UK in the form of EEA Family Permit. But of course the cost of visa and ease of immigration are only one factor you need to consider. As you rightly state, the Spanish economy is in a bad way and there is huge unemployment and many businesses, including those owned by foreigners, are failing. Just read the Spanish Expat forum to get an idea of what's happening. So going to live in Spain so soon after your wedding may not be the best way, and you have no family support there, as you rightly state.
BTW, in spite of what Scottish Nationalists want us to believe in, there is no such as Scottish citizenship - you just have British citizenship for the whole of the UK.
So in order to stay on in Scotland after your marriage, you do need a fiancée visa, which is a type of settlement visa as it can lead to settlement (permanent residency) in UK. Yes, it's very expensive at £585, but that's the way it is. There are stringent requirements to meet, as well as possibly an interview with a consular officer, as UK try to weed out bogus applicants from genuine ones. After your wedding, you need to apply for further leave to remain, valid 2 years.
There is in fact a third way, cheaper and less burdensome, which is to take advantage of EU regulation named after Surinder Singh. This states that if an EU citizen exercises their treaty right to freedom of movement and goes to live and work in another EU country other than the one where he holds citizenship, they are entitled to take along their spouse and other dependants with them, and then they have a further right, after 6 months, to return to their country of origin accompanied by their family. So you can first get married, in Australia or in UK with a marriage visitor visa, and you both move to Spain and your husband gets a job or sets up in business there for at least 6 months. If at any time you both want to come and live in UK, you apply for a visa under EU regulations.
Read http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary esp 2.5.1.

I hope I have given you some ideas you wish to explore further. I agree British immigration law is a minefield and is changing all the time.

[ely77]

Hi Joppa,

thank you so much for the information, really appreciate that you took the time to explain all this to me

i think our best option would still be go to Scotland, set the business up, research and keep an eye on Spain till such a time when we can make a safer move and either keep the business in Scotland running or not....but is really good to know that we could also go to Spain and apply from there, thank yo so much for that info!!

the funny thing is, the amount of work and supporting docs you need for the spouse visa is equivalent to the 'marriage visitor'!! where is the sense on that??

is sad that such a beautiful country is doing so badly...In Australia things are completely different and quiet good really, but is too far away!

thank you again for all your help, hope i can return the favor sometime

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by ely77

Hello!

first of all, thank you for reading this as i am so confused with all this visa dramas...

Here is our story, my fiance and have been living together in Australia for four years, he is a UK Scottish citizen as well, I am guatemalan born but australian citizen now.

We are getting married in June 2010 in Scotland and thought that we would move to Spain after that and open a business there, but due to the situation in Spain and how difficult it is to research everything from here, we are thinking it would be best to stay in Scotland for around 6-10 months and do short trips to Spain to suss things out properly...


ely

Hi!
Don't know anything about the visa situation. Only know that it sounds reeeaaallllyyy complicated and Joppa seems to know his way round it all, so I'll leave it to him.
What I do know about is Spain and I just wanted to tell you that the idea of staying in Scotland and coming to Spain off and on to suss things out definitely sounds like the best option for now given the current economic situation. Don't forget to look at all different areas at all different times of the year cos they may change a lot!
Good luck!