Getting Married in the UK

Hi guys, I was wondering if people here knew about getting married in the UK to a Taiwanese. Atm I am unemployed, but hell. Might as well get married. :wink:
Can we legally get married here or is such a thing beset on all sides by the tyrannies of evil bureaucracy?

I married a Turkish citizen in the UK. We made the appointment, paid the fee and got married. Easy. Next comes getting special leave to remain for the foreign spouse. They ask some questions to work out whether you are in a genuine relationship. They want to know that the British spouse has sufficient income to ensure that the foreign spouse does not need to receive state benefits. Actually I was unemployed but I said I was a part-time lecturer, which I really was sometimes, and they said OK. One year later (for us, I think it is now two years), you go back to the Home Office and go through a similar process to show that you have maintained your relationship and have been living together, and then the foreign spouse can get permanent leave to remain. Actually we hadnā€™t been living together for most of the time, because I was in China, but we bluffed it without too much difficulty. So itā€™s not too hard, actually.

We got married in 1991, so some things have changed since then. Perhaps those with more recent experience will tell us how it went for them.

Thanks for the info! I think there is now a minimum income restriction. Sucks - I canā€™t even get married haha

Your wife could go in on a tourist visa and get Married then.
As for residency, thatā€™s a different issue.

We got married in Edinburgh in 2003 and it was simple then. We went to the registry office, booked a date and got married a few weeks later (we may have had to wait a certain amount of timeā€“canā€™t remember). At that time it was also easy to get a visa for your wife to live in the UK. Now itā€™s a complete and utter bollox. If you donā€™t have a job where you earn at least 18,600 quid (and you need to have had that job for at least 6 months) OR you have savings in the bank of 62,500 pounds (for six months), youā€™re screwed. Things like owning property, or having support from you relatives donā€™t count at all now.

Have a look here: britcits.ie

[quote=ā€œheadhonchoIIā€]Your wife could go in on a tourist visa and get Married then.
As for residency, thatā€™s a different issue.[/quote]

I believe ā€œofficiallyā€ youā€™re supposed to state your intention to get married when you apply for the visitor visa, and would in fact be asking for something along the lines of an intention-to-get-married visa. Not sure of the exact details there. Of course she could just keep quiet and get a normal visitor visa, but theyā€™re getting really arsey about that sort of thing these days.

If sheā€™s already there, then I donā€™t think thereā€™s that much of a problem really, since there hasnā€™t been any ā€œdeceptionā€.

Since the UK is a democratic country and minimum income resrictions are clearly undemocratic, storming your countryā€™s parliament is always an option. :smiley:

[quote=ā€œheadhonchoIIā€]Your wife could go in on a tourist visa and get Married then.
As for residency, thatā€™s a different issue.[/quote]

No, things have change a lot ! She would need to have a special marriage/ fiancee visa which she would need to obtain in Taiwan (all processed in Hong Kong nowadays).

I remember reading about the loophole last year (posted here somewhere)- if you live in the EU (not the UK) -say Ireland or France for 3 months, you can bypass the UK laws and claim residency in all the EU.
The nasty party in the UK were talking about putting an end to that if I remember correctly.

Problem is if you storm the Parliament in the UK, they send in a Dalek and exterminate you, and anyone who is with youā€¦

[quote=ā€œcakeā€]I remember reading about the loophole last year (posted here somewhere)- if you live in the EU (not the UK) -say Ireland or France for 3 months, you can bypass the UK laws and claim residency in all the EU.
The nasty party in the UK were talking about putting an end to that if I remember correctly.[/quote]

Cool! So all i need to do is have her live in France or Ireland for a few months then she can come here and claim benefits for the rest of her life/marriage? (only joking, Iā€™ll support her cough, cough)

[quote=ā€œtrubadourā€][quote=ā€œcakeā€]I remember reading about the loophole last year (posted here somewhere)- if you live in the EU (not the UK) -say Ireland or France for 3 months, you can bypass the UK laws and claim residency in all the EU.
The nasty party in the UK were talking about putting an end to that if I remember correctly.[/quote]

Cool! So all I need to do is have her live in France or Ireland for a few months then she can come here and claim benefits for the rest of her life/marriage? (only joking, Iā€™ll support her cough, cough)[/quote]

Thatā€™s known as the Surinder Singh route. See here: britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/l ā€¦ %20newbies

Thanks for the info. How about if I earn more than Ā£18,600. Can the other half then get recourse to public funds say, if we marry and have a baby? Could happen.