What do your family and friends say about closing the distance?

[Sav88]

We ended up getting married mostly for the visa and so we could finally be together (we plan to have a formal ceremony with friends and family much later down the line) and originally after we got married here, planned to stay in the US. Unfortunately, too many things happened here for that not to happen, and my husband ended up moving back to the UK where we both decided to reside. My application for a UK spouse visa is still something we're waiting on..

So are you and your hubby living in your birth countries right now? So you're apart? Is this because of the UK spouse visa and the financial issue? I heard that you'd have to make £18,600 a year to get the visa granted? My boyfriend is English and we're panicking about it as he left his job back in England to come see me in Australia on his working holiday visa. The main plan was for him to experience my country a bit more and see if he would like to live here- but my Dad is getting all up in our business and is pressuring my boyfriend to study and volunteer in something so he can make a career. So my boyfriend and I are thinking up ways to be together permanently and all we came across for the UK was the spouse visa...yet it seems very complicated :/

[pink elephant]

So are you and your hubby living in your birth countries right now? So you're apart? Is this because of the UK spouse visa and the financial issue? I heard that you'd have to make £18,600 a year to get the visa granted? My boyfriend is English and we're panicking about it as he left his job back in England to come see me in Australia on his working holiday visa. The main plan was for him to experience my country a bit more and see if he would like to live here- but my Dad is getting all up in our business and is pressuring my boyfriend to study and volunteer in something so he can make a career. So my boyfriend and I are thinking up ways to be together permanently and all we came across for the UK was the spouse visa...yet it seems very complicated :/

Sorry to change the topic for a bit -- but unfortunately, yes, we are living in our home countries at the moment. Originally he was going to live in the USA after we got married, but because of outside issues out of my control and not of my doing, he had to go back. We do live apart but not because of the UK spouse visa financial requirements. Our situation for why we are living apart is actually quite complicated. We both wanted to get married in the UK, but for us it ended up a lot easier to meet the requirements, go through an even simpler process, and be even cheaper to get married in the United States.

The UKBA has recently changed their rules that the sponsor, the UK citizen, must make at least 18,600GBP in order the applicant to have a high likelihood of being approved for a UK spouse visa (there are other factors, but the biggest things you have to prove are that the sponsor receives an income sufficient enough that the applicant will not even touch UK public funds and that the sponsor can supply accommodation.) I applied for my spousal visa before the rules changed July 9th, so I am under the old rules. Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with the new rules, but I do know that it is much more difficult to meet the standards UKBA sets for the sponsors..

I don't know what Australia's rules are like for your boyfriend to come over there and marry you, but I suggest looking into that as a possible option, especially if it's more timelier, cheaper, and is easier to do in the long run. With the new rules in effect, the UKBA is swamped with applications right now and there's so much uncertainty with the new rules. There is more talk that there might even be more changes coming through or the possibility of even more or stricter rules. Nobody really knows, but it's best to explore possibilities while the rule changes are still new and up in the air.

[Ciana]

I am pretty young, but my SO is already planning to move to California here for me. There was never any discussion, he just knows that I would hate to leave Cali for multiple reasons and has plans to be stationed here after USBAF Training (:*

My mom does not take this seriously and it is ovious. She makes jokes at his expense on an almost daily basis and I have long since learned to just shut my trap around her.
My father does not know as I do not live with him and see him barely once every month due to his job keeping him busy. I know he will love my SO, as he is such a damn respectful guy<3 I just want to wait for the right time to tell him.

My friends... Not many of my friends know. My very best friend knows and is helping me through this difficult period, but only my close online friends know about him. I am honestly a pretty timid person so I am very cautious of telling any of my school friends for fear of them judging me simply because of my age and how I met him.