Visa's for marrying when both are from different countries

[Scouse05]

Hi,

My SO and I want to eventually marry/civil partnership, however, this will be done before we close the gap and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to look for advice. My questions relate to notice periods and the requirement for residency to give notice etc.

I've been looking at doing it in the UK and this requires 7 days residency before we can give notice, which isn't a problem. The problem comes with the period of time it takes after that - 28 days (thats if the authorities decide not to investigate, which would add to this time). My SO can't get such a period of time off work in 1 go so I'm trying to see if there are other ways to go about this. We could give notice and once that comes through we have 12 months before it runs out but to do that my SO has to come over on a marriage visa which only lasts 6 months - does anyone know if this type of visa can be extended/re-applied for?

Has anyone got married abroad yet not lived together before or after? If yes, how did that work?

Any advice and guidance is gratefully appreciated. Thankyou in advance

[Redheart14]

I'm not sure about this one, but I'm sure other members might have some idea.

[lucybelle]

I would never get married without living together first. But I know plenty of happy couples who never lived together before marriage.

(Short answer, mayweather paquiao fight is almost over!)

[differentcountries]

In my country, there isn't really a marriage visa. There is a fiance visa, on which you can marry. As a general rule, however, you must return to your own country and later apply for a family reunion visa if you want to immigrate. Have you looked into Australian rules?

There are also places you can go to marry even if none of you neither live or plan to live there. Gibraltar have been mentioned.

[Ella85]

Getting married in the UK is a minefield. You are basically deemed to be in a scam relationship until you are proven innocent due to all the negative press with immigration law in regards to spouses. It is not easy to get married here.

Yes I have got married (now divorced) we did live together 3 months before hand. It did not work out, it didn't go well. A lot of it was to do with visas and his lack of willingness to get a job and help support his family, nothing else needs to be said on that topic. Every time is going to be different. Just do what you think is right for you.

[Petals]

Destination wedding : Caribbean maybe ? Send documents to hotel a few weeks before wedding and arrive in the country 24hrs to 48 hrs before wedding.

[Zephii]

I guess my question is "Do you have to marry before closing the gap?" I mean, why the rush to marry, when you can get visas without that bit of paper?

For Australia Your Notice of Intention to Marry needs to be lodged at least a month before you marry. You do not both need to be in the country to lodge it. Neither of you needs to be in the country, in fact - you can have it stamped and witnessed off-shore and then post it.

I'm not really clear what your question is because I'm very tired, but I hope that helps a bit. I've done an awful lot of visa stuff for Australia and know a bunch, let me know if I can be useful.

[Scouse05]

Thanks everyone. There is no rush to marry, just thinking ahead and checking things out for when the time is right. It all seems so confusing, especially given that we are in a same sex relationship so lots of places will be off limits to us. It's going to be about 3 yrs till we close the gap so plenty of time to look into it and you never know, Australia may have come around to same sex marriage (or similar) by then which will make it much easier as I want to settle over there.

[Zephii]

Yeah, Australia is so behind on equality. I sure hope it doesn't take another three years for us to get there!!

In Oz if you can't live together I understand you can register your relationship so that you have "proof" when the time comes to lodge your partner visa that you have been together more than a year. I haven't done this, but I believe Dezface knows how it's done. She's awesome, send her a message.