Marrying a UK citizen or Permanent Resident - Immigration Aspects
The United Kingdom has one of the strictest policies on an alien qualifying for permanent residence status on the basis of marriage to a UK citizen. This is probably due to conditions of illegal immigration that the country has been fighting in the last few decades. So if you are marrying a UK citizen or a permanent resident of the country, it makes sense to go through the immigration aspects before you apply for a visa to the country.
Entry Clearance Applications
In UK, visa issues are dealt by the UK Border Agency and according to immigration rules, every application requesting an alien spouse’s entry in the country on the basis of marriage has two parties – a sponsor in UK who is the person to whom the applicant is married as well as a spouse who is the husband / wife of the sponsor and seeking to enter the country. However in order to qualify to apply, the couple must have been married for at least four years and living together outside the UK during that time. Also the applicant should have sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, unless he / she is aged 65 or over at the time he/she makes the application. Again, neither the applicant nor the spouse should be less that eighteen years of change at the time of the application. And finally, the applicant should not have one or more unspent convictions within the meaning of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 19741.
‘Present and settled’
This is an important requirement for the sponsor in UK. Applicants are required to demonstrate that the spouse or civil partner they intend to join is present and settled in the UK. This means that the settled person must be physically present in the UK at the time of the application, unless they are accompanying the applicant and wish to make the UK their home. Present and settled also implies that sponsor in the UK holds either indefinite leave to remain, a permanent right of residence, British citizenship or a Right of Abode in the UK and, at the same time that an application is made, is physically present in the UK or is coming here with the applicant to live. A British Citizen who has been resident overseas but who now intends to return to the UK to live can be regarded as present and settled in the UK. There is a minimum earnings requirement in order to sponsor spouses, fiancées, partners and civil partners for settlement in the UK. Since this amount keeps changing with new rules and appendices to immigration laws, it is best the applicant and his/her sponsor check with the authorities beforehand.
Intention to Live together
Yet another important aspect that immigration officials are likely to evaluate is the intention to live together. This refers to the intention of the applicant and the spouse to live permanently with the other means , evidenced by a clear commitment from both parties that they will live together permanently as husband and wife immediately following the outcome of the application in question or as soon as circumstances permit. The timing and nature of a decision regarding residence, who took the initiative and the way in which the decision was reached may be important factors in assessing whether or not the couple intend to live together permanently. In order to evaluate this question, the immigration officials may also consider if the marriage is conditional upon the applicant securing admission to the UK, and if so, who made the condition and why.
Again If the application is unsuccessful, the answer to whether the sponsor would live with the applicant in his / her present country of residence or elsewhere may also have a bearing on whether or not the application is successful.
Also it is necessary for the applicant and the sponsor spouse to have physically met which is why any purely online or virtual relationship or marriage cannot qualify for partner visa. Evidence of a face-to-face meeting in case of a relationship that began online may be supported by a travel history, relevant email exchanges and journeys taken to be with each other. Indeed, UK immigration law is clear on the rule that 'to have met' should be equated with 'to have made the acquaintance of' and not merely mutual sighting or even a coming face-to-face followed by telephone or written contact.
Validity of marriage
The Entry Clearance officer must be satisfied that the marriage of the parties is valid. Most applications will normally be made in the country where the marriage took place. In order to be satisfied that the marriage is valid, the UK immgration officials would look into whether the type of marriage is one that recognised in the country in which it took place, whether the actual marriage was properly executed so as to satisfy the requirements of the law of the country in which it took place and whether there was anything in the law of either party's country of domicile that restricted his / her freedom to enter the marriage. In most cases a marriage certificate will provide satisfactory evidence that a marriage has taken place. Pictures of both parties during the relationship and/or at the wedding/civil partnership, tickets or bookings in both names in respect of places the couple have visited together are other documents that can be presented in support of a valid marriage. In countries where official registration of marriage is not compulsory (and official marriage certificates are not available) the Entry Clearance Officer would interview husband and wife separately about the circumstances of their marriage so that a decision can be made on the balance of probabilities.
Once the first round of conditions for entry clearance are met, the applicant would be granted permission to live in the UK for a period of 33 months, after which he/she would need to apply for a further 30 months before being eligible to apply for settlement after five years in the UK.
If the applicant is in the UK
However if the applicant is already in the UK on a valid visa of more than six months validity, he/she may qualify to apply to extend or vary their leave in the UK on the basis of a legal marriage with a settled person in the UK. However such a visa of more than six months validity will normally exclude short-term category visas such as visitor or short- term students. Once the applicant has successfully applied for leave to remain in this category he/she would be granted 30 months’ leave after which he/she would need to apply for a another 30 months’ leave in order to complete five years in the UK before being eligible for settlement. This five year period is known as the ‘probationary period’ and if the applicant is still married or in a relationship with the sponsor spouse and they intend to live permanently in the UK at the end of this five years, the applicant may request for settlement, also known as indefinite leave to remain or ILR. In case of refusal of application, the sponsor has full right of appeal to a higher authority.
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