Marriage Visitor Visa UK

A UK Marriage Visitor Visa is a short-term visa that allows someone to come to the UK to get married or register a civil partnership, or to give notice of marriage, without intending to live in the UK afterward.

Over 250,000 couples get married each year, as well as over 8,000 civil partnership ceremonies. It is a popular country to get married in due to its stunning churches and country houses, as well as Britain’s acceptance of same sex weddings.

You can’t simply come to the UK and get married. You need the right visa, which will be the Marriage Visitor visa in most circumstances. It comes with a six-month eligibility period, the same as the Standard Visitor visa, which should be more than enough time to get married. Your guests will also usually need a visa to visit the UK for your wedding unless they are from a visa-exempt country, are British citizens, or have immigrated to the UK.

Dos and Don’ts for the Marriage Visitor Visa

While holding a Marriage Visitor visa, you are allowed to enter the UK for up to six months to get married or have a civil partnership ceremony in the UK. This ceremony must be held at a licensed venue.

This visa type usually allows multiple entries to the UK during the six-month validity period. You can also use this visa to travel to the UK in transit to another country. However, you will not be able to extend the visa or apply for another visa type while you are in the UK.

A Marriage Visitor visa does not allow you to remain in the UK after you have got married. This will require a different visa, such as the Fiancé visa. You will also not be able to switch to another visa category while in the UK. You cannot work in the UK, and any studying must be incremental, shorter than 30 days, and not be the primary purpose for your coming to the UK. Any work you conduct needs to be for permitted activities for your work or business overseas. An example could be attending meetings, although this cannot be your main reason for coming to the UK.

Circumstances When You Won’t Need a Marriage Visitor Visa

Not every foreign national will need a Marriage Visitor visa if they want to get married in the UK. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• You hold indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK.
• You are an Irish citizen.
• You have settled or pre-settled status in the UK.
• You hold a visa that already allows you to get married in the UK.

One example of a visa type that usually comes with the ability to get married in the UK is the Skilled Worker visa. Make sure to properly research the conditions of your visa to check if this applies to you.

Page Contents

• What is a Marriage Visitor Visa for the UK?
• Marriage Visitor Visa Eligibility Requirements
• Required Documentation for Marriage Visitor Visa
• Changes if your Maintenance and Accommodation will be Provided by a Third Party
• Marriage Visitor Visa Application Process
• Application Fees and Processing Time
• What to Do if Your Marriage Visitor Visa Application is Rejected
• Giving Notice of Your Intention to Get Married
• How Can London Immigration Lawyers Help?
• FAQs

The primary requirements for the Marriage Visitor visa are listed below:

• Both applicants to be married are aged 18 or over.
• You both have the legal capacity to get married or enter a civil partnership in the UK, and this will be the case during the six-month validity period.
• You have a provable and genuine relationship with your fiancé.
• You genuinely intend to get married.
• You will leave the UK after getting married.
• You have sufficient funds to support yourself in the UK without needing state assistance.
• You have been tested for tuberculosis (TB) if you are coming from a high-risk country.

Please note that further requirements apply to the marriage or civil partnership ceremony itself. For example, you need to give at least 28 days’ notice at a designated register office prior to your marriage. The Home Office has the right to extend this period to 70 days if the people getting married or entering a civil partnership are not from the European Economic Area.

If you cannot afford maintenance and accommodation in the UK, they can be provided by a third party, such as friends or family. The supporting individual can also be based in the UK, but must not have breached immigration laws.

If getting help from a third party, you will need to include the following additional information in your UK Marriage Visitor visa application:

• Your relationship with the third party.
• Where and how you met the third party.
• Your method of communication with them and how often you are in communication.
• Any previous history the individual has in sponsoring people to come to the UK.

Your application will also need to demonstrate that the third party has sufficient funds to support themselves and give financial support for your travel to the UK to get married. The support also needs to extend across your entire period in the UK.

Begin your Marriage Visitor visa application process by applying via the Home Office website no more than three months before your intended entry into the UK.

You will then need to submit your biometric information. This can be done at a visa application centre or via the UK Immigration: ID Check app in some circumstances. This is also the point where you will submit or upload your supporting documents.

In some cases, applicants for UK visas are asked to attend an appointment with a Home Office official. During this appointment, you will need to provide physical copies of your supporting documents if you have not done so already. You will also need to properly explain the purpose of your intended trip to the UK and why it is consistent with the requirements for a UK Marriage Visitor visa. Finally, you may be asked to give information about your fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner and your genuine future plans together. This could include your future living arrangements and any plans to start a family.

The main challenge of the application will be showing beyond doubt that you are genuinely coming to the UK purely to get married and have no intention of remaining after your visa’s expiration. Alongside the main visa application, you may also be questioned on this by a border official when you come into the UK

The current processing fee for the Marriage Visitor visa is £135. This is the same fee as the Standard Visitor visa.

Once you have paid the application fee, immigration authorities will process your application. You can submit your application three months before your intended entry into the UK. A decision will usually be returned to you within three weeks, yet there can be significant variance. Processing could take much longer if there are issues with your application or if the visa application centre is experiencing a backlog. Reduce the chances of delays by making sure your application doesn’t have discrepancies.

If you need your application to be processed more quickly, you can use the priority service. This costs £500 and will mean your visa is processed within five working days. Meanwhile, you may be able to use super priority service for a higher fee of £1000. With super priority, you will receive a decision by the next working day after your visa application centre appointment if it is on a weekday, or two working days after the appointment if it is on a weekend or bank holiday.

Your Marriage Visitor visa UK application could be rejected because of issues with your application, even if you meet the eligibility requirements. Examples could include that the Home Office isn’t convinced your reasons for travelling to the UK are genuine, you submit invalid documentation, or you can’t prove that you have sufficient funds for the trip. Alternatively, your application will be rejected if you have applied for the wrong visa route.

The Home Office offers no right of appeal or administrative review for this visa type unless you can raise human rights grounds. As a result, you will need to reapply, having amended any issues with your application. You can find the problems that apply to your case in your visa application refusal letter. Remember that your visa fee will not be refunded, so repeatedly reapplying for the visa can become expensive.

You should only reapply for the visa if you believe you are eligible for it. If you intend on coming to the UK for longer than six months or don’t have plans to get married, you will need to look into alternative visa pathways. For example, the Fiancé visa could be appropriate if you want to live in the UK after your wedding.

People with plans to get married or enter into a civil partnership in the UK will need to ‘give notice’ at least 29 days before the ceremony. To do so, make an appointment at a local register office. You will usually need to give notice together, as is also the case if one member of the couple is from outside the UK.

When you give notice, you will need to provide the following documentation:

• Details about the venue where you will have your ceremony, and proof that you have made the necessary arrangements to use the space.
• Proof of your home address, such as a driver’s licence, utility bills for the past three months, a mortgage statement from the last 12 months, or your current tenancy agreement.
• Details of a contact address in the UK.
• Proof of any previous name changes.
• A valid passport or birth certificate.
• A passport-sized photograph of each of you.
• Proof of your immigration status.

If you have been married before, you will need to again supply a decree absolute or death certificate for your previous spouse. A further fee of £55 will apply for the local register office to check these documents, which increases to £83 if the check is escalated to a General Register Office.

As with your visa application, the documentation will need to be in English or Welsh. A certified translation is necessary if this is not the case.

Once you have given notice, you will have a maximum of a year to get married. This shouldn’t be an issue given the six-month validity period for this visa, during which you will need to get married.