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I am an Indian and I have been in a relationship with a British citizen for the past two years. We have never met but we are very serious about getting married by the end of this December.

I want things to be done legally, from getting married to moving to the UK to live permanently. I haven't applied for any visa at the moment, because my partner and I do not want to rush things and make mistakes in our visa applications. What would be the best route to follow to get things done?

As per my research I found out:

  1. I should make a visit first and meet her. She loves India and wants to come back with me and stay with my family for some time. (the condition of the couple having met each other is completed here or no?)
  2. We can get married in India and she can go back to the UK and apply for a spouse visa for me.

That's the regular procedure I think, right? Please advise and confirm.

What are other ways of getting legally married in the UK? I want to get married to her in the UK rather than in India. I know that I cannot enter by a fiance visa because I haven't met her yet. And I have read in a great answer on this website that, applying through MVV is an abuse of that visa and ECOs get really upset by it.

What path should I take if I want to marry my beloved legally in her own country? How can I prove that I am engaged to her, is there a particular document they look for? Because on our side, engagements are not usually recorded in a document.

Assuming that I have met her on a visitor visa and then I go back and apply for a fiance visa and enter the UK to marry her...will that work? It doesn't sound easy though and I would certainly appreciate any form of advice.

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    If you are getting married in the UK, you will have to convince authorities that this is not a sham marriage. Which would have very bad consequences for you, your proposed partner, and for whoever performs the marriage. "We have never met" is not a good start for that discussion.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 7:02
  • Thanks for your input. Yes, I have understood that by reading the answers on this website so far. Let’s just say, I go and visit her and bring her back with me, then she goes back and she applies for me as a spouse...will my previous standard visit raise a flag? Or any of my previous visits will make an issue in my spouse visa?
    – Anmily
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 11:15
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    "We have never met but we are very serious about getting married" - are you serious?
    – JonathanReez
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 19:56

1 Answer 1

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You can apply for a fiancé visa, but there is a requirement that you must have met already. The easiest way to do that is for her to visit you; if you apply for a visit visa to meet her it's more costly and has a higher risk of refusal (she may not even need a visa to visit you).

There are other requirements for her to be your visa sponsor for marriage such as she must earn enough money to support you until you're married.

The official UK government web page is https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

The process of proving a genuine relationship and applying for the visa is not simple and you may wish to use an expert lawyer to help you.

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  • "until you're married": and for some time thereafter, if my understanding of the partner-spouse link you included is correct.
    – phoog
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 21:02
  • "she may not even need a visa to visit you" Yes she does. UK citizens need an eVisa to visit India, up to 60 days.
    – dda
    Commented Apr 11, 2018 at 5:26
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    @dda I left open the possibility that she's a dual national
    – user16259
    Commented Apr 11, 2018 at 6:39
  • @phoog could be. I had in mind the restriction on working before the wedding.
    – user16259
    Commented Apr 11, 2018 at 6:41

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