EEA and Non EEA want to get married and settle in UK

Question

I've been in a long distance relationship for almost 5 years and now finally want to settle down with my fiance in the coming months. My fiance is from Bulgaria and I am from India. I had a couple of questions regarding the process leading to application for immigration and the ease of doing it from various places.

I am currently working in India and have my own business, however, my fiance is currently employed and is a PhD candidate in the UK. Whats the easiest and the cheapest way for me to get permit (work/family etc) to settle in with my fiance in the UK. We intend to marry asap.

Would it be easy to do it all in the UK? I know the application for such a visa is expensive and includes additional NHS costs as well. Over and above it seems far more paper and legal work. Since my fiance is a EU national, we do have the choice of getting married in any EU country (including Bulgaria). However, are there any advantages/drawbacks to this when applying for UK family permit (or whatever visa grants me entry and work permit in UK?). Finally would it be any helpful if we register our marriage in India first and then apply for the required visa?

We haven't lived together for more than a month since the first year being together. However have managed to see each other atleast once in 7-8 months either in UK, India or Bulgaria.

Any help/inputs will be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Whats the easiest and the cheapest way for me to get permit (work/family etc) to settle with my fiance in the UK?

The easiest and least costly way to do this is definitely to get married before you apply to move to the UK. Then you can apply for an EEA family permit, which is free of charge and has minimal eligibility requirements beyond your being married to an EEA national.

Would it be easy to do it all in the UK?

No. Since you've been in a long-distance relationship, the UK is unlikely to grant an EEA family permit before you are actually married. You are not supposed to get married in the UK unless you have the appropriate visa. It's a bit of a catch-22.

Would it be at all helpful if we register our marriage in India first and then apply for the required visa?

If you marry outside of India, there is no advantage (with regard to your moving to the UK) to registering your marriage in India. If you marry in India, then I suppose you will be able to get a marriage certificate in English, which will save you on costs and other paperwork related to getting the certificate translated. But you can realize that benefit by marrying in any jurisdiction that issues marriage certificates in English.