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In the previous newsletter I promised to tell you about how to get a fiancée visa to England. Several girls from our agency have gone successfully through it recently and now has the status of fiancée. But last week I got the following e-mail:
«Thank you for the newsletters, as I was reading your letter I noted about the hard questions they would ask which is not uncommon in my line of work, i.e. I work for the home office in England so I know a bit about the immigration rules. And I know it’s not easy to get in to some places. Ian»
Dear Ian!
Certainly, everything is comparative. One needs to make a lot of efforts to get a fiancée visa to any country. But we see from our experience that these efforts are incomparably different for different countries. The average time of waiting for a fiancée visa to the USA is 9 months. In England it is 1 day!!! Let’s talk in details about it.
Once our client – Nuriya (now ex-client) came to our agency and told that her fiancée appointed the date of wedding – in three moths. She also told that her future mother-in-law had started sewing a wedding dress for her and all the family was preparing to the celebration.
How can it be? – we asked. – You haven’t even submitted the papers for a fiancée visa yet???
We were very amazed! The point of our amazement actually didn’t lie in the fact that they were so sure she would get a visa. If the papers are made rightly the embassy is very unlikely to deny a visa. Denials are very rare! It was short term that amazed us: we got used to the fact that a fiancée visa was a long process.
However we got even more amazed when she really came to England at the appointed time!
John and Oksana are a couple we told you about in our previous newsletter. John wrote his first letter to Oksana in November 2003. They had a first meeting in June, 2004 and in the end of August they got a fiancée visa!
The procedure of getting a visa is as follows: a woman goes to the British Embassy in Moscow with all the papers, stands in a queue and waits for Consul to receive her. (He receives till 1pm by Moscow time). During an interview Consul examines her papers, asks questions and makes a decision - to give or deny a visa. After 3pm a girl can come, take her papers and fly to England at once if she likes!
It sounds really fantastic! However, each stage has its own subtle points.
Documents.
A fiancée must have the following documents in her case:
From her fiancée:
- Evidence that he is a British citizen
Proof of financial support:
- Copies of bank statement for the last 3 years;
- Copies of last three years tax returns;
- Letter from employer;
- Copy of paycheck stub;
-Proof of ownership of property.
If he has children:
- Proof of custody.
The decision of Consul half depends on the contents of these papers. For instance, if he considers that the income is too small to maintain a family, then even perfectly formed papers will fail to influence the Consul all right.
From a fiancée herself:
- Form (taken at the embassy, filled in Russian);
- Birth Certificate;
- Proof of termination of any prior marriages (if were).
- Diploma of education.
The latter three documents must be translated, notarized and legalized (with the stamp (called apostil) of notary public called.
I want to note that there are tricky questions in the form. For instance, such as: “Do you want to marry for money?”. Silly question! :) It is like the favorite question of the customs officials: “Are you carrying drugs?”. Even if a man carries them, he will never confess! :))
It is the same here. The right answer is certainly: “No, for love”. But in this case your fiancée must be ready to the question: “Even if he appears to be much poorer than he told you?” This question takes a woman aback. Even if she is sincerely in love with her fiancée, the prospect of having financial problems in a alien country, without profession and language…Only irresponsible adventurous women dare to do it! But she must pull herself together and doesn’t let Consul confuse her. She goes only for love and ready for everything!
One of the tricky questions concerns intimate life and it sound as follows: “Have you ever had relations like in marriage with your sponsor?” You don’t believe that the form has this question?? Check it yourself – point 5.11. Moreover they even encourage writing where it was and some other details:))
She shouldn’t get confused and must write everything honestly. If you had close relations, then she must write about it. For instance, “In Turkey, while we were staying in one room from (date) till (date)”. If she marks that you didn’t have intimate relations, then she will be asked additional questions which are not easy to answer. And the main principle she should follow when interviewed by Consul is not to lie. It is always evident.
The third and very important element that must be in a fiancee’s case is the evidence of your engagement. Do you remember my first story about Nuriya? She brought the bills from the restaurants where the wedding was booked, the proof from the church that the ceremony was really appointed and even the set of samples of cloth for wedding dress and bridal veil!
The most important proof is an engagement ring. All our women were asked to show it. One of our women didn’t have a ring, as the ring her fiancée had bought for her appeared to be big. So she showed the receipt. Consul considered it all right.
No doubt, it is important to have photos where two fiancées are together, but it is even more important to have photos of fiancées with girl’s parents. It proves that they blessed the engagement. (If the parents are smiling in the picture, of course! Joke)
Well, and the most important point: don’t try to cheat or to find a peculiar way to bring your fiancée to England. To one of our couples British Embassy denied first a travel visa, then an invitation visa and only after they applied for a fiancée visa, they got a chance to be together. Don’t invent a bicycle again and again! :))
CONTACT DETAILS
Address: British Embassy Moscow
Smolenskaya Naberezhnaya 10
Moscow 121099
Telephone: (7) (095) 956 7200 Switchboard
(7) (095) 782 0200 Cultural/British Council
Facsimile: (7) (095) 956 7201 General
(7) (095) 956 7441 Visa
(7) (095) 956 7430 Press & Public Affairs
(7) (095) 782 0201 Cultural/British Council
Email: moscow@britishembassy.ru Press & Public Affairs
consular.moscow@fco.gov.uk Consular
Office Hours (GMT):
Summer: Mon-Fri: 0600-1000 / 1100-1400
Winter: Mon-Fri: 0500-0900 / 1000-1300
Local Time(GMT+3):
Summer: Mon-Fri: 0900-1300 / 1400-1700
Winter: Mon-Fri: 0800-1200 / 1300-1600
Website: http://www.britemb.msk.ru/
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