Marriage, VISAs and Immigration
From Tunisia to the UK
Weddings, friends and Visa issues
Is a UK spousal visa for a Tun woman easier if she marries in UK not Tun?
Thread starter djj
djj
My nephew has fallen for a young Tunisian woman. They want to marry and live in Britain. He is British. I've heard of so many cases where spousal visas have been denied. Rather than them marrying in Tunisia and then applying for a visa, would they have a better chance of her getting settlement rights if she comes to Britain first on a work visa and they marry here in Britain?
In either scenario if they meet the requirements it will be straightforward
If they do not meet the requirements it will be hard
They do not pick and choose its a persons right to marry whom they choose, the government just set the rules for genuine relationships and a earnings limit so that society does not pay for someones choice e.g coming to the UK and claiming benefits or a sham marriage.
To be honest if the relationship is genuine and your nephew has a good job over the earnings limit and rents his own home/owns one then it would be simpler to just do the fiancee visa > get married in UK or just get married in Tunisia > visa. The latter does entail religious paperwork.
Its not easy for a Tunisian woman to marry a British guy culturally and I have been told for every 300 marriages between a Tunisian guy and British woman there is 1 or 2 the other way. The marriages also "tend" to be between professionals/students who meet at work/studies etc so you do not get so much "bezness" though it does happen.
Kris said:
Hi Kris and thanks for all of this.
He is a university lecturer and she is a schoolteacher of some 7 years' standing, but they met online and also built most of their relationship online. I think the time they've spent together so far has all been during holidays they've taken in third countries. He's 48; she's 34 with a child from a previous marriage.
I've no idea how beznessy that might look from the point of view of immigration officials. It's not within my personal experience to have made close friends online, but I know that it does happen a lot nowadays in the younger generation.
There must be considerable scope for British officials to exercise subjective judgement regarding whether or not the requirements are met insofar as they stipulate (quite rightly) that a marriage shouldn't be a sham (faked by both partners) or unlikely to last (with one partner fooling the other to get a visa). I was wondering whether if she comes here on a work visa before they get married, and they then get married in Britain, what effect that would have on the minds of the officials, relative to the effect of her applying from Tunisia saying she married him when he was over in Tunisia. I'm kind of thinking that if she gets a proper job over here first, having been invited by an employer, then she's not going to look like someone who plans to claim benefits, and there'll be some solid evidence to back that up. A quick skim of some of the articles on this website and elsewhere suggests that getting a work visa in Britain (or a study one) is something that most male Tunisian scam merchants wouldn't be able to do, which is why they go for marriage scams instead. Just not sure how my nephew and his beloved's case would seem from a British official point of view, though.
I'm kind of pleased to hear there isn't so much bezness between Tunisian women and British men, but if it does happen can you describe what sort of markers there are?
Edit: he does have a reasonable job, even if university lecturers aren't paid as much as some people think. I'm not sure he knows about fiancée visas, but I was thinking that if the officials are my kind of age they might raise eyebrows when they hear they've done most of their communicating online and spent about four fortnights in each other's company in third countries, given the amount of attempted marriage scamming there is between Tunisia and Britain.
As long as the housing and financial situation was in order I don't see the issue.
They would have to satisfy that the relationship is genuine.
In this situation without knowing the situation would not seem beznessy because of her education/employment and the statistical fact that its not common with Tunisian women and the age difference is culturally normal for Tunisia where its common for women to marry older especially when divorced.
If the relationship is genuine and the finances/boxes are ticked are there I just cannot see their being a problem or the need to have a work visa.
Jane BM
djj said:
Has your nephew actually been to Tunisia and met her? Sorry if you've said and I've missed that.
Jane BM said:
As far as I know they have met about four times for fortnight long holidays in Turkey and France, and not met at any other times, and have spent an enormous amount of time videochatting online, to the extent where they seem to know each other's houses inside-out. He hasn't been to Tunisia.
Has he converted to Muslim?
lynn said:
This will be a requirement if they wish to get married in Tunisia.
If they get married in the UK then not but it would be interesting how this would be viewed back home. I guess it would be legally recognised but under Tunisian law a certificate of conversion is required.