Immigrating isn’t nearly as simple as packing up and going, especially to a country as strict on migrants as the UK is. Throw in a global pandemic and it gets even tougher. In the best of times, moving is frustrating and tiring, and in the worst of times, well, you can probably guess. Here’s a timeline of the administrative hoops and milestones James and I have been through from start to finish.
October 2019: Booking with the Registry
One year before our wedding, we were just finalizing which venue to host our event at. Luckily, the venue we chose is very well-versed in weddings and let us know that we should check with the Cumbrian Council Registry in order to make sure we get an officiant. Honestly, this hadn’t occurred to either of us nor did we know there was a possibility they could be fully booked. Luckily, again, we were getting married on a Friday which meant they were also likely to not be fully booked yet. We sent in the details of our upcoming wedding and booked our place for a registrar to come host our wedding.
December 2019: Giving Notice of our Intent to Marry
Yet another thing neither of us had heard of before. In England, it is required that you give notice of your intent to marry. This is an old tradition which mostly makes sure that no one can oppose your marriage. Generally, giving notice is fairly easy, but becomes increasingly more complicated when one of you isn’t British. See, you’re supposed to give notice in the county in which you live, but I didn’t live in a British county. Because of this, I had to “establish residency” in a British county exactly 8 nights prior to giving notice. Yes, it is very specific. I even had to have James’s parents write and sign a letter saying I was there for those days. Also, we couldn’t go to our local office, but into Manchester’s larger office to hold our interview in order to give notice. We were pretty nervous but the appointment was fairly easy. Afterwards, we were still on edge as the Home Office could decide to investigate our relationship which could significantly delay the process. To our relief, we got a letter about a week later saying they were not going to investigate us.
June 2020: Preparing the application
After a few months of no paperwork, the paperwork was back in full force. Because I was planning on getting married in and moving to the UK, I’d have to have a visa in order enter the country. Any visa application is difficult. For this one, we needed to have the following:
· All of our personal information including passports
· James’s financial information including letters from his bosses and 12 months of bank statements and payslips
· Details on where we would be living
· My travel history
· Proof that we were getting married (contracts, emails, receipts)
· Proof of our relationship (pictures, letters written, contracts from when we lived together)
· A hefty pricetag
July 2020: Finishing the application
The last step to a visa application to the UK is submitting your biometric information (fingerprints and face ID). This must be done at an immigration center. Because of pandemic shutdowns, this was made complicated because most immigration centers were closed. While I had my application finished in June, I had to wait until the end of July to do my biometrics and finish my application.
August-September 2020: Waiting for visa approval
Once you’ve submitted your biometrics and sent off your passport, you wait. And wait. And wait. Settlement visas can take up to 60 business days to process. While I originally wanted to move to the UK on September 7th, my visa was still in processing so this was subsequently delayed. My visa was approved in late September and I arrived in the UK on my fiancé visa on September 28th.
October 23rd 2020: Actually getting married!
Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, our wedding was able to go ahead. With very reduced numbers, James and I had an intimate ceremony and celebration in the Lake District.
Late October 2020: Preparing application #2
Immediately after our wedding, I began preparing the second visa application. Essentially, this application consisted of the same documents as the first one. I added copies of our marriage certificate, letters from our parents, updated payslips and bank statements, and pictures from our wedding to our application. I finished uploading all of our documents within a week of our wedding. Oh, I also get to pay the fees again.
November 21st 2020: Biometrics (again)
At this point, my fingerprints have been taken three times in the past five years. Surely they wouldn’t have changed, right? Oh well. The government wants them again. I attend an appointment at a government building in Manchester where they check my passport and take my fingerprints. I’m informed at this appointment that only now will my visa application be submitted. Unfortunately, this meant an average of 6-8 weeks more of waiting.
November 2020-January 2021: Waiting for visa approval (again)
Normally, settlement approval in the UK takes 6-8 weeks. Because my application is fairly straightforward, I expected it to be on the quicker end of the average. Unfortunately, the UK went into another National Lockdown throughout most of November, December, and January. I received an email in mid-December saying approvals would be taking longer due to lockdown. Granted, it didn’t say how long. So I kept waiting.
February 4th 2021: Visa Approval
At long last, my visa approval arrived in early February—two and a half months after submission in November. I would now be able to live and work freely within the UK for the next two and a half years. After two and a half years, I will do the same application again for settlement status. Following the total of five years, I will be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain and Citizenship Status.
In Conclusion
Immigrating is hard and expensive. On just necessary fees alone, I spent around $5,000. This doesn’t include travel fees and the money I’ve lost by not being able to work for five months. Many people also pay for lawyers to check their applications and upload their documents. Immigrating for me was potentially the most straightforward it could be. I am white, speak English, of moderate income, marrying a white man. The process for anyone outside those parameters would be much more difficult and risky. This doesn’t take into the account the emotional toll that moving to a new environment, especially one that is in lockdown, has on a person. I am grateful for my support systems in the UK and the US in helping me through this ongoing transition.
All in all, you can navigate the immigration process on your own if you are research and technology savvy. It will be time consuming and frustrating at points, but it is possible. Make sure you do as much research as you can before beginning the process to avoid any snags in the future. You’ll also have to plan to live without an income for at least a few months.
Is it worth it? Yes. Though James and I have been together for five years, much of that time has been long distance and plagued by finding a way to be together. I feel so relieved to have a clear path for my future and excited to finally be able to build a life somewhere, knowing I won’t have to uproot in a year or so. I am still apprehensive about finding a job as the market is very poor and generally skewed against immigrants. Making friends is nearly impossible due to COVID, but things are looking up. The things we do for love, eh?