Update on Marriage Visitor Visa advice for Scotland - wedding photo update

[KungFuPanda]

If you're new to this thread, all is well and the happy couple are on their honeymoon.  Scroll down for photos.

Dd and her fiance are having issues with their visa application.  They are traveling to Scotland in October and getting married there.  They have part of their application submitted.  The trouble is that when asked if anyone was helping them pay for the trip they said "yes" and put each other's names down.  Later in the application they were asked for their sponsors information.  It was then it dawned on them that maybe they got the wrong idea.  Is this correctable? Is it a do-over? 

Do any of you have advice for making this process less painful?  Apparently getting anyone on the phone in Scotland is proving difficult.  I don't know quite what to tell them.  It seems they can't back out of the form and change their answers because it's submitted in phases.  We're just hearing about this tonight.  Also, STB-SIL who lives in MD has to jump through all sorts of legal hoops to prove he's eligible to be married while Dd, who lives in DC, gets by with a simple form.  They thought eloping would make their lives easier all around but the paperwork is getting a tad tricky.  

Their itinerary is to land in Heathrow and drive to Isle of Skye for the wedding.  We'd appreciate the hive's collective wisdom on this.

 

UPDATE:  They took the advice of the great and powerful Hive.  They're getting married BEFORE they leave and doing the vow ceremony as planned in Scotland.  They have a top secret court house wedding tomorrow.  Only me, dh, and all of you know. They'll share their anniversary with Dh and me.  Ok, it's off by ONE day, but close enough and the court house isn't open on Saturday. 🤣 We're very excited for them! Dh spent the day helping them move into their first apartment. Thanks for all the advice.  It really helped a great deal.

 

BTW . . . can we start putting updates in the first post AND the end?  It seems like a good idea all around.

Edited October 8, 2021 by KungFuPanda
update and proposed policy change

[fraidycat]

Can they just put each other's information as "the sponsor(s)"?

[Teachaheart]

Are they sure they need visas for Scotland? If they are US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, or EU citizens, they should only need a valid passport. 

[KungFuPanda]

10 hours ago, Teachaheart said:

Are they sure they need visas for Scotland? If they are US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, or EU citizens, they should only need a valid passport. 

They need a “marriage visitor visa” to get married there, but nothing just to visit. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[MEmama]

Well that sounds like a complicated plan in the best of times. Why not just honeymoon there when it’s safer?

When we immigrated to Canada, we had to submit questions and corrections via mail. They kinda did make a blunder because they aren’t sponsoring each other, so for sure they’ll need to remedy that and they don’t have much time. I imagine like everywhere, the appropriate office is short staffed and limited, but they should have contact information available. Might they get lucky with a live chat? Best to have everything in writing/take a screenshot.

Good luck to them.

[theelfqueen]

I would say hit the courthouse at home. Have a wedding celebration in Scotland. 

[Corraleno]

I eloped in the US and then we followed it up with a "blessing service" and reception in England. The blessing was exactly like a wedding, just without any legal paperwork. Getting legally married in the US first makes it much easier to get copies of marriage certificate when needed. If the legal marriage is in Scotland, they should make sure to get multiple copies of the marriage certificate while they're there, especially if she plans to change her name

[TravelingChris]

13 hours ago, Teachaheart said:

Are they sure they need visas for Scotland? If they are US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, or EU citizens, they should only need a valid passport. 

No. I used to catch  lots of people coming into US on visa waivers who actually were going to get married, study, work, etc.

[Lanny]

I agree with previous answers. IMO they should get married in the USA. Answering the Visa question about is someone else paying for your trip was probably a "KOD" (Kiss of Death) for their Visa application(s)...

And yes, if they get married in the USA it is SO much easier.

And yes, if they ever need a certified copy of their Wedding certificate or anything else from Scotland,  it could be a PITA. 

Mazel tov to them!

[TravelingChris]

Not a situation on Scotland but in Alabama now, you just take the paperwork to a notary and bring it back.  My ds is legally getting married in 58 or 60 days or so but they plan to have a celebration w family and friends on a weekend close to Halloween.

[KungFuPanda]

Oh man. This is not encouraging AT ALL. I was sure ONE of you could give me a shortcut to simplify things. They could cancel their visa application and start over but that would probably send up some red flags too. 

[ktgrok]

Ugh. We had a fairly simple form to fill out, but then had to go to the consulate or something to get finger prints done, if I remember right. (we were married in Scotland as well, just us...so lovely!

Would contacting an immigration lawyer help? Or a consulate?

[PaxEtLux]

So ....   


Is a kilt involved?

[J-rap]

I had three children get married in other countries, and it was never simple and quick!  In all three countries, the future spouse was a native of that country, which helped.  The countries required things such as recently printed official birth certificates, sponsors, certain visas, and more.  

That said, I do know of couples who got married at a type of destination wedding, but those were usually on a tropical island that easily allowed such things.  

I'm with others in that I'd do a simple ceremony here and then honeymoon abroad.

[Junie]

After those lovely engagement photos y'all shared with us and now we can't find a way to help. 😞

Wait, they didn't submit *those* photos, did they?

I hope they find a way to get it worked out. 

[ktgrok]

Can they maybe contact the visa place where they go to get fingerprints/biometrics done to ask them for help?

Or are they using a wedding coordinator in Scotland who might help?

[Lanny]

20 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Oh man. This is not encouraging AT ALL. I was sure ONE of you could give me a shortcut to simplify things. They could cancel their visa application and start over but that would probably send up some red flags too. 

There is a big possibility that they cannot cancel their existing visa application(s).  If it has been submitted that someone else is paying for their trip, IMO that may just kill it for them... 

I suggest they get married in the USA and then go on their  Honeymoon as Tourists.

[Faith-manor]

7 minutes ago, Lanny said:

There is a big possibility that they cannot cancel their existing visa application(s).  If it has been submitted that someone else is paying for their trip, IMO that may just kill it for them... 

I suggest they get married in the USA and then go on their  Honeymoon as Tourists.

This. 

[ktgrok]

I will say, if they can get it fixed, it really wasn't hard for us at all. 

[Mirror]

I was just wondering if they were traveling by camper van/caravan? In the last few days the rules regarding the CalMac ferries and caravans were changed, they need to book their spot ahead they are no longer allowing Caravans to sit in the stand by lane and chance a spot. This is to allow islanders to get on and off the island with more ease due to the huge increase in caravanning. By October with all the UK schools back it shouldn't be so busy but its worth them knowing ahead of time. 

[KungFuPanda]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:00 PM, ktgrok said:

Ugh. We had a fairly simple form to fill out, but then had to go to the consulate or something to get finger prints done, if I remember right. (we were married in Scotland as well, just us...so lovely!

Would contacting an immigration lawyer help? Or a consulate?

Did you do the whole marriage visitor visa thing?

On 8/17/2021 at 11:17 PM, PaxEtLux said:

So ....   


Is a kilt involved?

Sadly, no.  The groom isn't actually Scottish.  They'll be purchasing capes on arrival in case it get's cold and I'm pretty Dh's family tartan will get involved somehow.  FSIL had a deep forest green suit made.

On 8/18/2021 at 1:33 AM, Junie said:

After those lovely engagement photos y'all shared with us and now we can't find a way to help. 😞

Wait, they didn't submit *those* photos, did they?

I hope they find a way to get it worked out. 

We may have found the root of the problem. 🤣

On 8/18/2021 at 8:00 AM, ktgrok said:

Can they maybe contact the visa place where they go to get fingerprints/biometrics done to ask them for help?

Or are they using a wedding coordinator in Scotland who might help?

They've contacted the officiant and photographer directly, but I'll see if they've asked them for Visa advice.

On 8/18/2021 at 6:42 PM, ktgrok said:

I will say, if they can get it fixed, it really wasn't hard for us at all. 

Would you mind walking me through what you did to make the correction.  I relayed all of the wisdom in this thread and, not surprisingly, they like your way the best.  

On 8/18/2021 at 7:24 PM, Mirror said:

I was just wondering if they were traveling by camper van/caravan? In the last few days the rules regarding the CalMac ferries and caravans were changed, they need to book their spot ahead they are no longer allowing Caravans to sit in the stand by lane and chance a spot. This is to allow islanders to get on and off the island with more ease due to the huge increase in caravanning. By October with all the UK schools back it shouldn't be so busy but its worth them knowing ahead of time. 

They are not.  They've rented a car.  I didn't know ferry reservations were a thing!

 

I sincerely appreciate all of your advice.

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

Did you do the whole marriage visitor visa thing?

 

They've contacted the officiant and photographer directly, but I'll see if they've asked them for Visa advice.

Would you mind walking me through what you did to make the correction.  I relayed all of the wisdom in this thread and, not surprisingly, they like your way the best.  

 

Sorry, I meant it wasn't difficult in general. We didn't have anything to fix though. And yes, we got a marriage visa, I think they called it at the time - it was 2008 so memory is fuzzy. Our main difficulty was getting it done in time, as I didn't realize we needed one until it was nearly too late. Oops!

But we filled out the paperwork, they sent us to get biometrics done, and then we waited. It wall went through, and we arranged to get our marriage license - we used the Inverness office from what I remember. I think we did everything online and then just picked up the license...but again was over a decade ago. What I remember is DH went to pick it up with our rental car while my I had my hair done at my hotel by someone the wedding coordinator had found, then she drove me to the chapel. DH got the license no issue, but then went to get his rental kilt and couldn't figure out how to get it all on. He had to tell me that he stood in his undies while the nice lady working there took pity on him and dressed him, lol. All that made him late to our wedding - we were looking for him, realize he might be lost, and told a nice couple walking their dog, "if you see a smartly dressed man, send him over that way". Sure enough, he drove past them while looking for the chapel and they sent him to us, lol!

[KungFuPanda]

I have a follow up question.  Is it possible that they didn't completely blow it and that a "person paying for your trip" can be different from a "sponsor" in the UK? The word sponsor was never used in that question and didn't show up until much later in the form, so I'm wondering if their mistake is less catastrophic than I originally thought. For example, if a relative was gifting them the cost of the trip, then they would want to see the relative's financial information to prove they could afford to pay for it.  In the case where they've listed each other, they'd ask for DD and FSIL's financial info to prove the money is there . . . and that's the financial info they plan to bring anyway.  I'm wondering if this can be straightened out with a cover letter since they have a complete paper trail of events from arrival to departure.  This might be more likely to work out in time than canceling and resubmitting the forms.  Scotland seems to WANT the tourism dollars and they're clearly not up to anything sketchy.  Am I oversimplifying the problem? I've never applied for a visa myself so I'm out of my element.

Courthouse ceremony at home is at least a solid back-up plan.

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Sorry, I meant it wasn't difficult in general. We didn't have anything to fix though. And yes, we got a marriage visa, I think they called it at the time - it was 2008 so memory is fuzzy. Our main difficulty was getting it done in time, as I didn't realize we needed one until it was nearly too late. Oops!

But we filled out the paperwork, they sent us to get biometrics done, and then we waited. It wall went through, and we arranged to get our marriage license - we used the Inverness office from what I remember. I think we did everything online and then just picked up the license...but again was over a decade ago. What I remember is DH went to pick it up with our rental car while my I had my hair done at my hotel by someone the wedding coordinator had found, then she drove me to the chapel. DH got the license no issue, but then went to get his rental kilt and couldn't figure out how to get it all on. He had to tell me that he stood in his undies while the nice lady working there took pity on him and dressed him, lol. All that made him late to our wedding - we were looking for him, realize he might be lost, and told a nice couple walking their dog, "if you see a smartly dressed man, send him over that way". Sure enough, he drove past them while looking for the chapel and they sent him to us, lol!

Oh shoot.  I thought you made a correction to your visa and could walk me through a few simple steps.  😁

[brehon]

Blergh! Quoting error! 

Edited August 23, 2021 by brehon
Mucked up a quote

[brehon]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

They are not.  They've rented a car.  I didn't know ferry reservations were a thing!

 

I sincerely appreciate all of your advice.

They are! Especially if they’ll be there over half-term holidays. My dh and I had to spend an extra few days on the Isle of Harris because we hadn’t made reservations back to Skye. 

Edited August 23, 2021 by brehon
Mucked it up twice!

[KungFuPanda]

14 minutes ago, brehon said:

They are! Especially if they’ll be there over half-term holidays. My dh and I had to spend an extra few days on the Isle of Harris because we hadn’t made reservations back to Skye. 

Should they make a reservation for a car going to and from the Isle of Skye during the first week of October? Is there no bridge?  I'm pretty sure they have this part planned out, but now I'm interested in the minutia and I can't wake anyone at 11:30 to ask. 🤣

Edited August 23, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[brehon]

19 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Should they make a reservation for a car going to and from the Isle of Skye during the first week of October? Is there no bridge?  I'm pretty sure they have this part planned out, but now I'm interested in the minutia and I can't wake anyone at 11:30 to ask. 🤣

You know, I have no idea. 20+ years ago I think we were able to drive the bridge “over the sea to Skye” and had to take the ferry to the Isle of Harris. Probably my comment is just irrelevant blathering. 🤣 Ignore me completely. 

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Should they make a reservation for a car going to and from the Isle of Skye during the first week of October? Is there no bridge?  I'm pretty sure they have this part planned out, but now I'm interested in the minutia and I can't wake anyone at 11:30 to ask. 🤣

There's a bridge to Skye. No need to reserve that. There are school holidays in October and Skye is popular,  so make sure to book accommodation and leave enough time for possible congestion on roads.

[theelfqueen]

My kid took the bridge to Skye last week.

[Laura Corin]

By the way, Google maps is pretty good at giving average travel times. You can't assess travel time based on the maximum allowed speed designation of roads. Most out-of-town roads are designated 60mph, however small or winding they are. We operate a 'don't be an idiot' system in most cases and expect people to judge road conditions. 

[Laura Corin]

@KungFuPandaBe aware that Scotland may be reintroducing restrictions. 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c38c892e-05b9-11ec-89b3-29a9a04e8645?shareToken=f2acea4844e9ffc03a0a789c51f76f2b

[KungFuPanda]

UPDATE:  They took the advice of the great and powerful Hive.  They're getting married BEFORE they leave and doing the vow ceremony as planned in Scotland.  They have a top secret court house wedding tomorrow.  Only me, dh, and all of you know. They'll share their anniversary with Dh and me.  Ok, it's off by ONE day, but close enough and the court house isn't open on Saturday. 🤣 We're very excited for them! Dh spent the day helping them move into their first apartment. Thanks for all the advice.  It really helped a great deal.

[Lilaclady]

Yay!!! Congratulations to the young couple. 

[Kassia]

That is so exciting!  🙂 Congratulations!

[Starr]

"The great and powerful Hive", gotta love it.  Congratulations! Sounds perfect!

[J-rap]

That's a great plan, and honestly, it isn't too different than so many weddings going on during this pandemic year.  In a couple years, no one will remember what the exact date was anyway (I mean, of people attending), so the couple can feel free to celebrate their anniversary, publicly, on the actual day. 🙂

Also, I'm remembering that some countries require a "government" ceremony in order for it to be official, and then a church wedding or any other kind can come after that.  So when my dd married in another country which required that, they had their government ceremony about a month earlier than their church wedding.  They were really officially married after government ceremony, but no one knew except the family. 

 

[TravelingChris]

11 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

UPDATE:  They took the advice of the great and powerful Hive.  They're getting married BEFORE they leave and doing the vow ceremony as planned in Scotland.  They have a top secret court house wedding tomorrow.  Only me, dh, and all of you know. They'll share their anniversary with Dh and me.  Ok, it's off by ONE day, but close enough and the court house isn't open on Saturday. 🤣 We're very excited for them! Dh spent the day helping them move into their first apartment. Thanks for all the advice.  It really helped a great deal.

Congratulations to them.  My anniversary was Tuesday and my dd2 and her fiance had the notary sign their marriage application on Wednesday so that is their official marriage date. (Here in Alabama everyone now has to have a notary sign the marriage certificate and then you have to get it to the probate judge within a month for that person to record the marriage).

[fraidycat]

Congratulations to them!

[Lanny]

This thread brought back memories for me.  It was in the late 90s that DW and I tried to get married here in Colombia. But, I am an Alien (not a Colombian citizen) and the laws here try to protect the Colombian Citizen (DW).  Here, a Notary Public is a very important thing. Not like what I remember in the USA. They do Real Estate transactions and other things that are  very complex. Also weddings.

We visited several Notary Publics and they all said that I needed to have certain papers certified by the Colombian Consuls in California and in Texas. No problem with that. However, they all had to be back at a certain time. Very problematic...

And then we went to the big Courthouse in downtown Cali, and the Clerk for a Judge  told us the same thing.

We had given up on getting married here and had decided that we would get married on our next trip to the USA where it is so easy  and then we were in the Notary Public in the small city where DW had lived most of her life, about something extremely unrelated to getting married and this came up. They decided that since I had been living in Colombia for almost 5 years at that time and since we had been living together for about 2 1/2  years at that time that they would marry us without me having to get the papers certified in the Cololmbian Consulates in the USA. 

That was much nicer for my DW.  The Notary and her DH came to the small hotel where we were staying (we got married in their restaurant) and DW had her family and friends there. I had one dear friend who came down from Texas. 

For an Alien, Colombia is not the only country that makes it a PITA to get married.

BTW, early on, DW told me that if you live with someone  here for 2+ years and  you introduce them as your wife (or husband) you are more or less legally married. "Union Libre" or free union.  That is really good protection for the woman and if there are children born, for them. It is like being married. 

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, Lanny said:

 

That was much nicer for my DW.  The Notary and her DH came to the small hotel where we were staying (we got married in their restaurant) and DW had her family and friends there. I had one dear friend who came down from Texas. 

 

I need more coffee - I read this 3 times and still thought you were saying your wife's husband came....was going to point out the "error" until I read it the 4th time, and realized the preceding noun was the notary, not your wife. Oops. My bad, lol. 

(or you have a side of you we didn't know about, lol, and your wife has two husbands! That would indeed make the paperwork more complicated...but I think it is more likely I just need more caffiene!)

[KungFuPanda]

Ya’ll deserve this since many of you suffered through their 80s engagement photos. I won’t leave them up forever, but enjoy . . .

 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[Innisfree]

Lovely! They look so happy. 😊

[KungFuPanda]

They had dinner with their officiant and his wife the night before. I told her they looked like they’re related to us. She said “Everybody here looked related to us.” 🤣

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[KungFuPanda]

One more with the hair. 😬

 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by KungFuPanda
Better hair photo

[Selkie]

Gorgeous!

[Laura Corin]

Beautiful.  Is that Skye?

[ktgrok]

So pretty!!! We only were on the Isle of Skye for about 45 minutes, maybe less, because we planned poorly and our planned picnic ended up with us shivering and giving up and eating in the rental car, lol. But I remember it was the most unusual, amazing place I'd been. 

Thank you for the trip down memory lane - these are from our wedding in the highlands of Scotland. 

[alisoncooks]

Beautiful! 

[KungFuPanda]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

So pretty!!! We only were on the Isle of Skye for about 45 minutes, maybe less, because we planned poorly and our planned picnic ended up with us shivering and giving up and eating in the rental car, lol. But I remember it was the most unusual, amazing place I'd been. 

Thank you for the trip down memory lane - these are from our wedding in the highlands of Scotland. 

These are stunning!  You get bonus point for actual highland dress.

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Beautiful.  Is that Skye?

It IS!  These are a few snapshots.  The actual wedding photos were taken during the ceremony and they both hiked up to The Old Man of Storr and took the photos with fog rolling in.  They were both wearing boots under their wedding attire.