The Marriage Visitor visa lets you come to the UK to marry or register a civil partnership and then leave. It is for couples who will live outside the UK afterwards. If you intend to live in the UK with a British or settled partner after the wedding, you need a fiancé visa or proposed civil partner visa instead; a Marriage Visitor cannot switch into the partner route from inside the UK.

Requirements

Aged 18 or over and free to marry.
Intention to marry or register the partnership in the UK within six months of arrival, and to leave the UK afterwards.
Evidence of the arrangements: notice to the register office, or a booking, and your plans after the wedding.
Funds for the trip and the wedding without working.
The ordinary genuine visitor test, including ties to your home country.

Giving notice

Couples where one party is subject to immigration control must give notice at a designated register office and the notice period can be extended by the Home Office to investigate the relationship. We advise on the timing so the visa and notice periods fit.

Length

Six months. No extension and no switching.

What we do on Marriage Visitor applications

We confirm which visa is right for your plans, prepare the application and evidence, and where you do intend to live in the UK we prepare the fiancé application instead.

Fees

Visitor visas are charged a Home Office application fee that depends on the length of the visa (six months, two, five or ten years). The immigration health surcharge is not payable on a visitor visa: visitors are not entitled to free NHS treatment and must pay for any care they receive, so travel or medical insurance is strongly advised. The Home Office fee changes each April; we confirm the current figure when we advise you. Our fee is fixed and quoted before you instruct us; see our fees.