Getting married in the USA

[delabrum]

Was just wondering.....I plan on getting married to my American fiancee in the states and then we're going to apply for her visa at the embassy in the states for us to live in england basically the day after we get married.....This is legal right?

[Hawkwalk]

take a look here for details of what to do. There is also a phone number to contact them if you need more information.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/ eligibility/partnersandchildren/husbandwifeciv ilpartner/

[karlhind]

Hi,

I'm in an almost identical situation to yourself and would be interested in keeping up with what you find out. From what I know (and I don't know anything for sure), it seems that once your married your partner has an automatic right to return to the uk, after which you can apply for a two year visa (and after this period, permanent residency). Hawkwalk's helpful post certainly seems to point to this.
However it does seem she will need clearence (in the form of a visa) before she can get on the plane. And this will be obtained from a British Embassy or consulate. You will have to demonstrate the legitimacy of your marraige and your relationship at this point.
As you need the wedding certificat,e the earliest you could apply would be the day after the wedding, like you said. It all seems well and good.
I've got another uncertainty though, do I need any special arrangements / visa's etc in place before we get hitched in Vegas (25th Oct)? I don't want to haul family and friends over there only to find out we can't do the damn thing because I haven't filled in a form R2D2 or something, or worse, that they won't even let me off the plane! My impression is that I can just go and get married without any additional paper work, but I'm not sure. Are you any clearer on this?
Any help much appreciated.
I'm going to get in touch with the American Embassy tomorrow to ask a few questions, I'll let you know if anything useful comes out of that.
Regards,

Karl