Brit doesn't know where to marry

[Alf]

Hello everybody

My finance and I plan to marry, but we don't know if it would be easier to do it in the UK or Taiwan. We've said that we want a minimal legal marriage for now for her to live with me in the UK, as long as we do the ceremonial TW marriage at a later time when we've built up some savings. So far, neither set of parents have expressed any great feelings over where we marry, so it's down to practicalities.

I am a Brit living in England and she is a Taiwanese citizen living in Taipei. After marriage we plan to live together in Britain (so i won't need to do any ARC paperwork if we marry in Taiwan). I've done some research and my understanding of the options are:

If we marry in Taiwan
* I need to fly to Taiwan. I have about 2 weeks of annual leave from my job. is that enough time?
* I need to prepare a Certificate of Non-Impediment, signed by the Taiwanese embassy in London.
* I need to get some name tongs (how, and how long does that take to do?)
* We do the legal marriage. who is this done by, and how much notice time do they need?
* I am not aware if there is any post-marriage paperwork which needs to be filled out.
* we go to the VFS office in Taipei to apply for a spouse visa for my new wife. They are charging NTD32,200 for a spouse visa, which is actually more expensive than an application made inside the UK. However, I get the impression that the VFS office have a turnaround time of a week or less for simple applications, compared to 8 weeks for applications inside Britain.
*I fly back to britain
*My wife waits for the spouse visa from the VFS office

If we marry in Britain
*My fiance first needs to get a Fiancee Visa from the VFS office in Taipei (NTD32,200)
*She flies to the UK
*once in the UK we register with the local council
* 7 full days later we are allowed to register our intention to marry. we then wait another 14 days
*we marry
*we apply for a spouse visa. This can be done on the same day for £730 or £475 for a slow application (8 weeks or longer)
*until she gets the spouse visa, my partner will not be allowed to work, which take a while if she comes to marry in the UK.

ok, so that's what i understand. Now,, is anyone in a position to correct any mistakes I've made? And how posssible is it for me to fly to Taiwan, marry and return to the UK within the 2 weeks holdiday that I have got?

oh yeah, we are hoping to be together in Brtitain in September, so i guess sharon would like everything completed in late July/early august so she can give her boss a one-month notice period

Any other insights you can offer would be great.

Cheers

[sulavaca]

I got married a few years back and I don't know if things have changed, but I'm fairly certain you can't get married in Taiwan first for all intents and purposes. You must first get married abroad and then register in Taiwan.
We just went to the U.K. to do all our paperwork and then submit it through the T.E.C.O. office in London. It took a total of about a month as there I applied for my letter from the police as well as my permission to get married from the queen. (thank you your highness, I am eternally grateful! ) before I could get married and also begin the paperwork process.

If it was that difficult to get married, then I'm never getting divorced that's for damn sure!

[Edgar Allen]

Seems the easiest thing would be to get married in a registry office in the uk - but you can't just turn up and do that. It takes a few weeks to post the bans and other such formailities. Regardless of which if you want your fiancee to live with you in the UK, you need to apply for the appropriate visa. You should have plenty of time. First step would be to get online and look at the paperwork requirements - its not particularly onerous and you will be fine if you start the process now.

On a separate note, has Sharon been to the UK, does she know what she is getting into? My current wife has followed me to Shanghai and HK and is clearly much more comfortable in Taiwan - this despite being educated in the US and speaking fluent English. I have also been married before in the UK to a non-uk national and have moved a fiancee from Korea to HK in between. It is not easy for both sides and accommodations have to be made.

I am sure you are deeply in love (congratulations) but looking at the practical side, are you prepared to move to Taiwan if your fiancee finds it hard to adapt to life in the UK?

Apart from the terrible food, rampant crime, awful TV, and lack of culture she will have to put up with your family, regular trips to the pub and other things that she just isn't used to. Do you have a good KTV in your area? a nightmarket with stinky tofu? - I think you catch my drift.

[I am a City Girl]

Hello,
Congrats to the newly wed to be!
Basically I think you have figured out what to do to get married in both places.
But from what I learnt from other people's feedback,I'd suggest it's easier and quickier to get married in Taiwan.

I get the impression that the VFS office have a turnaround time of a week or less for simple applications, compared to 8 weeks for applications inside Britain.

Yes, don't forget the golden rule; time is money and money is time!

how posssible is it for me to fly to Taiwan, marry and return to the UK within the 2 weeks holdiday that I have got?

It's very likely to have everything done with 2 weeks, if it's well-planned:)

Btw, there is another forum which may be useful for your finance (http://www.hellouk.org/forum/)
Lots of similar English-Taiwanese marriage examples including the experience of sharing how to apply UK spouse visa and PR can be found there.
However it's mainly discussed in Chinese.

Have a happy life!

[Big Fluffy Matthew]

Are Taiwanese marriages recognised in the UK? I seem to remember reading somewhere that they aren't. Have to check that.

You don't have to wait weeks to get married, you can get an emergency banns which costs more but you only have to wait about a week, or it might be 2 like you said.

[I am a City Girl]

[quote="Big Fluffy Matthew"]Are Taiwanese marriages recognised in the UK? I seem to remember reading somewhere that they aren't. Have to check that.
quote]

Hiya,
Check this then your concern should be removed!
Lots of people have done it and this is not the first example though...
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/you ... arried.htm

Cheers,

[Alf]

Thanks everyone

We've spoken with VFS who handle Visa issues for the UK government in Taiwan and they seem to say that a Taiwanese marriage will be acceptable for a UK spouse visa. VFS seem to be more useful than the BTCO who have been mentioned in other discussions on this forum

http://www.vfs-uk-tw.com/index.aspx

On the other option, I've heard other people say that simple visa applications made inside the UK can take between 8 and 12 weeks. So we are thinking to get the marriage done in Taipei.

Thanks for all your help.

[Alf]

see update below

viewtopic.php?f=67&t=92041

[zender]

The Brits I know got to Hong Kong to marry if they plan to later move back home with their trophies.

[Chris]

* I need to get some name tongs (how, and how long does that take to do?)

What's a name tong?