American Marrying German (working in London)

9POSTS

7 years ago

Hello, this is my first thread here!

I am an American/former expat in London and look forward to contributing to this community!

I will be marrying a German. Both of us have studied, worked, and met each other in London and intend to stay here for the next 5 years though longer term, we hope to move to Munich or Zurich.

Both of us have top university and masters degrees and work in banking/consulting/law. I was wondering what the marriage process would look like and what my legal status will be upon searching for employment in Europe (I used to work in London under a tier 2 visa.)

I intend to obtain EU citizenship down the road and my boyfriend will have UK permanent residence by end of this year in addition to his German citizenship.

We are thinking of delaying our larger marriage ceremony but would like to legally marry as soon as possible.

If any useful links could be provided, that would be greatly helpful just so we know we鈥檙e covering all our bases.

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Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

8114POSTS

7 years ago

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

To deal with marriage in the UK first; the UK Government have a UK Gov webpage that deals with marriage and civil partnerships; this will take you there.

With regards to immigration; your partner, being an EU citizen, is not currently an issue (although Brexit may change things in the future).聽 For yourself, Tier 2 visas cover a multitude of disciplines, but I'm wondering that as you have a "top university and masters degrees and work in banking/consulting/law", whether you trying to get a job described on the shortage occupation list (), would be a much quicker/better option so you would be in the UK in your own right (avoiding any potential Brexit issues).聽 Family visas can be difficult and protracted to try and get; many see them as marriages of convenience and you could be forgiven for thinking that they and the process they use were trying to actively discourage you from coming to the UK.

Anyway, to answer your specific request for a link regarding visas, this will take you to the UK Gov website that lists all the potential visas you could apply for.

One other comment; if ultimately your desire is to move to Germany, why waste 5 years of your life in the UK; there are no advantages to doing this and having lived in both countries, it certainly wouldn't be the way I would do it.

I do wish you both the best of luck in your journey whatever you chose to do.聽 If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

2 members reacted to this post

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

Hi Cynic,

Thanks for the quick and helpful response. I am currently in New York (which is home) at the moment so it might actually be where my boyfriend and I intend to marry. I previously was on tier 2 for a finance job but have since moved back to New York. Unfortunately my job doesn鈥檛 fit into the shortage list even though I had zero issues getting a tier 2 visa.

The reason I want to first get 鈥渟ettled鈥� in the UK is because I don鈥檛 speak German and thus may not command the same salary in Germany.

Is it really that difficult to get a family visa? My boyfriend alone can tick off the income requirement and already lives in London at the moment.

My plan was originally to move over to London and then find a job but based on your response, that doesn鈥檛 seem likely?

Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

8114POSTS

7 years ago

Hi again.

It's not impossible to get a family visa, I'd describe it as "not being user friendly"; the thing that most find difficult is the requirement for having lived together for 2 years prior to the date of application, plus it can take 3 months to come through and cost you 拢1,500 for the privilege; the shortage visas have none of that - no family aspect, is quick and the boss pays the fee; the downside is that these visas have regional quotas which are not in the public domain - we recently had over 700 urgently needed doctors waiting for a visa to come and work in the UK, only for the quota to block them all.聽 I suggested them to you as alternatives to being caught up in the family visa - many are.聽 Anyway, you now have the links you were asking for.

With regards to Germany; you will definitely learn German quicker and better in Germany; there is no better way to learn any language than to speak it; that's how I learnt it, a week-long full-time course at a school, then unleash yourself on the unsuspecting public at large.聽 I learnt German and Dutch that way, you'll make mistakes, people will laugh at you, it's all part of the fun.聽 To be honest, my opinion is that Germany is a much nicer place than the UK, but I did live there for 15 years, so am probably a bit biased.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

1 member reacted to this post

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

Thanks Cynic! Yes that is super helpful to know. I wasn鈥檛 aware of the 2 year living requirement for family visas in the UK. I thought spouses of EU citizens could automatically work in whichever city their spouses worked? My boyfriend currently works in London.

Re: Germany, I agree. That is something to definitely look into.

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

According to this link:

What you鈥檒l need to prove
You must be able to prove one of the following:

- you鈥檙e in a civil partnership or marriage that鈥檚 recognised in the UK
- you鈥檝e been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply
- you are a fianc茅, fianc茅e or proposed civil partner and will marry or enter into a civil partnership in the UK within 6 months of arriving

I don't have to prove that I have lived with him for 2 years as long as I fulfill the other criteria? (i.e. that we are officially married).

Or is the 2 year co-living a hidden requirement that despite not being explicit, still greatly affects my chances of getting a聽 family visa?

Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

8114POSTS

7 years ago

Hi again,

I think not; it is the marriages of convenience they are trying to catch out; that being so, the first statement invites all marriages regardless of status, which is clearly not the case.聽 If you read on, it goes on to say:

If you鈥檙e applying as a spouse or partner, you鈥檒l be asked about:

Your relationship with your partner, for example how you met and how often you see each other
How long you鈥檝e lived together - you鈥檒l need to send proof like council tax bills
Things you pay for together
Whether you鈥檙e your partner鈥檚 carer

We have had many people on here complaining of what you're hoping for and it's unfairness.

It would be helpful if you could let us know how you get on with this?

2 members reacted to this post

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

Thanks, Cynic and I will definitely update this forum/thread once we go through the process.聽

I guess for now we will just apply for the EEA permit which will allow me to live with him for 6 months in London while looking for a job and then apply for the UK family visa.

I'm really hoping they may relax some of the requirements especially because my boyfriend alone makes more than the required amount by quite a bit (and once I start working again, based on my last salary, it will be obvious we will not use public funds, which seems to be their concern). Additionally, I've previously worked in London and paid taxes, etc.

We haven't lived together for more than 3 months. We met over 3 years ago when we were part of a graduate trainee type of program.

All of this seems riskier than we expected given we haven't even married yet and are living in separate cities (he, in London and me, in New York). It definitely isn't a marriage of "convenience" but it will be very inconvenient because quite a substantial part of my career decision (And thus, future earnings) will be based on how my boyfriend and I can navigate this.

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

I'm also curious how inter-national couples navigate the job change? I mean, I doubt most people work in jobs whereby their employer/firm can just sponsor their visas (even some global investment firms don't). So how do they navigate this tricky phase of moving to one of the spouses' countries?

Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

8114POSTS

7 years ago

#10

meredith19 wrote:
I'm also curious how inter-national couples navigate the job change? I mean, I doubt most people work in jobs whereby their employer/firm can just sponsor their visas (even some global investment firms don't). So how do they navigate this tricky phase of moving to one of the spouses' countries?

Hi again.

I've posted this many times, but for what it's worth:

To get a decent job anywhere, you need 4 things:

Relevant experience
Relevant qualifications
Speak the local language
Luck

The more of those you have, the better your chance of getting a decent job; at the end of the process, it's normally luck that screws you.聽 That said, only the applicant knows how many of those they (and their peers/competitors) can tick off and where they really stand in that list.聽 Unless you have a unique skill or qualification that is in short-demand where you are moving to, long-distance job searching can be problematic, especially when who you are applying to realise you either don't speak the local language, or aren't available for an interview tomorrow for a job that starts the next day; these are the kind of deadlines that the agencies are pushing themselves into.聽 This is also affecting us all in that the salaries for us mere mortals are being deflated by the rising cost of the stars and our peers who will do more for less.

We hear stories frequently on here from people who although professionally qualified and you would ordinarily think stood a good chance of getting work, wondering if their CV got lost in the post, or even worse thrown in the bin, because they hear nothing.

So, what can you do?聽 Reach out to former friends at Uni, ex-colleagues and peers, use things like LinkedIn to see what's going on in the market place; anything you can do to make sure your name at least gets put on the table.聽 Many people find themselves stuck in a place because they can't afford to move unless they can find a job first, some succeed, some crash and burn.聽 Many people say "sod it, I'm off", take the plunge, get there and within a week have found their dream home and job (my daughter did it 2 years ago), so it can be done, but you have to be realistic while at the same time have absolute faith in your abilities.

Speaking personally; we're an International couple (I'm a US/UK citizen, my wife is Dutch), our kids are all dual nationals and multi-lingual.聽 I retired 12 months ago; I'm still getting calls from different organisations asking me to come and talk to them, so networking does work, many of these people don't know me from Adam, but my name somehow got on the table.

One last point, watch out for scammers.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

1 member reacted to this post

meredith19 New member

9POSTS

7 years ago

#11

Thanks, Cynic. Greatly appreciate your comments; they are a lifesaver in this situation.
I am more curious about the weird limbo I am in where I will already be in the UK on the 6 month EEA permit but have quit my last job. If I am not mistaken, whatever job I take in London will still need to sponsor my Tier 2 visa, correct? Tier 2 is for "skilled" workers, but how about the non-"skilled" workers?

Cynic UK/Netherlands Expert

8114POSTS

7 years ago

#12

Hi again - yes, you're correct.聽 Unless you qualify as a highly skilled migrant (that list I linked to previously), or maybe one of the other strange visas i.e. actress, dancer, sportsman, religious group (yes, they let Tom Cruise and the Mormons in) etc, you won't get a Tier 2 visa.聽 You would be forgiven for thinking that the UK is actively trying to discourage US citizens from coming to work and live here; they have even withdrawn the retirement visa (albeit, in this case, nobody can apply for one, so they are being nasty to everyone).

Hence my original post suggesting highly skilled migrant, or family as being your options.

1 member reacted to this post