PlanG

I’ll try to make this brief. Last month I got married to a UK citizen who was in the US on a work visa. She was very recently relocated back to the UK due to work and we’re going through the process of getting her permanent residency through a CR1 visa. While this is in process, she can’t visit me in the US because immigration might not let her in since she’s known to be applying for residency and is a “risk” for overstaying.

Anyways, I’m going to visit her in the UK (Scotland) tomorrow (yay!), and after talking to a few co-workers who have had troubles with UK immigration while on work assignments there, I am now worried they may be as much a pain in the ... as US officials. I was told to simply mention that I am on vacation when I get there and make no mention of “visiting my wife.” The more I think about it the more I fear they may bar me from entering for the same reason the US will bar my wife from entering (risk for overstaying).

Any suggestions? When questioned, I’m planning on offering up as little as possible. “I’m here on vacation”. “I’m staying at <address>” However, if they ask me who I’m visiting, I’m not sure how to respond. I really don’t want to lie, because who knows, maybe someday I’ll be applying for a visa or residency there, and it could come back to haunt me. Am I getting worked up over nothing? Should I just say, “I’m here to visit my wife on vacation. I’m leaving on this date, here’s my return ticket, and this is where she’s currently living.”

antichef

Welcome to FT.

Can you just confirm your nationality and passport? I am assuming US citizen and US passport.

If you are planning to arrive on a return ticket and are planning to tour around researching your extended family roots in the UK for two weeks you will join huge numbers of normal tourists who are welcome to the UK.

It seems to me that this is what you should say. I often do the same when going to the states, and what many of my US relatives say, if asked, when coming to the UK to visit.

Your colleagues were saying they were coming to the UK on work projects. That is different.

NewbieRunner

Welcome to FT, PlanG!

How long are you staying? My understanding is it's best not to provide any information unless it's asked for and also not to make up stories. They might ask you the same question over and over again to see if there are any discrepancies in your answers. You are visiting your wife, you are staying at her address, you are leaving on <date>, you have a return ticket, and you have a job to go back to. Your wife cannot visit you because she is going through the process of getting her permanent residency through a CR1 visa.

I can't believe any immigration officer will doubt that you are on a short-term visit with no intention of overstaying.

stut

Yes, welcome to FT!

I personally wouldn't lie to an immigration officer - they're good at checking the consistency of a story, and do have previous travel information to hand.

You are an overstay risk, so back up your plans to go home with proof. Can you show you have a job you need to go back to? Can you show your wife's residency application? Can you describe your plans for your visit (to demonstrate that you're here for a short trip)? You probably won't need these, but they'd certainly be helpful if the immigration officer decides to dig into some details.

B747-437B

The UK is not the USA. As a family member of a UK (or any EU) citizen, you actually have many more rights than an ordinary tourist does.

Provided there is no obvious reason to assume that you intend to remain in the UK by illegally working or making recourse to public funds, you should have no issues at immigration. State clearly that you are here to visit your wife for X period of time and that will be almost certainly the entirety of your questioning.

tooblue

By applying for an Immigrant Visa to the US and/or being the beneficiary of an Immigration Petition, your wife lost eligibility for a Non-Immigrant Visa or for the Visa Waiver Program. Any previous extant Non-Immigrant Visa would have become invalid: despite any outstanding term. If present in the US as a Non-Immigrant, she could have filed for change of status and would not then be able to re-enter the US (if she left) without previously obtaining a Parole Document.

In your own case, you have not demonstrated an intention to become an Immigrant to the UK and you should be allowed entry as a Visitor. As advised above, evidence of your intention to depart the UK (return ticket, bank statements, rent books, car registration, letter from employer, health insurance) can only be beneficial.

LondonElite

I don't see the complications here. You're a US tourist visiting the UK, like millions every year. That's really the end of it!

Aviatrix

Not quite. "Visiting wife/fianceee/girlfriend" will usually trigger additional scrutiny at Immigration. It may never come to that - they may never ask a question to which the answer would have to be "visiting my wife", but if they do ask where you're staying then you mustn't lie. You will be asked extra questions, but as long as you can demonstrate an intention to return they're not going to send you back.

BTW - there is no such thing as a Visa Waiver Program in the UK. It's a unique US thing. In the USA everybody (except Canadians) needs a visa, but that requirement has been waived for certain nationals in certain circumstances. In the UK (and much of the rest of the world) foreign nationals fall into two categories, those that need visa and those that don't. ("Visa nationals" vs "non-visa nationals"). You are a non-visa national.