Getting married in Northern Ireland

noway12345

Me and my fiancée want to get married quickly and we're looking at Northern Ireland as the place to do it in. I've looked up NIDirect website which gives some details on what we need to do. I just have a few questions on it if anyone knows the answers.
On the website it says you must give notice of 28 days, I read somewhere else that it's 8 weeks. Which one is correct? My fiancée isn't Irish or from the EU, she has to get a marriage visitor visa, we have to have passports and she has to fill an immagration status statement. This is all fine but that's pretty much all it says on the website.
Does anyone know what else we have to do to get married in NI? Has anyone ever done something similar to this before or heard of anyone who has? Any information will be appreciated. Thank you.

noway12345

No one can help me? Does anyone know what you need to do to get married in any part of the UK?

rainbow kirby

Some things might be different in NI, but this is what's needed in my borough.

noway12345

Thanks Rainbow. Some things look a bit different. I can't see anything about the stamp you need to get on your birth cert. Is that needed in your borough do you know? It doesn't say anything about it on the NI website either.

rainbow kirby

Probably worth ringing up the local authority/registry office in the area you're thinking of getting married. Probably no harm getting the apostille stamp anyway even if you may not absolutely need it.

noway12345

I rang the number givin on the NIdirect website yesterday. He was just repeating what I read on their website to me. I'll try ringing the registry office. Do you know does it take long to get the apostille stamp? Thanks.

Faith

I'd recommend having a chat with immigration or whoever in the Republic as well, if you plan on living here with your future wife. Non-EU citizen + rushed wedding out of state is going to set off alarm bells that you're getting married just for visa purposes. You'd want to get some advice about that, I'd say.

noway12345

Faith wrote: »

I'd recommend having a chat with immigration or whoever in the Republic as well, if you plan on living here with your future wife. Non-EU citizen + rushed wedding out of state is going to set off alarm bells that you're getting married just for visa purposes. You'd want to get some advice about that, I'd say.

It's really weird that you said that, I was just coming back to ask something about that. It kinda is rushed because of visa problems but the marriage is for real.
We were planning to go to her country for a year, travel the area (South America) get married while we're there and then decide where our future lies. Things have changed though and we have to stay here. The problem is her visa expires soon. She's still working and doing a college course. I've been looking up all the things that has to be done to get married either here or Northern Ireland and it takes time.
It might take too much time and her visa might expire. I'm wondering does anyone know can you apply for a holiday visa or anything to get a bit of extra time? You can get a holiday visa for 3 months. I know it would look dodgy but what else can we do?

Faith

You'd really need to speak to an expert about this, probably an immigration lawyer (whatever the Irish term for that is) or the like.

I imagine you'll need proof of being together for a significant amount of time, maybe a year at least. Things like photos, receipts, emails, Facebook updates etc will all act as proof.

But to the untrained eye, it doesn't add up that she's working and studying and her visa is about to expire. Surely the visa covers the period of studying? When her visa is up, I imagine she'll have to quit her job, drop out of college and leave the country. Whether she'll be allowed back immediately or not, I have no idea. There's often a period where you have to remain out of the country.

You definitely need specialist advice on this, because you could end up in a very tricky legal situation.

noway12345

Faith wrote: »

You'd really need to speak to an expert about this, probably an immigration lawyer (whatever the Irish term for that is) or the like.

I imagine you'll need proof of being together for a significant amount of time, maybe a year at least. Things like photos, receipts, emails, Facebook updates etc will all act as proof.

But to the untrained eye, it doesn't add up that she's working and studying and her visa is about to expire. Surely the visa covers the period of studying? When her visa is up, I imagine she'll have to quit her job, drop out of college and leave the country. Whether she'll be allowed back immediately or not, I have no idea. There's often a period where you have to remain out of the country.

You definitely need specialist advice on this, because you could end up in a very tricky legal situation.

Yes, we have proof of being together. The visa expires when her course finishes yes. The plan was to go to South America then. We don't think she'll find it easy to get another visa if she applied here but we don't know for sure. We think she'll be forced back to South America.
We don't want to go to immigration about it just in case. That's why a holiday visa would suit. It would look pretty bad if we were to go to Northern Ireland to marry when her visa is about to run out but we have other proof that we've been together and I'm not sure what other choice we have. As you say I'll probably need specialist advice. I'll try to ring an immagration lawyer or whoever. I'm not sure if they off free advice but I'll see.
Thanks for your help.