I haz a good newz

kathrynhabibti

My fiancee visa to the UK has been issued!! I got the email this morning and my passport with shiny (probably matte, actually) new visa in it will be delivered to me tomorrow!

I'm only part of the way through to getting back over to England; I have to make sure that there are no errors on the visa (it happens sometimes) and then if that's good, I have to try to get a flight over there for no later than October 13. (There's a residence and notice requirement before you can get married there.) So, only 1/3 of the way there, and I still might have to change the wedding date, but the most difficult, expensive, and worrisome third is cleared!

Thanks for listening, ladies :^)

bablingbrooke

Woo!  Congrats.  Getting a British visa can be surprisingly difficult--I was sure they'd rubber-stamp my student visa and it took six months!  

kathrynhabibti

[QUOTE]Congrats!  And good luck with the rest of the process.  I have a friend going through the opposite procedure (his British fiancee is moving here) and I know that it's not fun.
Posted by StageManager14[/QUOTE]
Thanks! And yeah, from what it seems it's even more difficult coming over here - we'd looked at possibly getting him a visa to get married (before we found out that as long as you're not planning to settle here, you can get married on a visit visa) and whoa. It just looked like gibberish to me. And more than one form, I think. Lots of luck to your friend and his fiancee.

[QUOTE]You'd think so but not really; the exchange agreement was pretty ironclad and absent any medical/family emergency, I was required to go.  The Uni in the UK accepted me without a visa for that reason.  So when my visa arrived only three weeks before I was scheduled to leave (this was before you had to supply a passport number when you booked an international flight) it wasn't any sort of problem. What part of the UK is your FI in?  I lived in Surrey.
Posted by bablingbrooke[/QUOTE]
Ah, gotcha, glad it ended up all okay. Thanks for explaining.
I've not seen Surrey yet - while we were in England before coming over here, we only headed in that direction twice to go to London. FI currently lives in South Devon, and we may be moving to either Exeter or Liverpool depending on a job offer in either of those places.

bablingbrooke

Not much to see in Surrey; it's where the rich London commuters live.  No point in stopping on the way to London.  Very expensive year, but also the best year of my life, hands-down.  I went back in January for the first time in 5 years and fell in love all over again.  I'm so jealous you get to live there.  

Have you done a lot of travel in the UK?  If not I have recommendations.

emilyinchile

Congrats!

Manwaithiel

Yayyyy, Kathryn! That's good to hear!

Living away from FI is hard. I'm happy that you get to see him soon. Let's cross our fingers and pray that all goes well!

frogurt814

I'm glad you have that part out of the way!  Good luck with your travels!

kathrynhabibti

Emily, Kate, and Becky, thanks ladies! Got it this morning, everything is in order, and I was able to schedule a flight for the 11th. FI schedule an appointment to give notice at the register office for the 20th. We are go for a November 6 wedding!

Brooke, I've been to Bristol, Bath, and Avebury, and saw Stonehenge from a distance (which was fine). And have been to the moors in Devon. Aside from those and London, I've not seen enough of England and the UK, so any suggestions would be very appreciated.

bablingbrooke

I love Bath.  And Stonehenge is worth a visit; it'll be on your way from London to Exeter (or vice-versa) so I'd stop by.

Yorkshire is really fun.  Go to York, visit York Minster, and do the ghost hunt at night--it was so much fun.  If you're a fan of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre see the Bronte parsonage.  You'll see why those books are so grim.

I did a weekend in Edinburgh and wish I'd stayed longer...and not gone in February.  In Southern England I'd recommend Canterbury and Dover, and you should either drive or take the ferry to Calais, France 1) just because you can, and 2) the hypermarchets (sp?) in France are really cool and cheap compared to UK prices.  Picture a Costco inside a mega-mall.

If you haven't been yet, Camden Town is a MUST see and London's version of Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley.  Great people watching.  I also love Portobello Road in Kensington/Notting Hill.

I've never been to Brighton but one of my friends did a weekend there and said she really liked it, so I'm going to throw that out as a recommendation too.

kathrynhabibti

That was so nice of you. Thank you, Brooke!

emilyinchile

I was going to say York. Both the Lake District and the Cotswolds really pretty for a relaxing long weekend. If you're potentially moving to Liverpool, I'm guessing you'll be going to see it.

Coventry Cathedral is a gorgeous building with some WWII history - it's my favorite cathedral (yes, I have a favorite cathedral!). Oxford is a good day out, and basically I ditto everything Brooke said. I'm half English and used to live there, so I've seen a good bit of the English countryside

kathrynhabibti

Noting all of this, thanks Emily :^)

tidetravel

Does this mean that you'll get a hot British accent?  Rwar.

kathrynhabibti

Oh, absolutely tide. I am going to work hard on that.

Manwaithiel

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_haz-good-newz?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:37Discussion:1bdf5296-6d11-4958-84ef-f338391571d9Post:56c81d35-24ed-49ee-a8a4-7e7d6926f795">Re: I haz a good newz</a>:
[QUOTE]Emily, Kate, and Becky, thanks ladies! Got it this morning, everything is in order, and I was able to schedule a flight for the 11th. FI schedule an appointment to give notice at the register office for the 20th. We are go for a November 6 wedding! Brooke, I've been to Bristol, Bath, and Avebury, and saw Stonehenge from a distance (which was fine). And have been to the moors in Devon. Aside from those and London, I've not seen enough of England and the UK, so any suggestions would be very appreciated.
Posted by kathrynhabibti[/QUOTE]

Coolness! Wow, it's close! Excited???

kathrynhabibti

Thanks Kate! I am very excited but suddenly it feels like I have a meeeeeelion things to do both for the wedding and before I leave :^P