Allow those on a Fiance Visa to Marry

Those who hold a fiancé visa have been hit very hard by the ban on weddings. No wedding means no right to extend the visa and the huge costs and uncertainty that comes with that. The Home Office has so far done absolutely nothing to help those on fiancé visas making the need to marry even stronger. It is only fair that those who were given a visa to enter the UK to marry their partner should not be harshly punished because of COVID.

The government needs to allow those on fiancé visas the right to marry as they can't simply wait until lockdown is lifted to marry as their visas are expiring and there is currently nothing in place to stop that. This is an exceptional case that should have something put in place to deal with this.

On a personal note my wedding was cancelled and now I am not sure whether my family will be split up as I cannot marry my partner so cannot extend my visa as a spouse of my British partner. Having a wedding cancelled is bad enough without having your immigration status thrown into the air by COVID.

The government needs to consider making it possible to marry without harming the public interest in beating COVID. This could be with online weddings, socially distanced weddings or having at least one registry office that is able to manage weddings under exceptional circumstances like this.

The British government cancelled the weddings of foreign nationals that they gave a visa to come to the UK to get married to their British partner. Worse still these visas are a ticking time bomb with harsh and unmoving deadlines stamped on them. Those on a fiancé visa simply can't just delay their wedding and wait until things go back to normal. No marriage means no access to the 5 year partner route, huge legal fees and a long fight for status. The Home Office has put nothing in place to support the fiancés of British citizens. A global pandemic should not separate families because of immigration rules. Our - and many other families - right to family life is under threat.