You have met the person you will spend the rest of your life with, but the only problem is that there's an ocean between you, what are the options for living together permanently?
Short of finding an employer willing to sponsor you for immigration, or becoming a perpetual student, your immigration options will depend on your getting married.
This page is intended to give you a very brief overview of your options. You need to follow the links to get detailed information about what each option would involve in your particular circumstances.
Whether you plan to live permanently in the UK or the US, you must convince the immigration authorities that, if not yet married that you have met your fiance in person and that you are free to marry. You must show that you can support your family without recourse to public funds, that you have somewhere to live and that you intend to live together permanently. The immigrant must also demonstrate that they have not been convicted of certain serious crimes and a free from certain infectious diseases. If you can satisfy all of these conditions, there should be no problem is securing an immigrant visa.
If you decide to live together in the UK, the first thing the American citizen must do is apply to one of the UK consulates in the USA for entry clearance to the UK, known as "Leave to Enter". Details are available from the UK Embassy.
Once you have secured this entry clearance, you are free to travel to the UK. The entry clearance is usually valid for multiple entries for one year, and you are free to come-and-go during this time. Before the year is up (at around the 10-month point), you should apply to the Immigration and Naturalisation Directorate (IND) at the Home Office for "Leave to Remain". Once you have secured "Leave to Remain", you are a permanent resident of the UK with no restrictions on your stay.
If you wish to marry in the USA before immigrating to the UK, the UK fiance can travel to the US on a B2 visa or visa-free under the Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP). There is a body of thought that the US border patrol get extremely nervous when someone tries to enter the US to get married. It is therefore wise that the UK fiance provide them with evidence that he will return to the UK after your wedding. This evidence can be a letter from an employer, mortgage/lease details, UK visa application forms for the US fiance, etc.
If you wish to marry in the UK, you are expected to do this within six months of your arrival. You cannot work until you are married (and have secured an extension from the Home Office to the original entry clearance), and so the UK fiance must have adequate means to support you during this time.
More information is available on Narnia's American Chick's Guide to the UK IND.
Immigrating to the USA is somewhat more complicated. First of all, the procedure is different for those who are engaged and those who are already married.
If you wish to marry in the US and remain there after your wedding, you need a K1 visa. If you marry in the UK, you need an IR1 visa. You can also marry in the US or even a third country and return to the UK to apply for an IR1 visa.
Here is some information from the US State Department about marriage visas.The US citizen fiance lodges an I-129F petition with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the USA. When the petition is approved, the UK citizen applies to the immigrant visa branch of the US consulate in London for the K1 visa. The K1 visa is granted after a brief interview and medical exam in London.
The K1 is technically a non-immigrant visa. It is valid for a single entry to the US and expires after three months. You must marry and file for adjustment to immigrant status (AOS) within 90 days of your arrival in the US.
You may be able to work before your wedding, but you must first secure a work permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD) at the Port of Entry (POE). Not all POEs issue EADs, so you have to carefully select your airport. Since the K1 visa a for a single entry, you cannot leave the US without having to go through the entire immigration process again.
After your wedding, you quickly file for AOS. The AOS may take from 1 - 4 years to be approved depending on the INS office serving your locality. During this time, you must hold an EAD if you wish to work, and apply for Advance Parole (AP) if you wish to travel outside the US. Each of these documents are valid for one year, and must be paid for. The AOS takes place at an interview with you and your spouse. Once it is approved, you become a permanent resident of the US, and have full work and travel priveledges. Your passport is stamped with a one-year I-551 stamp, and the Green Card arrives in the post a couple of months later
More information is available on Alvena Ferreira's Fiance Visa PagesThe US citizen spouse lodges an I-130 petition with one of the four INS Service Centers in the US with jurisdiction over his home state. If the US citizen is already a permanent resident of the UK, he can lodge the petition with the INS in London - this is known as Direct Consular Filing (DCF). When the petition is approved, the UK citizen applies to the immigrant visa branch of the US consulate in London for the IR1 visa. The IR1 visa is granted after a brief interview and medical in London.
When the you arrive in the US, your passport is stamped with a one-year I-551 stamp. This is a temporary Green Card and confers full work and travel priveledges. The actual Green Card arrives in the post a couple of months later.
Whether obtained via the fiance or the spousal route, if you have been married for less than two years when you receive your I-551 stamp, your will be a Conditional Permanent Resident for initially for two years. After this time, if you are still married, you can apply to become a full Permanent Resident, with no restrictions on your stay. Information about the London I-130/IR1 process.The timings are currently around 3 months for a DCF I-130/IR1, 3-6 months for a fiance visa, and 5-12 months for a spousal visa.
If you are already married, and the US citizen is not a resident of the UK, then you have no choices about how to proceed. If you are not married, you can decide whether to apply for a fiance visa, or get married and file for a spousal visa. Fiance visas are generally quicker to obtain, but once in the US, it can take years to get your Green Card (again, this is highly variable, during which time you are in a work/travel limbo. If you are more patient and go the spousal route, then this pays off when you arrive in the US as a permanent resident with a Green Card from day one.
If you wish to go to the US during the petition and visa processing, you must do so as a tourist. You can stay for up to three months using the VWPP or six months using the B2 visa. During this time you cannot work or study. You may have difficulties getting into the US because by filing a petition and applying for a visa declares immigrant intent, and this is not considered by the INS to be compatible with being a tourist.You may consider the US citizen moving to the UK temporarily while the US petition and visa are being processed. To do this you would apply for entry clearance from a UK consulate in the US, as described above. The US citizen would be able to live, work and travel without impediment once married.
Whether you have moved to the UK or the USA, you are eligible to apply for citizenship once you have been a permanent resident for three years. That is, if you move to the UK about 3 years after first entering; if moving to the US, three years if on a IR1 visa, or 4 - 7 years if on a K1 visa.
When you naturalise, you still keep your old citizenship. Any children born to you and your spouse will automatically be eligible for dual-citizenship whether or not you naturalise
One of the main advantages of naturalising is that you are then free to leave the country and take up residence in another country without having to go through the immigration procedures again. If you don't naturalise, then you abandon your permanent resident status when you leave for two years or more.
Here are some web links about marriage in the UK:
UK government advice targeted at AmericansHere are some web links about marriage in the USA:
State by state summary