My visa arrived in the mail today. What an incredibly expensive nightmare this has been. It's not ended yet, of course. I still have more increasinly small hoops to jump through. My loathing of the UK gov't increases with each sleazy money-making hurdle they erect. They change the rules every few months! Seriously! I went to the Home Office website to check what documents I need to submit after the wedding in order to get my extended leave to settle (and work) for spouses. And what do find? The rules are changing tomorrow. Yes, June 22 they change all the rules. They just changed them on May 5th! And before that in March. And before that in Nov - and I may have missed other changes, they come too fast and frequently to keep up with them. What is guaranteed with each change is an increase of the obscene "processing" charges they demand. Processing what, you may ask. I ask, too since the charges don't cover their answering questions. Ah ha! If you want to ask them a question, make an appointment, or inquiry, you must call a premium charged 3rd party agency which charges you £2.10/min.

I won't mention the charge for the spouse's leave to settle extension - you would just feel as ill as I do now.