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Background: I want to get married to a Cambodian girl and move to Spain. I'm single and an Irish Citizen. She is divorced with two children, children can stay in Cambodia with grandparents for time being.

Is it better to get married in Cambodia, Hong Kong, UK, Spain or Ireland?

Getting married in Cambodia seems to mean I'd have to declare an income of $2,500 pm
Getting visa for Spain for a Cambodia Citizen is done at Bangkok Embassy and I'm not sure how difficult that is.

So far advice I've been given is:
Short visit to UK, say two weeks.
Go back later on Marriage Visa, get married.
Go to Spain, apply for 5 year Residency in Spain for her.

Anyone got any ideas on a more efficient method?

Can you explain the UK thing? Can an Irish person spend two weeks in the UK and then import a wife on a marriage visa like a UK citizen can?
Also, don't you have to meet a similar income requirement to do that? And how does that help you or her get to Spain?

It is common for Cambodian women to tell foreign men they are divorced. When the foreign man loves them, they actually leave their husband. To them, the marriage to the foreign man is a scam to get money. If they leave the foreign man, they often go back to their Cambodian husband. The reason many Cambodian scams are so successful, is all of the friends and relatives go along with it. Nobody tells the foreign man. You may even see her husband, and she will tell you it is her brother of a neighbor.

Do you know that she was actually divorced before she met you?

I know of European men applying for visas for their Cambodian girlfriends to enter Europe. It can cost a lot of money, and may be rejected. There is no refund.

explorer wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:15 am It is common for Cambodian women to tell foreign men they are divorced. When the foreign man loves them, they actually leave their husband. To them, the marriage to the foreign man is a scam to get money. If they leave the foreign man, they often go back to their Cambodian husband. The reason many Cambodian scams are so successful, is all of the friends and relatives go along with it. Nobody tells the foreign man. You may even see her husband, and she will tell you it is her brother of a neighbor.

Do you know that she was actually divorced before she met you?

I don’t think it’s all that common as you seem to be suggesting.

More likely to happen in a poorer country, yes. But your post seems like you think the OPs missus is likely scamming him.

I think his cock is scamming him.

I don't think it's very realistic to expect her to get a 5 year residency in Spain. On what basis?
You seem to assume you can pick whatever EU country would serve you best, it doesn't work that way.
f you're Irish Ireland is your easiest destination and you should focus on that. Once she's allowed in you could then move to wherever.
Unless you mean you're from northern Ireland I don't see how Britain fits into that either.

Explorer's comments are beyond stupid, it's a category in itself.

I want to move to a country that doesn’t accept bloody immigrants.

Explorer's remarks are not stupid. Leaving children behind and taking the mother away for five years is stupid. Marrying a woman with kids? You take the kids on too, end of story. I know all about extended families, but if you marry someone with kids, that's your choice, and I think it's your responsibility---not the grandparents'.

GMJS-CEO wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:49 am

explorer wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:15 am It is common for Cambodian women to tell foreign men they are divorced. When the foreign man loves them, they actually leave their husband. To them, the marriage to the foreign man is a scam to get money. If they leave the foreign man, they often go back to their Cambodian husband. The reason many Cambodian scams are so successful, is all of the friends and relatives go along with it. Nobody tells the foreign man. You may even see her husband, and she will tell you it is her brother of a neighbor.

Do you know that she was actually divorced before she met you?

I don’t think it’s all that common as you seem to be suggesting.

I don't think it's common too, never seen this happen in nine years. I don't know what experience(s) Explorer's statement is based on.

There are other problems though OP, and one of those problems is that both marriages and divorces are recorded randomly in Cambodia. Some have a wedding, but no wedding certificate (Etat Civil) is made up and they are married, but not legally. This is quite common. If you break after this kind of marriage you are still legally single so no need for a divorce.

The other way around happens too, legally married with a certificate, but the hassle of getting a legal divorce puts 'm off and the there's no official divorce. So they remain legally married.

Before you set any step towards marriage with your girl make sure you know exactly what the legal status of the girl is. How she sees herself is not important, documents count, not what she tells you. In my opinion that concept is pretty hard to bring across with a Cambodian...

About marrying a Cambodian abroad, it can be a pain in the ass because most countries will demand proof both of you are single and the time of marriage, and the Cambodian government won't provide those documents for the girl because they dis-encourage marriages abroad.

Cinnamoncat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:35 am Explorer's remarks are not stupid. Leaving children behind and taking the mother away for five years is stupid. Marrying a woman with kids? You take the kids on too, end of story. I know all about extended families, but if you marry someone with kids, that's your choice, and I think it's your responsibility---not the grandparents'.

I agree totally

EU citizens can settle in every EU country with an no EU wife/husband. It exist a EU resolution for that.