South African UK Entry Clearance?

I need to know the differences beteween entry clearance and actual having a Visa?? My (SA) fiance was denied entry to the UK within January and we are now having to live in Taiwan to be together. We want to be within the UK and have been told entry clearance is what we need... can anybody clear this up?
Answers:   
South Africans enjoy not needed a visa to enter the UK unless the period of time that you want to stay extends six months. Most people use this time frame to sort their documents out and engender the necessary applications. But unfortunately there have been a recent stink where our Home Affairs allowed themselves to be bribed and handed out leader South African passports to Chinese citizens....who then could enter the UK without a visa which was their biggest aim. The entire scam blew up because thousands of Chinese people flooded the UK with a (genuine! not fake) South African passport. As a result they are clamping down and highly suspicious of South Africans. We can't blame them. You ill-fatedly are paying the price. .

Try asking the same question at ...Home/Travel/Africa & Middle East/South Africa....where the South Africans worldwide congregate. Many of them are living within the UK and should have a better idea of what an entry clearance is all going on for. Sorry I could not help more effectively.
At the moment the process is in 2 stages - first the requirements of the specific visa application must be met, and then the Entry Clearance is done after that. So if you're applying for a fiance visa, for example, they will want to see that you're busy, have met each other, intend to get married, can nouns yourself etc.

With the Entry Clearance application they are looking at your character, criminal convictions and immigration history.

There are currently plans to make the system a one stage process but these will not be fully implemented for a couple of years nonetheless.
It all depends on your status and whether the country you hold a passport for is one that is designated as needing visas for everything or one that have to have visas for some things and pre-entry clearance for others. To the lay-man they are practically the same thing. When the refusal be explained I suspect you were told that your fiance needed an entry clearance. Its simple - you want to settle in the UK so you need blessing to settle in the form of a vignette in the passport (visa or entry clearance) that settlement will have restrictions in good time and what you can do unless you have the right be in the UK permenantly.
Are you a British Citizen?
Then your fiance should have applied for a fiance visa in the past travelling. South African ppt holders don't need visas to visit but do need a visa or entry clearance for anything else.
If you are not British and hold a visa for the UK for a purpose other than a visit, the authorities would presume that your fiance intends to stay with you surrounded by the UK.
If you are not ready to marry yet then you stipulation more advice on your particular circumstances than anyone can give here.
However one opportunity may be to apply for a Working Holidaymaker Visa below is a link that will give you the rules.
You can use the same knit for anything else you need to find out about visas and entry clearance that are appropriate to your personal circumstances.
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/...

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