[haje]

It's an extremely good idea to lawyer up sooner rather than later, because visas are a huge pain in the backside, and getting it wrong can end up causing a lot of cost and stress.

I was lucky; my wife is from the US, and we've been married for longer than 2 years, which is the magical combination that makes it a lot easier - although obviously, that isn't particularly helpful if you aren't / aren't planning to get married to an US citizen.