We Are Approved

[ginapeterb]

Hello Guys, just a quick message before Glorietta closes for the night, after a long long hot day of hanging around, at the coffee shop (what a joke) and lunch at the Ayala Centre Museum, and sharing the whole day talking to the Marines guarding the embassy, we finally got approved at around 4.45pm today,


so its a YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.......



We did it....



Will check back with some feedback over next few days, its now full steam ahead to pleasure Island....


See you all in the week, will give a more detailed report and feedback...but have to rush now..

Best wishes to all

Bye Pete

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 6 2005, 11:59 AM
Hello Guys, just a quick message before Glorietta closes for the night, after a long long hot day of hanging around, at the coffee shop (what a joke) and lunch at the Ayala Centre Museum, and sharing the whole day talking to the Marines guarding the embassy, we finally got approved at around 4.45pm today,
so its a YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.......
We did it....
Will check back with some feedback over next few days, its now full steam ahead to pleasure Island....
See you all in the week, will give a more detailed report and feedback...but have to rush now..

Best wishes to all

Bye Pete

Quoted post


:) EXCELLENT!!!! Well done mate....

Look forward to the detailed report....

Have fun!

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by walesrob@Jun 6 2005, 12:43 PM
:) EXCELLENT!!!! Well done mate....

Look forward to the detailed report....

Have fun!

Quoted post


Pete,

Congratulations, I'm really pleased for you. (Belated congratulations on the wedding as well). After all the hard work you've put in it would have been a travesty of justice if the Embassy had decided to get picky with you. I'm really pleased for you mate, I hope Gina likes it in England.

If I remember correctly, you've already taken her to Singapore for a holiday...? In which case you've spoilt her - she'll be expecting a Singapore style efficient tube system and buses and clean streets, and she's going to be landed with the filthy rubbish we have to put up with in London. You'll have to lower her expectations before she gets here!! :D

On the plus side, the last thing she'll see of Manila before she leaves is the airport, and lets face it, a night in Saddam's cell would look good compared to that. :)

[andypaul]

Well done Happy for both You and Your Wife :D

Hopefully My Wife and I will have good news, when we apply soon.

[Admin]

What immigration policy....they let anyone in these days :rolleyes: :lol: :lol:

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by admin@Jun 7 2005, 11:33 AM
What immigration policy....they let anyone in these days :rolleyes: :lol: :lol:

Quoted post


I hear you Keith..hehehehe, but let me tell you...did I sweat that day..and do I have a story for all of you...and it will follow...some of the things that happened that day make me laugh..and my experiences on Monday make me boil sometimes, and my experience of the CFO which incidentally we have not done as yet..makes my blood boil even more..but anyway...here is my report coming up.....makes good reading let me assure you of that !!

[Admin]

I'll get the wifes glasses then :huh:

[ginapeterb]

Pete and Gina Bennetts British Embassy Experience


Well where do i start, perhaps at the beginning, as some of you will know, I had flown out to Manila with a good freind of mine, Steve Smith from Glasgow, who was also visiting his wife in Cavite, sadly, they had to cancel their settlement visa interview which was for the 9th of June, as they do not have the required evidence of accomodation, and other important documents, it was decided that he should cancel...to leave for later date and not suffer the chance of a refusal to issue a visa.

Gina and I flew to Manila on Saturday afternoon, wanting to be in town, for two things

1. To take stock of our paperwork and prepare.
2. To do some role playing on the ECO/Applicant interview.

Well as you will see later, we actually had a gift horse thrown at us, to perhaps help some of you in the future, I think the Embassy actually made a mistake, in that they accidentally released the notes they had made about the interview from their point of view, when Gina called on Tuesday to collect her Passport with the nice UK Entry Clearance Visa stamped neatly in the back.

The Morning of Monday the 6th June 2005 interview appointment time 11.00am.

Working on the basis of "its better to be earlier than late" Gina and i awoke around 6.30am and had a hearty breakfast, we left the hotel, with our massive Rustans shopping carrier bag, with the following items inside.

1. Evidence of relationship File.
2. Large Album of Photos spanning 2 years of courtship.
3. File with Application Forms, NSO Docs, Birth Certs, Mutliple Copies of this and that.
4. Wedding Album
5. 6 Ton of personal letters (Just Kidding - Keith will understand this one)
6. Passports

We arrived at the Embassy at around 10.15am for our 11.00am time slot, on arrival we noted the prescence of 2 Philippine Marine Guards with M16's and 1 Police Officer, also a civilian security guard, we were asked to deposit our ID Card, although I was not asked to leave ID..Gina was.

We then went to Ground Floor reception, at reception a Filipina asked us what our business was, She asked if it was for Visa, we stated affirmative, I then tried to go upstairs to the 15th Floor, but was denied entry, on the grounds that Sponsors are not allowed up to the Visa Section as their is no where for them to wait, and they are not allowed in the Interview room.

At that point I tried to argue the situation, again to no avail, a polite smile, and that it is the British Embassy policy, I had to leave Gina and say goodbye, she then proceeded upstairs in the lift without me, no doubt Rob went through same situation as I did.

Their is no where to actually wait outside the Embassy, so i made freinds with the Marines and started a conversation about everything from "Do you have a loaded weapon, or full magazine" to the weather, they let me stay there, outside, whilst other filipinos were asked to move on, this is something to note for the future, to anyone who goes after me, there is little point in my view of the Sponsor husband or fiance actually hanging around as

1. The Applicant cannot take a cellphone in to call you.
2. You have no idea how long they will be as I will show you.

Gina left to go upstairs at 10.15am, I did not see her again until 12.30pm, and by this time she had still not been called forward for her interview.

Let me explain further.

Remembering now it is 30 degrees outside on the sidewalk, the traffic is bedlam, the noise is incredible, standing on the corner of Ayala and Makati Avenue, opposite the Shangri-la is the worse place to actually be, and outside the LV Locsin Building they are altering the road, so there is no path, its a dogs dinner, and hot.

I managed to find out, that all applicants are interviewed on the basis of Alphabetical order, this is ok in principle, but as I found out, if your maiden name is Yap as Gina's is, (and by the way, it does not seem to be a problem, if you are married and are interviewed as what is in your passport..i.e. your maiden name, this has no relevance, so dont go worrying about changing your wife's passport to her married name, this can take up to 1 month)

So applicants are interviewed from the A's through to the Y's etc, this meant that all applicants that turned up in the morning, and appointments started at 08.30am, this seems to be irrelevant, therefore, in my case, after standing outside for 2 and 3 quarter hours, I was sweating, sticky and tired, Gina came out with another lady who both said, they had not even been called.

They were told to come back at 2pm.

So Gina and I..and another guy who was stood with me, Kenny from Birmingham, and Steve and Lorna my freinds, we all went to the Ayala Centre Museum Cafe, incidentally, this is nice, about 100 yards to your left and easily spottable, we had a nice lunch there, and its air conditioned throughout.

[ginapeterb]

The British Embassy Afternoon Session

At 2pm we all returned to the front of the LV Locsin building and said our Goodbyes kenny and I again chatted outside, the time seemed to drag, until about 4.30...now another 2.5 hours of hanging around, we were told we could go around the back of the LV Locsin Building and there was a coffee shop..hahaha if you could call it that.

We went around the back, its more like a mini mart, with a few seats and tables, the coffee is basically, a cup with dried coffee and you help yourself to hot water, its about 20 P a cup, actually, we did not sit their long as we were both worried that the girls would come out and we would miss them, again as I have previously stated, there is no way to know if your partner has emerged.

We saw plenty of Filipina's coming out, who we stopped and asked them what they had applied for, there had been many refusals, but as I had previously thought, and now can put it to rest, the majority of applications in the daytime are for Student, Work and dependant Visa's a category which we have rarely discussed on the Forum.

Dependant Applications are for Filipino's who have relatives in the UK on permament work visas, I.E. Nurses and other skilled people under the "Skilled Migrant programme"

Most of the refusals we met, were dependants who had applied to join their relatives, there were we found out, only 7 Applicants who had gone up to the Embassy that day, (we got this information out of the Guard, who told us how many Settlement applications had slipped pas him)

The interesting thing I then found out, was that any applicant who showed up for an afternoon appointment was actually being interviwed before my Gina who had arrived at 10.15am, a bit shitty but true, Gina was in fact the last applicant to be interviewed that day.

When Gina arrived at 10.30am, she told me she sat until 11.00am, and was relieved of the following.


1. The VAFW2004
2. The current Fee P27,300
3. A Covering Letter I had written.
4. Our NSO Marriage Certificate
5. Her NSO Birth Certificate
6. Her Passport.


These were the only things taken, it was not until her Interview was she then asked to produce the following

1. My Divorce Decree Absolute.
2. 2nd Copy of Legal Capacity for Marriage
3. Evidence of Accomodation.
4. Bank Statements.
5. Letter from my Employer Stating Salary and Commissions for last 2 years.
6. Copy of NSO Marriage Certificate.


Although I had made it known to the ECO that I was at the Embassy, and available to be interviewed if necessary, a good thing in my view as I shall show you later, the ECO did not once ask for me, the decision to grant the visa was purely made on the basis of the Application with the Applicant and her responses.

The Interview

The reason I am able to relate the interview word for word, is that when Gina went on Tuesday at 3pm to collect her Visa, they Embassy I think has made a mistake in that they gave us a full transcript of the Interview and i can reveal the following.

1. The Interviewer now transcribes the Interview and does not write anything, having a PC Available in the Room.
2. The Interviewer also makes a summary of his her opinion on the Applicants Sincerity, and the decision to grant or refuse a visa is arbitrary, and not objective as we had been led to beleive, something of which i find disturbing.

So how did it go...something Like this.


1. Hello Mrs Bennett I understand you have applied in your Maiden name, did you complete this application ?

A Yes i did.

2. Are you fit and well to be interviewed today ?

A Yes I am.

3. Would you prefer the Interview to be completed in your native Language or in English.

A English please.

4. Very well..So this is your application, are the answers contained within this document you have submitted correct ?

A Yes they are.

5. Can you tell me How you first made contact with your husband ?

A I met Peter on Yahoo chatting and we exchanged E Mails.

6. So why were you on the Internet ?

A Just looking for a freind ?

7. Come on, surely you were looking for a husband to get you out of the Philippines were you not ?

A No I was just looking for a nice freind, but yes actually a foreign one.

8. So really then, it would be true to say, you wanted a foreign husband, isnt that the case ?

A Not really, but I suppose I would prefer a foreign husband to my own kind.

9. Why is that ? is it because you want to go to UK For a better life ?

A No I am happy here with my Job as an office Manager I never really thought about the UK in that sense.

10. Come on you can do better than that, is that the real reason, are you really expecting me to beleive that you dont want a better life ?

A. Well everyone does dont they, but as long as I can take care of my husband I will be happy if he lives here in the Philippines.

11. Did your husband ever talk of coming to live with you here in the Philippines ?

A Yes he loves it in my country, but he does not think he could make a living here.

12. I see. so how much does he earn then ?

A He earns xxxxx to xxxxx but he has not earned as much as he has been to see me 4 times last year.

13. When did he propose to you or did you propose to him ?

A He proposed to me in Ilo Ilo City on 12th March 2004.

14. So if i decide to refuse you a visa, what will you do, end your life or something like that (ECO Laughs)

A No actually I will ask my husband to come and live with me, although i think he will never be happy as he cant make the money he makes in UK.

15. So what attracted you to your husband ?

A His qualities

16. Come on you can do better than that, their must be things you can tell me why you were attracted to him ?

Well he is generous, and loving, he is caring, I like his sense of humour, and honest with me, and I trust him.

17. So would you say then that this is the reason you wanted a foreign husband, because that is what you wanted wasnt it ?

A Well not neccessarily a foreign husband, but a husband with those qualities, I always thought British men were like that...


18. Why does your husband not own a house ? oh yes I Can see, he is divorced recently isnt he ?

A Yes he was, he lost the house to the former wife.

19. Oh yes So the ex wife got it all did she (ECO Laughs) ?

A Yes she got it all..but my husband has rented a house for me to live in.

20. Does you husband have family ?

A Yes he does, his Mother is called...xxxx his Father is xxxx his Sister is xxxx and her children are called xxxxxxx.


ECO Says : "Mrs Bennett I am satisfied with your application and your answers, I am happy to grant you a visa, will you please come back tomorrow at 3pm, as it is too late to issue it today, I will then have all your documents returned to you, before you go, were you happy with the style of interview, and how you have been treated today. ?"

A well..its ok

ECO Says: (Laughing) come on, just ok ?

A Well i am happy to receive my visa thank you.

ECO Thank you also...Enjoy the rest of your day.

[ginapeterb]

Entry Clearance Officers' Sumary of Interview and Decision to grant a Visa.


Having Interviewed the Applicant I found her to be presentable and knowledgable of her relationship with Sponsor indicating that the relationship is more than likely to be genuine.

Although the relationship started via Internet the Sponsor has been 4 times to visit in 2004 showing evidence of a short physical relationship, the age difference is acceptable again showing a likelihood that the match is genuine.

Evidence of accomodation and income is more than satisfactory, there are no further checks required.

Sponsor has also travelled from UK For appointment and has submitted a nicely written covering letter denoting a genuine relationship.

I am satisfied that Applicant intends to live with Sponsor indefinately and recommend issuing a 2 year Mutiple Entry Wife category.

My Own Comments


This is the first time I have had sight of a Sumary made by Entry Clearance Officer and as no one else has ever mentioned this on the Forum, can only assume this is a 1st, and that the Embassy has genuinely cocked up by allowing us to see what is actually said.

I can think of the following points when reviewing the ECO's Summary as follows:

1. The ECO's are prejudiced slightly against relationships that have started via yahoo or Dating sites.

2. They are making arbitrary decisions in first instance.

3. They have a Subjective approach to Summarising the Answers.


The above is quite disturbing considering that the ECO is really GOD In this case, and in 15 minutes gets to decide your life course, if the ECO makes a decision that the relationship in his her opinion is not genuine, even though it might be, the interview lives and dies based on the Applicant's skill in convincing the ECO of the genuine situation that is before them.

Therefore i may have been right in the past, when i have recommended that Sponsors actually coach their partners, as i had done continuously with Gina throughout most of 2004, I will also prove that to you, as I did witness a refusal on Monday 6th, and will set out the reasons why.

I think 2 points come out of this on Monday.


1. It is definately in your favour to be in Manila, for the Interview, even if not called upon to attend, which I only saw once, with Kenny, who was asked to come in to be interviewed.

2. It is also good to send in a covering letter with the application, as this was noted in the Summary, plus the fact that the Sponsor has travelled out for the Interview.

3. The Applicant must be strong in her skill to convince the ECO and leave no doubt in his her mind.

4. Income and Accomodation must be spot on.

5. Documentation must be superb.


What an experience, but we have learned so much about what happens..and will put it all to good use..

Thanks for reading guys.

[walesrob]

Very interesting Pete.....As for the Embassy releasing the summary, well its made our job on these forums much easier as we now have an idea of the mindset of the Embassy. Look forward to the CFO report. Elsa got her CFO sorted way before the settlement interview so it was plain sailing....

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by walesrob@Jun 8 2005, 09:39 AM
Very interesting Pete.....As for the Embassy releasing the summary, well its made our job on these forums much easier as we now have an idea of the mindset of the Embassy. Look forward to the CFO report. Elsa got her CFO sorted way before the settlement interview so it was plain sailing....

Quoted post



Yes it does Rob, sadly Kenny's wife was denied a visa, in the end, I found out he was on Income Support, a fact of which he had failed to mentio all day, and his wife could not convince the ECO that she had any skills that the United Kingdom needed.

Incedible but true.

The CFO Experience coming up...and we still havent got it yet.

[ginapeterb]

Stop Press - Our CFO Experience


It was only by chance that we found out, that the CFO at Qurino Towers no longer conducts pre counselling for Filipino Spouses or Fiancees departing the Philippines, i did call them on Monday afternoon only to find that now it is done at the following location.


The Good Shepherd Convent
1043 Aurora Boulevard
Quezon City
Metro Manila.


hahahaha this now presents many of you with problems like you wont beleive, as I will now show.


To get to this venue, hahahaha I wouldnt really call it that, f....shack of a place, sorry I am so mad.

All Foreign Spouses and Fiancees, must now go to this dive to get their CFO Counselling certificate, to enable them to be integrated into cross cultural life. what a joke...


Anyway, this gaff is located high up in Quezon City, nearest MTR Station is Cubao-Araneta, if you are in Makati you need to take a taxi to Ayala Station, then take a train north on MTR3 to Cubao-Araneta station about 30 minutes up the line, except, you are on a first come first served basis, maximum 12 persons in Manila, per session which takes place at 10.00am Tuesdays and Thursdays,

the conselling session is 3 hours, so if you are going, with your loved one, suggest you are prepared to sit out in the hot sun, on wooden shanti benches for 3 hours, kicking around doing nothing better than wiping the sweat off your brow...foreign husbands and partnes, are not allowed in.

Sadly, our passport was in the Embassy, our papers were there also, and it took us 2 hours to get from Makati Avenue to Cubao-Araneta, after we overshot and ended up in Quezon Avenue, what a joke, then we had to double back, and by the time we took a taxi up the road to the place, we were 10 minutes late, guess what......


Come back on Thursday, sorry you have missed out, after having a row with them, which only got me turfed out by the guard, we had to trek all the way back to Makati, my advice is as follows:

Do as Rob did, get the wife to go on her own and do this herself, dont go with her,

1. its too hot
2. its a shithole
3. the place stinks to high heaven
4. the people in the place are stupid
5. Got the picture. get it got it good.


I am arranging for Gina to go to Cebu and complete this, in her own time, when I am back in UK, thankfully I wont be going, and I wont have to sweat my around stinky Quezon city anymore.

Well thats the story.

[peterdavid]

Pete,

This was fascinating. The transcript (which surely must have been a mistake of theirs in releasing it) makes blood-curdling reading.

When my wife got her visa, it was in the days when, for whatever reason, they didn't do interviews for settlement visas, so she never had to go through this. It is really appalling, the tone of the questions they asked (in your transcript) sounds like they address applicants with complete disdain and disrespect. Shocking. And the UK calls itself the developed country! I'm appalled to read how they spoke to Gina, I find it almost as annoying as the CFO nonsense and the NAIA "security guards".

CFO is as big a nightmare now as it was then, I see. It's just a money making scam isn't it. The idea that any of the ignorant a**ewipes who work at the CFO, who have probably never set foot outside Manila, let alone the Philippines, could provide any useful information to an emigrant is utterly laughable. I've never heard of a country which is so backwards it keeps its own citizens prisoners in the country until they have "counselling" to set foot into the world. They'd do better offering the counselling to foreigners who want to ENTER the Philippines, far more of a culture shock than leaving. All they do is tell the filipinas their foreign husband will spend most of his time using her as a second rate punching bag and leaving her to nurse her wounds while he goes off getting w@nkered with his mates. Which may be what happens 75% of the time in Filipino marriages, but thankfully the statistic is far lower here.

An amazing read. I don't suppose you fancy revealing the name of the ECO....? Wasn't a sort of Phil Mitchell look-a-like was it....?

[andypaul]

Hi Pete

Congrats to you both, great articles as always. My Wife recently went to the CFO and found it easy. Little bit tired tonight so will just write basic Details on Manilia CFO.

My wife stayed over night in a nearby hotel which a week later burned down!!!

She took Two large folders with all our details.

She had spoken to the Guard the evening before and he advised to get there between 6 and 7 in the morning.

So she got there nice and early and was number 2 in the queue.

THere was a large group and this worried my Wife but later discovered most were heading for the US or Japan.

Only two others were left for the Uk interview. This for my wife was fairly straight forward as she knew things like my Midddle Name and where i live and what i do etc.

Both while waiting outside and in the office many of the Ladies seemed to be unsure of basic procedure (both the CFO and Marriage) and details about their husbands and where they live etc.

Although the CFO does seem silly in some of the things it says and does to intelligent well informed women. Sadly I think for some Women these so called basic questions and checks have to be asked.

I don't think Gina will have any problems what so ever :D

Apart from ID for getting in to the Buliding all My Wife was asked to show was Photos of us together and our Marriage certificate. But of course Bring all the Paperwork as it could be asked for.

Like you Pete, My Wife and her Tita po were suprised about the new CFO location.

My Wifes Tita while waiting went back to the Hotel untill 12, and then waited at the SM megamall which is nearby the Manila CFO. As Ladies using the CFO can keep their Mobiles with them so at least you can text encouragment to them and they can Phone you if any problems or just need some loving words.


Glad you have achieved obtaining a Visa for your Wife. Im sure from what I have read and learned about you two that leaving the CFO to your Wife is best. I guess like me you will have a sleepless night back in the UK.

[peterdavid]

Nothing to worry about in the CFO, they don't/can't refuse anyone, and even if they did, 200 pesos would soon sort that out.

It is maddeningly frustrating though isn't it.

None of the filipinos would need a "counselling programme" before leaving that dump of a country if the corrupt lowlifes in government actually provided their electorate with something even vaguely resembling a half decent education, instead of robbing their country blind at the expense of the average victim filipino who is forced to live there. Supposedly "free" government schools still force the children's parents to pay for things they have no right asking for, and refuse to pass the children in their exams if the parents don't pay (including paying for a nice large present for the teacher's birthday). So the average dirt poor filipino whose parents can only just about scrape enough money together for rice has no chance. Sickening.

CFO is just an irrelevant money making scam. So the wife will get the stamp in her passportand be suitably informed about life in 1970s Britain.

And definitely, let the wife sort it out on her own, Pete's absolutely correct. Like the Embassy, they have about as much respect for the spouse as they would a rabid dog and, despite refusing you entry, provide absolutely NO waiting facilities whatsoever. Charming isn't it, considering the foreign husband is no doubt the one paying for this useless scam, not to mention the phenomenal cost of a visa at the Embassy's suspiciously overpriced exchange rate.

[Admin]

When Ping went for her interview in Singapore in 1999 I made sure I was there, I've always also supplied a cover note of at least 2 pages, always do with anything regarding the goverment/wife, including when she needs to contact the Immigration in the UK. IT HELPS.

The interviewer in Singapore wasn't as biased as Gina's, and I've always said, if your already in another country as a maid, etc, apply from that country, don't go back to the Philippines.

At the end of Pings interview the guy actually called me in, thanked me for coming all the way from the UK, told me the visa was granted, and we then had a bit of a laugh over a few things British!!

Also the letters file Ping took in was around 1.5 inches thick and he only flicked through it.

On the application form, always write more than actually fits in the boxes, and continue on a new piece of paper, it looks good as you've put work into it to show you really are bothered.

OK, enough of being serious.....I'm off to Mars.... :P

[peterdavid]

Whoops - maybe I wasn't clear - foreverything else, yes, always be with the missus, especially embassy interview.

The only one that doesn't matter is the CFO whether you're there or not.

Pete - Gina changing her passport to her married name is a simple process - go to the DFA direct and they'll do it, I think you get it back the next day. DFA is actually surprisingly easy, they'll basically give a passport or amend it, etc, for anyone providing you've got an NSO document. Its just getting through the throngs of touts/fake agents/squatters outside that is the hard part which puts everyone off. But if you ignore them, and especially ignore any one who tells you he works for the DFA and you need to go to this special side office, no matter how genuine he looks (they never are, although they are often bribing the security guards to back them up - if they do, just tell them you know exactly what you need to do, show them you've got the docs and go on in), then once you're inside it's relatively straightforward (for the Philippines, anyway, meaning still completely backward compared to the modern world, but much better than the CFO).

Although now she's got the visa, don't bother changing her passport name - UK will stop her coming on that technicality.

[Admin]

You'll have to change teh passport name back here.

Phil Embassy charged Ping £40, and then the UK Immigration charged her £250 to restamp the Visa.....legal theft!! B)

[ginapeterb]

[B]Summary of the Whole Process[/B


Thank you guys for all the messages of support, I had already resisted the temptation to call at the DFA and change Gina's passport into our married name, as I didnt want any further hold ups, in truth, I am pretty exhausted and tired, from being in the Philippines, and if it was not for Gina wanting me to stay on until the agreed departure date, i would have left to come back to UK earlier.

I have had so many rows out here with Filipino's and vented my anger at them, that Gina is saying I am starting to mutter under my breath, things like..F...Wan###ers and the like.

The CFO is I agree with all of you, highly reprehensible, from what I can gather and of course non of us, have actually sat in on a couselling session, we can only take the advices of our spouses/fiancee's who have witnessed it, stories of bad press, beer swilling, wife beating, white slavery, etc etc, is really the subjective views of them as such.

What i would like, is the opportunity of seeing for myself first hand the counselling sessions carried out at the CFO..plus an opportunity of seeing the Videos that are shown about UK Life.

What I have heard lately, is only peices of a jigsaw, if I was able to see it for myself I could then make an objective assessment of how damaging to our culture and national pride these counselling sessions make.

With regard to the British Embassy, it is my intention once Gina has legally arrived in the UK to make representation to the British Ambassador, Peter Beckingham and copy the letter to the Foreign and Commonwealth office, at my concern regarding the visa interview process, in the following manner.

1. The Unprofessional Time Keeping situation in Manila at the Embassy.
2. My Concerns over the In Built prejudices that prevail among Entry Clearance Officers at the Embassy.
3. The Subjective overview of relationships between Filipino Citizens and British Citizens.
4. The Subjective approach to Gender male/female balance.
5. The Lack of facilities for visiting British Citizens.
6. The Absence of the Symbol of the Union (No Union Jack displayed)


Following this letter, I would also like to suggest that I write also to

Dr Alberto Romulo
Minister for Foreign Affairs at the DFA


I would also like to summarise my CFO Experience to the Minister directly, and suggest how the service might be improved for foreign spouses in the future, for example.

1. Lack of Information for Foreign Spouses
2. No Information leaflets given at the Foreign Embassy,s which would have been a major advantage.
3. Location of Seminar's i.e. Infrastructure location, difficulty travelling, traffic problems, treatment of Foreign Husbands.
4. Attitude of Staff, refusal to show a complaints procedure.
5. Offensive nature of counselling to foreign Husbands.
6. Subjective and stereo-typing Foreign spouses.
7. General dissatisfaction with need for Philippine Government to interfere in the trans-migration of its own citizens (i.e. Nanny State)


If anyone wants to support me in this, you never know, it may register that we are indeed fed up with their attitude, they might just look at it seriously, secondly, i am also intending to mention in my letter to Peter Beckingham, to ask him to raise concerns with the Minister regarding the negative approach to the UK taken by the Philippine Governments DFA.

I intend to write these letters later on when I return, but for now, will bite my tongue until Gina is safely in UK, I dont want a situation of her being held at the airport on suspicous grounds.

Its a thought anyway.

[ginapeterb]

This was fascinating. The transcript (which surely must have been a mistake of theirs in releasing it) makes blood-curdling reading.

Hello Peter, yes it does make disturbing reading indeed, what I didnt tell you all is that Gina was so angry with the interview, although I tried to calm her at the hotel, telling her the following obvious points.

1. You have the visa regardless.
2. They are just doing their job.
3. There was no reason to refuse you a visa.
4. They would have had to show compelling reasons why they could not issue a visa.
5. The ECO already told you, he would grant a visa regardless of how you felt about the interview.
6. Its over, dont worry, and you will never have to go in front of those wa....kers ever again.

The point that comes out of the Interview transcript, which I will display eventually as a scanned item on my website at www.british-filipino.com, (where I intend to write more pages regarding the interview and photos for future applicants). back to the main points.

The question "So really then you were just looking for a foreign husband, is that to give you a better life" or words to that effect, came up at least 3 times, rather like the ECO or ECHO as Gina calls them, this indicates they are trying to ensure that this isnt th case, to those who are in genuine love matches, this notion is highly offensive sadly as we all know, the bad filipina stories make it so much harder for the genuine situations.

Even if that were true and I would sympathise with that situation it would have been nice to have been given the benefit of the doubt.

instead of the ECO saying in his summary

"The applicant appears to be genuine, and their is a strong likelihood that she will live with the sponsor indefinately"

hmmmmm thanks mate !!!!


and "Sponsor has had a short phyiscal relationship" hmmmm how do you know pal ???


Peter as far as the ECO's name is concerned I dont have the transcript with me at the Internet cafe today, but hopefully I will be able to refer to his interview in my letter to Peter Beckingham who is the Current Ambassador.

What also makes me mad, and this will be pointed out to the Ambassador, is that in all likelihood my wife will work in the UK Economy immedeatly on arrival subject to a settling in period, she holds a current licence to practice as a Med Tech, and has a Batchelor of Science in Medical Technology, and a CV as long as your arm, so she will no doubt contribute to the economy by paying taxes, something of which escapes the ECO's summary.

And finally Peter in fact all of you.."What constitutes a better life "?

I would love to take issue with the Ambassador about that one ! and bring his nose a bit closer to the ground, better life..hmmm thats normally when I come to the Philippines isnt it ??

The Transcript makes a worrying read I agree, but I think we will be able to do little to change their in built prejudices, and I suppose PETER I am thankful just to get our visa and bring this road show to a close at least for us.

But I am looking forward to being available to help anyone else who has to go through this in the future along with everyone here at FilipinoUK.

[walesrob]

I think Pete raises valid points here, and its clear that there needs to be a change of attitude from Embassy staff.

Looking back now, I realised also that the Embassy is very user un-friendly, not only from the way Elsa was interviewed but the little things like not being allowed to talk to Embassy staff in person myself (instead of using a phone at the downstairs lobby :angry: - what a way to treat people in their own Embassy), even spelling my name and Elsas name wrong on the Legal Capacity to Marraige AND getting Elsas name wrong when they notified her that the visa was ready (they used the name Mr E Luff :angry: ). Clearly these Embassy staff are a law unto themselves, but we gotta lie down and say yes sir, no sir, how high sir...

For people like me and Pete and others who married in the Philippines and went through the nightmare of a process in getting the NSO secpa, NSO seminar, etc, and this to be questioned by the ECO at the interview to me is highly unfair.

[peterdavid]

Hi Pete,

I've had plenty of experiences at the Embassy over the years over blatant rudeness, and quite frankly, an utter disrespect for the people from the Embassy, both towards filipinas in general, but on occasion also to myself. Embassy officials tell all sorts of lies and make all sorts of mistakes, and, on one ocasion when my wife called them up on it, they tried to discredit her by saying, firstly, an ECO would never make a mistake(!) (yeah right, a civil servant, hmmm....), then when that didn't work they said that obviously my wife's (fluent) english isn't good enough and she either misheard or didn't understand English, as if she was some tribal native straight out of the jungle. This was all about the correct time to drop off some mostly irrelevant piece of information to the Embassy or some such, I can't remember the exact reason we were there now.

It was at that point that I stepped in to point out that I was also a party to the conversation my wife was referring to and the facts as she had relayed them were entirely accurate. The visa section manager (she no longer works there now as far as I know, but her name was Karen Finch) then told me "I find that very hard to believe"!!

I point blank refused to leave the Embassy until they had taken the document they had specifically asked us to bring in (they were saying we could only bring it in at a certain day/time and did not like it when we informed them that when we were asked to bring it in, no-one told us it had to be at this date or time. In the end, she conceded defeat, albeit most ungracefully, and, unbelievably, said that she'll take it, but she can't guarantee its safety on its journey from where she was standing talking to us now, to the point THREE FEET AWAY where she would need to place it in the intray or whatever. I was astounded at the rudeness and appalled at the indirect threat that she would deliberately 'lose' it because it wasn't handed in at the exact correct minute (which we were never informed about anyway). She clearly didn't like having to 'give in' and was no doubt annoyed that she found herself speaking to someone who knew what he was talking about.

We pay a fortune for this visa PROCESS (and it is the process we are paying for, not the outcome), and in return they should be providing a level of service commensurate with the significant size of the fee they force you to pay.

I had the same thoughts of letters of complaint (at the time Paul Dimmond was the ambassador, has he left now??), but then you have to get though UK immigration, then you have to do your 2 year renewal - there's always something that makes you think "hmm, maybe we'll leave it for a while".

But that is just one example of rudeness we have experienced (there are many others). It's disgusting. Makes you ashamed to be British when our representatives there, WHO WE PAY FOR, treat their host nation with such contempt and disrespect.

Like you, I also bristle at their assumption that the whole world is just clawing to get in to the UK. How arrogant, prejudiced, and WRONG.

Their style of questionning of Gina was appaling as well. I don't even know but it still makes me furious. I know they have to establish the facts, but a trained monkey with half a brain cell would have the intelligence to learn how to ask open ended questions, in a respectful way, which would allow the applicant to trip herself up (if she wasn't genuine), rather than badgering and pestering everyone, assuming they are all money grabbing bargirls waiting to get in and disappear, and trying to wear her down like that. Where do they think they are, Guantanamo?

As for writing to the CFO or DFA, I'd say save your pen ink. You've seen how poorly the Philippines treats 'foreigners' - their ridiculous, suicidal and misplaced 'national pride' is strangling their country into bankruptcy anyway. They'd probably take a measure of 'national pride' at the DFA to receive a letter from an irate foreigner who they've managed to inconvenience and annoy. Don't give them the satisfaction.

I spent most of my final year in the Philippines muttering quite loudly about corruption, backwards, stupid, etc (it really was time for me to leave, 3 years s more than enough, lol), when faced with the sort of nonsense the Philippines is full of. By that point, my wife was pretty much westernised, her eyes had been opened about how backward the country really is, and she would be the first one telling dumb, corrupt officials what her rights are and telling them what they can and can't do. It didn't half surprise them, one of their own with the independence and intelligence to call them to account for their incompetence and corruption, rather than just being a subservient little filipina who cowered in the face of officialdom.

Can fully understand the Embassy letter, but on the cautious side, be careful not to give them any ammunition to change their minds. As you've seen, a subjective whim and a deluded sense of power is all it takes with them.

[Admin]

It's strange that when I went with the wife to the Immigration centre in Liverpool, they ensured we understood everything, clearly stated where & when we should be, and went out of there way to be polite & helpful. You'd think it was a differnent country, when in fact the UK Embassy in the Philippines is still technically in the UK!!

I call the way they do RACISM, and I'll take this further. Time to find out if my new Tory MP can out do the good work the Labour MP done for me. I don't care what party they are, as long as they prove their worth.

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by admin@Jun 10 2005, 11:25 AM
It's strange that when I went with the wife to the Immigration centre in Liverpool, they ensured we understood everything, clearly stated where & when we should be, and went out of there way to be polite & helpful. You'd think it was a differnent country, when in fact the UK Embassy in the Philippines is still technically in the UK!!

I call the way they do RACISM, and I'll take this further. Time to find out if my new Tory MP can out do the good work the Labour MP done for me. I don't care what party they are, as long as they prove their worth.

Quoted post


I agree Keith, I do consider the UK Embassy in Manila's approach and treatment of filipinos quite racist (although, to be fair, it's probably about the same as they way filipino officialdom treats foreigners). The difference is that the Embassy is a guest in the Philippine country. And, you would expect them to know better, especially when they spend all their time crowing on about how life in the UK is "so much better".

And I'm not surprised that HO officials in the UK display a quite different attitude. I think it's just very easy (although in no way excusable) that embassy staff sent to a remote outpost like Manila (which is considered one of the utterly un-glamorous postings to get which they all try and avoid) soon forget about 'political correctness' and start displaying the most contemptible behaviour which they would never be allowed to display in either the UK OR in an Embassy in a developed country. Compare the difference in attitude of Embassy staff in Manila with those in the UK Embassy in the US. You think they speak to an American the way they speak to a filipino? Do they .......s. Even the Singapore UK Embassy (being in a first world country) displays a better, professional attitude. It is very, disappointingly, a racist approach, not, I don't think, due to the inherent racism of the staff there, but more to do with a creeping resentment built uip over the years of simply living in the Philippines. But then these are supposedly professional people - they are paid to leave their bigoted prejudices behind when they enter the paid employ of the Embassy, regardless of where they got them from or how accurate they are, and follow the rules objectively, dispassionately and, above all, without prior prejudice, but based only on the facts in front of them.

Quote from an Embassy ECO to me several years ago: "The corruption in this country is so endemic, nothing surprises me here", referring to some of the things (he claimed) have been put in front of him to support visa applications. He therefore approaches every visa appliation with a large dose of heavy cynicism, mistrust and disbelief, and essentially waits for them to (a) prove they're not corrupt or fake BEFORE they (b ) prove they satisfy the visa criteria. In fact, an applicant SHOULD only need to do (b ).

But, stuck out there well away from the centre of things, they can and do get away with behaviour which, quite simply, would result in disciplinary action if they did it back here. There's no comeback, no need to fear a disciplinary response. If anyone complains, well, "they're only a filipino" and, as they reject 90% of all applications, they can hide behind the excuse of "they're just a filipino with an axe to grind because he didn't get a visa", neatly avoiding the fact that the visa process itself is thoroughly flawed and operated by people whose competence is well below par.

On the other hand, I suppose you could say that it is filipinos alone who reduced their country to the pitiful state it is today with rampant corruption which means most developed countries look on them with suspicion because the Philippines has managed to give itself the unenviable reputation of being one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and therefore they only have themselves to blame. Unfortunately, this means that the individual filipino is punished by the crimes of his collective countrymen. It's not right, it's not fair, and no doubt it encourages even the most upstanding of filipinos to consider a corrupt way forward when it is the ONLY way forward left to them. Vicious circle.

But still, you would have hoped that a supposedly modern, first world country, with the experience of an empire across the world and whose (retrospective) vision for it was to modernise the world, would try a little harder to push past their own bigoted prejudices and treat even the poorest and most imappropriate filipino applicant with at least a modicum of respect. Anything less simply degrades the Embassy, and us, who pay for it. If that's how they treat filipinos, who are they to sneer at them for their own mistreatment of each other and foreigners?

[ginapeterb]

Hello Guys,


Yes I have read all your comments this morning whilst killing time here down at the SM.

Whilst taking time to think carefully I agree it is better not to write any letters as yet, Peter quite rightly points out, Gina's visa is only a 2 year temporary residency, it could be revoked mysteriously.

Secondly, she is not in UK as yet, although I suspect whether I write to the Embassy or not, my letter will receive the polite brush off, the last time I e mailed the Embassy about another matter i.e. LCM I did not even get a reply.

Thirdly I dont want to create any problems for Gina leaving the Philippines, as she is booked next Friday to attend for her Pre-Arrival and cross cultural Counselling at the CFO in Cebu, its probably better if she does not attend the Good Shepherd Convent again, as I kind of muddied the waters for her there, with the following:

"You could dress a monkey up and put it in here, and you would get a better response out of it like .....ugrh ugrh grrrr grrrr oooh oooh oooh

" This place is not the third world...its f.....disney world"

It does not change the fact that its true to say that my wife now has her visa, I am thankful for that, I don't know why, but there was a sense of eletion and eurphoria, just knowing that we were approved ! you all know what I mean, although Gina's approval was dampened personally for her, by the interview style, she didnt come down the embassy steps bouncing with joy as I had suspected she would, in fact she looked rather subdued, almost indicating a refusal.

There are many things I do love about the Philippines, but as you all know, I detest its institutions of Government, the endless security checks for no apparent reason, the endless queueing for bits of paper, and rididiculous state interference in every aspect of life.

I spoke to a German guy this week, who was telling me, he has lived here for 3 years, cant get a bank account, cant get a telephone in his name, cant get this or that, he has had countless arguments with them, and is sick and tired to the back teeth of the way that foreign nationals are treated.

I told Gina that in truth, the way that the Philippines is viewed in the Western World is that its is a collection of insignificant islands known for crime, poverty and immense corruption, and this national filipino pride thing is rotten to the core, (go to the Philippine news section and read my latest letter from the Philippines by P Bennett) it makes good reading.

but thanks for all your support, tomorrow I am flying home to our country, you know guys sometimes we complain about UK, but I love our country, its not perfect, but its worlds apart to here, I miss it, and will be happy to be home, see you all on Monday the 13th, flying tomorrow 23.55 Emirates arriving UK 12.30pm Monday.

Best wishes

[andypaul]

I think you have made the right decision Pete.

To easy to act now and regret for ever more actions made to rashly.


Hope You have a safe Journey back to the UK.

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by andypaul@Jun 11 2005, 07:26 PM
I think you have made the right decision Pete.

To easy to act now and regret for ever more actions made to rashly.
Hope You have a safe Journey back to the UK.

Quoted post



thank you for that, I am now safely back in UK, arrived this afternoon at around 3pm local, got my car from Q Park and arrived back home for about 5pm, to 3 ton of letters, tired out, so will ge going to bed soon to get some shut eye, however first let me give you all my trip back experience, it makes good reading.


Pete's Trip From the Provinces to London

I just had to relate this story, as it typifies the Philippines, after staying in the Business Inn for several days, I was rather getting tired of paying P20.00 to the Migos who constantly hang around, when I got to thinking, hey maybe its a conspiracy to get me to tip them, someone has fixed the door so we cant open it, but as soon as the Migos turn up, the door suddenly opens, everytime Gina and i go to the room door to our matrimonial suite, it will not open no matter how hard we try to open it.

Every time one of the cleaners (Amigos) turn up, I slip them P20.00 to do it, and suprise suprise the door opens, but its been days before I started to think just maybe we are being duped, after all Filipinos are ingenious when it comes to finding ways of extracting money.

Anyway thats a after thought, I showed up at 6pm at Bacolod City's "airport" hehe, if you could call it that, Philippine Airlines has the best "terminal" hmmm again if you could be forgiven for thinking it resembles something out of the Dogs of War movie starring Tom Berenger and Christopher Walken, you know the one, the Republic of Zangaro.

However, let us be fair about this, the flight was checked for 7pm that evening, after being officially delayed for 1 hour, was it on time, oh no it wasnt, oh yes it was they say, oh no it wasnt said the passengers, of yes it was said the staff of PAL.

We will have to beg to differ, the plane eventually left at 8pm, remembering of courrse I had to check in at Terminal 1 NAIA for 9pm, that clearly was not going to happen, as we did not arrive into terminal 2 until 9.20pm, however we were not able to leave the terminal as someone had taken the wrong bag, and the endless bods outside who represent Manila's hundreds of security firms, were in their element, everyone had to wait, until the guilty party had confessed to his or her sins and returned the wrong bag....someone also claimed that their box of pastries had gone missing, the country naturally comes to a stop when this happens.

Finally I went outside in the 35 degree heat looking for an airport taxi, first I had to go and receive a taxi coupon which is taken from the Taxi office half a mile away, then proceed to the unloading area, where I was directed to pay the driver, exepting the driver could not accept the payment as he said..he had to drive out of the terminal to the car park, in the next block, there the taxi office was, and I had to pay the P115.00 there, naturally the taxi driver expected his own personal tip, of some P80.00

After dropping me off at Terminal 1 I managed to join the queue to enter the aiport, after showing my passport, ID UK Driving licence photocard type, ticket, boarding cards, etc, and Mothers picture I was allowed to go in and deposit my bag on the outer conveyor.

This was scrutinized but they then held me up as they wanted to know what was in the 3 bottles I had with me, the 3 bottles contained different types of Steak Sauce, I was then asked to confirm what was in..so i said.

Bottle number 1 has A1 Rich and Hearty Steak Sauce
Bottle number 2 has Tang and sour Steak Sauce
Bottle number 3 has Smokey Barbecue Steak Sauce.

Then I was allowed to proceed through to the Emirates Check in desk, where I joined the most gigantic queue of Overseas Filipino workers you have ever seen, it took almost 1 hour to get checked in, then we were security checked again, this was check no 3...CONTD TOMORROW FOLKS, AFTER MY JET LAG IS OVER.

[ginapeterb]

Its now 7.14am and the jet lag is still working its tricks on my body clock, I have been up since 5.30am, washed showered, shampooed and not breakfasted as no milk, no anything actually...

Well on with my experience, after going through security check number 3, I finally was given my seat on Emirates, seat number 39D incidentally, I had to beg for an Aisle seat, dont know why, but I got it, going through to the terminal fee section was laughable, since the queue was about a hundred feet long as well, having got through this section eventually, and bypassing the streams and streams of OCW's I got to the food court section, and met up with another English Guy who shall be nameless.

I said to him "How its going mate" as you do...he looked at me and said !"Why ?"

I said well this conversation isnt going far...he then proferred this to me

"Just brought wife back, she dont like it in Retford, so she has come back, and will stay here now in the Phils"

"So I said, oh so whats happening with yourself"

"Oh I will go home, sup to her, if she dont like it..she can stay here"

That was the end of that conversation, fortunately I then met up with a guy from Newcastle on Tyne, denoted by his Toon Army Black and white striped shirt, a dead giveaway dont you think, and we chatted for almost an hour, finally it was time to go to the gate, and we then had to go through security check number 4, this involved putting everything you own into a box, I was then asked to remove my belt, at wich I complained, as in the last 3 security checks they had not asked for this, some Korean travellers going through to the Korean flight to Inchon, were also complaining about this, they looked at me and nodded in agreement, after going through the 3rd X Ray machine, we finally headed for the next section, a full body search, Security Check no 5.

Security Check No5 was a joke, of course having to stand on a wooden box and have your legs stroked by some pimple faced Filipino, grinning from ear to ear, looking like a jaffa eating a sweet potatoe...uttering the words "Policy Sir," "Policy Sir"

Oh the new one now is this "For your safety sir", have they been to Tesco Stores recently ??

Then its down the escalator to the gate, no another Security Check, this time Filipino private security firms, checking our boarding passes against our passports, Secufity Check no 6.

And then downwards even more finally to the departure gate, and its Security Check no 7,

A Full body searched yet again, just to check that Security Check no 5. hadnt made a mistake and you were carrying a bomb in your trouser pocket.

Well finally at 00.30 hours, we were allowed to board the aircraft, but it does teach you..if you fly to the Philippines, be prepared for endless security checks, checks on top of more checks, document checks, paper trails galore.

That completes that..but geeeeze I am glad to be back

[walesrob]

Welcome home Pete...hope you have got over the jetlag, it normally takes me a week to get back to reality. Sorry to hear about your experience at the airport - the sooner the new one opens the better (it should have opened 22nd June, BUT its the Philippines remember) :D

Not long till July 12th when Gina arrives ...then the fun begins ;)

[ginapeterb]

At least you have the sheep over there in the valleys, boyo...ohhhhhhhh lovely sheep..and when you drive up and down the vale of Glamorgan, or West Wales..I bet those sheep were a welcome sight were they not boyo ! Good morning campers ! hehehehehehe we dont have no sheep here in Sunny Essex,

[Admin]

Watch it Pete, your outnumbered & surrounded by us sheep folk :P

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by admin@Jun 16 2005, 08:01 AM
Watch it Pete, your outnumbered & surrounded by us sheep folk :P

Quoted post


Yes I can just imagine you lot driving to Blaneau Ffestiniog, although at least you have Snowdonia, scenery is excellent I agree with you, Keith have you taken Ping to Snowdonia yet, I know there are lots of sheep there she can see ! and that area around North Wales is very nice, I want to show Gina some of the nicest scenic spots in our country, I thought of Snowdonia, the Lakes, Then maybe the Cotswolds, then also Devon, and in the future maybe north of the border to the Lochs, the Isle of Skye is quite nice also, lots of cascading water falls, and mountains, the Lochs that border the Isle of Skye are very serene, no people around, but it rains like hell, and blows, I would like to see a Filipina on Loch Ness what do you say to that boys ? (Rob ? Boyo) or should we go to the Swansea Valley Rob ?

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 16 2005, 12:02 PM
or should we go to the Swansea Valley Rob ?

Quoted post


Hey Boyo, you know the Swansea Valley is in the middle of a massive re-generation...my brother runs a mountain bike centre near Port Talbot and its fast becoming a "must do" for mountain bikers and it attracts bikers from all over the world - from USA to Japan. If however your not a mountain biker nearby theres always the Gower Peninsula, Tenby beach, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Dan Yr Ogof caves. Theres even the Museum Of Egyptian Antiquities in Swansea itself. And where did Catherine Zeta Jones, Dylan Thomas, Richard Burton and Bonnie Tyler come from? Correct - The Swansea Valley. Plus the beautiful green and lush countryside you wont find in London :P

[ginapeterb]

Thats that point Rob, I absolutely agree with you, tthe Pembrokeshire National Park is excellent, that coast line down there in Pembroke is nice and worth a visit, just look at some of those headlands, down in Tintagel in Cornwall, there is a fantastic headland overlooking the Atlantic, where you and your Pinoy can sit and enjoy the most amazing views, as you look down to the small inlet coves below, another great place is Boscastle, although that needs to be cleared up a little after the storms and floods but there is not a harbour like it anywhere, and excellent place to swim, Polperro is also a great example of a 17th century cornish fishing village, again nothing like it in the Philippines...so there is lots to do with your Pinoy wife, come on guys, lets show them the works...hehehehe

[Admin]

You can always do a visit of all the UK racetracks :) Carlisle on a wet & windy Winter day, they love it :rolleyes:

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 16 2005, 04:55 PM
there is a fantastic headland overlooking the Atlantic, where you and your Pinoy can sit and enjoy the most amazing views,

Quoted post


Errr...that'll be PinAY....unless of course you're sitting on the opposite side of the church.... :)

[Admin]

OY, AY U....now that's scouse :)

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Jun 16 2005, 07:46 PM
Errr...that'll be PinAY....unless of course you're sitting on the opposite side of the church.... :)

Quoted post



Geeeeeze ok, I got it wrong, whats the problem ? so I made a gramtical error, I wish you guys would just tryy for once to be a little more objective in your posts, constant p...taking does nothing to enhance the cultural side of the Forum, apart from that, Philippine readers do not understand our sense of constant p...taking in any event....Pinoy Pinay ok, ok, assume then that

1. I am not Homosexual.
2. Its most likely that since Gina got a visa to come to UK, its almost likely that my partner is female.
3. In that event you uderstood that my post referred to a female sitting with me on the Cornish headlands, and not a ladyboy, as my post might have inferred.

And in any event , should I wish to have been sitting on the Cornish Headland cuddling up to my partner, its a free country, well almost, and if I wished to sit with a ladyboy, that is my privilidge, as it happens, she is not a ladyboy, but I understand you lot, she might have been, or is it him ? he might have been ? the Philippines is full of ladyboys, so I can understand you needing to see the correct pronounciation, my mistake it wont happen again.

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 17 2005, 07:47 AM
Geeeeeze ok, I got it wrong, whats the problem ? so I made a gramtical error, I wish you guys would just tryy for once to be a little more objective in your posts, constant p...taking does nothing to enhance the cultural side of the Forum, apart from that, Philippine readers do not understand our sense of constant p...taking in any event....Pinoy Pinay ok, ok, assume then that

1. I am not Homosexual.
2. Its most likely that since Gina got a visa to come to UK, its almost likely that my partner is female.
3. In that event you uderstood that my post referred to a female sitting with me on the Cornish headlands, and not a ladyboy, as my post might have inferred.

And in any event , should I wish to have been sitting on the Cornish Headland cuddling up to my partner, its a free country, well almost, and if I wished to sit with a ladyboy, that is my privilidge, as it happens, she is not a ladyboy, but I understand you lot, she might have been, or is it him ? he might have been ? the Philippines is full of ladyboys, so I can understand you needing to see the correct pronounciation, my mistake it wont happen again.

Quoted post


Ok, keep your hair on. No need to throw all your toys out the pram... :)

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Jun 19 2005, 10:20 AM
Ok, keep your hair on. No need to throw all your toys out the pram... :)

Quoted post


No it was a matter of me spitting my dummy out ""

[Admin]

His pining for his sweetheart, so his hormones are like that of a teenager at the moment. As we say in Liverpool 'Calm Down, Calm Down' :P :lol:

[ginapeterb]

Well as many of you know, now I can talk openly as Gina and I landed back in UK in the early hours of Sunday Morning, after a 13 hour flight back from Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific decided to lay on an Airbus A340-300 which suprised me, considering, we had a 747-400 just from NAIA to Hong Kong, I found the flight to be a little cramped, but having said that we got back in 1 peice, and arrived home this morning at 2am, its been a hectic day, as I have been showing Gina around a few things, but I really wanted to report on the usual British Embassy experiences, so here it is.

I had kept it fairly secret from the Forum, as I had my own reasons, but back on the 6th June, Gina had already had her Settlement Visa wife category 2 years, issued that day, and many of you will remember that experience, which is fairly well documented in the Forum, under this thread.

What was not commonly known, (and forgive me for not letting on, I had my reasons), is that Gina's visa had been revoked on the 1st July 2005, but first let me tell you how this happened.

Back on the 6th June when the original visa was issued, Gina had planned to submit her resignation over a 4 week period, this would of course allowed her employers to recruit a new office Manager and Gina could then train up the new recruit, this was ok in principal, but it did kind of put some irritation my way, as I had wanted to leave the country, sadly, we decided not to do the CFO counselling, until about 2 weeks later, this would have been ok, around the 18th June, Gina was in Cebu at the Pre-Arrival counselling for UK, when the Embassy called, the caller was our good freind Oscar (for many of you who may not know of Oscar, he is the visa information desk officer at the British Embassy, Paul has alluded to him in the past, I know him quite well now also, he can be quite helpful, and does things to help, that our own civil servants do not do, its useful to keep on his good side).

Oscar called Gina on the 18th June and asked her to send her passport back, as their was quote "Something wrong with the visa details" this was of course a complete lie, however we do not suggest for a moment that Oscar is the liar, in fact we beleive the entry clearance officer, Ben Croucher, (who can be named now - is also no longer at the Manila Embassy) he is the liar, he lied or fabricated a story to obtain the passport back, his intention we now know was to cancel the visa and carry out a further interview, I was surprised to receive a call from Gina in UK, at first we thought it was a hoax, however when we traced back the number, we realized it was not, and that it was a genuine call from the Embassy, I asked Gina then to fly from Cebu to Manila, and she did so the following day, of course, thte flight from Cebu to Manila on Cebu Pacific involved me shelling out a further £30.00.

Once Gina arrived at the Embassy the following morning, she asked to see the ECO Ben Croucher, when he eventually came out, he said the following :

"I have reason to beleive that your marriage to your sponsor is invalid, I would need to see evidence that your sponsor is in fact free to marry you"

Gina immedeatly said the following " You have already seen the Divorce Decreee Absolute, and I have evidence in the form of the interview transcript from the 6th june 2005, to prove that you have seen it "

Ben Croucher then said " I have nothing on the file to show that this is true, we did not take any photocopies"

This is of course a complete lie, as the reason he had nothing on file, is because they had given us all the photocopies back, it was only because the Embassy had received a third party letter from my former wife, that an allegation was made, to suggest I was not free to marry.

Ben Croucher said "I need to re-interview you again, but I am unable to do so, without your sponsors Divorce Decree Absolute, I cannot see you until this Friday, or the following Friday on the 1st July 2005"

Gina said " Well my husband now has the papers, he had left on the 13th June 2005, and had gone back to UK to work"

An appointment was made for 10.00am on the 1st July 2005, I then had to send the documents back to Gina via Fedex at a cost of £35.00 so now we have costs of £60.00 for flights, £30.00 for hotels, £35.00 for Fedex, and a further £60.00 for return flights from Bacolod City to Manila, so far we are in the realms of £185.00 in additional expenses, all because of an ECO filing mistake.

On the 1st July 2005, this is how it went.


Ben Croucher: Do you have the Divorce Decree Absolute ?

Gina: Yes here it is.

Ben Croucher: Ok I will have to photocopy it, thank you, now I am able to interview you.
It has come to my attention that your sponsors ex wife, has written to the
embassy saying that your sponsor cannot support you, as he has her to support
I would need to see details of your husbands income and outgoings, and any
liabilities to his former wife.

Ben Croucher: Why did your husband divorce his 1st wife ?

Gina: I am not at liberty to discuss his former marriage, but I do know the details.

Ben Croucher: Can you give me an idea ?

Gina: My husband became fed up with being used for money !
and his step children were indifferent to him, and other matters I cannot discuss
at this meeting.

Ben Croucher: Oh what a baby !! Whats the matter with your husband ? didnt he get enough
attention then ?

Gina: I think you are over simplifying his relationship with his former wife?

Ben Croucher: I think your husband has made a mess of your life ?

Gina: My husband has not, we are happy together and intend to support each other.


Ben Croucher: But I have evidence here, your husband has financial liabilities, he has made
a mess of your life, why did you marry him ? he has not much to offer you !


Gina:: I marry my husband because he asked me, and I love him, we can work out
things together.

Ben Croucher: Hmmm you did not tell me in your interview of the 6th June 2005, that your
husband has liabilities to his son, is it because you thought you would be
refused a visa ?

Gina: No, you did not ask me about my husbands liabilities to his son, it was
documented in the original application, I thought you had noted it.

Ben Croucher: No, you should have told me about it, I think you didnt tell me about it, because
you just wanted a visa, isnt that the case ?

Gina: No, you told me you would grant a visa, why should I withhold anything ?

Ben Croucher: (looks at passport, points with finger to visa stamp) you just wanted this didnt
you, to get you to UK, you were not truthfuil in your interview ?

Gina: I was truthful in my interview and answered all the questions you asked me, I
cannot answer questions that you do not ask ?


Ben Croucher: Well before I can progress this further, I need you to produce the doucments
listed on this letter, if you produce them, I think it will be ok, you have 6
months to produce them.


Letter from Embassy stated the following:


1. Evidence of your Sponsors schedule of payments to the CSA.

2. Bank Statements for June and July 2005.

3. Evidence of Clean Break Settlement between sponsor and former wife.



The passport was then returned to Gina with her visa cancelled and annotated as follows:

"CANCELLED WITHOUT PREJUDICE"


This of course truly devastated us, but it took the best part of 11 weeks, before I was able to return to the Philippines, I had intended this time to attend the Embassy with Gina, and the visit was planned for the 27th August 2005.

When I arrived on Saturday 27th, the following Monday was a bank holiday here in the UK, and the Embassy was closed, so our first visit was on Tuesday the 28th at 9am.


British Embassy Manila - Visit 28th August 2005 at 9am.


The British Embassy is becoming one of the most difficult places to gain entry to, so after taking some very serious advice from peterdavid (paul) we hatched a plan to get me in the building.

When you approach the British Embassy, what is not commonly known is that adjacent to the ground floor entrance is in fact a restaraunt, at the bottom of the steps, to the LV Locsin Building is a private security Guard, and 2 Philippine Marines of the Diplomatic protection squad.

They in themselves dont present any problems, to get past the guard, is fairly easy, the guards at the entrance to the LV Locsin Building are the real problems, and I will demonstrate how I effectively got past them without any problems, which was actually by sheer bluff. (sorry Rob not Luff) Bluff mate.

Guards at the Entrance are generally Female : Sir what business do you have at the British Embassy.

PB: I am sorry I am unable to discuss it with you, it is a matter between British Government and myself.

Guards: Is it a visa related enquiry Sir ? as you cannot go to the Embassy, if it is for the Visa Section ?

PB: Sorry I am unable to discuss the mattter with you, it is confidential, I have to go to the Visa Information desk !

Guards: Sir we have orders not to allow you up to the Visa Section, we have all the forms here, including information for the Visa Section.

PB: I do not require any help from you here thank you.

Guards: Well Sir, we have to know what your business is ?

PB: I am going to the British Embassy on the 17th Floor, my enquiry is not related to the Visa Section, my business is with officials of my government, I am unable to divulge the reasons for my visit, sorry.

Guards: very well Sir, please write your name in the book, and take a badge, the 17th floor is on the left, you take the lift up.



PB: then proceeds to the 15th floor, and had no intention of going to the 17th floor that is effectively how to get in...

At the 15th floor, I spoke then to Oscar, after being frisked yet again at the entrance to the visa information desk.

Oscar was as usual sitting at the desk, behind the glass screen, I asked Oscar if a certain Kevin Deluja, was available to come out and see me, It took Oscar about 5 minutes, which seemed like 5 hours, to tell me that Mr Deluja was on leave until the 30th August 2005, I then interrogated Oscar as to the name of the Entry Clearance Manager.

He then told me her name was Jacqueline Lewin, (bookmark this name guys as she has been there for some time, she is the rudest, most obnoxious black female I have ever come across), I then asked Oscar to get her out to speak to me, Oscar kindly obliged, although it seem to take him 15 minutes to get her out, and I stood outside in the hall, for what seemed an eternity.

Out comes Jacqueline Lewin, (face like at 4 weddings and a funeral, looking downa at the floor)


Here it goes:

JL : Whats all this about then ?

PB: Good Morning Jacqueline !

JL: No respone.

PB: Good Morning Jacqueline ?

JL: Good Morning (looks up in embarassment)

PB: I wonder if you can help me ?

JL: No respone.

PB: I was wondering if you could help me out, I have been asked by Ben Croucher to come to Manila from UK, as on his last interview with my wife, he alluded to my presence being desirable, as I had just returned to UK on the 13th June, i was unable to be here for aprevious appointment on the 1st July 2005, he asked for some further information.

JL: Wait let me check the computer.


JL: Well you have been told to submit more information ! !

PB: Thats correct, I have in fact got the paperwork here with me, the reason i am bringing it, as Ben Croucher, asked for my attendance, sadly I was unable to take a leave of absence, so my MD has agreed to allow me to come, only on the basis, that I inform him asap, when I can return to UK with my wife !, as this is not a holiday, can you give me some idea as to when the visa will be reissued and let my wife and I return to London ?

JL: Well lets look at the paperwork, wait a minute, this paperwork is not valid past October is it ?

PB: Its only August Jacqueline !!

JL: Even I can see that (raised voice) are you stupid or something ?

PB: No response.

PB: Jacqueline I am not here to enter into a confrontation over this, i am simply asking if you woulndt mind taking personal charge of this for me, as I want to go home to work !!, I dont even want to be here !!

JL: Well ok, I cant promise you, but I will leave the papers with the duty officer, it may get done today, it may not, it might be tomorrow !

PB: I can ask for nothing better than that, thank you Jacquline for doing this.

JL: (NO RESPONSE) TURNS BACK AND BUGGERS OFF BEHIND THE DOOR.



(This represents an accurate report of the 5 minute session with Jacquline Lewin at the Embassy, remembering she is the Entry Clearance Manager a senior section leader, who has about as much charm as a peice of bacon)


I silently made a plan to go back to the Embassy on Thursday the 30th August if I had not heard anything.

On Wednesday 29th August 2005 at around 12.15pm, Gina received a phone call from a Janet, stating that "Your passport is ready to collect" although they didnt say, whether a visa had been issued or not.

at this time, Gina and I had gone to Cathay Pacifics downtown office at the LKG Tower 22nd Floor, 6801 Ayala Avenue, we had already waited 1 hour, and still had not seen a customer services advisor.

At 12.30pm, we high tailed it up Ayala Avenue in the hot sun, to the Embassy, by this time I was of course profusely sweating, by the time we arrived and Gina went up to the Embassy, guess what, they had shut for lunch, and out they all come, Entry Clearance Officers, who look like Mammer doesnt know they are playing foreign office pen pusher.

We were told to come back at 1.50pm.

We had lunch in Glorietta, and returned at 2pm.

Gina went up to the Visa Section, I stood outside in the hot sun, for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at 3.30pm, Gina came down the steps with her passport, visa inside, sadly, they had ommitted to tell her that the passport was ready, but that she was too early, as it had to be signed and processed at 3pm, with all the others for that day.

I could have swung for them, but as i was so tired, I left it, I could comment further, but I was so happy to get the visa, my brain was not functioning, due to the hot sun.

All in All, the extra costs, including flights and hotels, goes somewhere into the £1500.00 range, all because they f... up, couldnt organize a p...up in a brewery, but failing that, its all over,...thank God..once and for all.

Any comments. ????

[Philip]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Sep 11 2005, 03:40 PM

Any comments. ????

Quoted post


Glad it's came to an end, and now you can concentrate on your future together, but jesus, what a traumatic thing to go through, and that's just one small part of your visa experience!!!

[kentish]

So you think its over ....................

I dont think so, not by a long way.

You still have to apply for indefinate leave to remain ! Then you will find that the UK immigration offices are no better.

Get that wallet out and stand and deliver !

Good luck !

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by kentish@Sep 11 2005, 08:06 PM
So you think its over ....................

I dont think so, not by a long way.

You still have to apply for indefinate leave to remain ! Then you will find that the UK immigration offices are no better.

Get that wallet out and stand and deliver !

Good luck !

Quoted post


Indefinite Leave to Remain was just a formality in the UK for my wife: fill a form in, write a cheque, send off passport, get a couple of guarantors to sign the paperworks, that they'd known her for a year and she was cool, and the certificate came about two weeks later.

Nationalisation was a bit more tedious, as they need proof of the abilty to speak English. Apparently, speaking fluent English is not good enough. You have to show valid documentation that you have some qualification for it.

OR, you can go to a solicitor of some kind and get a signed statement that you have a good command of the English language. Anyhow, my wife and I both mised this in the procedures, having misread the documentation about it, so they sent us all the papers back and asked us to send the evidence they required about the language proof. But, they did only want the proof papers, and even sent us an adressed envelope to send it back in.

We had been warned the whole process could take up to 10 months to finish, depending on how her paperworks panned out, but surprisingly, even with the paperwork glitch, she got her certificate of Brit nationality back after about ten weeks total. She did her swearing in ceremony two months ago, immediatly sent off for the Brit passport, and recieved it back within ten days.
Now she is a full on Brit, and just wants to get the hell out and live in the USA :D :blink:

I've no complaints about the UK end of the immigration and naturalisation process. Just a bit complicated and expensive, and it's only going up in price.

Oh, there was one slight glitch: the woman my wife had to do the swearing in thing to, some local councillor or other, turned out to be my very first ever girlfriend, back when I was a pimply teenager!!! :o B) :D

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Sep 11 2005, 04:40 PM
Any comments. ????

Quoted post

I think a carefully worded letter of complaint, in the strongest possible terms, to both the head of the Manila embassy, your local MP, Tony B.liar and anybody else you can think of may be in order.
I sent one to the embassy when we were living over there, after the way we were treated the day we collected the visa, but got no reply.
Cheers, Paul B

[Admin]

We can all write to our MP's now about the crap service out there....maybe someone can put together a generic letter?

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by admin@Sep 11 2005, 08:19 PM
We can all write to our MP's now about the crap service out there....maybe someone can put together a generic letter?

Quoted post



Keith, I think its a good idea, however, I just received a letter back from my MP, you may remember my visiit some 4 weeks ago, quite frankly the letter was a complete waste of time, he only said, that he had received a reply from UKVisas, who said, that they were waiting for paperwork from me to advance the application, the person to complain to, is Lord Triesman, the current minister who has responsibility for the Embassies overseas, but to be truthful, as I we will have to wait for ILTR, I dont want to rock the boat for myself, although Kentish tries to point out to me, that my quest is not over, I hear you, but please dont take my joy away, I have had a long and arduous path to travel, over the last 18 months, I need to relax now, thanks for pointing it out to me about ILTR, but i am in the Honeymoon stage, know what I mean mate !!! thanks.

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 11 2005, 07:30 PM
Indefinite Leave to Remain was just a formality in the UK for my wife: fill a form in, write a cheque, send off passport, get a couple of guarantors to sign the paperworks, that they'd known her for a year and she was cool, and the certificate came about two weeks later.

Nationalisation was a bit more tedious, as they need proof of the abilty to speak English. Apparently, speaking fluent English is not good enough. You have to show valid documentation that you have some qualification for it.

OR, you can go to a solicitor of some kind and get a signed statement that you have a good command of the English language. Anyhow, my wife and I both mised this in the procedures, having misread the documentation about it, so they sent us all the papers back and asked us to send the evidence they required about the language proof. But, they did only want the proof papers, and even sent us an adressed envelope to send it back in.

We had been warned the whole process could take up to 10 months to finish, depending on how her paperworks panned out, but surprisingly, even with the paperwork glitch, she got her certificate of Brit nationality back after about ten weeks total. She did her swearing in ceremony two months ago, immediatly sent off for the Brit passport, and recieved it back within ten days.
Now she is a full on Brit, and just wants to get the hell out and live in the USA :D :blink:

I've no complaints about the UK end of the immigration and naturalisation process. Just a bit complicated and expensive, and it's only going up in price.

Oh, there was one slight glitch: the woman my wife had to do the swearing in thing to, some local councillor or other, turned out to be my very first ever girlfriend, back when I was a pimply teenager!!! :o B) :D

Quoted post



Pauldo, that is excellent thanks, really gives me an insight to what is requiured, and of course this will come, over next few years, what I would want to know is, how long before I can apply for Naturalization for Gina, I understand its 2 years before I should go for ILTR, maybe Pauldo and Keith can tell me when we should consider presenting the application for ILTR, but having got that, how long does it then take to obtain nationality, and how long does the applicant have to be in UK to obtain that.

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Sep 12 2005, 05:40 AM
Pauldo, that is excellent thanks, really gives me an insight to what is requiured, and of course this will come, over next few years, what I would want to know is, how long before I can apply for Naturalization for Gina, I understand its 2 years before I should go for ILTR, maybe Pauldo and Keith can tell me when we should consider presenting the application for ILTR, but having got that, how long does it then take to obtain nationality, and how long does the applicant have to be in UK to obtain that.

Quoted post


I'll be watching this topic as well. Elsa arrived in the UK in March, and I'm surprised that no paperwork has been sent to her regarding her visa or what happens after 2 years. I would have thought UKVisas would have a least sent something? After all, i did pay £280 for the visa, so I want something more than just a stamp on Elsas passport!! I'm still confused about how the issue of FLTR can be delayed if Elsa should leave the UK on holiday, for example - her visa does state multiple entry so she is allowed to leave and return the UK, but Keith, you said that anytime spent away from the UK will add to the delay of issue of FLTR?

[Admin]

To get a UK passport you need to married here 3 years, painless process, but can take 9 months according to the IND site, but took us only 6 weeks!!

Maybe it's worth telling your story to a newspaper, they love things like this to kick the goverment in the balls :)

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by walesrob@Sep 12 2005, 09:11 AM
I'll be watching this topic as well. Elsa arrived in the UK in March, and I'm surprised that no paperwork has been sent to her regarding her visa or what happens after 2 years. I would have thought UKVisas would have a least sent something? After all, i did pay £280 for the visa, so I want something more than just a stamp on Elsas passport!! I'm still confused about how the issue of FLTR can be delayed if Elsa should leave the UK on holiday, for example - her visa does state multiple entry so she is allowed to leave and return the UK, but Keith, you said that anytime spent away from the UK will add to the delay of issue of FLTR?

Quoted post


I don't recall getting any communications about how to take the next step. We basically looked it up on the 'net how to do it. I think we had to wait until one month before her 'trial year' was up, (which is now two years of course) and send the application in. Not too late, not too early, is basically the jist of it.

I think you can take holidays out of the UK, as long as it is not more than about 50% of the time period you are waiting. ie, Elsa could probably spend a year back in the PI and still qualify.

The new naturalisation period is a total of five years in the UK before you can apply.

And in case anybody is wondering, Filipinos can still keep their Philippines nationality as well as take up British. New laws came in a couple years back, which is my wife now has two passports/nationalities.
Cheers, Paul B

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by admin@Sep 12 2005, 09:32 AM
To get a UK passport you need to married here 3 years, painless process, but can take 9 months according to the IND site, but took us only 6 weeks!!

Maybe it's worth telling your story to a newspaper, they love things like this to kick the goverment in the balls :)

Quoted post


I phoned the immigration folk to see how my wifes application was coming along, not long after she applied, and some brain dead retard answered me in a dead beat, disinterested monotone: "It can take up to 10 months to receive the naturalisation, AFTER you are allocated a case worker, and that can take up to five months"

After I rang off I had a thought about the crud he'd just told me, so I called back again, fuming, to ask the prat how MY WIFES application was proceeding! :angry: (Flashbacks from the Philippines??)

Luckily I was now speaking to a friendly scouser who told me that the other guy had quoted the MAXIMUM parameters, and we were likely to be serviced far quicker, but that we still did not have a case work yet. It was only a week later that all our documents were returned to us and they inquired about the 'proof of English' qualifications we had overlooked. We sent that off and were fully sorted within about six weeks.
Cheers, Paul

[kentish]

Dont worry Pete about your wifes ILR. Its just my hubby trying to cheer you up.

Got my ILR after about 3 weeks from posting and as soon as hubby found out, he quickly went to the kitchen not to cook but to check that all the chopping knife are still there and he said if one is missing then it should be somewhere in our bedroom... :D :D :D :D

Enjoy your honeymoon.....

[Pauldo]

I was wrong about the five year wait, as it sounds like it is still three years if married to Brit. A good friend told me five years though, and he is married to a Chinse girl, so there is some misinformation going around :unsure:

Here's the IND page guff:

If you are applying on the basis of marriage to a British citizen, the legal requirements are that you:

are 18 or over when you apply;
are of sound mind;
are of good character;
have lived in the UK for 3 years;
can communicate in English (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic); [Your knowledge of the language must be sufficient for you to fulfil your duties as a citizen, and to mix with people with whom you live and work. If because of a disability you cannot speak the language, it will be sufficient if you can communicate, for example, by writing or using British sign language. If you are aged 65 or over or suffer from physical or mental disability, you may not have to meet this requirement.]
If you are married to a British citizen in Crown service or specially designated service go straight to the information about Crown Service below for alternative ways that you might quality.

You must have been physically present in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands on the day 5 years before the application date (3 years if married to a British citizen). The application date is the date on which it is received by the Home Office. i.e. if your application was received on 20/11/2003 you should have been physically present in the United Kingdom on 21/11/1998 (or 21/11/2000 if married to a British citizen). This is called the residential qualifying period.

You should have been here legally during this period. In other words you must have had the necessary permission under the immigration laws to be in the United Kingdom.

You should have been free from immigration time restrictions during the last 12 months of this period. Usually there is a stamp or sticker in your passport saying that you have indefinite leave to enter or remain or no time limit. If you do not have a passport which says this and you have lived here many years you may still be free from an immigration time restriction. If you are married to a British citizen you only need to be free from immigration restrictions on the day you apply.

Some discretion may be exercised over the other residence requirements if there are special circumstances. If you do not meet the residence requirements but believe that there are special circumstances in your case, you should explain them when you apply.

Time spent in the United Kingdom while exempt from immigration control (for example, as a diplomat or a member of visiting forces) or while in any place of detention (or unlawfully absent from such a place) does not normally count towards the residence period.

During the 5 year period you should not have been absent from the United Kingdom for more that 450 days of which no more than 90 days should have been taken in the last 12 months. My Italics: If you are married to a British citizen you should not have been absent for more than 270 days of which no more than 90 days should have been taken in the last 12 months. There is discretion to allow absences above these normal limits - see the information below for details.

[ginapeterb]

I did call the DWP today, on their national number, the procedure is now slightly different in that Gina was issued with a Temporary National Insurance Number, this consists of TN followed by your date of birth, and the letter F denoting a female.

This is valid for 6 months, by which time, a interview must have been completed, sounds simple enough, only when the applicant starts work, does then an employers letter be required to be sent in, with a formal interview to obtain a new permament NIN.

Pete

[ginapeterb]

STOP PRESS.

Found out today, that British Embassy Manila are not accepting any more interview appointments this year, applicants are now being directed to apply by post, through the CAVA Service, documents including fees and all other evidence should now be submitted using the Courier Assisted Visa application service, the cost is P250.00, the courier will call at your home, collect the documents from the applicant, the British Embassy Visa Section will scrutinize the documents, if a formal interview is required, they Embassy will now advise in writing and an appointment will be made.

This is the latest folks....trust me...it came through this morning.


Pete

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Sep 13 2005, 10:19 PM
STOP PRESS.

Found out today, that British Embassy Manila are not accepting any more interview appointments this year, applicants are now being directed to apply by post, through the CAVA Service, documents including fees and all other evidence should now be submitted using the Courier Assisted Visa application service, the cost is P250.00, the courier will call at your home, collect the documents from the applicant, the British Embassy Visa Section will scrutinize the documents, if a formal interview is required, they Embassy will now advise in writing and an appointment will be made.

This is the latest folks....trust me...it came through this morning.
Pete

Quoted post


So it seems they've relaxed the compulsory face to face interview requirement and gone back to CAVA AGAIN! That will be a relief for anyone applying for a visa soon....I wouldn't wish anyone to go thru' the hassle you and I had at the hands of the sometimes bumbling, incompetent & rude Embassy staff :unsure:

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by walesrob@Sep 14 2005, 07:03 AM
So it seems they've relaxed the compulsory face to face interview requirement and gone back to CAVA AGAIN! That will be a relief for anyone applying for a visa soon....I wouldn't wish anyone to go thru' the hassle you and I had at the hands of the sometimes bumbling, incompetent & rude Embassy staff :unsure:

Quoted post



Its the old story Rob, we are just glad to have our girls out !!!!, its a relief, that we personally dont have to deal with them again, but no doubt they will change the system yet again at some time in the future, the latest I heard is that there software is no good, and they are trying to bring in a new computer system, hence all the balls ups !!

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Sep 13 2005, 10:19 PM
STOP PRESS.

Found out today, that British Embassy Manila are not accepting any more interview appointments this year, applicants are now being directed to apply by post, through the CAVA Service, documents including fees and all other evidence should now be submitted using the Courier Assisted Visa application service, the cost is P250.00, the courier will call at your home, collect the documents from the applicant, the British Embassy Visa Section will scrutinize the documents, if a formal interview is required, they Embassy will now advise in writing and an appointment will be made.

This is the latest folks....trust me...it came through this morning.
Pete

Quoted post

Thanks for the update. I've been waiting for my wife to call the embassy again about this, since it was first mentioned here a week ago. BUT, she still runs on Filipino time sometimes, so she has managed to forget every day so far. It's HER mum she wants over, so I've told her SHE can sort it out, as I have done enough hair pulling, teeth gnashing and sleepless night routines trying to sort visas and stuff out for 'us'. Now it's her turn to fret and worry.
Cheers, Paul

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by walesrob@Sep 14 2005, 08:03 AM
So it seems they've relaxed the compulsory face to face interview requirement and gone back to CAVA AGAIN! That will be a relief for anyone applying for a visa soon....I wouldn't wish anyone to go thru' the hassle you and I had at the hands of the sometimes bumbling, incompetent & rude Embassy staff :unsure:

Quoted post

Just a thought, but does this new ruling mean people have to stuff a bunch of cash into that couriers envelope, as well as passport, personal papers, important documents etc?

Hmmm, call me cynical, but if Joe Average postman lacky type in the PI knows there is fifteen or twenty thousand Pesos in a bag he&#39;ll do a runner with it and never be seen again?:o :mellow: :angry: :( <_<

[Admin]

Going by past goverment software, it should be just about in BETA by 2012 :rolleyes:

[walesrob]

Originally posted by admin@Sep 15 2005, 09:06 AM
Going by past goverment software, it should be just about in BETA by 2012 :rolleyes:

Quoted post


...and then it&#39;ll crash and they&#39;ll have to pay ££££s to get it fixed. :lol:

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 14 2005, 07:47 PM

Hmmm, call me cynical, but if Joe Average postman lacky type in the PI knows there is fifteen or twenty thousand Pesos in a bag he&#39;ll do a runner with it and never be seen again?:o :mellow: :angry: :( <_<

Quoted post


Nope, only a manager&#39;s check or whatever they call a banker&#39;s draft in the PI. That is the only form of payment they accept - they won&#39;t accept cash via courier. Nor will they accept a personal cheque, or a cheque in sterling (despite quoting the fees in sterling and then converting them to pesos at their inflated rip off embassy exchange rate - how would they con you out of an extra £30 if they let you pay in sterling?) - it has to be a bank managers check drawn on a filipino bank. So basically, if your mother in law doesn&#39;t have a bank account, or that much money in her account, she can&#39;t get a cheque, and therefore can&#39;t submit the visa. Even PI banks, under new money laundering laws, think twice now about issuing a bank managers check for "cash with a &#39;tip&#39;", if you don&#39;t have a bank account with them.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Sep 15 2005, 12:10 PM
Nope, only a manager&#39;s check or whatever they call a banker&#39;s draft in the PI. That is the only form of payment they accept - they won&#39;t accept cash via courier. Nor will they accept a personal cheque, or a cheque in sterling (despite quoting the fees in sterling and then converting them to pesos at their inflated rip off embassy exchange rate - how would they con you out of an extra £30 if they let you pay in sterling?) - it has to be a bank managers check drawn on a filipino bank. So basically, if your mother in law doesn&#39;t have a bank account, or that much money in her account, she can&#39;t get a cheque, and therefore can&#39;t submit the visa. Even PI banks, under new money laundering laws, think twice now about issuing a bank managers check for "cash with a &#39;tip&#39;", if you don&#39;t have a bank account with them.

Quoted post

Thanks for the info. I should have guessed it would get complicated and scam ridden, however the enbassy end up doing it.

The mom in law has a bank account over there, so she&#39;ll have to do battle with the manager.

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 15 2005, 11:20 AM
Thanks for the info. I should have guessed it would get complicated and scam ridden, however the enbassy end up doing it.

The mom in law has a bank account over there, so she&#39;ll have to do battle with the manager.

Quoted post



Hi Paul,


Have to confer with Paul there, (peterdavid) they will not accept cash in the courier envelope, s he says, it is a Managers check, but only on banks approved and certified by British Embassy, as my wife did pay cash, this was only because she was in attendance at the time, this again causes problems for applicants, the applicant of course will need to check with the British Embassy as to which banks they can have managers check drawn on, ??? more aggravation...

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 15 2005, 11:20 AM
Thanks for the info. I should have guessed it would get complicated and scam ridden, however the enbassy end up doing it.

The mom in law has a bank account over there, so she&#39;ll have to do battle with the manager.

Quoted post


If she&#39;s got an account, she shouldn&#39;t have too much problem getting a bankers draft from the bank (usual bank fee required, probably some id these days too). Cheques accepted from the standard (or they used to be, anyway), such as PNB/PSB, BPI and Metronet (I think).

I&#39;m not sure the status of &#39;proper&#39; banks there, eg HSBC. Whether they&#39;d accept a bankers draft in pesos from HSBC Makati, I&#39;m not sure. You know the Embassy, they&#39;ll send the application back simply because you forgot to put a full stop at the end of a sentence on page 12 just to slow the process up for you - however, BPI and PSB, et al, should be ok.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Sep 15 2005, 06:34 PM
If she&#39;s got an account, she shouldn&#39;t have too much problem getting a bankers draft from the bank (usual bank fee required, probably some id these days too). Cheques accepted from the standard (or they used to be, anyway), such as PNB/PSB, BPI and Metronet (I think).

I&#39;m not sure the status of &#39;proper&#39; banks there, eg HSBC. Whether they&#39;d accept a bankers draft in pesos from HSBC Makati, I&#39;m not sure. You know the Embassy, they&#39;ll send the application back simply because you forgot to put a full stop at the end of a sentence on page 12 just to slow the process up for you - however, BPI and PSB, et al, should be ok.

Quoted post

Thanks folks, I&#39;ll put it on the list of things to check on. As you say, they won&#39;t volunteer the information if they don&#39;t have to, which is what used to infuriate me the most living there: just waiting for some pissant peasant to refuse you over that proverbial missed full stop :angry:

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 15 2005, 08:37 PM
Thanks folks, I&#39;ll put it on the list of things to check on. As you say, they won&#39;t volunteer the information if they don&#39;t have to, which is what used to infuriate me the most living there: just waiting for some pissant peasant to refuse you over that proverbial missed full stop :angry:

Quoted post


The Embassy seems to act as if it is still 1836 and no-one&#39;s actually told them the Empire has long since crumbled, we no longer rule half the globe, civil servants are no longer admired for their &#39;prestigious&#39; positions and, actually, we&#39;ve discovered these new concepts in the public services of equality, respect, civility and helpfulness.

They run it like a mini fiefdom over there.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Sep 15 2005, 11:13 PM
The Embassy seems to act as if it is still 1836 and no-one&#39;s actually told them the Empire has long since crumbled, we no longer rule half the globe, civil servants are no longer admired for their &#39;prestigious&#39; positions and, actually, we&#39;ve discovered these new concepts in the public services of equality, respect, civility and helpfulness.

They run it like a mini fiefdom over there.

Quoted post

Maybe they have taken some lessons off the Filipinos, for their petty, pitiful officialdom, and their unfailing ability to kiss-ass to their superiors and treat their inferiors like something they found on their shoe? :D

Nothing like a good &#39;class&#39; system to keep the dispensable and unimportant working man firmly in his place :unsure: It&#39;s very similar to old India in a primitive &#39;Raj&#39; kinda way.

[moi]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 12 2005, 09:18 AM


And in case anybody is wondering, Filipinos can still keep their Philippines nationality as well as take up British. New laws came in a couple years back, which is my wife now has two passports/nationalities.
Cheers, Paul B

Quoted post


Hi Paul B, Did your wife go to the Philippine Embassy for an Oath Taking to retain her Filipino citizenship? :) :)

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by moi@Sep 16 2005, 01:24 PM
Hi Paul B, Did your wife go to the Philippine Embassy for an Oath Taking to retain her Filipino citizenship? :) :)

Quoted post

No. She has never lost her PI citizenship. It is only people who are re-claiming their old citizenship who have to do the oath taking.

[moi]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 16 2005, 02:53 PM
No. She has never lost her PI citizenship. It is only people who are re-claiming their old citizenship who have to do the oath taking.

Quoted post


But the Consul secretary sent me an e-mail to go and have the Oath Taking after getting my British Citizenship which I think is another sort of application and fees to pay and of course trip to London with my family.
Both re-claiming and retaining needs to attend the Oath Taking as it says on the FAQ in their website.I just want to keep mine if I could without taking another Oath.

Excerpt from the FAQ&#39;s about dual citizen

What is Republic Act No. 9225?

Republic Act No. 9225 is an Act making the citizenship of Filipinos who acquire foreign citizenship permanent, amending for the purpose Commonwealth Act No. 63.

RA 9225, which took effect on 17 September 2003, declares that former natural-born Filipino citizens who acquired foreign citizenship through naturalisation are deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship under conditions provided in the Act.

There former Filipinos can re-acquire/retain their Philippine citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by moi@Sep 16 2005, 04:32 PM

RA 9225, which took effect on 17 September 2003, declares that former natural-born Filipino citizens who acquired foreign citizenship through naturalisation are deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship under conditions provided in the Act.

There former Filipinos can re-acquire/retain their Philippine citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.

Quoted post


The bold words are the ones we are going on. My wife isn&#39;t a former Filipino. She is still a Filipino, and has lost nothing.

I think the act you quote deals with Filipinos who took foreign citizenship before the above act came into power, so they did lose the Filipino citizenship, but can now have it back.

Basically, all the Filipinos who cut out of the Philippines to make a fortune elsewhere are now clamouring to come home, now that the PI has go itself sorted a bit, and they&#39;ve realised just how much their overseas dollars can buy &#39;back home&#39; :rolleyes:

Anyway, my wife has a new PI passport, given to her two months ago, so I don&#39;t think Joe Shmoe on the PI immigration will know whether she is a Filipino or Brit :D Plus, the daughter and I get one year Balikbayan visa if we all fly into the PI together.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 17 2005, 12:05 PM
Anyway, my wife has a new PI passport, given to her two months ago, so I don&#39;t think Joe Shmoe on the PI immigration will know whether she is a Filipino or Brit :D Plus, the daughter and I get one year Balikbayan visa if we all fly into the PI together.

Quoted post

Come to think of it, when my wife e mailed the London PI embassy asking where to get the application form for that new passport, stating "I AM A FILIPINO CITIZEN LIVING IN THE UK and I need to apply for a new passport as my current one has expired"......

Ten days later she recieves a reply (usual Filipino time) stating IF YOU ARE A FORMER FILIPINO NATIONAL WISHING TO REGAIN YOUR FILIPINO NATIONALITY you must attend the embassy for an oath taking ceremony blah blah.

I wrote back on her behalf:

Dear ********
"In my message, attached below, you will see, clearly stated, "I AM A FILIPINO CITIZEN LIVING IN THE UK". Can you please specify which part of that statement you do not understand?.
Also, you have failed to answer the issue I wrote to you TEN days ago inquiring about: where can I get the application form for a new FILIPINO passport?" :rolleyes:

Typical Filipino attitude: "But I thought......." :angry: :blink:

We recieved a polite e mail reply next day telling her exactly where the application form was to be found :D :D

[moi]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 17 2005, 11:05 AM
The bold words are the ones we are going on. My wife isn&#39;t a former Filipino. She is still a Filipino, and has lost nothing.

I think the act you quote deals with Filipinos who took foreign citizenship before the above act came into power, so they did lose the Filipino citizenship, but can now have it back.


Quoted post


Filipinos who took foreign citizenship before the Act took effect (Sept 2003) can reclaim their Filipino citizenship and retain theirs if they took other citizenship after Sept. 2003 and has to apply for Petition for Dual Citizenship and Issuance of Identification Certificate (IC) pursuant to RA 9225.
I am on the same situation as your wife Paul and might keep my passport as it hasn&#39;t expired yet but will we be considered DUAL CITIZEN if we didn&#39;t apply for a petition to be Dual and have the Identification Certificate?
:)

[peterdavid]

Funnily enough, we were at the PI embassy in London the other week and spoke with the consul there. As always, it&#39;s impossible to get a straight answer and I&#39;m still not quite sure of the process, and to be honest, i don&#39;t think she was either, but perish the thought she would "lose face" by being honest about it.

From what i could gather, even though british citizenship has been obtained, if you have a PI passport and it&#39;s due to expire and you want to renew it, then you can renew it - as they haven&#39;t a clue whether you&#39;ve obtained british citizenship or not (similar to what happened to Pauldo, I think...?) However, if you don&#39;t bother to renew the PI passport and then try to obtain one later on (having let the old one expire) then you MAY need the oath nonsense. Or you may not. Like I said, I don&#39;t think she knew herself, and was obviously uncomfortable at the loss of face she was already experiencing at our suggestion we&#39;ll probably just let the PI citizenship slide because, let&#39;s face it, who would want it when you have a british passport?

So, I think, if you really do want to retain dual citizenship, the easiest way to do it is to renew your PI passport upon expiry of the old one, and ignore their oath taking suggestions. Don&#39;t forget, it&#39;s actually harder to open a bank account in the high street than it is to get a philippine passport so, like Pauldo, providing you&#39;re simply renewing, you shouldn&#39;t have too much trouble, british citizenship or not.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by moi@Sep 17 2005, 12:37 PM
Filipinos who took foreign citizenship before the Act took effect (Sept 2003) can reclaim their Filipino citizenship and retain theirs if they took other citizenship after Sept. 2003 and has to apply for Petition for Dual Citizenship and Issuance of Identification Certificate (IC) pursuant to RA 9225.
:)

Quoted post


Moi, where did you quote that from? I can see nothing like it in any of the RA9225 info I&#39;ve found.

From what every website I&#39;ve seen tells me, there is nothing that says you have to reaffirm your Filipino citizenship, by any way or means, if you have never lost it.

As mentioned in the last post, nobody seems to know the facts, even Philippine embassy officials, and they have no intentions of ever uttering the cursed and heinous, face losing three words: "I don&#39;t know" :unsure: :blink: :o

[moi]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 18 2005, 11:07 AM
Moi, where did you quote that from? I can see nothing like it in any of the RA9225 info I&#39;ve found.

From what every website I&#39;ve seen tells me, there is nothing that says you have to reaffirm your Filipino citizenship, by any way or means, if you have never lost it.

As mentioned in the last post, nobody seems to know the facts, even Philippine embassy officials, and they have no intentions of ever uttering the cursed and heinous, face losing three words: "I don&#39;t know" :unsure: :blink: :o

Quoted post

The Philippine Embassy Canberra Australia website.Their website is more useful i think than the London one.I&#39;ve checked the Swtzerland Phils. Embassy site as well.

I agree with you Paul,why take an OATH if you have never lost it? But according to the Act, in order to retain it, you should take an Oath of Allegiance. <_<

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by moi@Sep 19 2005, 02:46 PM
The Philippine Embassy Canberra Australia website.Their website is more useful i think than the London one.I&#39;ve checked the Swtzerland Phils. Embassy site as well.

I agree with you Paul,why take an OATH if you have never lost it? But according to the Act, in order to retain it, you should take an Oath of Allegiance. <_<

Quoted post


B*gg*r that. They&#39;ll never know. If you want to keep a PI passport, then just keep renewing it, and if you don&#39;t, because as a travel document it&#39;s about as effective and useful as a kidney infection, then don&#39;t bother renewing.

[Pauldo]

Originally posted by moi@Sep 19 2005, 03:46 PM
The Philippine Embassy Canberra Australia website.Their website is more useful i think than the London one.I&#39;ve checked the Swtzerland Phils. Embassy site as well.

I agree with you Paul,why take an OATH if you have never lost it? But according to the Act, in order to retain it, you should take an Oath of Allegiance. <_<

Quoted post

Moi,
I&#39;m seeing this on the Canberra website:
Those who lost their Philippines citizenship before 17th September 2003 may re-acquire it by taking the oath of allegiance. Those who lost if after 17th September 2003 will also need to take the oath of allegiance to enable them to retain their Philippines citizenship

Is this what you&#39;re looking at?
http://www.philembassy.au.com/download/Q&A...25-C-210105.pdf (http://www.philembassy.au.com/download/Q&A-RA9225-C-210105.pdf)

The words "those who LOST it after 17th September 2003" is where it comes into play for both yourself and my wife. You never actually LOST it.

I don&#39;t think you have anything to worry about Moi.

Cheers, Paul

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by Pauldo@Sep 20 2005, 07:25 AM
Moi,
I&#39;m seeing this on the Canberra website:
Those who lost their Philippines citizenship before 17th September 2003 may re-acquire it by taking the oath of allegiance. Those who lost if after 17th September 2003 will also need to take the oath of allegiance to enable them to retain their Philippines citizenship

Is this what you&#39;re looking at?
http://www.philembassy.au.com/download/Q&A...25-C-210105.pdf (http://www.philembassy.au.com/download/Q&A-RA9225-C-210105.pdf)

The words "those who LOST it after 17th September 2003" is where it comes into play for both yourself and my wife. You never actually LOST it.

I don&#39;t think you have anything to worry about Moi.

Cheers, Paul

Quoted post



well that just about takes care of this one..hehehehe,

[ginapeterb]

Hi Guys, can anyone remember this thread from last June hehehehe, remember when my MP wrote to me about the reason that was holding up Gina&#39;s visa....how about this for a good LOL.



15th February 2006



Hon Simon Burns
MP Chelmsford
House of Commons
London SW1



Dear Mr xxxxxx



I am writing to say that I have made further enquiries to the Home Office Minister in connection with your wife&#39;s entry to the United Kingdom.

The Minister has since completed his enquiries, and has been informed by UK Visas, that your wife has been granted a visa on the 2nd September of 2005, I will now leave it for you to follow up the matter with the British Embassy in Manila.

Please accept my apologies that is has taken so long in replying to you, I would expect you would want to make arrangements for your wife to come to the United Kingdom, if you have not been informed of the decision to grant a visa for your wife.

If I can be of any futher assitance, please do not hesitate to contact my secretary at the constituency office in Chelmsford.


Yours sincerly,

Simon Burns.





Petes commentary



Derrrtrrrrrrr she has been here 5 months Mr Burns...but thanks for the prompt follow up.

[walesrob]

Never mind its all over now..your story just reminds us how useless our MPs can be sometimes. I once wrote to ours about 3 years ago about a charity I was working for, and although we got an acknowledgement, that was it, no follow up, nothing.

Glad to say the MP lost his "safe" seat at the last election :lol:

[andypaul]

:unsure:

Oh my gave me a good laugh but scares me that this Man is an elected member of parliment.

[ivor&mel]

Hi,

Have a look at Pete's site (http://british-filipino.com) - there's a sample interview from an ECO there, and I think it's also in a thread here. There's loads of information on Pete's site and on the forum, so have a look round and you should find answers to most of your questions.

There is no need for a medical if you are coming to the UK, so no need to worry about that :)

Can't advise you at all about hotels, but I'm sure others can :)

Ivor and Mel

[ginapeterb]

Hi,

Have a look at Pete's site (http://british-filipino.com) - there's a sample interview from an ECO there, and I think it's also in a thread here. There's loads of information on Pete's site and on the forum, so have a look round and you should find answers to most of your questions.

There is no need for a medical if you are coming to the UK, so no need to worry about that :)

Can't advise you at all about hotels, but I'm sure others can :)

Ivor and Mel


Ivor has pretty much covered this one, as he says, a Medical is a requirement of the K1 or K3 or I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, since the British Embassy do not process those applications, a medical is not a pre-requisite to UK Entry Clearance !

As for affordable hotels, the Great Eastern Hotel/ Aberdeen Court is on Makati Avenue, its about 1 mile or 15 mins by taxi from the cross section with Ayala avenue, its just to the far side of P Burgos Street, the hotel is reasonable at around P1700 for the night, has a dim sum or continental breakfast included, the rooms are air conditioned, large, and comfortable, private bathroom etc, a taxi to the Ayala Centre is about 10 mins.

The British Embassy is in the LV Locsin Building 15-17 Floors, its opposite the Shangri La, you can walk to it from Greenbelt, there is a cafe next to the LV Locsin Building, wedged in between the entrance door, ( you can go to the cafe, if husbands want to wait in there but you have to get past the guard at the podium)

Also there is a 7-11 Cafe style deli around the back of the LV Locsin building, if your hubby is there, he can buy a coffee and sit down, (Rob knows this place well).

The Ayala Museum is just 5 mins walk to the left of the LV Locsin building, it also has a nice air conditioned restaraunt, very plush, a nice place to hang out and sip an aperitif while waiting for the wife coming out, (you only find these things out after trial and error).

Hope that helps.

Pete

[scotsfiancee]

Hi there!

Thanks for your advice, i am really glad here to know that there is no need of medical as what US embassy do to there applicaNT,which is mean to say that i just have to come in manila like once just for the interview. How long will be the papers will be process then,(embassy will call for interview)the time when you applied?? I guess i will stay in Millenium Plaza soon as i have my appointment its just straight away to shang-rila,guess what its only 1,800 per night the room is vewry huge,air conditioned,big tv,showers,kitchen..We have stayed there for one night only last we went there.Its straight to Glorrieta.Yes i am looking to the site you had given below, i really hope i wont get denied! so if they will grant you a visa after your interview,does it takes hours,days or 1 week to wait?they will just send it through courier to your home?

[ivor&mel]

Hi there!

Thanks for your advice, i am really glad here to know that there is no need of medical as what US embassy do to there applicaNT,which is mean to say that i just have to come in manila like once just for the interview. How long will be the papers will be process then,(embassy will call for interview)the time when you applied?? I guess i will stay in Millenium Plaza soon as i have my appointment its just straight away to shang-rila,guess what its only 1,800 per night the room is vewry huge,air conditioned,big tv,showers,kitchen..We have stayed there for one night only last we went there.Its straight to Glorrieta.Yes i am looking to the site you had given below, i really hope i wont get denied! so if they will grant you a visa after your interview,does it takes hours,days or 1 week to wait?they will just send it through courier to your home?
The basic application process is (a) get all your documents together (b) arrange with UKVACS for the courier to pick them up (c) wait for the Embassy to contact you. There's no hard-and-fast time scale for this, it depends on how fast the Embassy is processing applications; in our case, it took about a week for the Embassy to contact Mel to invite her for interview, and they gave her about 3 weeks to prepare for it. Of course, you may be one of the lucky ones who gets a visa without having to be interviewed - it does happen :)

If they do invite you for interview, then use the time to prepare well, and work on it together with your fiance. Read about it on Pete's site... read it again... and again... Understand the process... the type of questions you will have to face... the way the ECOs' minds work...

If you do have to have an interview, you should know the outcome the same day if your case is straightforward; if the Embassy need to make further checks, then it may take another week or so before the outcome is known for certain. In the former case, if successful, you will get your passport back - with visa - at the end of the day of interview; not sure about the latter case: would the Embassy send the passport via courier or expect the applicant to pick it up in person?

The other thing to consider is the CFO process: this can be done either in Manila or in Cebu, whichever is more convenient for you.

Ivor and Mel

[KeithD]

Deja Vu!!!

[ginapeterb]

Deja Vu!!!

nothing to add to Ivors advice...bayan ko sagot ko

[scotsfiancee]

so if i am going to send all the requirements to the ukvacs do i have to enclosed also the visa fee and service fee in 1 managers check? or separate?does it have to do in check or we just have to deposit the money through their bank?

[ivor&mel]

so if i am going to send all the requirements to the ukvacs do i have to enclosed also the visa fee and service fee in 1 managers check? or separate?does it have to do in check or we just have to deposit the money through their bank?
You will need two Manager's Checks: one for the visa application, and one for UKVACS. There are details on the web at, for example:

British Embassy (http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1136906318341)
UKVACS (http://www.ukvacs.net/)

Ivor and Mel

[scotsfiancee]

Ic, so i have to do it then when time comes if the embassy will call me... so one for service fee which is 616 pesos and visa fee is 26,000 pesos
... My fiance will gonna call the lawyer this coming tuesday, to know the progress.The lawyer not even yet ask some of my information yet,he will have to do that via email i guess. I know Uk is very hard to come in so whats the best thing should i have to do when my interview comes? the lawyer only ask the 3 months salary slips,telephone bills..accomodation etc....

Thanks Ivor for your infos...

[ivor&mel]

Call UKVACS and they will explain the process to you and answer any questions you have.

Is your fiance on this forum? It might be useful for him to join, or at least have a read of it and Pete's site. I'm just a bit concerned that the lawyers may not be as good as you think they are...

And as for the interview, as I have said earlier, prepare well for it together with your fiance. Again, I refer you to Pete's site and postings on this forum. Please take time to read the wealth of information that is already available there.

[ginapeterb]

Ic, so i have to do it then when time comes if the embassy will call me... so one for service fee which is 616 pesos and visa fee is 26,000 pesos
... My fiance will gonna call the lawyer this coming tuesday, to know the progress.The lawyer not even yet ask some of my information yet,he will have to do that via email i guess. I know Uk is very hard to come in so whats the best thing should i have to do when my interview comes? the lawyer only ask the 3 months salary slips,telephone bills..accomodation etc....

Thanks Ivor for your infos...


Loo Scotsfiancee, Ivor has already told you what to do, you have to read the information for yourself, there are no easy shortcuts to UK Entry Clearance, its a serious matter, you must and I repeat MUST !!!!
start reading, go to my husbands website..As Ivor said.

Http://www.british-filipino.com/

[KeithD]

Blimey, you'll have more posts than me in a week :icon_eek:

[ginapeterb]

Yes his reading guys, i had already told him to join here but he cant do anything he will be back home every friday and look this forum.... And i keep on reading that site always.....
I had email our lawyer today bout Pete's site.


geeeeeze am I going to have Immigration lawyers contacting me about the rules next !!

[scotsfiancee]

That sounds nice.....

[KeithD]

geeeeeze am I going to have Immigration lawyers contacting me about the rules next !!
They then may get there information right! :)