Hi Everyone,
I am a Filipina,30, and my fiancee is a Scotsman,35. We met during a holiday in Scotland and have been in constant contact for 5 months, I was vacationing in London at the time but daily phone calls and weekends together made our relationship grow. I also moved up to Scotland for the remainder of my stay (Jul-Aug) where we lived together and decided the relationship was for keeps and we were both of age to tie the knot.
Now that my visitor visa is up, we have been working toward getting a fiancee visa for me. Since I had to leave, we still felt like we would like to get to know each other more before we get married. I have met his family and he is planning to visit Manila for a week in the coming months to meet mine while my application is being processed since I heard it takes 1-3 months give or take. We're both very frustrated that we had to part ways last month and would like to be reunited as soon as possible. The system seems to be very unsupportive of British nationals having relationships outside the EU. Our plan is to get the necessary fiancee visa in Manila, return to Scotland, get to know each other a little more before marrying in Scotland within the given 6 months. I have read the checklist and previous posts from other members of the chatroom and I really found these helpful. We have been in constant contact, have gotten most of the documents in order and are fortunate that he owns a 2-bedroom property in his name that we will be able to live in when we get married with no flatmates.
I would like this to go as smoothly as possible and would like your advice one some matters before I submit my application since my case will be somewhat different.
I understand that he as my sponsor has to show that he can support my not being able to work as fiancee for 6 months in the UK by form of bank statements, his P60 and recent payslips. He has been employed almost all his life, he earns around 20-25k a year, pays his mortgage religiously and is able to live comfortably(no porsches just yet) but he has no bank statements to show. Had he known that this was going to happen, he would have taken better care of his bank statements, but you know how love is, it hits when you least expect it! I guess the most important thing now is to be able to see each other again as soon as possible back in the UK (since he cannot leave work) in order for things to progress.
Some questions:
1. How much is "enough" in the bank, really?
2. Will 3 recent payslips suffice or do they realy need the last 6? We were only able to dig up 5, checklists vary on how many they truly require
3. My fiancee and I did not expect to be married in the next year, our relationship was a pleasant surprise so on his end he may have accomodation and employment but his bank statements show his overdraft of around 800 GBP and these same bank statements are the ones that show the mortgage payments, he also has a little bit of credit card debt, nothing significant but the bank statements look like he might not have anything to produce unless he starts putting in a little money now but that will sadly mean it will take us longer to see each other
3. I, on the other hand, have some money in the bank to show, I have no debts and I have at least 40,000USD in savings, and as applicant, would that make up for his bank statements being in the red, do my savings count for anything in this application? Since this should probably be enough to support me even if I were unemployed in the Uk for 6 months, will this make up for his lack of statements? Should I still go ahead and just show mine, show his with the overdraft or not show his bank statements at all?
4. He also has another bank account with his brother, but this account does not show the mortgage of the flat we are to move in, and I read that they need the bank statements submitted must show the mortgage payments. He has no family members who will be able to pitch in to help his bank account and he does not want me to transfer money to his because he does not feel right about this. I don't think I can force him to since he's the man but I really need advice on this. I guess, no one likes to be denied at the embassy, right?
My last questions are about fiancee status...
5. Since we're not allowed to work until married... can we study? But will our tuition be the lower tuition available to residents of the UK or the exorbitant international student prices?
6. Some sites say that we will be entitled to use the NHS as fiancee, some say we will only be entitled to this when we are married, which is true?
7. Is it also true that we have to pay the 260GBP again after we are married and we apply for the 2-year extension?
Lots of questions! Hope someone can help us, the UK gov sites have been so vague.
Good luck to everyone and hope to hear from you soon!
