Newbee

[Arthur Little]

Hi everyone

I am a British guy who has fallen for a Filipino girl, but she is stuck in the Philippines. We have been chatting over the internet since January and I am going over in November to meet her for the first time. If everything works out then I am hoping that she can come to the UK both to be with me and to work as a carer.

She is current finishing her course there in CDO in international studies, she has already completed her 6 month caregivers course and is doing voluntary work in caring to build up her experience and get her transfer of records?

The trouble is that neither of us have much spare money and I want to find the best and cheapest way to bring her to the UK. I am helping her to pay for her course at the moment.

I really did not want her to have to commit to me until she was in England in case she found that she did not like it here. Because of my job I cannot move to the Philippines, but it looks like that the only way with the strict rules here is for us to marry or her to come on fiancée visa. It seems sad that she will not be given the freedom to find out about life here before she commits to a long term relationship.

Anyway, I am hoping that perhaps with the help of the lovely people on this site I might find a way to get around these problems.

Thanks for listening.

Good Afternoon & Welcome!

Applying for a Tourist/Visitor's Visa is, undoubtedly, the fastest, cheapest and most logical means by which a foreign national can enter the United Kingdom. And - on the surface, at least - common sense suggests that this would seem to be a feasible option ... especially when an applicant is totally unfamiliar with the culture here.

But, whilst the holder of a British passport is permitted to roam [more or less] freely around the globe, the "privilege" does not extend to citizens of other countries ... the Philippines being one such example ... due to stringent immigration controls imposed by successive [UK] governments in recent decades. In certain respects - e.g., the sheer size of the ever-growing population proportionate to the relatively small landmass already occupied - a policy of this nature can be seen as justified, however. Besides, other much larger nations like the Australasian Continent and the USA have even more strict regimes in place.

So, to cut a long story short, the chances of obtaining a short-term visa (valid for up to six months) are, at best, extremely slim ... if not non-existent, and you'd be well-advised to proceed with your planned trip to the Phils in November, spend as much time as possible with your girlfriend and, if the relationship lives up to expectations for EACH of you (which hopefully it will) seriously consider applying for either a Fiancee or Spousal Visa.

[Arthur Little]

Two other IMPORTANT points you should also bear in mind: If you and your girlfriend are fortunate enough to be able to spend as much quality time in one another's company as possible during your forthcoming visit to her homeland, then please be sure to have lots of photographs taken together.

These, along with copies of ALL correspondence between the pair of you, will go a long way towards convincing the Entry Clearance Officers at the British Embassy that your relationship is genuine.

Good Luck to both of you