Somtimes life is not so good

[JimOttley]

the more you earn the less you would get

but what ever, your still entitled to child benefit when they get here, and for 2 kids that's about £132 a month.

thou not alot, but anything would help

good your earn that much, you shouldn't have a problem with getting a spouse visa when your time comes,if you can save about £2000 in your bank.

also remember you would need to pay for 2 settlement fees for your future wife and son, that's if you marry in the phils (about £1,000) now for both.

cost of flights, FLR/ILR and citizenship to, but you don't need to worry about that now

Yep we have a lot of debt though which is what is making it hard for me.

Flights - hopefully I have enough airmiles left to cut the cost a little as long as KLM stop devaluing them.

Yeah child benefit would help a little, to be honest Ana needs the stability of being at home and looking after the kids for a few years anyway I don't really want her out slaving away to send money back for the rest of the family just now.

I am starting to think that the marriage in the Phils is probably the best route after all.


Jim

[joebloggs]

I am starting to think that the marriage in the Phils is probably the best route after all.

i got married in the phils.
i've got 2 step kids,
one came over with the misses, no problem getting visa's
my stepson came over a 1 1/2yrs later on his own(17 1/2yrs old then), no problems getting him a visa, he was interviewed, etc.. hes back in the phils now at uni, but we need to get him here b4 april. or he will lose his ILR.

i think overall it would be easier and better if you got wed in the phils, as with the fiancée visa your intention is to wed within 6 months, but with a spouse visa you already made that commitment and are wed, especially as you have a daughter..

[JimOttley]

I understand how you feel about the embassy and like as they were saying they still categorise that your daugther is your missus ex-husband. we are on the same boat few years ago... i was married to an american and was already divorsed in the stes but because we got married also here and it was a church marriage, it is very difficult to be annuled and upto this moment after 3 long years of the annullment...I havent got my freedom yet. but my children are going to be registered now as british...i have wrote to Kevins MP and he helped us for this one under compationate grounds...and hopefully by end of this month all our children will be registered and get their british passports. with my children prior to kevins relationship, he was able to adopt them. we went through legal process of adoption and he was able to get the adoption papers after a year through the help of the DSWD.

so good luck...i hope you get alittle idea on what we did...write to your MP and ask to help you with your daugther under compationate grounds

Charlene thank you so much for your comment it is good to know that others have gone through this too and it does sound like your situation is very similar to ours.

I have also read some of your story as well and my heart goes out to you both, I really hope everything works out for you, you have been in a terrible situation.


Jim

[joebloggs]

i think Britishdetained maybe right about your daughters situation, citizenship is at the discretion of the HO. contacting your MP and with his help, maybe she could get it thru compelling or compassionate reasons.

i take it your g/f started the divorce proceedings in korea?

[JimOttley]

i think Britishdetained maybe right about your daughters situation, citizenship is at the discretion of the HO. contacting your MP and with his help, maybe she could get it thru compelling or compassionate reasons.

i take it your g/f started the divorce proceedings in korea?

The divorce was what the Koreans call a consensual divorce a bit like a quick divorce over here.

When Ana refused to be a housemaid he decided he wanted rid of her and he applied for the divorce she accepted but on condition that he fixed her papers however it looked like he never did that and she spent 4 years there thinking she was an illegal overstay.

Turned out years later that she was already Korean but she never found that out at the time in part because of the language barrier, she speaks enough Korean to get by but not enough to deal with government offices.

The real problem we have now is that the marriage occured in the Phils in the first place.

The divorce issue should really have nothing to do with my daughters birth registration though as that is completley separate.

This page is the one that applies to us.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...britishfather/

and specifically this paragraph

Since 1 July 2006 both parents are able to pass on their British citizenship to their children even if they are not married providing there is satisfactory evidence of paternity. We will normally register any child born before 1 July 2006 to a father who is a British citizen father under section 3(1) if the requirements below are met:

There is more published information on this subject that I have been through over and over again and they basically had no right to refuse us for my daughter, it's not discretionary according to everthing I have read.

For kids born before 1st July 2006 it definitely was discretionary.

The problem for us was that they deliberately confused the issue in order to make it seem that the type of application we made did not apply to our daughter and that we would instead have to apply via home office.

The whole "your partner is still married thing" was a deliberate misinterpretation of the rules as I see it and was based on small discrepences between the published words on the UKBA web site and the published instructions on the forms they had at the embassy.

Anyway they were supposed to be forwarding our papers to London for a decision from the home office but that was ages ago and I have heard nothing back from them yet.

Just emailed the embasssy again a couple of weeks back but got an "out of office" bounce so I emailed again last night it's not bounced this time

[joebloggs]

i asked about who started the divorce because of this post here..

http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php?t=14176

i totally agree with you about your daughter, her getting a passport shouldn't matter if your g/f is married or not, mentions nothing of her status, only mentions if you and your g/f are not married.

the ambassador for the Philippines embassy is Peter Beckingham i would see you mp and see what he can do.

and contact a couple of law centres near you for free advice..
http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/lawcentres/detail/find/

[JimOttley]

i asked about who started the divorce because of this post here..

http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php?t=14176

i totally agree with you about your daughter, her getting a passport shouldn't matter if your g/f is married or not, mentions nothing of her status, only mentions if you and your g/f are not married.

the ambassador for the Philippines embassy is Peter Beckingham i would see you mp and see what he can do.

and contact a couple of law centres near you for free advice..
http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/lawcentres/detail/find/

Yes exactly I was aware of that interpretation of the law which is why I made the point that it ws the Korean who asked for the divorce.

However because the type of divorce was a consensual divorce that might raise problems in our case.

[joebloggs]

well jim, it looks to me, if you don't want to get married in Korea because of the risk of charges of bigamy if you g/f goes back to the phils. (how would the phil gov know she is married to you ?? - I don't know ) you'll have to wait for the annulment to come thru. and either marry in the phils or apply for a fiancée visa.

your problem, like many people on here is the time it takes and the money it will cost.

but keep us informed how things go

[IainBusby]

well jim, it looks to me, if you don't want to get married in Korea because of the risk of charges of bigamy if you g/f goes back to the phils. (how would the phil gov know she is married to you ?? - I don't know ) you'll have to wait for the annulment to come thru. and either marry in the phils or apply for a fiancée visa.

your problem, like many people on here is the time it takes and the money it will cost.

but keep us informed how things go

Why don't you email the British embassy in Manila and clarify with them, if she were legally divorced in Korea and then legally married again to you in Korea, would they (given that everything else was OK, finances, accomodation etc) be able to isuue a visa even though she would not be able to produce a Philippines CENOMAR, or would they accept the Philippines government view that she was still married and had therefore commited bigamy.

If they said that they would accept the legality of both the Korean divorce and subsequent re-marriage, then the only problem is the Philippines authorities and I would suggest, what they don't know, they would not be able to do anything about.

I really can't see how they could find out unless you told them. But unless the British Embassy would accept the fact that she was legally divorced and re-married, it would be a waste of time and would only confuse the situation even more.

Iain.

[JimOttley]

Why don't you email the British embassy in Manila and clarify with them, if she were legally divorced in Korea and then legally married again to you in Korea, would they (given that everything else was OK, finances, accomodation etc) be able to isuue a visa even though she would not be able to produce a Philippines CENOMAR, or would they accept the Philippines government view that she was still married and had therefore commited bigamy.

If they said that they would accept the legality of both the Korean divorce and subsequent re-marriage, then the only problem is the Philippines authorities and I would suggest, what they don't know, they would not be able to do anything about.

I really can't see how they could find out unless you told them. But unless the British Embassy would accept the fact that she was legally divorced and re-married, it would be a waste of time and would only confuse the situation even more.

Iain.

I've done part of that already Iain and thanks for the suggestion, I had written up another long reply to Joe last night pretty much saying the same when my new Windows 7 Installation crashed on me it was too long to re-write

Getting the Visa without CENOMAR in Manila and sorting out my daughters citizenship based on the fact that we were now legally married in Korea, then somehow dealing with James' position and that would be everything wrapped up nicely.

As you suggested I've emailed the embassy explaining most of the current situation, I did that a couple of weeks back then resent the email on Friday night as I have still had no response from them. When I finally get a reply I will expand my questions to include your suggestion.

Biggest problem with that is that due to the worldwide changes in the Visa application process the embassy don't like dealing directly with visa questions these days :(

I'm not about to tell the Philippine authorities anything more than I need to, I generally follow this rule at all times but I always tend get intimidated when I have to deal with the British government, I'm not a good liar, lying is hard work too much too remember, much easier to tell the truth

Thanks guys.

Jim

[britishdetained]

Charlene thank you so much for your comment it is good to know that others have gone through this too and it does sound like your situation is very similar to ours.

I have also read some of your story as well and my heart goes out to you both, I really hope everything works out for you, you have been in a terrible situation.


Jim

Its alright, I hope I was able to help

Oh about us, still hoping that soon the truth will prevail so that my six children will be with their dad.

[JimOttley]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

[Sun Shine]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

Congratulations Jim, good news for you. Must be a weight off your shoulders.

[britishdetained]

thats good then i mention also your case to sir Carlos tampinco- he is the pro consul at the embassy...he is nice and would most of the time give considerations especially about compassionate grounds

[Sophie]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

congratulations jim

[Tawi2]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

Theres a rainbow at the end of every storm,its an old cliche but also a truism,congrats

[JimOttley]

Thanks folks, I'm just a little stunned, the lack of movment on this issue all year was just making it feel like the mountain we had to climb was never getting any smaller.

I really did not expect any movement from the Embassy on this at all, aparently they emailed me last week but I think the junk mail filter on one of my machines ate the email

I feel a bit foolish now about pouring out my soul on here all weekend when one of our main problems had already been dealt with

Thanks to everyone for listening though and the advice on our other issues has been really good as well.

One other thing I have confirmed is that the British Embassy will no longer make any comment or provide any advice in relation to Visa's of any kind, I tried to sneak a question in relating to visa's when I sent the email a couple of weeks back and the reponse was absolutely no advice on visa's, you have to go through VFS Global at http://www.vfs-uk-ph.com.

Thanks again folks.


Jim

[IainBusby]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

Great News, some progress at last. It would be great now if the embassy told you that they would recognise the Korean divorce and a subsequent re-marriage regardless of her Filipino marital status.

Iain.

[joebloggs]

Can't believe it, I have been so close to total despair and now I have a response from the British embassy this morning and my daughter's birth registration and passport have now been issued!

Both documents are ready for dispatch.

excellent news, thats one problem out of the way

[joebloggs]

One other thing I have confirmed is that the British Embassy will no longer make any comment or provide any advice in relation to Visa's of any kind, I tried to sneak a question in relating to visa's when I sent the email a couple of weeks back and the reponse was absolutely no advice on visa's, you have to go through VFS Global at http://www.vfs-uk-ph.com.

, but its not vfs who grant the visa, it's not vfs who refuse your visa and it is not them you send your appeal to

cheeky

[Sim11UK]

I feel a bit foolish now about pouring out my soul on here all weekend when one of our main problems had already been dealt with :

Good news

No need to feel foolish, you didn't know...Members here are all prepared to pool their knowledge, to help each other. This is a great friendly site.

[JimOttley]

, but its not vfs who grant the visa, it's not vfs who refuse your visa and it is not them you send your appeal to

cheeky

Yeah is that not really crazy?

They have just deliberately deferred any kind of real help untill you get refused, so Iain's suggestion of asking them in advance if in principal after getting married in Korea, would they, all other things being ok, issue a visa without a Philippine CENOMAR on the basis of us getting married in Korea or would they still require her to comply with Philippine law because she is Filipino and is applying from the Phils, won't work.

If you can't ask them any real questions in advance of a refusal, it's a bloody big step to decide to go ahead and get married in Korea?

I had sort of asked a question relating to Ana's divorce document and our existing supporting documents for my daughters passport application (pretty much the same requirements) to see if that would be be enough for a fiancée visa and the response was flat 'we cannot talk about visa's'.

Basically there does not appear to be anywhere that you can ask that kind of 'What if?" question, unless I've missed something on the vfa site?

Better to be refused a fiancée visa than to be refused a spouse visa at least you still have options left in the fiancée case

Jim

[joebloggs]

whatever small chance there is of your visa being refused, you will have a right to appeal, and most appeals are won, i think its around the 66% mark for all types of visa.

with your evidence i'm sure you would win

[JimOttley]

whatever small chance there is of your visa being refused, you will have a right to appeal, and most appeals are won, i think its around the 66% mark for all types of visa.

with your evidence i'm sure you would win

Thanks Joe, I just lack confidence I think.

I'm not a gambler and I get really scared when I am faced with decisions like this, a bit of a woose really comes from the extremely precise nature of my work

When I write code I want it to work and to make it work I have to understand the problem in minute detail otherwise I will miss something and think everything is ok until it comes time to demo my code and something I failed to think about blows up in my face

Still going to get in touch with the IAS as I think that might be the best place to ask the "What if" questions.


Jim

[JimOttley]

Good news

No need to feel foolish, you didn't know...Members here are all prepared to pool their knowledge, to help each other. This is a great friendly site.

Thanks Sim.

I really appreciate all the kind words from everyone!


Jim

[Ji&Ma]

Thanks Joe, I just lack confidence I think.

I'm not a gambler and I get really scared when I am faced with decisions like this, a bit of a woose really comes from the extremely precise nature of my work

When I write code I want it to work and to make it work I have to understand the problem in minute detail otherwise I will miss something and think everything is ok until it comes time to demo my code and something I failed to think about blows up in my face

Still going to get in touch with the IAS as I think that might be the best place to ask the "What if" questions.


Jim

Jim, you should put this to you ADVANTAGE actually not as downside. Just try to gather more information - not on VFS web as there you can't get too much info but from other sources. Try the links below, hope it will help somehow...

And congratulations Jim that you have got sorted your daughters passport at least - one big hurdle less

Links:

UK Visas - Entry clearance guidance
UKBA - Immigration rules
UKBA - Legislation

It is lots to go through and lots of oficial lingo but I'm sure with your eye for detail you will be able to pick the important pieces and it would help you a little...
Good luck

[fred]

Jim I have read your story and can understand your frustration especially with the British embassy..(There are heartless swine working in there)
Anyway..I wish you good fortune..
Fred.

[JimOttley]

Jim I have read your story and can understand your frustration especially with the British embassy..(There are heartless swine working in there)
Anyway..I wish you good fortune..
Fred.

Thanks Fred, I am feeling rather more kindly towards them now after today's news

[JimOttley]

Jim, you should put this to you ADVANTAGE actually not as downside. Just try to gather more information - not on VFS web as there you can't get too much info but from other sources. Try the links below, hope it will help somehow...

And congratulations Jim that you have got sorted your daughters passport at least - one big hurdle less

Links:

UK Visas - Entry clearance guidance
UKBA - Immigration rules
UKBA - Legislation

It is lots to go through and lots of oficial lingo but I'm sure with your eye for detail you will be able to pick the important pieces and it would help you a little...
Good luck

Thank you too Jiri & Marice !

[IainBusby]

One other thing I have confirmed is that the British Embassy will no longer make any comment or provide any advice in relation to Visa's of any kind, I tried to sneak a question in relating to visa's when I sent the email a couple of weeks back and the reponse was absolutely no advice on visa's, you have to go through VFS Global at http://www.vfs-uk-ph.com.

Yeah is that not really crazy?

They have just deliberately deferred any kind of real help untill you get refused, so Iain's suggestion of asking them in advance if in principal after getting married in Korea, would they, all other things being ok, issue a visa without a Philippine CENOMAR on the basis of us getting married in Korea or would they still require her to comply with Philippine law because she is Filipino and is applying from the Phils, won't work.

If you can't ask them any real questions in advance of a refusal, it's a bloody big step to decide to go ahead and get married in Korea?

I had sort of asked a question relating to Ana's divorce document and our existing supporting documents for my daughters passport application (pretty much the same requirements) to see if that would be be enough for a fiancée visa and the response was flat 'we cannot talk about visa's'.

Basically there does not appear to be anywhere that you can ask that kind of 'What if?" question, unless I've missed something on the vfa site?

Better to be refused a fiancée visa than to be refused a spouse visa at least you still have options left in the fiancée case

Jim

If you can't speak to the monkey then try to speak to the organ grinder, contact the UKBA here in the UK, point out that the embassy in Phils is refusing to give advice on the matter and that it is not the sort of thing that their agents, VFS Global could give you an answer about, because only an ECO could give you accurate advice about this sort of thing.

If you can't get anywhere with them then get your MP to write to them....... They will give him or her a definitive answer.

You may think that your situation is absolutely unique, but given that Philippines law is (because of religion) so out of step with the rest world in only recognising divorces if the Filipino party involved did not instigate the divorce, I'm sure this situation has come up before from time to time and I'm sure that UKBA can give you an answer based on previous similar applications or maybe even based on previous appeal outcomes.

Iain.