Ouch, I was afraid that would be the case. I have to admit the getting married in Phil is becoming more attractive. I may apply her a visit visa in the meantime but don't expect she will get it eventhough we have met in Thailand before(she returned after visiting there).
Thanks for your replies!
Either way (fiancee or marriage) you will have to apply for an additional visa 2 years after arriving in the UK which is the expensive one (I think currently it is £820). Taking the marriage route saves you having to apply for FLR which is cheapest visa...Originally Posted by jasper99
If the rules change with the spouse route you will have to apply for 3 visas (4 with the fiancee route) and I've no ideal what the cost will be.
God it never gets easier, I can see the point about getting married in the Phils but if I remember correctly it's pretty much impossible to do in the 21 days allowed under the Phils standard visa waiver, plus for me I am no longer in control of my own destiny, once upon a time I could take time off, if I thought I could afford it but I'm a wage slave now, so really not so easy, my total annual leave is not enough, even adding statutory holidays and weekends :(
May well be best to just offset the extra FLR visa costs against the alternative of taking large amounts of unpaid leave and for us to get married in the UK.
Jim
Well, since your girlfriend returned from Thailand following her visit there, this would certainly be looked upon favourably ... although I must say, I didn't realise a visa would be needed for a Filipina to travel to a neighbouring country. I thought a valid passport would suffice. But yes, I know of one particular lady from the Philippines who worked in both Australia and Singapore prior to meeting her [now] British husband online. Whilst still at the courting stage (in the Phils) he wished to take her to the UK to meet his family, and a Tourist Visa was duly granted.
Now, all credit due to the young lady I'm referring to. She'd already proved her trustworthiness by returning to her homeland not just once - but TWICE - after working abroad. And there can be little doubt that this factor counted in her favour when applying for a tourist visa. But I suspectthe Embassy's decision, was influenced to an equally large extent by the fact that her sponsor/future husband was, shall we say, considerably "well-heeled" financially.
Currently, as you are already aware, it is extremely difficult to obtain a short-term visitor's visa ... leaving you with basically two choices. Which is WHY, for the reasons put forward in my initial response last night, I suggested marrying in the Phils and going down the spousal route. In so-doing, I appear to have "put the cat among the pigeons" with other members who evidently diagree with me.
So, once again mate, you have MY opinion for what it's worth! Since you and your girlfriend intend getting married anyway, I STILL adhere to my belief that by tying-the-knot in the Philippines and applying for the spouse visa, you will, in the longer term, save yourselves a lot of money if YOU can spare the time off work. Sure, you'll EVENTUALLY need to apply for 'Indefinite Leave To Remain' (ILR) on your [by then] wife's behalf ... but that won't arise until another 27 months' down the line have elapsed ... and, as I've already pointed out, you'll have saved between £400-£600 on 'Further Leave To Remain' (FLR) in the process.
It's up to YOU ...
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