Howdy

[oakbranch]

Hello folks

I have joined this forum, well simply to be in the company of people who are going through or have been through the journey I am about to undertake.

Earlier this year I decided, after 3 years as a single Dad, to seek a partner for marriage, with a preference for finding a lady from another country. I used a website called internationalcupid.com and must have corresponded with ladies of all ages from just about all parts of the globe.

Ultimately, the one I hit it off the best with was Jonalyn, a 31 year old nursing aide living in the Philippines. She lives in the south of the islands at Sultan Kudarat, an area of considerable unrest.

She was initially set to travel here on a work visa, but when she made the ferry journey from her province up to Manila, some of her belongings were stolen from the locker on the boat, inlcuding her medical certificate and some other stuff. This was renewable in Manila but naturally they wanted to charge an extortionate amount of money for the service. She didn't have that and neither did I so the whole thing crashed and burned right there.

After this initial disappointment we have continued our relationship. We communicate on skype, by phone, text and email almost every day and she is now back in her province working silly hours for bugger all money.

The plan is for now for us to go for the fiancee visa over the course of the next year. I'm fairly sure that I am now fully conversant with all the requirements for this, but I thought it might be prudent to be around other couples who have been through it since experience tells me that things rarely run smoothly and by the numbers!

Anyhow - hello - nice to meet you


Noel x

[RuBiX]

Hello there Noel! Welcome to the forum!
I'm sorry about Jonalyn's experience.. I'm glad that she found a job in the Philippines after that incident and to gather more job experiences before coming here in the UK...

If you will undergo for fiancee visa, it's best to visit Jonalyn and build
some evidence of your relationship like photos,etc...

Enjoy here in the forum. We'll just be here to answer all your queries
as much as we can...

Good luck...

[belfast_dude]

welcome noel....and good luck...i hope ur dreams come true dude

[IainBusby]

Hello there Noel! Welcome to the forum!
I'm sorry about Jonalyn's experience.. I'm glad that she found a job in the Philippines after that incident and to gather more job experiences before coming here in the UK...

If you will undergo for fiancee visa, it's best to visit Jonalyn and build
some evidence of your relationship like photos,etc...

Enjoy here in the forum. We'll just be here to answer all your queries
as much as we can...

Good luck...

I'm afraid that's a must. She will not be given a visa if you have never actually met each other...... in the flesh that is, on the web doesn't count as far as the bods at immigration are concerned.

[Ana_may365]

hiya!Noel,welcome aboardlike what other member said u need to prove ur relationship not only in chat,calling.why u're not visit her in her province so that u know each other well

[aug06_2006]

Hi Noel, welcome n good luck!

[oakbranch]

Yes thanks for that advice. naturally I am planning to visit and we will meet in either February or April (or actually both) if all goes to plan.

The main problem at the moment is the location. It looks like we will have to meet in Manila, since the nearest city to her is Cotabato City , not a safe place for westerners at present. I think many locations in Maguindanao are a bit iffy right now and we don't want to be looking over our shoulders the whole time.

I am also keen to meet her family, especially her parents and so there is just a bit of logistics needed there to bring them North for that. But I will certainly keep the forum updated of events as they unfold

Noel x

[South-east boy]

Hi there Noel! Well good luck with everything and hope that you manage to meet each other without too many complications before and when you do actually meet.

[whiteraven]

well it sounds like you have your head screwed on the right way. meeting her in person for the first time will be quite an experience for you both as i found after just communicating on "tinternet", but i hope it works out well for you both and will be watching your progress with interest

[eagles]

HI, sultan kudarat is a province, what town is she in.. The capital of sultan kudarat is isulan.. NO need for you to go to cotabato city. You can meet up in marbel?koronadal or in general santos city. Those places are safe for you..

I advice that you visit the family too even for an hour or so and check on it..

[liane]

Welcome to the forum Noel

Your name reminds me Christmas

I wish you luck in your relationship with Jonalyn, get to know each other when you visit her this coming year.

I think it won't cost that much to renew the papers she lost, it's a reasonable fee to have it reproduce.

Again, welcome!

[Arthur Little]

Welcome.

Like Liane, I'm reminded of Christmas ... as in the popular traditional carol, 'The First Noel' ... especially since we're now approaching the Season of Advent. [I imagine YOU'VE grown accustomed to hearing all thes about the connection by now!]

In common with the others here, I recommend you visit Jonalyn and her family - whenever work commitments permit - to gather evidence of the two of you together as genuine proof of a subsisting relationship, prior to taking things forward to the next stage.

Good Luck to you both.

[Tawi2]

Best off just meeting her in Gensan if your not confident wandering off the beaten-track,passed through her province a few times without incident to be honest,good luck

[antony73]

oakbranch - I'm also a Newbie here, so as a fellow Newbie, I say "Hi."

This really is a great forum to join. I've been going through many topics here and they cover EVERYTHING. Without this site and the support, advice and help from other members I would be completely lost. There is sometimes a little bit of a stigma with some regarding meeting an Asian girl on the internet, but here, there isn't any, only support.

I wish you the VERY VERY best of luck and happiness!

[oakbranch]

Thankyou for the comments

She lives in a place called Tumbao, although spends little time in her apartment between her jobs which are in Labuz and Popong. I have sent her some packages and these have gone to a family friend in General Santos City so we do at least know some people there. Perhaps that might be an option, I'm thinking particularly for February because she is unable to take time off work for that date and so it would make sense for me to be in close proximity to her.

With the new routine she has I am currently unable to communicate with her except by phone at one of her patient's place and I am getting up at 5:30 every day to make that call! A week from now we will be back to normal since she will have a new phone.

Today she sounded quite happy again after the recent disappointments kinda got her down. With regard to renewing that certificate, the problem is that when the application was discontiued she is now disbarred from re-applying for 2 years. Crazy system.

Thismorning she told me that she wrote this poem for me, it is in tagalog, but she also translated it to english and then she made up a tune and sang both versions to me down the phone! I found that particularly sweet. I can hardly wait for 2010!

Noel x

[Sophie]

welcome to the forum noel and all the best on you and your gf's plans for the future

[Ji&Ma]

Hi Noel, welcome in here and wish you good luck

[Arthur Little]

With the new routine she has I am currently unable to communicate with her except by phone at one of her patient's place and I am getting up at 5:30 every day to make that call! A week from now we will be back to normal since she will have a new phone.

... Up with the lark, eh! "Roll on next week", you'll be saying.

[Arthur Little]

Thismorning she told me that *she wrote this poem for me, it is in tagalog, but she also translated it to english and then she made up a tune and sang both versions to me down the phone! I found that particularly sweet. I can hardly wait for 2010!

... *Sounds promising!