FLR question

[mrako]

You can apply for FLR immediately after you get married if you want. You must though apply before the fiancee visa expires which is only valid for 6 months.

So once we apply for the FLR how long should we expect for that to come through? I am taking it that we need to meet the same financial criteria for the FLR as we did for the fiancee visa.

[joebloggs]

So once we apply for the FLR how long should we expect for that to come through? I am taking it that we need to meet the same financial criteria for the FLR as we did for the fiancee visa.

ideally yes, but if your working and none of your bank statements are over drawn you should be ok , but you will probably reduce your risks of refusal if you have some savings...

have you thought about get married in the phils instead of a fiancee visa.?

[mrako]

ideally yes, but if your working and none of your bank statements are over drawn you should be ok , but you will probably reduce your risks of refusal if you have some savings...

have you thought about get married in the phils instead of a fiancee visa.?

I have thought about that but figure that can have a cheap wedding here just so that we can apply for her to stay here for 2 years and then once we have saved properly we can have a proper wedding in the PI. If we were to marry now on Phils it will initially be more expensive and take longer for her to come here due to my limited savings.

Could you give the plus side for us to get married in the PI?

[joebloggs]

I have thought about that but figure that can have a cheap wedding here just so that we can apply for her to stay here for 2 years and then once we have saved properly we can have a proper wedding in the PI. If we were to marry now on Phils it will initially be more expensive and take longer for her to come here due to my limited savings.

Could you give the plus side for us to get married in the PI?

plus side is

a wedding in the phils is a lot cheaper than the UK.

if you marry in the phils and apply for a spouse visa, your fiancée shouldn't need to apply for FLR in the uk, saving you nearly £500.

also saving you the hassle, time and collecting evidence of applying for FLR

also once in the UK she can look for a job and start work straight away, while on a fiancée visa she can not start work until your married and she has FLR ( could be from what 2 months upto 9 months wait , depending on when you marry and how long it takes to process the FLR) so if you was on a spouse visa and she was lucky to find some work in a month instead of having to wait for flr.

[darren-b]

plus side is

a wedding in the phils is a lot cheaper than the UK..

A wedding in the phils is better value, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it would be cheaper. Big wedding in the Phils with loads (and it could be loads...) of family and friends could cost more than small wedding in the UK as you can get married very cheaply in the UK.

if you marry in the phils and apply for a spouse visa, your fiancée shouldn't need to apply for FLR in the uk, saving you nearly £500. .

But getting married in the Philippines would require you to make an extra trip to the Philippines which is likely to cost you at at least £500 just in travelling costs.

also saving you the hassle, time and collecting evidence of applying for FLR

FLR is the easiest to apply for, and even with a spouse visa you need to start collecting evidence for ILR immediately anyway.

also once in the UK she can look for a job and start work straight away, while on a fiancée visa she can not start work until your married and she has FLR ( could be from what 2 months upto 9 months wait , depending on when you marry and how long it takes to process the FLR) so if you was on a spouse visa and she was lucky to find some work in a month instead of having to wait for flr.

But getting married in the Philippines relies on you making a longish (at least 2 weeks?) trip to the Philippines which depending on work could delay you for longer. Maybe it's just me but when my wife (then my fiancee) came to the UK which was her first visit to another country (especially as it was winter...) I wouldn't have wanted her to work immediately even if she was allowed to.

Swings and roundabouts....

[joebloggs]

A wedding in the phils is better value, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it would be cheaper. Big wedding in the Phils with loads (and it could be loads...) of family and friends could cost more than small wedding in the UK as you can get married very cheaply in the UK.



But getting married in the Philippines would require you to make an extra trip to the Philippines which is likely to cost you at at least £500 just in travelling costs.



FLR is the easiest to apply for, and even with a spouse visa you need to start collecting evidence for ILR immediately anyway.



But getting married in the Philippines relies on you making a longish (at least 2 weeks?) trip to the Philippines which depending on work could delay you for longer. Maybe it's just me but when my wife (then my fiancee) came to the UK which was her first visit to another country (especially as it was winter...) I wouldn't have wanted her to work immediately even if she was allowed to.

Swings and roundabouts....

nope disagree, applying for FLR is still a pain in the nearly the same as applying for ILR.

i would rather spend £500 on an airticket to the phils than give it the HO for your FLR

so what if he needs 2wks in the phils (why 2wks ?? ) , with his wife in the uk, he probably not be leaving the uk again this year anyway.

avergae cost of a uk wedding is £20k , now tell me what you could get for that in the phils , my wedding in the phils didn't even come to £2k (yes that was 7yrs ago thou)

as for work, i think money is a bit of a problem for him, so the sooner his wife starts work the better. at least she will not have to wait up to 9 months b4 she can start work.

[darren-b]

nope disagree, applying for FLR is still a pain in the nearly the same as applying for ILR.

i would rather spend £500 on an airticket to the phils than give it the HO for your FLR

so what if he needs 2wks in the phils (why 2wks ?? ) , with his wife in the uk, he probably not be leaving the uk again this year anyway.

avergae cost of a uk wedding is £20k , now tell me what you could get for that in the phils , my wedding in the phils didn't even come to £2k (yes that was 7yrs ago thou)

as for work, i think money is a bit of a problem for him, so the sooner his wife starts work the better. at least she will not have to wait up to 9 months b4 she can start work.

FLR is hardly complex and the big difference is you may only have to collect an extra month or so paperwork over what you needed for the fiancee visa.

I might be wrong but I didn't think you could land in the Philippines and get married the following day - you had to be there for a while.

You totally missed by point about the cost of a wedding. You don't have to spend £20K, and it is possible to have a very cheap wedding in the UK, probably less than £200. I bet very few 'foreigners' have got away with a wedding that cheap in the Philippines...

And it terms of timescales yes it could take up to 9 months with a fiancee visa to get FLR, but then again she could get married in the UK and have FLR within 3 weeks of getting the fiancee visa if you really wanted.