Accomodation

[superbales10]

Hello everybody my name is Luke,and im new to this forum, i have a question which hopefully some of you can help me with,as the british embassy in manila,i just cant contact after several times of trying,but i really must find the answer somehow.

anyway my question is that my me and my wife are currently living in the uk,but we would like to bring her 2 children to come and live with us,they are currently living in the philippines,but do we need a 3 bedroomed house to accomodate them?,or can we bring them over to the uk whilst in a 2 bedroomed property?,we currently live in a 2 bedroomed rented house,but would we need 3 bedrooms to accomodate the children? the children are a boy whose 12 and a girl whose 8, i would be very grateful if anyone can help me with this important matter

[joebloggs]

Guidance on overcrowding
The Housing Act 1985 contains statutory definitions of overcrowding in "dwelling houses". Dwelling houses covers both privately owned houses and those owned by local authorities. A house is overcrowded if 2 persons of 10 years old or more of opposite sexes (other than husband and wife) have to sleep in the same room, or if the number sleeping in the house exceeds that permitted in the Act.

The Act specifies the numbers permitted for a given number of rooms or given floor area. For our purposes we adopt the room number yardstick. Account is only taken of rooms with a floor area larger that 50 sq feet and rooms of a type used either as a living-room or bedroom; kitchens or bathrooms etc are not included.

Using the above noted yardstick, the following table provides guidance as to the acceptable (for our purposes) number of persons occupying a house with a stated number of rooms:

NO OF ROOMS ..... PERMITTED NO OF PERSONS
.......... 1 ................................. 2
.......... 2 ................................. 3
.......... 3 ................................. 5
.......... 4 ................................. 7.5
.......... 5 ............................... 10

with an additional 2 persons for each room in excess of 5.

A child under the age of one does not count as a person. A child aged 1 - 10 years will count as only half a person.

There are separate overcrowding provisions for a house in multiple occupation (HMO), which is defined as "a house, which is occupied by persons who do not form a single household". This very wide definition covers hotels and hostels, as well as houses lived in by 2 or more couples of different generations where they do not share common facilities. The most common occurrence of this is likely to be a man seeking entry to join his wife and intending to live with her independently in a house also occupied by her family. The definition therefore includes a house lived in by 2 or more couples (even if related) excluding dependent children of the couple.

There are no hard and fast rules concerning overcrowding HMOs. Local authorities have the power to serve an overcrowding notice in relation to a house in multiple occupation specifying the maximum number of people permitted in a house, or serve a notice to prevent any further residents. Where an overcrowding notice renders an occupier homeless the council may be obliged to provide accommodation under the Housing Act 1985 - if for example the occupier has dependent children, or is old or infirm. Such accommodation would, of course, count under the Rules as recourse to public funds. In the case of HMOs it may be necessary to obtain written confirmation from the local authority that there is no objection to an additional resident moving in but see paragraph 6.2 above.


how long has your wife been in the UK? who looks after her kids ? she needs to show she has custody of her kids as well as 'sole responsibility' of them

[Arthur Little]

Hello everybody my name is Luke,and im new to this forum, i have a question which hopefully some of you can help me with,as the british embassy in manila,i just cant contact after several times of trying,but i really must find the answer somehow.

I see you've already received a very comprehensive answer to your question, Luke. to the forum ... where you can always rely on the advice given!

[superbales10]

Thanks for the reply,my wife has been in the uk since october 05,she is settled here and has passed the lif in the uk test,the next step it to gain british citizenship next spring,then in a years time bring her 2 children here,judging by your answer,we will look for a 3-bedroomed house to rent,her mum looks after her kids,they will have to get british passports,thanks very much for the reply,because the british embassy are a nightmare

[joebloggs]

her mum looks after her kids,they will have to get british passports,thanks very much for the reply,because the british embassy are a nightmare

why are they entitled to British passports ?

the mother has been 4yrs in the uk and you want to bring them in a years + time

if they are not British, the mother might struggle proving she has 'sole responsibility' - recently we have had 2 people on here who's children were refused settlement visas

[IainBusby]

why are they entitled to British passports ?

the mother has been 4yrs in the uk and you want to bring them in a years + time

if they are not British, the mother might struggle proving she has 'sole responsibility' - recently we have had 2 people on here who's children were refused settlement visas

As Joe says, getting visas for ones children to come here is never as straightforward as some might think, especially when they have been left with family in the Philippines for a long time. The longer the children are left in Philippines and cared for by others, the harder it becomes to prove sole responsibility and to make a strong case for allowing them to come to the UK. Personally I always think that it's best for the mother to do this within a year or so of arriving here herself.

[superbales10]

so whats the easiest way to prove she has sole responsibility

[superbales10]

so whats the best way to prove she has sole responsibility

[superbales10]

why are they entitled to British passports ?

the mother has been 4yrs in the uk and you want to bring them in a years + time

if they are not British, the mother might struggle proving she has 'sole responsibility' - recently we have had 2 people on here who's children were refused settlement visas

i mean not passports,but visas to travel,and filipino passports

[superbales10]

As Joe says, getting visas for ones children to come here is never as straightforward as some might think, especially when they have been left with family in the Philippines for a long time. The longer the children are left in Philippines and cared for by others, the harder it becomes to prove sole responsibility and to make a strong case for allowing them to come to the UK. Personally I always think that it's best for the mother to do this within a year or so of arriving here herself.

we couldnt do it within a year due to financial reasons,although we are pretty much skint now,but its never going to be an ideal time to do it,but in the long run it will be better,because she sends lots of money now,money she wouldnt send if they were here

[IainBusby]

so whats the easiest way to prove she has sole responsibility

I suppose at this stage after 4 years apart she could only show that she has had regular communication with them and that she she is soley responsible for their financial support. If she also wrote in the letter of support that should accompany the visa application, that she always intended to apply to bring them here and there were very good reasons why she didn't apply to bring them here sooner, ie financial reasons etc.

[IainBusby]

Thanks for the reply,my wife has been in the uk since october 05,she is settled here and has passed the lif in the uk test,the next step it to gain british citizenship next spring,then in a years time bring her 2 children here,judging by your answer,we will look for a 3-bedroomed house to rent,her mum looks after her kids,they will have to get british passports,thanks very much for the reply,because the british embassy are a nightmare

Does this mean that she is not going to apply to bring them here until the spring of 2011?

[superbales10]

Does this mean that she is not going to apply to bring them here until the spring of 2011?

we would like to apply before than,first of all she wants to apply for british citizenship around spring 2010,then after that we would like to go either xmas or spring 2011,depending on getting everything organised and waiting times etc. im happy ive found this site because i really cant get anywhere with the british embassy in manila, ive tried phoning,emailing countless times,but no joy

[Tawi2]

Superbales,some of the guys on this site are fonts of knowledge,they have been through exactly what your going through at the moment,and came out of the other side with the desired result,hope everything works out for you mate,be lucky,Happy christmas

[IainBusby]

we would like to apply before than,first of all she wants to apply for british citizenship around spring 2010,then after that we would like to go either xmas or spring 2011,depending on getting everything organised and waiting times etc. im happy ive found this site because i really cant get anywhere with the british embassy in manila, ive tried phoning,emailing countless times,but no joy

IMO it would be much better to concentrate on bringing them here ASAP and then worry about citizenship later. Besides, she can then apply for citizenship for them at the same time as herself because there is no set qualifying time for children as children who are not born in the UK and who do not qualify for citizenship by parentage are only granted citizenship at the descretion of the Secretary of State.

[superbales10]

me and my wife want to bring her 2 filipino children to the uk,what is the first step we need to take,ive tried to email and phone the british embassy in manila,but no joy,i would like to know where to start.

my wife has been here since oct 05,and is now settled here,she doesnt have citizenship yet,but does want it asap,we could not bring her children here until now,because she has applied for othing things,and she had to spend some time their because her mum had a stroke,her mum is not well,the children currently stay with her mum and dad in the philippines,her children are 12 and 8.

i would really appreciate it,if anyone can help us with this matter

[IainBusby]

me and my wife want to bring her 2 filipino children to the uk,what is the first step we need to take,ive tried to email and phone the british embassy in manila,but no joy,i would like to know where to start.

my wife has been here since oct 05,and is now settled here,she doesnt have citizenship yet,but does want it asap,we could not bring her children here until now,because she has applied for othing things,and she had to spend some time their because her mum had a stroke,her mum is not well,the children currently stay with her mum and dad in the philippines,her children are 12 and 8.

i would really appreciate it,if anyone can help us with this matter

Firstly do the children have passports? If they don't the first thing you must do is get them some as they can't be issued with visas if they don't even have passports.

It's quite difficult to apply for visas from this end because the applications must be made to the British Embassy in the Philippines. In our case we downloaded the settlement visa form and filled it in, then compiled all of the evidence required, ie salary slips, bank/savings/mortgage statements, letters of support, accomodation info, evidence of relationship, financial support and regular contact.

Up to that point things are relatively simple. Then you have to send money and get someone in the Philippines to get you a managers cheque for the visa fee made out to the British Embassy Manila and drawn on a Philippine bank (we used the PNB). Then they must send it to you by a reliable courier such as DHL. When they send it they should put it in an A4 envelope amongst lots of blank sheets of A4 and tell the courier company that it contains documents...... if they tell them that it contains a cheque they will refuse to carry it.

Once you get the cheque (which should be within 2 of weeks of it being issued as it may only be valid for a month) you just add it to the completed application pack and send it by courier (we used Interparcel http://www.interparcel.com ) to the British Embassy in Manila.

You should find out the exact fee and include the courier fee for them to return the application pack when the visas have been issued, otherwise it will have to collected from Manila....... The application pack will be returned to the address of the applicants, ie the children, not to your wife in the UK.

Just to make sure that all that I have told you is still relevant today, If I were you I would send an email to the British Embassy in Manila using the following address as they usually reply to to emails addressed to here with a week or so: ManilaVisaEnquiries.Manila@fco.gov.uk , I would give the email the subject "Making a visa application from the UK to Manila".

Iain.

[IainBusby]

I just had a thought, I can't remember if we sent the visa applicatoin to the British Embassy in Manila or the VFS who normally handle all visa applications initially, anyway their address is:

VFS Services Philippines Private Inc.
Phil-Axa Building, 2501-02,
1286 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Corner Tindalo Street,
Makati City, Manila
Philippines.

It might be an idea to email VFS as well and ask them about it. One thing that has changed since we went through this process that might affect how you proceed with this is that visa applications are usually made in person to VFS because they now use biometrics (fingerscans and digital photographs) for all visa applications, but with regard to children, I don't know from what age this is required.

Something else that I just thought of is that when we had the visa fee managers cheque sent to us, we also had 2 passport type photos of my step-daughter sent at the same time because these need to be fixed to the application form.
Iain.