We Are Approved

[ginapeterb]

Entry Clearance Officers' Sumary of Interview and Decision to grant a Visa.


Having Interviewed the Applicant I found her to be presentable and knowledgable of her relationship with Sponsor indicating that the relationship is more than likely to be genuine.

Although the relationship started via Internet the Sponsor has been 4 times to visit in 2004 showing evidence of a short physical relationship, the age difference is acceptable again showing a likelihood that the match is genuine.

Evidence of accomodation and income is more than satisfactory, there are no further checks required.

Sponsor has also travelled from UK For appointment and has submitted a nicely written covering letter denoting a genuine relationship.

I am satisfied that Applicant intends to live with Sponsor indefinately and recommend issuing a 2 year Mutiple Entry Wife category.

My Own Comments


This is the first time I have had sight of a Sumary made by Entry Clearance Officer and as no one else has ever mentioned this on the Forum, can only assume this is a 1st, and that the Embassy has genuinely cocked up by allowing us to see what is actually said.

I can think of the following points when reviewing the ECO's Summary as follows:

1. The ECO's are prejudiced slightly against relationships that have started via yahoo or Dating sites.

2. They are making arbitrary decisions in first instance.

3. They have a Subjective approach to Summarising the Answers.


The above is quite disturbing considering that the ECO is really GOD In this case, and in 15 minutes gets to decide your life course, if the ECO makes a decision that the relationship in his her opinion is not genuine, even though it might be, the interview lives and dies based on the Applicant's skill in convincing the ECO of the genuine situation that is before them.

Therefore i may have been right in the past, when i have recommended that Sponsors actually coach their partners, as i had done continuously with Gina throughout most of 2004, I will also prove that to you, as I did witness a refusal on Monday 6th, and will set out the reasons why.

I think 2 points come out of this on Monday.


1. It is definately in your favour to be in Manila, for the Interview, even if not called upon to attend, which I only saw once, with Kenny, who was asked to come in to be interviewed.

2. It is also good to send in a covering letter with the application, as this was noted in the Summary, plus the fact that the Sponsor has travelled out for the Interview.

3. The Applicant must be strong in her skill to convince the ECO and leave no doubt in his her mind.

4. Income and Accomodation must be spot on.

5. Documentation must be superb.


What an experience, but we have learned so much about what happens..and will put it all to good use..

Thanks for reading guys.

[walesrob]

Very interesting Pete.....As for the Embassy releasing the summary, well its made our job on these forums much easier as we now have an idea of the mindset of the Embassy. Look forward to the CFO report. Elsa got her CFO sorted way before the settlement interview so it was plain sailing....

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by walesrob@Jun 8 2005, 09:39 AM
Very interesting Pete.....As for the Embassy releasing the summary, well its made our job on these forums much easier as we now have an idea of the mindset of the Embassy. Look forward to the CFO report. Elsa got her CFO sorted way before the settlement interview so it was plain sailing....

Quoted post

Yes it does Rob, sadly Kenny's wife was denied a visa, in the end, I found out he was on Income Support, a fact of which he had failed to mentio all day, and his wife could not convince the ECO that she had any skills that the United Kingdom needed.

Incedible but true.

The CFO Experience coming up...and we still havent got it yet.

[ginapeterb]

Stop Press - Our CFO Experience


It was only by chance that we found out, that the CFO at Qurino Towers no longer conducts pre counselling for Filipino Spouses or Fiancees departing the Philippines, i did call them on Monday afternoon only to find that now it is done at the following location.


The Good Shepherd Convent
1043 Aurora Boulevard
Quezon City
Metro Manila.


hahahaha this now presents many of you with problems like you wont beleive, as I will now show.


To get to this venue, hahahaha I wouldnt really call it that, f....shack of a place, sorry I am so mad.

All Foreign Spouses and Fiancees, must now go to this dive to get their CFO Counselling certificate, to enable them to be integrated into cross cultural life. what a joke...


Anyway, this gaff is located high up in Quezon City, nearest MTR Station is Cubao-Araneta, if you are in Makati you need to take a taxi to Ayala Station, then take a train north on MTR3 to Cubao-Araneta station about 30 minutes up the line, except, you are on a first come first served basis, maximum 12 persons in Manila, per session which takes place at 10.00am Tuesdays and Thursdays,

the conselling session is 3 hours, so if you are going, with your loved one, suggest you are prepared to sit out in the hot sun, on wooden shanti benches for 3 hours, kicking around doing nothing better than wiping the sweat off your brow...foreign husbands and partnes, are not allowed in.

Sadly, our passport was in the Embassy, our papers were there also, and it took us 2 hours to get from Makati Avenue to Cubao-Araneta, after we overshot and ended up in Quezon Avenue, what a joke, then we had to double back, and by the time we took a taxi up the road to the place, we were 10 minutes late, guess what......


Come back on Thursday, sorry you have missed out, after having a row with them, which only got me turfed out by the guard, we had to trek all the way back to Makati, my advice is as follows:

Do as Rob did, get the wife to go on her own and do this herself, dont go with her,

1. its too hot
2. its a shithole
3. the place stinks to high heaven
4. the people in the place are stupid
5. Got the picture. get it got it good.


I am arranging for Gina to go to Cebu and complete this, in her own time, when I am back in UK, thankfully I wont be going, and I wont have to sweat my around stinky Quezon city anymore.

Well thats the story.

[peterdavid]

Pete,

This was fascinating. The transcript (which surely must have been a mistake of theirs in releasing it) makes blood-curdling reading.

When my wife got her visa, it was in the days when, for whatever reason, they didn't do interviews for settlement visas, so she never had to go through this. It is really appalling, the tone of the questions they asked (in your transcript) sounds like they address applicants with complete disdain and disrespect. Shocking. And the UK calls itself the developed country! I'm appalled to read how they spoke to Gina, I find it almost as annoying as the CFO nonsense and the NAIA "security guards".

CFO is as big a nightmare now as it was then, I see. It's just a money making scam isn't it. The idea that any of the ignorant a**ewipes who work at the CFO, who have probably never set foot outside Manila, let alone the Philippines, could provide any useful information to an emigrant is utterly laughable. I've never heard of a country which is so backwards it keeps its own citizens prisoners in the country until they have "counselling" to set foot into the world. They'd do better offering the counselling to foreigners who want to ENTER the Philippines, far more of a culture shock than leaving. All they do is tell the filipinas their foreign husband will spend most of his time using her as a second rate punching bag and leaving her to nurse her wounds while he goes off getting w@nkered with his mates. Which may be what happens 75% of the time in Filipino marriages, but thankfully the statistic is far lower here.

An amazing read. I don't suppose you fancy revealing the name of the ECO....? Wasn't a sort of Phil Mitchell look-a-like was it....?