I said 6 months because of the traveling involved getting documents from all the various places, Passport office, Nso, Nbi, British Embassy (twice) Marriage arrangements also copying all paperwork etc: We had reams & reams of paperwork to obtain and all the copying of everything, in all it took us almost 9 months from the start to receiving the 'visa'. I would recommend getting married in Philippines and applying for spouse 'visa' I think it could lesson the pressure long term, also don't waste money on an agency just follow the advice given on this forum, we did and it worked for us!