Application for my Philippine wife to live in the UK

[johny]

Hello Everyone, I’m sorry that my first post should be a question, and a question referring to Visa applications for the UK as I’m sure many of you are tired of answering such questions, however my situation may be a little different from others posted, I’m not only asking for information for visa application to the UK but also what path would members recommend I take in making this application.
Just to give you some details about my wife and I, I’ve been away from the UK since the mid 1990s, only been back in recent years because of a death in my family, I am 54 and a British citizen, my wife is a Filipino and 41 years of age, we have been married for 11 years and other than holidays have lived in the Philippines most of our married life, we do not have any children, and neither of us have any significant savings, but do own five properties in the Philippines, and one House in the UK [ the UK house is mortgage free and is rented out at present]
My wife has travelled around Asia, and visited the UK some 8 years ago on a tourist visa.
Our intention is to sell all the properties in the Philippines, and try to relocate to the UK, my questions are, which would be the best/simplest Visa to apply for, and would it be better for us to make the application from the Philippines or the UK , it would be possible for me to return to the UK and look for employment whist we try to sell the Philippine properties, or sell my UK property to give myself a healthy bank account, I’m really open to all ideas and suggestions.
Thanks in Advance
Johny

[joebloggs]

your wife would have to apply from the Phils

for a spouse settlement visa, the financial requirements are here ..
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...df?view=Binary

read specially from page 40 about cash saving, would your 5 properties in the Phils be worth over £62,500 if so this would probably be your best option

or if you did return to the UK and found a job you would need a income of £18.6K + or use your income from that and cash savings if needed

or you could go the EU route and move to a EU country find a job and apply for a family permit, then later on move to the UK, this way there is no financial requirement but you would need to be working for 3-6months in that EU country.

[stevewool]

could i ask why are you planning of coming back to the uk

[tiger31]

well I don,t think your properties will be in your name so won,t qualify as savings .I would re mortgage your u.k property and put that money in the bank until you get the visa then pay off the mortgage again once visa is granted.or as above try the e.u route

[joebloggs]

7.2.1.
Savings must be held in cash
in a personal bank /savings account in the name of the
applicant, their partner or the couple jointly
. The savings can be from any legal source,including a gift from a
family member or other third party, provided the source of the cash
savings is declared
.
The applicant and/or their partner must
confirm that the money, which cannot be borrowed, is under their control
and evidence that it has been held in their bank account
for at least the 6 months prior to the date of application
.
7.2.2.
Savings can be held in any form of bank/savings account
. This bank/savings account can be a deposit or investment account.
Deposit accounts are usually easily identifiable.
An investment account must also meet all of the other cash savings
requirements to be considered as a bank/savings account
for the purposes of the cash savings rules at paragraphs 11 and 11A(a)

[stevewool]

well I don,t think your properties will be in your name so won,t qualify as savings .I would re mortgage your u.k property and put that money in the bank until you get the visa then pay off the mortgage again once visa is granted.or as above try the e.u route

great advice there brian

[tiger31]

great advice there brian

aaw cheers steve whatever way he chooses its gonna take longer than 6 months ,he may find it difficult finding a job at his age unless he has an in demand skill.so to speed things up re mortgage should be straight forward with all that equity .

[SimonH]

Hi Johny,

I'm really curious as to why you want to come back Paying your mortgage off by the age of 43 is some going, well done. What have you been doing for the last 11 years to keep yourself busy? Just curious as I'm in a similar situation, but at the start of your journey

[grahamw48]

Just have £62,500 showing in a UK deposit account for at least 6 months and somewhere to live....however you decide to do it, then you'll be welcomed back with open arms because you'll have demonstrated to the UKBA that you're not going to need benefits, and it's a genuine relationship, and that's all they're interested in.

Should be a piece of cake from what information you've provided here.

[johny]

Thanks all for the information, to answer some of your questions, i survived here by building the properties which we now use for income as rentals, as your probably aware, I cant hold a job here, but can be the unpaid builder/ maintenance guy in our compound, of course all properties are in the name of my wife, and would total more than 62,000 pounds. [ one three bedroom house,1 two bed room house, 3 one bedroom apartments on a 500m2 lot ] my UK house would also be worth more than 62,000 should i sell it or remortgage it, so there real possibilities, also the EU route might be a better idea, one of my present tenants is British with a Filipino wife, he has lived here for 9 years and receives a pension as he's retired, he has just secured a residency visa for him and his wife for Spain, his intention is to modify an existing building in to a B&b with the intention of having it as a retreat for artists and he would instruct skills in watercolors, He's already offered me employment overseeing his build as a working foreman, so that would meet the requirements of working within the EU for a minimum of three months. as for why are we moving on I have lived and worked in developing counties for nearly 18 years [ not just the Philippines], quite frankly I 'm now burnt out with the poverty and corruption thats all around me, for a few years or over a short stay you can live with it, even try to change things, but eventually it breaks your heart,so i need to move on, I have of course known many expats during my time here, but those that came here around the same time as me all but two have left,
thanks Again

[tiger31]

Thanks all for the information, to answer some of your questions, i survived here by building the properties which we now use for income as rentals, as your probably aware, I cant hold a job here, but can be the unpaid builder/ maintenance guy in our compound, of course all properties are in the name of my wife, and would total more than 62,000 pounds. [ one three bedroom house,1 two bed room house, 3 one bedroom apartments on a 500m2 lot ] my UK house would also be worth more than 62,000 should i sell it or remortgage it, so there real possibilities, also the EU route might be a better idea, one of my present tenants is British with a Filipino wife, he has lived here for 9 years and receives a pension as he's retired, he has just secured a residency visa for him and his wife for Spain, his intention is to modify an existing building in to a B&b with the intention of having it as a retreat for artists and he would instruct skills in watercolors, He's already offered me employment overseeing his build as a working foreman, so that would meet the requirements of working within the EU for a minimum of three months. as for why are we moving on I have lived and worked in developing counties for nearly 18 years [ not just the Philippines], quite frankly I 'm now burnt out with the poverty and corruption thats all around me, for a few years or over a short stay you can live with it, even try to change things, but eventually it breaks your heart,so i need to move on, I have of course known many expats during my time here, but those that came here around the same time as me all but two have left,
thanks Again

you are so right this place can and does wear you down thats why I will return in the future but come back and forth .

[joebloggs]

also going the EU way there should be no cost for the visa and you virtually have a legal right to the visa (as long as its not a marriage of convenience - after 18yrs they cant refuse you on that )

bring your wife to the UK using the Surinder Singh route.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23029195

http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/04/...d-family-unity

[johny]

Again thanks for the info, If for example I followed the 62,000 savings route, I understand that i also have to prove that i have somewhere to live in the UK, so I couldn't sell my UK house to raise the money, nor could i remortgage the property as I'm not technically employed would that be correct? the reason i ask is I don't expect a quick sale of our properties here in the Philippines, plus i want to purchase a small piece of land to build a house for Mama and Us when we return for visits, so it would be easier that i sold the UK house put that money in an account to start the 6 month clock ticking, then organize the sale of the Philippines houses, one more question if i may, once the visa is applied for and hopefully granted, are there any conditions that go with the visa regarding my wife? for example will she have to remain in the UK for at least two years before being allowed o leave the country

thanks again Johny

[grahamw48]

Hi Johny.

If you decided to sell your house in the UK to raise the necessary funds (very buoyant market at the moment), then you could arrange to rent one...or a flat, just to satisfy accommodation requirements.

Obviously you'll need to very carefully consider all the options open to you.

After your wife receives the settlement visa, after her first arrival, she can come and go as she pleases from the UK, as long as she is not out of the country for more than 3 months at a time.

[Michael Parnham]

Hi Johny, with ref, to renting a property in the UK, very few property renting agents will consider renting to someone that has been living abroad but having said that I did manage to find one out of many that did accept me and my wife on condition that I paid the appropriate security deposit and also six months rent in advance, check them out online, Martin & Co, they have offices throughout the UK. I know your not ready to move just yet as I can see you have quite a lot to sort out, but I hope I have been of some help. Good Luck and keep us posted!

[johny]

Thank you all for your assistance, were not in any immediate hurry to leave, and as i mentioned earlier we do want to leave a small place here for Mama and for us to return to during visits, it seems that i should just get our properties here smartened up and ready for sale, then put them up for sale, if we get what we expect we could probably buy two mid terraces back in the UK, we could use those as rentals along with my other UK house which will give us enough income to build mamas house, then when were ready sell my original house which would cover the 62,000 requirement plus leave other cash for other visa costs and expenses, then we could use either of the two remaining houses as our named home property,

Johny

[Terpe]

Hi Johny, belated welcome aboard filipino UK

As you now understand, bringing your wife to UK for settlement without you being able to meet the current income requirements will mean having £62.5k in savings. Don't forget that after the initial 30 months that visa will require renewing at basically the same income/savings levels to ensure continuation for a further 30 months until ILR

Looking at all the issues you need to 'smooth', may I suggest you make a quick search here in the forum for the so-called EEA route.
You mention the opportunity to reside in Spain for a few months with paid employment.
That would surely represent the best option for you based on the information you've shared.
A least give it serious consideration. The initial and ongoing costs and paperwork are hugely less onerous with the time to British Citizenship being just the same.

My advice would be to follow the EEA path

[johny]

Thanks terp, great information, the 30 month renewal does put a different slant on things, Going the EEA path is fine however until our properties are sold one of us always needs to be here in the Philippines,we run the rentals as a business. the work offered to me is likely to start in Feb 2014 in Spain and may only last 6 months, i doubt our sale here would have happened by then and definitely not the building of Mamas house. its a real shame I wasn't aware of the EEA back in 2004, i worked for a Austrian development agency from 2000 - 2004, of course i was overseas but my pay etc was all paid into an Austrian bank, i even have a pension card from my then company that will give me a small pension from Austria once i reach 65.

Johny