2 major obstacles have now been resolved:

ive sold my house and banked the dosh---some of which will be the savings needed to cover the income shortfall in the sponsorship requirements.

( ive rented a superb seafront penthouse apartment till may--a place way beyond what i could afford to buy.)

i got my divorce through last week--a simple uncontested quickie--still took ages to process though.

my partner goes back to the filis in 3 weeks--end of her visit visa--how time flies.

we decided to try the annulment route--and the legal process is now underway. we are hoping this can be resolved by the middle of next year--about the time my sponsorship savings will have been in place for 6 months.

we now have a joint bank account--registered to my current address.

is there anything else we can do now to help expidite the visa application when the time comes ?