Can you offer any advice please?
One of my work colleagues, who has been a friend for more than 20 years, went looking for a Filipino girlfriend/wife 4 years ago after his wife sadly passed away. They were happily married for more than 25 years.
He spent a couple of holidays there, before deciding to settle down with a Filipino lady whom he met via a dating website. He is 62 years old and she is 35.
He left the company where we both work to start a fresh life in the Philippines and invested a lot of his money in local businesses close by where he lived. Unfortunately all of these businesses failed leaving him £10K’s out of pocket.
Considering how much he talked about how good the lifestyle was there and how EXTREMELY cheap is was to live in comparison to the UK, I was surprised how much these businesses cost to run and the never ending stream of excuses to pour more money into each venture. He eventually gave up and returned to the UK as he had run out of money.
He worked hard for approximately 1 year getting all of the relevant paperwork together to move his now Filipino wife to the UK - which I was involved with - providing a character reference that needed to be witnessed by a lawyer.
Regrettably, this visa application failed about 1 month ago, with 7 reasons being given as to why. 5 of these 7 issues were 100% correct with the initial application and my friend found it very frustrating that he could not confront the relevant people dealing with this in the Philippines, as it was being dealt with by his wife.
An appeal has been launched and with all of the necessary legal requirements and various “hangers on” for money, my friend has been told that he needs to send a further £8000 to make all of this happen.
I find it frustrating that my friend will not face the fact that he is being robbed of all his life savings and is burying his head in the sand!
My questions:-
1. Do you think my friend is being robbed of his money, or does all of the above sound completely normal?
2. How long does a visa application take for the first round?
3. Does £8000 sound a normal amount of money to spend on a visa appeal?
So I would appreciate your thoughts, comments and suggestions.
Quote Reply
Is his woman being leeched by fixers and immigration specialists and suchlike?
Originally Posted by Bazman999
! What were the reasons? 
just someone to be around. They meet someone half their age who takes an interest in them and suddenly the world isn't a grey drab place anymore. It's filled with vibrant colour! Advise your friend to step outside the relationship just for a minute and look at it objectively. You always get a better perspective outside the box looking in than inside the box looking out.
