Can't get married?

[Ady]

What other options are there to bring your gf to the UK?

[KeithD]

Marriage. That is it.

[IanB]

Change sex and go for a civil partnership?

[kimmi]

Ride on the plane

[aromulus]

What other options are there to bring your gf to the UK?

Off the back of a lorry....????

[LadyJ]

Change sex and go for a civil partnership?

Ride on the plane

Off the back of a lorry....????

You lot are funny Come on be serious!

What other options are there to bring your gf to the UK?

Why not ask her to ride in the containers that goes to the UK? no only joking

Ady, Can you please tell us a bit of your story?

Have you met the lady in person?
How long you have known each other?
How long is your relationship now? etc.

[andypaul]

Hi Ady from what i know your mahal can only come over if a single person as if a finace or a spouse. Theres cvill partner ships are for same sex relationships it appears as Ian B says.

basically looks like you need to sort the anullment out as you need to prove your both single.

[Alan]

Change her nationality to Polish.

Al.

[Ady]

Hi guys and gals,

To be honest, my question was a bit flippant aimed out of frustration for the annulment process (that we are about to start) and reading a lot of nonsense on some sites.

I actually wrote to one guy who suggested that we should run away from any girl that is married. His name is Sam Cason. I will write what he wrote - and it sounds like he has no idea. One thing, he assumes that I am both American and a pensioner! Well, I am Welsh and 31. And guess what Sam, my gf is older than me! So knocks a few of your conceptions out of the water.

Here is what he wrote to me

"There is no divorce in the philippines. annullments take like 5 years
if the husband abandons them and everything goes smooth.if she is in
hong kong she can probaly get a divorce there but it will never be
recognized in the philippines. so if getting married and retiring to
philippines is on your mind that is out. that is not good but its the facts.
there is noway to get a quick annullment in philippines.the laws on
marriage are one sided in the philippines. the filipino man can do all
kinds of things and get away with it. the woman it is very stict. i
have some links on the site concerning annullment. itsa very long
process. she has to file a legal separation then wait 5 years without seeing
him. if he spends 1 night in the house she has to start all over.
then she can file for annullment and it could take anywhere from 2 years
to 5 years. there was some people getting quickie annulments in cebu
for the right amount of cash but the goverment just held a big
investigation and arrested a bunch of judges. they are also looking up the
annulments these guys approved. do not i need to go on? it gets worse. its
hard to get a residence visa for the states as it is.witha annullment
it just gets worse. sorry my friend. you can join some of the
discussion groups in yahoo. living in davao is a good one. all the expats
will tell you the same.i am sure she is a sweet lady and probaly means
well but its a impossible situtation. but good news is she can live in
thailnd fairly easy with you. let me know if i can help. "

A little bit of nonsense there methinks.

He is currently in the US of A. Hurrah!

[vbkelly]

my brother in law his uncle is one of a judge in davao city but i don't know if he can help you

[Ady]

Thanks VBKelly - but I think I need an attourney. I am not trying to cut corners, or do it illegally - but right now we are being offered "speed" annulments whilst being told that "long" annulments havea good chance of failing, and taking many years.

BTW, what that guy wrote to me - about first filing for a legal separation and waiting 5 years, that is nonsense isn't it? Annulment really is

[ginapeterb]

Ady, welcome to the forum, my name is Pete, I read your story, and have to say that the answers you have received about your situation often comes from a sense of hopelessness that exists when dealing with rather unusual situations and given that not all relationships fall into a "one size fits all" I can understand how you feel, since the girl you chose is married under the Philippine family code.

Firstly the information you have received from the the other guy you confided your story to, is woefully incorrect, very often professional sponsors as I call them tend to over exaggerate their knowledge in the field of immigration to the point that very often knowing a little is worse than knowing nothing at all.

I don't pretend to be an immigration lawyer, as much as I would love to do it full time and make the sort of money those people make, I am destined at this present time to sell bathrooms for a living and be a member of this forum.

But I know enough to know you have been bum steered and wrong footed, certainly as your girl is married in the Philippines, and as a citizen of the Philippines the Philippine congress has passed very stringent laws regarding the status of Filipino's who attempt to bypass the Family code, by going abroad to obtain foreign divorces.

The only way that a foreign divorce is legal in the Philippines is if the divorce of a Filipino was instigated by a plaintiff who is a foreign born national, now since I presume your girl's husband is a Filipino, that situation would not arise, since both are subject to the Philippine laws on matrimonial matters.

To suggest that your girl would somehow hi tail it over to Hong Kong and try to start a divorce proceeding against the husband in the S.A.R. which is now a province of the Chinese Peoples Republic is somewhat preposterous and laughable.

For one thing, your girl I presume is not a resident of the Special Administrative region of the Chinese peoples republic, is she not ? and if not, then how do you think she may start a divorce proceeding ?

Ridiculous advice, secondly any such divorce if remotely successful, would not be legal in the Philippines, and therefore although assuming you have deep pockets to maintain your girl in Hong Kong whilst she undertakes this dangerous procedure, then attempts to apply for a visa to enter the UK, when UK officials are well aware that Filipinos who are divorced abroad must be a national of that country before they may do so, checks would then be made into the nationality of your girl, and a chinese peoples national she would not be.

You have found out to your displeasure that you have only 1 option, and that is sadly and rather irritatingly, the only option open to you, however I disagree with the advice you have been given about an anulment procedure taking 5 years or more, that is wholly incorrect, anulments go through the regional trial court of the Philippines, and can take from between 18 months to 24 months depending on the standard of the lawyer you obtain, and the amount you are prepared to pay.

Secondly, the grounds for an anulment are stringent, such as the psychological incapacity of one of the parties to the marriage, i.e. the husband or wife could not carry out the duties of a husband or wife at the time the marriage was performed.

Or that one of them cannot engage in sexual intercourse, or that sexual intercourse has not taken place, or that at the time of the marriage, there are a number of area's which Filipino lawyers seek to exploit for the purposes of anulment's.

However as with all things in the Philippines, money makes the world go round, providing the right amount of money is on the table, that will normally secure the right result.

The only other way you can get your girl into the UK, is if you have been in a relationship with her for 3 years or more, you could then apply for your girl to come to the UK on the basis that you have lived in a relationship akin a marriage for that period, however to do this you would need to be presently settled and living in the UK, pretty difficult to achieve if you are in the UK and she is in the Philippines.

The other way to get your girl to be with you, is simply to try the tourist visa route, whilst the anulment process is taking place, you have nothing to loose and whilst this is going on, you could see each other and live together in UK, provided your girl has compelling reasons to return, I see no reason why she should not be granted a tourist visa.

Apart from that, the anulment process is the best one for you, at least then once she is legally annulled, she can then apply for a fiancee visa, and join you in the UK, if you want her that much, you will wait like the rest of us on this forum, who have waited 2 years or more in some situations 3 to 4 years to get their girl into UK.

Best of Luck.

[andypaul]

Ady one other point i haven't notice you mention which may make a difference, forgive me if you wrote about it and missed it.

Is your Girlfriends husband still on good terms with her? As i have seen it written that if the husband is on good terms with the wife it can help speed up the case, although this requires very careful thought and tact the way its mentioned, goodwill can quite often be helped with a gift as we all know.

Again i will stress this is just what i have picked up from what i read and hear but seems fairly logically if all parties don't contest the marriage and are willing to help it normally helps.

[Ady]

HI Pete and Andy.

Again thanks for the responses. Very detailed. I really know annulment is the only option - but I was doing some research and came across a site where the author sent me that reply. I had a feeling he was talking nonsense. Especially when it came to "You can live together in Thailand"

Firstly, in response to Andy. Shei still has some contact with her husband. However, in February this year, he added her name to a birth certificate for a child he adopted from his cousin. That was without her knowledge, and has led to a court case to clear her name. I met Shei in Hong Kong last June, and brought her daughter as well. To say they were the best weeks of my life would be an understatement. When we were leaving HK, I asked her to start the annulment process. Until now, we haven't had a real chance because of different personal issues. She last talked to her husband in July - and he said he would not oppose any annulment. I have asked her to call him again, and she said she will but she is worried he will think she is calling to go back to him.

Anyway....

Pete, I was aware that the only place that Shei can annul is in the Philippines. For a while I was thrown by the red-herring that is Guam. But thanks for confirming what I thought was the situation - and that the guy quoted in my earlier post was not talking through his mouth, but through something else. It is annoying to bump into characters that claim to know-all, but know-nothing. This site is an oasis in a desert of mis-information.

About a tourist visa - we applied for one back in September 2006 (for my girl and her daughter). Sadly, it was refused. As you say, the circumstances of each relationship are different. Maybe mine is a little more complicated than some, but there are others far more complicated than mine. It is just sad that some people's destinies are decided by target-driven people in suits.

[KeithD]

he added her name to a birth certificate for a child he adopted from his cousin.

This seems to be common practice in the Phil, we've had numerous ones of this type this year alone.

It is easy to disprove;

1. If the certificate was altered later, this should be enough proof of skulduggery.
2. Inform him your Western boyfriend has plenty of money, and is arranging a court case against him, and you hope he can afford a good lawyer, as you are screwing him for his house, and everything he owns.
3. DNA test - simple enough.
4. Pay him to have it removed - Money talks in the Phil.
5. Beat him up - Preferred option - Then beat him some more

[Manilana]

[QUOTE=Ady;47953]HI Pete and Andy.

Again thanks for the responses. Very detailed. I really know annulment is the only option - but I was doing some research..

Hi Ady,
In my humble opinion, it is best to your Girlfriend to stop contacting to her husband,coz if the court found out that they have both agreed in filing the anulment the court will dismissed the petition. If the husband will not reply to the court`s summons and will not contested the process will be quicker. I am not a lawyer but Im just giving advice base on my own experienced and have learned from my lawyer. You must have a very good Psychologist whose experienced in dealing with annulment case to help your girlfriend as her witness if her grounds for annulment is the Psychologically Incapacitated. Goodluck to you and hope you can find a reliable and excellent lawyer in Davao.

[Ady]

Thanks Manilana. I will tell her not to contact him regarding this.

Seems a race against time in some ways - bearing in mind the unjustified fear of immigrants by the Daily Mail readers, and a Government eager to do anything to get itself re-elected. Apologies for the politics

[Manilana]

Youre welcome Ady.
yes, I know what you mean, Ive just read about that news..
And January is likely the courts here are having annual inventories.

[andypaul]

Manilana has more experience of me of the ways it works out there and if no communcation is the way forward its best.

Hopefully he can put 2 and 2 together and see it maybe more handy to him to not get involved and not contest in the long run it maybe better for him.

[gWaPito]

Change her nationality to Polish.

Al.

The employers dream Great work ethic