At last I've found a useful site! For months I have been searching for practical and helpful information for getting my fiancee over here so that we can marry, and today, purely by luck, I stumbled into here In the nick of time, perhaps!

My fiancee and I are in the middle of the process - I'd like to be optimistic and say "near the end", but I am getting really wary about pitfalls and obstacles now! I went to Bohol to see her again on 15th Jan, having researched as much about the application requirements as I could find, having accumulated a pile of supporting documentation between the two of us, and having a grasp of what the CAVA process involved. Talking to CAVA did not prove as lengthy as I had feared, and Aboitiz picked up our docs and fee on 19th Jan. I went over there for 3 weeks, in the hope that, should she be called for interview, I might have the chance to accompany her.

However, the docs were returned on 24th Jan as being "incomplete" - there was a note saying her "passport photo is peeling off".... A bit of a surprise, as it looked fine to us! But, after 10 minutes of close examination, I discovered a nick in the laminate covering her photo - very minute, less than a millimetre... I could see their point, but it did seem rather harsh - I feel the passport would not have been rejected at any airport control?

Anyway, we rang CAVA to ask how to resubmit the application (they returned the fee, thankfully ) And then discovered there was no more CAVA! Groan.... so now we had to get to grips with UKVACS/TT. Actually, they were easier to call than CAVA, and cheaper! But, she had to apply for a passport renewal, and that didn't arrive until the day before I returned here, so she has had to deal with the resubmission herself. I must say, though, that it went smoothly... TT seem easy to talk to, and Aboitiz are very reliable.

The biggest practical difficulty we had was getting the manager's cheques! My fiancee has no bank account and so they were reluctant to issue a cheque (I think this was in First National Bank), and we had to appeal to the manager (is there a simple way to get the cheque without having an account?). That was for the visa fee. And she had the same problem when she went to get the cheque for TT - but she just waved the other cheque at them and they gave no more trouble

This morning, she received an invitation to interview, delivered by Aboitiz in spite of a completely incorrect address on the envelope! The invitation was dated 02/17/2006.. and the interview date was given as 07/03/2006... How would you read that? I assumed they meant 7th March, but did they mean 3rd July?? We decided July was too far ahead, so it must be March. And she was able to call TT to ask about it, and they confirmed that the format is dd/mm/yyyy. But why risk such ambiguity? Why not write 7th March? It just adds to the confusion and uncertainty!

My initial joy at receiving the interview date has now been tempered by wondering why they have called her! I get the impression that part of the streamlining is to cut down on interviews, so there must be something that the embassy are unsure of? We have known each other almost 3 years, met last March for 2 weeks (when we got engaged), this Jan for 3 weeks, and submitted many photos from both visits, plus a wad of Yahoo chats, cards, as well as the other docs. Maybe they are concerned about our age gap? Is that likely to be a reason for rejection? I am 57 and she is 25. I've not conveyed my concerns to her, because I want to keep a positive spin on what is going to feel like an ordeal to her anyway. Anyone have any thoughts on how they decide who to interview and who to give a visa without interview?

She also wants to know how to dress for the interview... I suggested white blouse, black trouser suit, black shoes, low heels. Is that too dreary and formal? What about make-up? None? A little?

Enough for now.. any advice or thoughts would be appreciated...

Ivor