Fiancee or Spouse's visa ? How long ?

[sentinelws]

Hi everyone. I am new here, I joined this forum because I am about to get married to a Filipina. We are just tryiong to decide which is the best way to go about it. We would like to get married in the Philippines, because we want her parents and family to be there and becasue I only have a small family it is more practical to fly them out there.

Our only concern is the time taked for the Spouse's visa - she has been told that it can take two or three years (we don't want to wait that long) while my research finds that the average should only be about 15 weeks.

A finacee visa seems to be quicker, but then we would have to get married here in the UK which is a much more expensive proposition !

I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has any experience of the two types of visa, I know there will be the odd bad expeience but I am trying to get a rough idea of how long we can expect to wait before we can both be in the UK.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Mike

[aromulus]

I suggest strongly to marry overthere, apart from the fact that all her family, or most of it, will be able to be there, and that is of paramount importance to a Pinay, there is also the added convenience that it will be much cheaper.

Once in the Uk, you can always organize a small ceremony for your family.

I reckon that by far, a spouse visa is much easier to obtain.
Other members, here, may have different opinions on the subject, but, on the whole, the majority would agree with me I think.
Besides, with a fiancee visa, she would not be able to work, if she wanted to...

Waiting time for either visa can vary greatly, from a couple of weeks to about an average of 6/7 weeks.
If all the paperwork is present, correct and in the order asked there won't be any need for an interview at the Embassy.
Your girl would still have to go personally to Manila to deliver the documents personally, pay the necessary (extorsionate) Visa fee, and have a finger print scan and digital photo taken. After that is only matter of waiting.

In our experience, the longest wait, was for the return of a validated NSO marriage certificate from the National Statistics Office. Apart from that, it was a doddle.

Good luck

[joebloggs]

Spouse's visa - she has been told that it can take two or three years (we don't want to wait that long) while my research finds that the average should only be about 15 weeks.

2 or 3 years , i was married for that time before we applied for a spouse visa thou

it should take about a month or so for a spouse visa, max 3 months..

like dom said, easier to get wed in the phils, come back to the uk, get your evidence and then apply for a spouse visa, ask the embassy to defer the start date of visa to a date that suites you, then few months later go and bring her back to the uk..

she can go and start to look for a job straight away, instead of getting bored for 6 months ..

good luck 2 or 3 years, where did you get that from

[drsquirrel]

Fiancée visa is easier to get then a spouse.

Any settlement visa fiancee or spouse, you will have to pay the minimum £515 set by parliment.

For a spouse visa you will have to do a lot of "proving" you are together, ie you need to live together, this is not easy if you have only just got married in Phils.


What you should do, get her to move here on a Fiancée Visa.
Apply to the GRO (General Register Office) after 7 days (she has to be registered as living here).

You have to do this at larger GRO offices because she is subject to Immigration.

Once you get your permission to marry, you can just apply for marriage, you dont need a ceremony. (Although you could for a small fee have the small registrar ceremomy).

You can then apply for ILR for her to stay here.

You then have the flexibility to get married there, and register it as offical etc. You can just enter Phils on a regular visa, as you are not going there to register an marriage that has alreayd taken place, you are getting there to register a "new" marriage in Phils. You can then have your "Main ceremony".



Other than that you have a lot of proving to do, which for a UK spouse visa, requires you to reside with her.

[drsquirrel]

Sorry more.


Added to this, the time periods.

Fiancée visa they aim 90% within 14 weeks.

A spouse visa is longer as they assume the UK citizen is living out of the UK to be married for that long, hence they have no "rush" to be together like if they are possibly still apart like a Fiancée is.

A GRO notification is within 2 months at most, but most are within a week.

[walesrob]

Fiancée visa is easier to get then a spouse.

Any settlement visa fiancee or spouse, you will have to pay the minimum £515 set by parliment.

For a spouse visa you will have to do a lot of "proving" you are together, ie you need to live together, this is not easy if you have only just got married in Phils.


What you should do, get her to move here on a Fiancée Visa.
Apply to the GRO (General Register Office) after 7 days (she has to be registered as living here).

You have to do this at larger GRO offices because she is subject to Immigration.

Once you get your permission to marry, you can just apply for marriage, you dont need a ceremony. (Although you could for a small fee have the small registrar ceremomy).

You can then apply for ILR for her to stay here.

You then have the flexibility to get married there, and register it as offical etc. You can just enter Phils on a regular visa, as you are not going there to register an marriage that has alreayd taken place, you are getting there to register a "new" marriage in Phils. You can then have your "Main ceremony".



Other than that you have a lot of proving to do, which for a UK spouse visa, requires you to reside with her.

WHAT??

[aromulus]

Fiancée visa is easier to get then a spouse.

Any settlement visa fiancee or spouse, you will have to pay the minimum £515 set by parliment.
For a spouse visa you will have to do a lot of "proving" you are together, ie you need to live together, this is not easy if you have only just got married in Phils.
What you should do, get her to move here on a Fiancée Visa.
Apply to the GRO (General Register Office) after 7 days (she has to be registered as living here).
You have to do this at larger GRO offices because she is subject to Immigration.
Once you get your permission to marry, you can just apply for marriage, you dont need a ceremony. (Although you could for a small fee have the small registrar ceremomy).
You can then apply for ILR for her to stay here.
You then have the flexibility to get married there, and register it as offical etc. You can just enter Phils on a regular visa, as you are not going there to register an marriage that has alreayd taken place, you are getting there to register a "new" marriage in Phils. You can then have your "Main ceremony".
[B]Other than that you have a lot of proving to do, which for a UK spouse visa, requires you to reside with her.

I don't think this is the right information.....

But I leave it to the rest of the gang to put things straight.....

You don't have to reside there with your wife at all, all you have to do is give enough proof of contact, letters, e-mails, chat transcripts, phone bills, photos of the two of you together, with or without family present, flights ticket stubs, hotel receipts, wedding reception receipts, marriage certificate on NSO paper.... And if I omitted anything don't hang me....

Where you have got that idea from I don't know, but it certainly ain't correct....

If that was true............ None of the member's wifes, or mine, would be here at all..........

[walesrob]

A spouse visa is longer as they assume the UK citizen is living out of the UK to be married for that long, hence they have no "rush" to be together like if they are possibly still apart like a Fiancée is.

[aromulus]

Sorry more.


Added to this, the time periods.

Fiancée visa they aim 90% within 14 weeks.

A spouse visa is longer as they assume the UK citizen is living out of the UK to be married for that long, hence they have no "rush" to be together like if they are possibly still apart like a Fiancée is.

A GRO notification is within 2 months at most, but most are within a week.

Sorry pal......... But this sounds as giving misguiding info...

Be ready for a rollocking..........

[KeithD]

I take it this information doesn't comes from Earth, as it certainly doesn't match anything on this planet we know!

If you use the SEARCH Mr Squirrel, you'll see you're talking out of your

[kimmi]

Fiancée visa is easier to get then a spouse.

Any settlement visa fiancee or spouse, you will have to pay the minimum £515 set by parliment.

For a spouse visa you will have to do a lot of "proving" you are together, ie you need to live together, this is not easy if you have only just got married in Phils.


What you should do, get her to move here on a Fiancée Visa.
Apply to the GRO (General Register Office) after 7 days (she has to be registered as living here).

You have to do this at larger GRO offices because she is subject to Immigration.

Once you get your permission to marry, you can just apply for marriage, you dont need a ceremony. (Although you could for a small fee have the small registrar ceremomy).

You can then apply for ILR for her to stay here.

You then have the flexibility to get married there, and register it as offical etc. You can just enter Phils on a regular visa, as you are not going there to register an marriage that has alreayd taken place, you are getting there to register a "new" marriage in Phils. You can then have your "Main ceremony".



Other than that you have a lot of proving to do, which for a UK spouse visa, requires you to reside with her.

oh I am getting confused now, I am on a fiancee visa and married already should I apply for FLR or ILR as stated here??

[aromulus]

oh I am getting confused now, I am on a fiancee visa and married already should I apply for FLR or ILR as stated here??

Here is the answer, Kimmi........

I take it this information doesn't comes from Earth, as it certainly doesn't match anything on this planet we know!
If you use the SEARCH Mr Squirrel, you'll see you're talking out of your

[kimmi]

Here is the answer, Kimmi........

I take it this information doesn't comes from Earth, as it certainly doesn't match anything on this planet we know!

If you use the SEARCH Mr Squirrel, you'll see you're talking out of your

thanks Dom,

[drsquirrel]

oh I am getting confused now, I am on a fiancee visa and married already should I apply for FLR or ILR as stated here??

I am sorting references for the above bits still. But for your comment...

You will be allowed to stay in the UK for six months but without permission to work. When you are married or have registered a civil partnership, you can apply for a two-year extension to your visa and, if your application is granted, you will be allowed to work. Near the end of this time, you can apply to stay in the UK permanently. Before we can give you permission to stay in the UK permanently, you will need to pass the 'Life in the UK' test.

Q. What do I need to do after I am married to a UK citizen?

A. You must apply for your Further Leave To Remain visa from the Home Office.

I am wrong in wording this as ILR, it should be FLR.
(Think to yourself, what do you do after the 6 month fiance visa is over?)

[kimmi]

I am sorting references for the above bits still. But for your comment...




I am wrong in wording this as ILR, it should be FLR.
(Think to yourself, what do you do after the 6 month fiance visa is over?)

oh thanks for the enlightenment..

and btw, thats why I got confused because I know it is FLR but u stated its ILR, so I think i got it wrong...

[joebloggs]

you can only apply for ILR after you've been in the uk 2 years( - upto 28days) on a spouse visa.

[Alan]

Here we go again..............

After reading Drsquirrel I need ANOTHER glass or 12 of Tanduay!!!!

Al.

[drsquirrel]

As Kimmi mentioned the confusion was me typing ILR not FLR. FLR is supposed to last up to the 2 years before ILR.

UK gov sites don't even call it a spouse visa anymore.


The above he claims it's going to be expensive, but then its going to cost the same for the visa to settle here. And the GRO is like, what, £60? (and £60 for the ceremony, which is option). its either £60 or £30 for one or both.

[kimmi]

Here we go again..............

After reading Drsquirrel I need ANOTHER glass or 12 of Tanduay!!!!

Al.

Can I join u prof Al???

[IainBusby]

Hi everyone. I am new here, I joined this forum because I am about to get married to a Filipina. We are just tryiong to decide which is the best way to go about it. We would like to get married in the Philippines, because we want her parents and family to be there and becasue I only have a small family it is more practical to fly them out there.

Our only concern is the time taked for the Spouse's visa - she has been told that it can take two or three years (we don't want to wait that long) while my research finds that the average should only be about 15 weeks.

A finacee visa seems to be quicker, but then we would have to get married here in the UK which is a much more expensive proposition !

I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has any experience of the two types of visa, I know there will be the odd bad expeience but I am trying to get a rough idea of how long we can expect to wait before we can both be in the UK.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Mike

I think Dom is right when he says get married in the Philippines and if you take his advice, as others have said, how long the visa takes to come through really depends on how well the application and supporting documents have been prepared. I myself married in Phils in late June 2006 and my wife was here in the UK by the end of September that year.

Cheers,

Iain.

[aromulus]

Here we go again..............

After reading Drsquirrel I need ANOTHER glass or 12 of Tanduay!!!!

Al.

Help conserve wildlife.........

Pickle a squirrel..............

Asbach Uralt, Vecchia Romagna and Tawny Port for me, old boy..............

[kimmi]

Help conserve wildlife.........

Pickle a squirrel..............

Asbach Uralt, Vecchia Romagna and Tawny Port for me, old boy..............

[joebloggs]

its up to you, pro's and cons on each of the visa's.

but not many on here have had a visa refused, that the important part.

i got married in the phils, becuase there are not many in my family, and some don't want to even fly, my wife's family is a lot bigger, so it made sense, a lot cheaper in the phils( cost me less than £3000). a wedding in the uk much more expensive, no where near as good tell me where in the uk can compete with palawan or many parts of the phils for being close to paradise ??, I wouldn't even think of getting married in the uk, and trying to apply for VV for some of the wifes family and the cost of the air tickets ...

not much difference btw the evidence you need for a spouse visa or a fiance visa.

[Alan]

Asbach Uralt

I've got some ointment for that Dom.

Al.

[aug06_2006]

Me, I applied fiancee visa then we had civil wedding here in UK..
We are going to Philippines to have a Church wedding this coming June.

[walesrob]

The above he claims it's going to be expensive, but then its going to cost the same for the visa to settle here. And the GRO is like, what, £60? (and £60 for the ceremony, which is option). its either £60 or £30 for one or both.

You see, your confusing yourself and us lot by going off in all directions.

One minute you talk about Visas then suddenly, in the next sentence, your talking about the Ceremony fee.

I suggest you STOP!!! and do some research on this forum by hitting the "Search" button on the little green bar near the top of the page, then come back with any questions. You've made yourself look an idiot so far by steaming into this forum and telling everyone whopping great porkies. I guarentee if you use the rather splendid search function first, you'll get the answers your looking for.

Also did you see right at the top of the page?:

BEFORE POSTING A QUESTION: Your question has probably been asked before, so please use the SEARCH FUNCTION, as we grow tired of answering the same question again and again. Also read Pete's site at http://www.british-filipino.com/

[joebloggs]

cost well you shouldn't need to apply for FLR if your on a spouse visa (unless you entered the uk more than 28 days after your spouse visa was issued, you need to apply for FLR if your on a fiancee visa within 6 months of being in uk and being wed.

so i don't see how spouse is more expensive , becuase the next stage for both visa's you need to pay and apply for ILR. so a spouse visa is cheaper, unless i've missed something

[aposhark]

I too am at the beginning of this journey that many of you have been through.

I am going back to marry my GF there and wait to collect the marriage certificate before coming back here to work. I will wait for her to get the spousal visa before coming to UK.
Is it necessary for me to go back there again before she flies here?
I don't want to waste anyone's time if this is all documented already.

Is there a webpage in this forum (or some other web page) that explains on a task-by-task basis what needs to be done from beginnining to end?

Thanks

[andypaul]

I too am at the beginning of this journey that many of you have been through.

I am going back to marry my GF there and wait to collect the marriage certificate before coming back here to work. I will wait for her to get the spousal visa before coming to UK.
Is it necessary for me to go back there again before she flies here?
I don't want to waste anyone's time if this is all documented already.

Is there a webpage in this forum (or some other web page) that explains on a task-by-task basis what needs to be done from beginnining to end?

Thanks

People have in threads listed all the steps and pete has a very good site.

But it varies for example my wife had ID but needed to get a passport. others will have a passport and others like your Mahal will need to get ID so it can vary.

As you know our beloved goverment love to change things for the latest new idea so the process is very fluid.

Don't worry mate even if your a toffe im sure plenty on here will help you out.

In fact your helping already as your documenting the latest info for the next wave after you. It really does change that fast im not kidding.

If you ask ten members with a spouse visa each application would have been slighty different sue to the constant adjustments and what have you that happen.

For your good self get your Mahals id and passport sorted out, then start on the wedding while keeping all the evidence of you communicating.

[sentinelws]

Crikey, sorry everyone I didn't mean to start a war in here.

We have decided definitely now to marry in the Philippines - I know it will make her parents and the rest of her family happy to be able to attend our wedding (and of course it costs a fraction of what the same wedding would cost here).

Besides, I love it when I am in the Philippines - I enjoy the hot weather and everyone I have met out there has been so kind and friendly. I wish I could move out there permanently, but my job prevents it.

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice.