If you want a one-way ticket from Manila to the UK, wefly.co.uk have good prices (eg 309pounds for one way MNL-LON on 10th Sept Kuwait Airways and 470 round trip. They can issue an e-ticket so you can just forward it to your loved one. Not many air ticket brokers offering one-way reverse flights on the web.
My wife submitted her spouse visa application on 20th June, so with the Embassy move and the busy period I guess it's going to take ages. Probably some of the delay is government policy which together with the doubling of the fee last year will apply the brakes a bit. On the government website it states the fee increase wass to help fund the repression of illegal immigration and to finance detention centres. A bit hard on applicants who have followed all the requirements but think of it as a small price for a long happy life for two.
Wish you luck with the visa applications and hope there will still be some English summer left. It's nice to see there are lots of genuine and helpful people on this blog.
