Original Documents to Submit

[haiku]

So you mean u didn't submit your documents Iain is absolutely right all your documents will gonna expired like payslip,bank statements and u need to ask your fiancee to send it all over again

sisterly advice,go get another slot of appointment,or are u sure u really cant fly when ur visa comes like February? ...if that so.....well then ...

Yes. My sister's wedding will be in April, so my trip should be after that.
I know, hubby will need to scan pay slips and bank statements again. The officers said there was even a couple who plan to travel by april who were also discouraged from passing, and the consul was still there that time. So they were just asked to fill in a refund form as their payment will soon be due. Yeah..sad..after all the effort..guess just have to save my forms and update some docs...

I hope my experience will give light to future applicants... 3 months prior to intended flight...

[Fountainhead]

I hope my experience will give light to future applicants... 3 months prior to intended flight...

We had the same problem

We planned it so that we submitted our application when I was in Manila visiting my fiancee so I could bring all the documents with me and they would be completely up to date. We wrote on form she intended to travel to UK at the end of March in plenty of time for our wedding we have booked at the start of July, this would also give us plenty of time after wedding before the fiancee visa expired to sort out our FLR visa application.

When we went to submit on October 21st my fiancee was told it was too soon and she would either have to come back at the end of the year or chnage the intended date of travel on the form. She chose to change the date on form to January 15th. The trouble is I had written in my letter of support that she would be travelling here at the end of March so there is now an inconsistency in our application which the ECO could use against us. It also means the visa will expire just two weeks after the wedding which doesnt leave us much time at all to get everything in order for applying for FLR, and we have a honeymoon booked which we will probably now have to cancel to concentrate on the FLR application.

I think they are just being really out of order. These applications take a lot of planning, hard work, time, expense and stress and if they are going to change their policy about how soon in advance you can apply they could at least clearly state that on the website and application form so people can plan accordingly

[Ady]

That is crazy, and grossly unfair. So, are they expecting us to now - book wedding receptions, weddings, and flights within 3 months of applying and then still have the power to refuse so all the planning is for nothing? Do they not realise how much it costs for some people to travel from other islands to Manila, lost wages, arranging time off work and school?

For example, in our case we booked a wedding reception that cost a few hundred in a deposit. I have spent another couple of hundred on posting the documents there. Then, £1100 for the two applications, £200 for the two flights to Manila for my gf and daughter to make the submission. Then, they can refuse the application because the flight is too far in advance?

Do they want to see evidence of flights having been booked? I will say that Shei intends to travel in March in my cover letter, and leave it as ambiguous as that, and tell Shei to tell them she intends to fly around about 3 months from the date that she goes to the VFS.

How many more hoops must we jump through? And still they hold the power to say "NO".

[Fountainhead]

You don't need to have flights booked Ady. I think the reason they ask the intended date of travel on the application form is so they know when to date the visa from.

I wonder if they brought this in because when the embassy moved it created delays and a backlog and an increased work load and this is their way of trying to catch up and control the amount of applications they receive.

The problem is they don't seem to have publicised it at all. I spent hours reading this site, UK government sites and the VFS site before we submitted to get as much info and advice as possible and not once did I read anything about how far in advance you could submit.

I wonder what would happen if an applicant was very firm with them and insisted they accepted the application? Would they really have the right to refuse to accept it or have they just been told to try to deter people from applying more than 3 months in advance but would still accept the application if pressed. Of course, faced with an "official" telling them they must only apply 3 months in advance most people would accept it "because they must know the rules", that was certainly the case with my fiancee.

All it's really doing is punishing people who cant travel to the UK as soon as the visa is issued. If you need a couple of months after you hear the result of your application to organise moving from the Philippines to the UK and to sort out any issues you may have there then in reality you will only be getting a 4 month visa.

[IainBusby]

That is crazy, and grossly unfair. So, are they expecting us to now - book wedding receptions, weddings, and flights within 3 months of applying and then still have the power to refuse so all the planning is for nothing? Do they not realise how much it costs for some people to travel from other islands to Manila, lost wages, arranging time off work and school?

For example, in our case we booked a wedding reception that cost a few hundred in a deposit. I have spent another couple of hundred on posting the documents there. Then, £1100 for the two applications, £200 for the two flights to Manila for my gf and daughter to make the submission. Then, they can refuse the application because the flight is too far in advance?

Do they want to see evidence of flights having been booked? I will say that Shei intends to travel in March in my cover letter, and leave it as ambiguous as that, and tell Shei to tell them she intends to fly around about 3 months from the date that she goes to the VFS.

How many more hoops must we jump through? And still they hold the power to say "NO".

As I said in my earlier post, I think it's best to say "when I have been granted a visa" or " as soon as possible after I have been granted a visa" thats about as ambiguous as it gets. We all know the rules about how long you have before you travel to the UK to be still inside the 27 months allowed for applying for ILR and 6 months for FLR and I think it's best for people to be aware of those rules when they make their own plans, then tell the people at the application centre and the British embassy nothing about them so they don't try to interfere and disuade them from making their application.

If you ask me I think they're trying to knock down the queue of applications before Christmas so that they can have an extra long break.
Iain.

[Mjaes]

The VISA application form requires you to put the exact date when you want to travel to the UK. Did I understand the trail correctly that if I will send the application first week of May, my date of travel to the UK should be 3mos after that?