Information sought

[IainBusby]

Hello. I am hoping that someone can give me information or tell me where to find the right information.

I have a very good friend who is Filipina and she lives in the Philippines. I would like to invite her and her 7 year old daughter to come and spend some time with me in the UK. I would be happy to employ her as my housekeeper if that makes entry to the UK any easier. In time, if everything works well we might consider marriage but we are not quite at that stage yet. It seems to me that the immigration rules are an absolute minefield.

For clarity, may I say that she is not a stranger from an agency who is coming here just as an economic migrant. I have known her for several years and there is a strong personal rapport.

Can anyone suggest how we might go about arranging this so that we stay within the law?

Many thanks in advance for any helpful replies.

Hi John and welcome to the forum,
First of all let me say that things are no where near as simple as you seem to think these days. You have absolutely no chance of bringing her here as your housekeeper unless she was already working for you as your housekeeper in the Philippines for a fixed period of time before you apply, four years I think it is, but I could be wrong, it might be less than this. The only way you could invite her here is as a visitor and the refusal rate for visitor visas is extremely high.

Can I ask, have you ever met this lady in person? If so and you have a romantic attachment to her, then I think the way forward for you is to apply for a fiancee visa. With this she can come here for 6 months and as long as you marry within those six months, she can then apply for FLR (Further Leave to Remain) and then ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) after 2 years.

If during the 6 months you decide not to get married then she would have to return to the Philippines before her visa expires.

Iain.

[exeterjohn]

Iain,

Thank you for the fast reply and thank you for the information you provided. From what you say, my enquiry is perhaps premature. It looks like the housekeeper route is out and the visitor visa route is likely to fail and we are not yet anywhere near the fiancee visa route although the attachment is romantic.

We have corresponded and chatted on the internet, seeing each other on our web cams, for more than 2 years and I feel that we have a very good knowledge of each other. I have read extensively about the Philippines culture and I am quite aware of how different life there is. I am at the stage of planning a visit to the Philippines to meet her in person and clearly nothing can be known about how things might progress until we have met.

My posting was really to brief myself on the immigration requirements for when she would come here. I appreciate your point about it not being simple.

I know four or five Filipinas who live here and they are all divorced. That is significant and shows just how difficult it can be to live permanently in a very different culture.

Do you have a Filipina wife who is living here with you? Is it working out well?

John

[IainBusby]

Iain,

Thank you for the fast reply and thank you for the information you provided. From what you say, my enquiry is perhaps premature. It looks like the housekeeper route is out and the visitor visa route is likely to fail and we are not yet anywhere near the fiancee visa route although the attachment is romantic.

We have corresponded and chatted on the internet, seeing each other on our web cams, for more than 2 years and I feel that we have a very good knowledge of each other. I have read extensively about the Philippines culture and I am quite aware of how different life there is. I am at the stage of planning a visit to the Philippines to meet her in person and clearly nothing can be known about how things might progress until we have met.

My posting was really to brief myself on the immigration requirements for when she would come here. I appreciate your point about it not being simple.

I know four or five Filipinas who live here and they are all divorced. That is significant and shows just how difficult it can be to live permanently in a very different culture.

Do you have a Filipina wife who is living here with you? Is it working out well?

John

Yes my wife is here in the UK and has been for 2 years and 4 month now. Her daughter is also here in the UK and they both have residency visas ILR now and yes, things are working out very well thanks.
Iain.

[cheesewiz]

Iain,

I know four or five Filipinas who live here and they are all divorced. That is significant and shows just how difficult it can be to live permanently in a very different culture.

Do you have a Filipina wife who is living here with you? Is it working out well?

John

you have to realize that not all filipino-brit couple last that's the fact of life. But all the filipina i know married to brits are the happiest couple i've seen. Diffrent culture but its never been a hindrance at all...its LOVE that keeps them going and growing together.

[darren-b]

Hi John and welcome to the forum,
First of all let me say that things are no where near as simple as you seem to think these days. You have absolutely no chance of bringing her here as your housekeeper unless she was already working for you as your housekeeper in the Philippines for a fixed period of time before you apply, four years I think it is, but I could be wrong, it might be less than this. The only way you could invite her here is as a visitor and the refusal rate for visitor visas is extremely high.

Can I ask, have you ever met this lady in person? If so and you have a romantic attachment to her, then I think the way forward for you is to apply for a fiancee visa. With this she can come here for 6 months and as long as you marry within those six months, she can then apply for FLR (Further Leave to Remain) and then ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) after 2 years.

If during the 6 months you decide not to get married then she would have to return to the Philippines before her visa expires.

Iain.

It's actually a minimum of a year, though unless you are willing to basically move to the Philippines for a while the exact amount of time is irrelevant.