some advice please

[Eljohno]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cardiffian &#064; May 20 2006, 05&#58;55 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
i have been in contact with LAnie in the philippines for a couple of months now and i plan to visit her in december,i have a son from a previous marriage who i bring up alone.I am sending money to the philippines every month on my insistence by the way and we email each other everyday and speak on yahoo messenger every weekend,please could you advise me what records i need to keep for any visa applications and is it better to apply for a visiting visa before getting married,i know this is jumping the gun having not yet visited her but i am dead serious and would just like to be prepared jeff
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Hi Jeff,

it is probably best if you do visit before making a life changing decision and you will need to do that anyway before you apply for the visa. You need to keep most of your yahoo chats, phone cards, letters (You will need to start writing to each other) then airplane tickets and any receipts. Spend more time looking through the forum as many of us have been through it all and all or most of the info you need will be on here. Remember to keep all receipts of any money you send and all the best for your future plans.

[cardiffian]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eljohno &#064; May 20 2006, 06&#58;06 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hi Jeff,

it is probably best if you do visit before making a life changing decision and you will need to do that anyway before you apply for the visa. You need to keep most of your yahoo chats, phone cards, letters (You will need to start writing to each other) then airplane tickets and any receipts. Spend more time looking through the forum as many of us have been through it all and all or most of the info you need will be on here. Remember to keep all receipts of any money you send and all the best for your future plans.
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thanks for the advice please can you tell me how you keep records of yahoo messenger chats thanks jeff

[ivor&mel]

thanks for the advice please can you tell me how you keep records of yahoo messenger chats thanks jeff

Hi Jeff,

You need to make sure you are saving the history logs first! From the main Yahoo Messenger window, click on Messenger in the menu (top left) and then Preferences. Then select Archive and select Archive all messages.

You can view the Archive in several ways, e.g. right-click on the name in your contact list in the main window and then select Message Archive: you should see all the messages organised by date. What I used to do was save each day's conversations to a separate file, in a folder where I could easily find it, and with a filename of the date in yyyy-mm-dd format (e.g. 2006-04-30.txt). Then, you can edit the TXT files in whatever way you want using Notepad or whatever and print them off. It's best to edit out any fruity bits before you submit them to the Embassy

Apart from that, I'll say what John said: collect as much communication as you can, plus lots of photos of the two of you together of course (your lady, not John ) and with her family members if possible, in as many different locations as you can realistically manage.

Ivor and Mel

[cardiffian]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ivor&mel &#064; May 20 2006, 07&#58;16 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hi Jeff,

You need to make sure you are saving the history logs first&#33; From the main Yahoo Messenger window, click on Messenger in the menu (top left) and then Preferences. Then select Archive and select Archive all messages.

You can view the Archive in several ways, e.g. right-click on the name in your contact list in the main window and then select Message Archive: you should see all the messages organised by date. What I used to do was save each day&#39;s conversations to a separate file, in a folder where I could easily find it, and with a filename of the date in yyyy-mm-dd format (e.g. 2006-04-30.txt). Then, you can edit the TXT files in whatever way you want using Notepad or whatever and print them off. It&#39;s best to edit out any fruity bits before you submit them to the Embassy [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Apart from that, I&#39;ll say what John said: collect as much communication as you can, plus lots of photos of the two of you together of course (your lady, not John [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img] ) and with her family members if possible, in as many different locations as you can realistically manage.

Ivor and Mel
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thanks very much for your advice jeff

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pauldo &#064; May 21 2006, 01&#58;30 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hi Jeff, welcome aboard.
Two months is indeed a very short time to decide that you want to commit to a girl for life. So, do your homework on the girl and make sure her story gels in all aspects, you need to know she is genuine before committing your self emotionally and financially. Ask gentle questions about her life, and family etc, make sure the answers gel. There are plenty of unscrupulous girls out there looking to make a buck or just have fun for a while. Better safe than sorry.

It is a long term thing you are getting in to and I&#39;d suggest meeting her at least a couple of times before even thinking of tying the knot and bringing her to the UK. Assuming she actually wants to come here that is.

As mentioned already by Ivor, visit visas applications seem to be fairly unsuccesful for some reason, so marriage might be your best bet. You have a long rocky road ahead of you, so save everything she sends you, and send her lots of bits and pieces, cards, snail mail letters, photos, get her to send the same to you too. If you go to visit her take a good camera and record everything you do together.

If and when you both decide you want to take it a step further, marriage, visa, she will need to start getting her house in order and make sure she has a passport, a CORRECT birth certificate and various other things. Incorrect birth certificates seem to be a hell of a stumbling block with visa applications.

Treat it like a court case, where she has to PROVE her worth to the UK Embassy in Manila, because that is basically what happens when she applies for the visa.

Anyway, have fun, be careful, don&#39;t let your little head rule your big head, if you know what I mean [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]
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again thanks for the advice jeff