Settlement visa for step daughter

[Jenky]

Hi

This is my first post here and this forum has been of great help to me over the last six years that I have been in a relationship with my fiancee. I am planning to marry her in the Philippines once her "nullification of marriage" has been finalised. Hopefully at the end of this year.

Once this is done I will then apply to the Embassy for a settlement visa for her and also her nine year old daughter. I have some experience of the Embassy having previously already sponsored her sucessfully three times for a tourist visa to visit the UK. And the requirements for a settlement visa are almost the same and even a little bit more straightforward than the tourist visa.

But what I am unsure about is the settlement visa application for her nine year old daughter. Since she was one year old she has had no contact or support from her Filipino father and she does not even know what he looks like. During the "nullification of marriage" proceedings he has been informed of what is happening but he has shown no interest in any of the proceedings. Our attourney has said that the judge will award custody of her to my fiancee once the case has been concluded.

There must be other members out there who have successfully applied for their partners children by previous marriages to settle here in the UK. I would like their advice. Will the Embassy play hardball over this and if so what will I need to provide them with to satisfy them. Or will they accept that my fiancee has been given custody of her daughter by a Filipino judge and process the visa without complication.

[joebloggs]

of course people on here have brought step kids to the uk, i'm one of them :xxgrinning--00xx3:

you will have to prove your fiancée has 'sole responsibility'

you should find this helpful

http://www.iasuk.org/module_images/Children%20(Jan%2006).pdf

and a good sponsor letter from you would help to :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[cinmickey28]

Hello Jenky,

There will be no problem with the visa application of your fiancee's daughter if her full custody in the nullity of marriage is being granted to your fiancee. I was in the same boat! So dont worry!

[Jenky]

Thank you joebloggs and cinmickey28 for your advice. Our attorney has said that custody of her daughter will be awarded to my fiancee once the case has been finalised hopefully in the next 90 days. I will travel to the Phil in January and we will get married and make the visa applications.
I was getting worried that I would have to seek a letter of consent from her father to facilitate the visa application. And we all know what could happen then!

[rikyandnina]

Hi. I'm Nina. This is my first post and just wanted to share what we are experiencing. My husband a British citizen has adopted my 2 children and that took a while to complete. I found that the visa application was straight forward, also as I am a Permanent resident in the UK. However, much to my dismay, the visas applied for on May 7 havent materialized yet, and I am now fretting because I did not want the children to miss their first day of school in the UK. I thought it would have been quicker with their applications. My spouse visa only took 8 weeks from application to when i recieved the passport back. We are now on the 13th week mark and still no word. :bigcry:

I hope you fair better with your paperwork and everything!!! :)

[cinmickey28]

Hello Jenky, once the annulment is finished and the CHILD'S FULL CUSTODY is granted to your fiancee you dont need to ask for a letter of consent from the father. The annulment papers is enough to support for the visa application at the Embassy. Good Luck

[Jenky]

Hi cinmickey.

Just a quick question. On the NSO birth certificate of my fiancees daughter she bears her fathers surname and not the maiden name of her mother. Was that the same in your case? Because I have read some other posts in the forum that say that if the child bears the surname of the father and not the mother then the visa application becomes much harder.

[cinmickey28]

Hello Jenky, it is the same with my situation. My son's passport is bearing the surname of his father as well. So, there's no problem on that eventhough the surname of the child is with her ex for as long as she is granted the full custody the embassy will not ask about that. You will be fine.