rules for my girlfriend

[joe3452]

hi all...im a uk citizen ,brtish passport etc...now i visited manila short while agoe and met a lovely young lady ...now...she wants to come here and stay with me ..for a vacation and if she likes we want to get married.....she has also stated she wants to work in the uk..but im not sure if this is allowed...so what are the implications of her coming here...can she live with me...in my apartment....what do we have to do...i know there is a lot of legal bits to sort..but what are they..she wants to come over asap..ive promissed ill do everything i can to help ...but can we do to bring her over here ....she has no children...now im back in the uk...she has been in touch with me crying on the phone that she is missing me and also im missing her any advice would be welcome....and if we get the go ahead ...how long can she stay without further complications ...thanks

[pumpkins]

hi joe3452 welcome to the forum..
.she wants to come here and stay with me ..for a vacation and if she likes we want to get married.....she has also stated she wants to work in the uk.
all i can say is prove that you have genuine relationship, provide evidences..gathering papers will take time..
and you will apply for fiancee visa..

pls wait for others advice

[darren-b]

She can apply for a visitor visa, but that will be limited to a maximum of 6 months, she will not be able to work, and it may not be granted.

Otherwise if you don't have plans to get married it will be difficult for her to come her.

[Florge]

if you want her to work, get her a spouse visa.. thus, you would have to marry in the Phils... she can't work on a visit or fiancee visa..

[vbkelly]

hi all...im a uk citizen ,brtish passport etc...now i visited manila short while agoe and met a lovely young lady ...now...she wants to come here and stay with me ..for a vacation and if she likes we want to get married.....she has also stated she wants to work in the uk..but im not sure if this is allowed...so what are the implications of her coming here...can she live with me...in my apartment....what do we have to do...i know there is a lot of legal bits to sort..but what are they..she wants to come over asap..ive promissed ill do everything i can to help ...but can we do to bring her over here ....she has no children...now im back in the uk...she has been in touch with me crying on the phone that she is missing me and also im missing her any advice would be welcome....and if we get the go ahead ...how long can she stay without further complications ...thanks

sorry im not being nosy just want to ask, how old is she?

[Tawi2]

Tread softly Joe,she wants to come for a vacation and if she likes then you will get married and she wants to work?Caveat How long have you known the lady?How long have you physically spent with her in Manila?

[triple5]

Why not go back to manila sometime, whisk her off somewhere nice and romantic for a few eeks and see if you're really compatable. Best to be sure before making arrangements for her to come to the UK.

[jaishann]

[QUOTE=joe3452;174412]..now...she wants to come here and stay with me ..for a vacation and if she likes we want to get married.....she has also stated she wants to work in the uk..

Does she need to be in the UK to decide to marry you?.... then what about if she dont like? ....visit visa holder and fiancee visa not allowed to work.

[IainBusby]

she has also stated she wants to work in the uk

Hi Joe,
If I were you I'd spend a lot more time on this relationship, online, on the phone and in the Philippines, before you get into applying for visas. Coming to the UK would be a dream come true for many Filipinos, so you must make sure that that it's you she wants and not just a visa.

The visit (tourist) visa is limited to six months, doesn't allow her to work and is extremely hard to get. The usual reason for refusal is the ECO (Entry Clearance Officer) thinks that, on the balance of probabilities, he/she is unlikely to return to the Philippines when the visa expires.
You don't say whether you met this girl online and spent some time getting to know her a bit before you went to Phils or whether you just met her while you were there. How long did you spend in Phils and how long have you actually known her?

Unless you get to know the girl very well before you embark on this sort of thing you could end up (if she did manage to get a visa) with egg on your face if she decided to do a disappearing act and stay here illegally to work.


Iain.

[Alan]

Hi Joe and welcome to the forum. The replies you have had thus far from our knowledgeable members have, quite rightly, been advising caution. Your post does not give us enough details about the state of your relationship with your lady.

Could you expand? Meanwhile - be careful.

Al.

[MarBell379]

I had a similar situation when I met my fiancee. INitially we thought she should come here to visit, ideally on a work Visa so she could work at the same time. Ideal situation we thought, and it would give us plenty of time to get used to each other. She was living in Israel at the time so I didnt have as many concerns about being scammed as many seem to having met girls online. (At least, until I came here, at which point I became very paranoid for a while!! )

The upshot of all my investigations was this:-
It is impossible to get a work visa unless your gf is VERY highly qualified and there is a shortage of employees in her chosen field.
It is very unlikely she will get a visitor visa unless she is already in a very well paid job and owns property in the philippines that she will want to go back to.
A Visitor visa will get refused if you mention any possibility of changing circumstances once shes here (getting married, working etc etc)
80% of visitor visas are refused (I can't find the reference to back this up - sorry)

For my part, this was a hard blow, but I wanted to keep the realtionship alive and so visited her in Israel 3 times before her Visa expired and I talked her into going home ratherthan overstaying, knowing this would put the kibosh on any possibility of a future visa here. I kept every boarding card and took lots of pictures. I kept call logs, chat logs, email and facebook messages, and made damn sure I had enough savings in the bank to cope if we finally decided that getting married was the right thing to do.

Its been a hard 18Months, but after 2 visits to Philippines this year, she IS now my fiancee, Visa was just granted, and she's due here on the 2nd October.

By all means do some further investigation, but my own was quite exhaustive and there didnt seem to be any way for her to come here other than on a fiancee or spouse visa.

NB The only reason we're not getting married in Philippines is the diffciulty for me in getting extended leave from work (needs 3 weeks and a lot of running about), and the fact that she could only apply for spouse Visa AFTER this, so she'd have to stay in Philippines when I returned and wait for the Visa.

Good luck, and stay on the forum - theres loads of people here who can help out if you need it, but DO get into the habit of searching first. Most questions have already been answered!

[Ayjay]

hi all...im a uk citizen ,brtish passport etc...now i visited manila short while agoe and met a lovely young lady ...now...she wants to come here and stay with me ..for a vacation and if she likes we want to get married.....she has also stated she wants to work in the uk..but im not sure if this is allowed...so what are the implications of her coming here...can she live with me...in my apartment....what do we have to do...i know there is a lot of legal bits to sort..but what are they..she wants to come over asap..ive promissed ill do everything i can to help ...but can we do to bring her over here ....she has no children...now im back in the uk...she has been in touch with me crying on the phone that she is missing me and also im missing her any advice would be welcome....and if we get the go ahead ...how long can she stay without further complications ...thanks

OMG.. Here we go again...!!

AJ

[Tawi2]

Its a well trodden path and an oft repeated scenario Some work,some dont,just takes time to see how it pans out

[joe3452]

if you want her to work, get her a spouse visa.. thus, you would have to marry in the Phils... she can't work on a visit or fiancee visa..

i met this lady when i was on vacation.in manila...we understand the advice that we have been given..im am going back to manila in the new year and hopeing we can marry over there.....

[joe3452]

Why not go back to manila sometime, whisk her off somewhere nice and romantic for a few eeks and see if you're really compatable. Best to be sure before making arrangements for her to come to the UK.

thats the best advice ive been given,when i go back in the new year thats exactly what i will do thanks

[joe3452]

thanks all for the advice you have given me and ive taken it all in....one more question if things are right and we do marry in manila...how long would it take for her to get a spouse visa....and can we apply for it once we have set the date to marry...or do we have to wait till we are married

[aromulus]

i met this lady when i was on vacation.in manila...we understand the advice that we have been given..im am going back to manila in the new year and hopeing we can marry over there.....

I would like to throw my suspicious two pence worth......

Thread very carefully, if she starts asking for money or/and all sorts of things... Beware....

Your initial post did raise a couple of red flags for me, and I personally reckon that you are keeping something behind, that you are not too sure about yourself....

I wish you good luck...

[triple5]

thats the best advice ive been given,when i go back in the new year thats exactly what i will do thanks

Your welcome. Like Aromulus says tread carefully, get to know her better.

[Arthur Little]

...one more question if things are right and we do marry in manila...how long would it take for her to get a spouse visa....and can we apply for it once we have set the date to marry...or do we have to wait till we are married

If I might answer those two questions in reverse order:

First, the wedding would require to take place BEFORE a Spouse Visa can be applied for. The original copy of your marriage certificate would then need to be electronically authenticated by the Philippines' National Statistics Office prior to it accompanying the other documents necessary for submission to the British Embassy.

Secondly, for some considerable time, applicants were being told to expect an average waiting period of [usually] up to 3 months for a Settlement Visa to be processed. Earlier this year however, the delay was prolonged due to Manila taking over additional responsibilities ... in handling all visa request from a number of other South East Asian countries. More recently, though, the Embassy appears to have been working "flat-out" to "deliver the goods" in record time (use 'Search' facility to read examples of this) although it would be unrealistic to simply assume that the current trend will continue.

Good Luck with your plans, Joe!

[klsl_forever]

What happens if she cannot work here Joe, does she no longer love you? Also, is there any significance to you being a "British" passport holder?