Hello I am new to the forum and would like to say hello. I have been visiting the Philippines since 2010 and met my girlfriend there in January 2012. I have lived in the Philippines every year since with her for between 3 months and six months at a time. We intend to get married within the next year or so and I would obviously like her to visit me in the UK so she can meet my family and friends. I've read a lot about obtaining a tourist visa and indeed tried to obtain one on my last visit in 2015. Unfortunately it got refused. I thought I had done everything required and provided masses of paperwork and supporting documents but I must have missed something and they don't tell you what it is you have failed on. I've heard that a lot of people have used Visa assist offices in the Philippines to help with the application and I wondered if anyone had any experience of these and or any recommendations on who they have used. I'm happy to join with you here and hopefully I can connect with other people here in the North West of England. Best wishes David
Hiya david to BF Could you give us the list of paperwork you provided so we can see where things went wrong?
hello david--welcome to the site. looking at your profile page--can i assume youre retired now ? are you planning to apply for a settlement visa for your future partner at some stage ?
Hi Bigmac Thanks for your welcome. I'm not retired yet. I still have 4 years until that time. Yes a settlement Visa would be good. I was looking at the EEA route and thought that maybe an avenue to pursue.
as regards a visit visa--they are a cheap fee--but are very dificult to get. she needs to show convincing reasons to return to the filis--does she have a job ? property ? kids ?
She has her own property, but no job or kids. I tried to get her a tourist visa last year but it got refused. I included that fact that she had property in the Philippines and also that she had family ties (Mother, Father, 2 sisters and a brother). With the EEA Visa I believe its possible to visit as a live in partner.
Welcome to the forum. If I was you I would just apply for a marriage visa (known by some as a fiancee visa) or get married in the Phils and apply for a spouse one. If you intend to marry anyways then what difference does it make her meeting your family and friends first? It's not likely to change your mind if they don't get on, is it? Just a thought..
may i ask--and i'm not prying ---are you considering the EEA route ( surindher singh ), as an alternative to the usual settlement method--because of the sponsorship financial criteria ?
Hello, Good Evening and Welcome aboard British Filipino It's certainly highly irregular for UKVI to not include a full statement on the reasons for not granting the visa. I've never actually come across that before. The Visit visa is difficult in that it's entirely down to the discretion of the ECO on whether they feel that on balance the applicant has more reasons to return home than to overstay. There's absolutely no reason to believe that any agency has a better chance of securing a visa than the applicant alone. Good luck in your quest and do ask questions here. You'll get honest answers and advice. Free
Bigmac, I am considering all aspects of the most effective and easiest way of obtaining a Visa for my girlfriend. Having had a refusal last year I want to make sure I don't make any mistakes the next time around. So I am looking at all possibilities. Micawber Thank you for your Hello, Good Evening & Welcome - It's very apt to my name (lol). Irregular or not I didn't get a full statement. I got a letter saying that the UKVI were not entirely satisfied that my GF had sufficient reasons to return to the Philippines. Even though she owns 2 houses (title deeds in her name were supplied to UKVI), has her own substantial savings bank account and a family to return to. Without knowing exactly what I can do to convince them otherwise I don't know how to proceed. My thoughts on the visa assist offices in the Philippines were that they could provide me with further insights as to what exactly UKVI were looking for. I like to ask as many questions as I can. It's the only way to find the answers. Thank for the good luck wishes.
Kingrulzuk I'll have to get back to you on the paperwork side of things as all of my stuff is still out there in Phils. But I am due back there very shortly to start the whole process over again (lol). But briefly I submitted a personal affadavit, my bank account statements, My passport, my title deeds of my own house here in UK and my GF submitted an endless amount of papers - Title deeds, cenomars, property tax invoices, passport, UK itinerary for travel and tourist destinations, family statements etc,etc. I have been told that I may have fallen down by requesting a 6 month stay instead of 3 or 4 weeks (Even though the Visa is valid for 6 months). Try, try and try again.
Welcome David. I have not been on the forum long but have read lots on here and other sites about differing stories of success with visas. I hope to marry my fiance as soon as her annulment comes through. Marry in the Philippines. In my mind and I maybe totally wrong but I'm thinking then it will be easier for me to get her to apply to join family here (me her husband). I will follow your pursuit with interest. good luck fella. Regards John
John Thank you for your welcome. It seems very pot luck at the moment and I guess it may be pretty well down to the Visa officer on duty at the time as to whether he decides if you meet the criteria or not. I think also its probably better to marry in the Philippines and then try for a UK visa once we are married. Maybe we can also share our experiences and keep in touch. Thanks for the good wishes.
To me that's the official reason for the refusal. She was not able to convince the ECO of a non-immigrant intention. You're quite right in suggesting that a request for 6 month duration would have caused the caseworkers to perform extra scrutiny, but we'll never know. If there were other reasons those would be stated. Oftentimes the ECO will list as many reasons as they can especially if the prime reason had some weakness. As I mentioned before, the requirements for Visit Visa are far from prescriptive, unlike the settlement route visa's for example, and are subject only to the discretion of the ECO on the balance of probability. There's nothing that can be known exactly. It's all down to the discretion of the ECO. That's why I very much doubt any agency can help. May I ask what, briefly, were the strong social, economic and family ties she submitted ? Is she employed/self employed ? What evidence of any family or social ties and responsibilities? Given the details you've shared, I'm also surprised that the ECO wasn't convinced. Obviously some pretty major issue(s) caused difficulty in overcoming the presumption of immigrant intent. Good luck
I submitted letters from her parents stating that she was needed back home after the UK visit as she helped in the family business store (She has no employed job) but as her sisters are married and have famalies and her brother is still at school she is the only one available to help with the running of the store. As regards strong social, economic ties maybe this is where I fell down also. No economic ties as she is not employed and how would someone describe their social ties. Social ties are rather elusive to quantify. If its as much as being on Facebook or having an extensive phone contact list or a large collection of freinds then I wouldn't know how to get that across to the ECO. Thanks for the good luck.
