Hi to everyone, just found this forum recently after searching for help and advice for visa applications. Myself and my soon to be fiancee have just had our 1st standard visit visa rejected and are about to re-apply. any advice really welcome. regards, Andy & Jhie.
Hello welcome to the forum. Like you, I and other members in the forum have experience a visit visa refusal. If you can tell us your story and tell us the reasons for refusing your application then we might be able to comment on it.
hi--welcome. just consider the lost fee as a tax! at least you get the reason for refusal--and hopefully you can do something about it.
Worry ye not, just put it down to experience and address the case workers concerns on the next application. Aren't you glad that you don't have to apply for a similar visa to visit the Philippines
Welcome to the forum! My now fiancé had her first visit visa refused --- like many others. With help from the good people on here the second was successful. As above - reveal a bit of ankle and assistance will duly be proferred! Good luck. Gerry
How do i convince the visa folk that my girlfriend or rather fiancee (soon to be) will return to the Philippines after her visit when she currently does not have a job? She has 2 kids and we plan to marry in the Philippines but i cant think of anything convincing too be honest. Andy
You just hit the nail in the head. Use her two kids and your marriage plans in the Ph that she will definitely return home. Tell them that the she needs to go back home for the kids and to do your wedding there.
My then gf, now wife used her 5 year old as a "bargain" to convince the immigration that she has to come back due to her daughter and that her grandma will take care of her during her holidays in UK but they stated the proof is not sufficient. She also enrolled for her masters at University even though she didn't have plans for that but did so to give more reasons to stay. Still not enough. Use strong family ties and that the kids need to be with her mother I don't know due to school or that she's the only one who can take care of them for a longer period of time? Just giving hints. It's going to be hard. Marriage and then spouse visa would make things a little bit easier but still there's going to be hassle. Just think that you will eventually get through but it needs your patience and time. Check out my wife's topic in introduction, her username is Camille.
To be honest, having children back in the Philippines does not constitute "strong ties." If anything, it is the opposite. Many Filipinos aim to work abroad to financially support their kids, just leaving the latter with other relatives. I'm sure ECOs know this. Enrolling in classes is not any better, unless they are in the middle of an important multiple-year course. Just to give you an idea, generally strong ties mean having properties in the Philippines, having a successful business, having a long-term job or a developing career, having a good travel history, etc. But if you can't meet any of these, I'm sure there are other ways to go about it. @Andy1200
I agree, it is very much the norm in the Philippines for the children to be cared for by relatives whilst the mother is away working in a foreign land for the betterment of the family, adds little weight to the application as said.
Here is a spin on the convincing argument I assume that once married you will apply for a Spouse Visa if that is correct then use the fact that you can demonstrate you are going to the RP to marry then will be applying for a Spouse Visa, why would you jeopardise future applications for overstaying a visit visa!
how can a person say they have strong ties to their children--therefore a compelling reason to return home-----and yet they are willing to leave them behind for a holiday in the UK ? you cant have it both ways.
We put a second application in for the visit visa on April 18th so I'll let you know how we get on. Hopefully we addressed the reasons for initial refusal which were: no relationship info no GF finances to support the visiit support for children during the trip assurance to go back. We also just got engaged April 16th so I guess the fiancee visa will be next approach. Has anybody had any experience of using a visa agent to help prepare an excellent application. Should that be an agent located in the UK or Philippines?
I used a solicitor when I applied for my fiance visa. Expensive but worth it in the end. They are UK based solicitors. What they did is make sure that we have all the right documents. They will tell us what to get and what to prepare. At the end of the day it's still us who will collect all the documents. If you think you have a straightforward case you can do the application alone and instead pay for the priority service. But if you can afford the solocitors and the priority service then you go for it. Your decision
We used an agent in the Philippines for my girfriend's (Jann) first tourist visa in 2015, more for Jann's peace of mind than anything else, I was a bit unsure about using an agent. But even though what evidence they asked from us was above and beyond the requirements, Jann got her tourist visa at the first attempt. We used them again at the start of this year to apply for a tourist visa, and badly let us down with the application, both in the lack of documents they told Jann to submit and also what they asked her to write in the supporting information section of the application. Foolishly mentioning marriage on a tourist visa sent alarm bells ringing. It is our intention to marry later this year, but in the Philippines, but the authorities just saw the words marriage on a tourist visa application, and that was the end of that. I went a bit mad at Jann saying that the whole point if using an agency to process the application is so things like this dont happen. She did get her money back from them, and now I have convinced Jann that we will process our own applications in future ( next one being for spouse if all goes to plan) Thanks to all on this forum who post all the useful information making the visa application process that little bit easier to understand and navigate through.
Hi, We got the visit visa on the 2nd application. Hurray! ..absolutely no notification given until it turned up.
What i did to make it work 2nd time around is in addition to what i previously provided i: 1. Opened up her a Philippine savings account and transfer £6,000 into it, fully explaining with a finance letter where the money had come from and why. 2. Provided detailed relationship information including recent engagement. Multitude of photos together in different places, flight details, hotel details, engagement party photos and receipts for venue and catering. 3. Provided signed letters from her father and ex mother in law to support the situation of her children being looked after including photos of the kids happy with their grandmother. 4. Told them our intention to marry in the Philippines later in the year and she would return to make the arrangements and that she is currently starting a clothes business (UkayUkay store) which i am assisting with. seemed to do the job - Visa granted.
