@martian and @Lyn would it be okay to ask how long it took between your visa application at VFS and getting the results? I'm asking because my husband and I applied last Sept.29 No word yet!
Thanks @martian and @Lyn. Your feedback is much appreciated. Waiting and holding our breath for this... will update you once we get word. All the best!
Hope you get that positive result soon. Don't get too concerned if you start to approach a 30 working day wait as it's now one of the busy periods for Manila Hub.
@Micawber thank you! That's really good-to-know info, kinda calms me down as next week will mark our 3rd week of waiting.
So…. After 3 years and 3 failed attempts, I finally got my visa today! I am so happy and still could not believe it! Thank you to everyone who shared their wonderful advice. This forum has helped us a lot in our visa application. Thank you! Here is our timeline: Visa Application: Fiancé Visa Biometrics in VFS: October 12, 2015 Email Received: November 9, 2015 Visa Pick up: November 10, 2015
congratulations ! are you willing to tell us the reasons for the 3 failed attempts ? it would be of great help to others about to apply.
Congratulations! But may we know the reason for three failed attempts and what ways u did from the latest application for it to be approved? It would be a great help to Us is esp to me who got denied with our fiancée visa. Thank you!
The 3 failed attempts, are slightly different so the first 2 are just visit Visas which they questioned the ability of my sponsorship on one and the ability of Paula's intent to come home. The final was settlement of unmarried partner, and we misread a rule in the guidance so were rejected (we even went to the tribunal) In hindsight, our own naivety caused the rejections.... Probably because I took charge on the applications, this time Paula took the lead, Lesson 1# don't let a man do paper work!
I think naivety when applying for the visa is probably the biggest reason for visas being declined, it takes a while to understand exactly what the visa requirements are and who you are up against, as in the UKVI. To secure the visit or settlement it visa requires a lot of work and research in order to be successful. Glad you got there in the end, and thanks for sharing that information with us
1st Visit Visa – ECO questioned the “Genuineness and sincerity of our relationship. The ECO also doubted that I will come back to the Philippines after my declared 2 week visit visa stay. 2nd Visit Visa – ECO questioned the ability of my sponsor and the sincerity of our relationship. Unmarried Partner Visa – we applied for unmarried partner because we didn’t want to rush into marriage at first and my annulment was still on-going. But, obviously it was a wrong type of visa to apply for. We submitted in September of 2014. It was denied in November 2014 on the following grounds: 1) Living together for 2 years akin to marriage – we haven’t lived together for 2 years because of Michael’s work commitments. 2) Genuine and Sincere Relationship – the ECO questioned the sincerity of our relationship, as always. I have noticed, based on the rejected visa’s I’ve read, that if the ECO rejects you on one thing (e.g. Financial Capacity or Accommodation), they also question the sincerity of your relationship. I guess it is their way of ‘adding’ more to the reasons of visa rejection. (Sorry for my wordings, I am not too very familiar with the visa terms). We appealed at the Tribunal, thinking that it is an easy win. We thought we had valid reasons as to why we haven’t lived together for 2 years akin to marriage. We also did not hire a lawyer to help and represent us in the tribunal. We submitted the appeal in the last week of November 2014. We got a hearing date of June 4, 2015. After 2 weeks, we got the decision in the mail. It was another heart-breaking news- the judge favoured the Home Office. In August 2015, I started reading and planning our next visa application. At the time, we were really confused whether we should get married in Manila or in the UK, and confused which visa type to go for. At the last minute, we decided to get married in the UK so we went for a Fiance Visa. And this time, we also included my daughter in the application. My fear was ten times more because of the amount of money we paid for. I saw in this forum how others filed for their visa application and the way they submitted their papers. What I did though was to submit the evidences based on the ‘Parts’ of the Family Settlement Form and Appendix 2. Bear with me, it’s a little difficult to explain but I will try my best. Let’s say for example in the Appendix 2 Financial Requirement Form, there is “Part 1: Your Relationship To The Sponsor”. In Part 1, you need to fill out the information about your sponsor, etc. So for my supporting documents, I patterned it like that… On the first page of my supporting documents, I have the Table of Contents which is like this- Appendix 2- Family Settlement Form Part 1: Your Relationship To Your Sponsor Relationship to my sponsor o Wedding Plans ………………………………... Page 2 o Skype Conversations ………………………. Page 3 Relationship Details o Meeting my Sponsor ……………. Page o Times spent together ………….. page o Means of Communication …….page Part 2: Accommodation & Other Details Accommodation o Supporting Letter from the Owner ……………page o Council Tax ………………… page I hope you get what I mean So my guide was pretty much the form itself. I wanted to make sure that I don’t miss out on anything. Also, on each document (by the way, almost all documents we submitted were photocopies, I think the only original documents we submitted was TB Test, IELTS cert and original wedding ring receipts) I wrote this (using pencil) on the upper right part “IN REFERENCE TO PART 1 SECTION 1.2 OF THE APPENDIX 2” depending on what you’re referencing the document to. I also wrote the title of the document in pencil, for example: Supporting Letter for Accommodation. And ofcourse, I wrote the page numbers too at the bottom right of each paper. I wanted to make it easy for the ECO so that granting the visa would come easy too... Oh, I also did not send just one statement for the ECO. I think I sent 4 papers where I kind of ‘talk to the ECO’ 1) Our Wedding Plans 2) Times we spent Together, etc… I didn’t want the ECO to question the sincerity of our relationship again so I had to be detailed about it. It’s annoying really how they seem to assume that the relationship is not sincere. We wouldn’t have lasted 3 years in LDR if it weren’t sincere. I guess the decision on the Tribunal Appeal also helped because the judge stated in there how he believes that our relationship is sincere. He also stated a couple of times how he finds my sponsor credible and reassured the Home Office that if I would reapply for a visit visa again, my sponsor can and will ensure that I come back to the Philippines and will not resort to UK public funds. Oh, also, I sent them pictures I printed the pictures on the paper too and put some details on each one. I started with the most recent picture. I wrote something like this: August 12, 2014- Laiya, Batangas - Michael and I went to Laiya Batangas for a holiday with my family. .....................to be continued ..................
I also included the screenshot conversations on Skype, Facebook and Viber. I put a title on each one too like- Conversations about Wedding Plans, etc. And for Financial Capacity, we included a “Summary” page that contains something like this: Required Annual Income: £18,600 Total Annual Income: £19,000 Payslip: January 2015 – £1,500 ……………page February 2015 - £1,500 ……..page March 2015 - £1,500 …………..page Bank Statements: January 2015 – £1,500 ……………page February 2015 - £1,500 ……..page March 2015 - £1,500 …………..page So there you go! That’s the story of our life. I hope this helps those who are going to apply for their visa and I hope I don’t confuse you. No matter how good you put your documents together, I still think that you need to pray that your papers get to a ‘nice’ ECO who is in a good mood. Ofcourse, prayer helps alot too.
Omg! But thank you for this! @PTPC!!! I like the putting of "pages" idea. I might do that in our application. Congratulations again!
