Financial worries

Morning,
I have sent all paper work away and paid the charge for the paper submission to the immigration in Manila, my partner has came back to me to say new rules that required to pay a health surcharge that is coming in at over £600.
I am concerned that i have gone into this with eyes closed in regards to how much this whole process is going to be.
I am looking to buy a house as currently live with my parents which is not ideal for the long term, if he is granted a visa to come to UK to marry and live.
My other concern is if this process is going to be beyond my financial means as i will have to support him and possibly his child who we will have to leave in the Phillipines as i do not earn enough to support both my partner and child.
My partner is pushing me to pay this surcharge but i feel he does not realise or does not want ot realise the real situation in money. i feel he just has the whole getting to UK to be together rather than the reality of life and costs.
One thing i do not like talking about is money but is anyone able to give me a ball part figure of the cost this process is possibly going to cost me.

Hi Jumil,
here is the link to determine the costs in your particular case:

https://www.immigration-health-surcharge.service.gov.uk/checker/type

and here is the link to pay:

https://www.immigration-health-surcharge.service.gov.uk/payment/start

Yes the financial requirement of the visa application is very important as you're probably aware. There's no point applying unless you can meet the requirement, it will be refused. It would be like submitting the visa application without the application form. So, if you cannot afford it you shouldn't proceed, only you can determine if it's manageable or not. It's a tricky subject money when it hasn't been a discussion before, however your partner needs to understand the reality of the situation, it's imperative as it may cause issues in the relationship further on. Remember if you get him to the UK and get married, get the FLR application ready straight away as I believe he will be able to assist you with the financials as he will have the ability to work after that has been ok'd by UKV&I. Keep strong and lay your cards on the table to your partner, though I feel this should have been done earlier. Good Luck

i think you have to pay the NHS surcharge up front--before you submit your application--so you need to look into this urgently.

as regards the total budget---the settlement visa cost is about £5000---at todays rates--plus the NHS surcharge of £1000 for the 5 years.. this is of course on top of flight tickets--and the wedding costs. but--there is no panic--is there-?-youve waited 4 years already--whats a few more ?

Hi Jumil, the visa process is a very expensive one as you are now well aware, I am disappointed that your future husband doesn't realise how expensive it is, in real terms your visa will be costing the equivalent of 6 months average salary in the Philippines, maybe you want to approach him with that kind of information to get it over to him. I am like yourself that I expect people to appreciate the true value of money, it doesn't grow on trees as we all know.

On the upside of things, once you are married your husband then will be able to find work and pay into the pot so to speak. Financially you must realise that you will have to pay around the same sum for the FLR as you are doing with the settlement visa, so that means you have another £1600 to find within 6 months of his arrival.

Depending on his qualifications he could find a well paid job in the UK, my wife did within a couple of months and now it is great to have more money in the pot.

If the application has already gone in then it will be held up until you have paid the NHS surcharge, there is a time limit in which to pay this which you can find navigating on the link HalHalo posted.

One final thing, remember its never too late to pull out if you are uncertain of his love for you and your finances.

Think positive, is he going to be a financial burden or is he going to be able to contribute in the near future to make a better life for both of you?

If its a six month fiance visa I dont believe that currently attracts the new NHS surcharge did you pay £884 ? If that application succeeds and you marry you will have a further £884 + £5-600 NHS surcharge for the next 2.5 years then again the same for the next 2.5 years at 5 years Indefinite leave costs just over a £1000 currently

My initial thought (and previously posted) was that the NHS fee in a fiancee application was only payable at FLR stage but Anne brought the checker link to our attention (post #2). If you run through the checker you will see that there is a £600 fee as an unmarried permanent residence application (we assumed this was for fiancee route but maybe you disagree?).

I think Jumil is concerned about her overall financial situation not just the few hundred pounds more its now costs for the NHS surcharge.

As I mentioned before, I intended starting a thread on how much it costs to bring the loved ones here, but it is too difficult to calculate, all I can say for certainty is that it costs more than you think. But again the cost is very easily offset if your loved one manages to gain good employment here in the UK.

yes--i looked at that--and found it confusing

Ye the overall costs are mounting up and I think she is getting concerned. Timmers if you did that you would be updating the costs on a regular basis I think we need clarification on what we are talking about, which is the fiancee route and whether the payment is applicable at that stage. If it isn't then it makes the issue a little less overwhelming for Jumil.

It is without doubt getting very costly, and as you rightfully said, I would have to have my calculator out all the time. You know there are lots of little costs that you don't think about until they are here, for example, my electricity bill has gone up from £30 a month to around £120, washing machine is never off and she is always drying something. Heating on every night whereas I never put it on. I was Skyping with her last night and noticed she had the main lights on (8 x spotlights), ridiculous, I've put the amount of money up she has to give me each month now because of all this needless money squandering

I am by no means tight with my money but I do not like wasting money needlessly.

I think what you're alluding to is a difference between the sexes, women like to spend, men are more frugal (so we can let them spend more of what we would have saved ). I think I'm going to have to be firmer with my lady, I'm obviously too soft

logic would say that if the NHS surcharge was £200 per year then £100 would be the most for a 6 month visa

It's madness Dom. I should've buggered off to Italy prior to all of this

Logic! This is the UK government

I think I'm going to have to be firmer with my lady, I'm obviously too soft

err--ermm--i think i know what you meant to say

Yes. The heating bill goes up as ones beloved Filipina cranks the heating up to replicate the ambient temperatures back home.

It is difficult to be firm, I can just stay angry for long enough to moan to here about the mounting utility bills. Financially though we are integrating, I pay the utilities and so on and she pays for the grocery shop each week, I feel I'm making some process, oh and she always pays for the chippy tea on Fridays now too

You should email the Government department and ask them about logic, I don't think they've ever heard that word before and certainly they don't implement it anywhere

Amazes me it really does, I'm in Africa at the moment and the temperature is about the same as my bedroom at home

BTW. Which African country?