Hello

Hi there,

Just to introduce myself, I've been married to a British Filipina for 23 years, we met in college here in the UK when we were both of a young age, the rest is history. My wife is taking back her Filipino citizenship becoming a dual national this October and the loose plan is for us to retire and migrate to the Philippines in 5 years time. Not much else to say really, other then I've learned to cook Filipino food over the years and I speak a little Tagalog too.

I'm hoping this site will be a good place to find useful information amongst likeminded people who may be on a similar path to our own.

I'm looking to find some information about the 13a spouse non-quota visa and whether this can still be obtained in the UK, or if not, how best to go about obtaining it in the Philippines.

Good to meet you all

Welcome,

mostly old farts here with younger wives or ex-wives plus younger children etc.

Just doing my own 13a (should have done it ages ago) - you'll most likely apply in UK under 13g (same rules) given your wife is a UK Citizen:

It'll probably be cheaper and less tedious, for you to apply in the UK as the process in the Philippines is done in 2 stages, first : Year 1 Probationary 13a (Fee £110), second (assuming you've been a good boy/girl): Year 2 Conversion to Permanent 13a + (Fee £110)

UK 1 stage application for Permanent 13a(g) + (Fee £110)

However, given the increasing cost of living in the UK, if there is significant travel and/or a hotel stay required etc. you may well be better off doing it here later!

Thanks OSS, yes I think we might be a bit of a rarity, that's correct we both met here in the UK at college when we were 17, my wife was already a British citizen at time and she is just 3 months older then me. She arrived here with her family when she was much younger in fact, as her father had migrated here as a Japanese cuisine head chef establishing one of the first Japanese restaurants in the UK, sadly he is no longer with us. The strange thing is although she's lived many more years here in the UK, so is more British then Filipino, she has always longed to return home.

Yes we've visited the Philippines a fair bit over the years, staying my wife's extended family in Manilla and travelling around the islands, experiencing the culture. We still have many places to visit and before settling over there, we plan to do a bit more touring to decide where we want to lay down some roots. We'll likely keep our home here in the UK, as we will need to return now and again to see family here.

Haha that seems to be the way mostly.

My wife will be Filipino again (and British) as a dual national from completing RA 9225 and taking the oath in October, however when I emailed the London embassy they said they are no longer doing 13A / 13G here in the UK and I would need to apply when visiting the Philippines. It was about a year or so ago when I enquired, so I don't know if it was linked to Covid and less services being offered, but I also noted the 13A / 13G forms and guidance had disappeared from their website and not reappeared. So I wonder if I have been wrongly advised then and thought to check when she attends in October for the Oath ceremony. So you sound pretty sure you can still do the 13A / 13G application here in the UK? That's good news if you can.

Get a BB stamp on your passport with your wife when entering Philippines, you then have 12 months to apply for a spouse visa. you will get a probational that last 12 months.
I'm going to start my 5 year renewal next week it's the card that needs renewing every 5 years.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Haha, I have no idea what they are doing in the UK!

If the Embassy has told you they are no longer doing it then as @Jim says you can get a BB and do it here.

However, what the London Embassy might be trying to tell you is they have outsourced the 13a/13g or because of covid they were/are no longer doing it.

Perhaps you could email the London Embassy again and ask them to clarify their position as I'm pretty sure they will be in a better position than me to tell you what services they currently offer.

Give us an update once you do, for benefit of others visiting the site

Yes or perhaps go down the SRRV route if they're thinking they'll be moving around and going back to the UK frequently.

Yes I believe it is... I was thinking of them investing it in a property and looking at it as a long term investment

Yes I will do, I think the embassy are probably fed up of me by now, I've exchanged a fair few emails recently to sort the dual national application for my wife and daughter. I will check with them again re the 13a to see if they can give me a proper answer, might try in person when I'm down there in October as they are slow to respond over email.

Yes if I can't get 13A over here, the plan was to go over on BB and do the 13A there. I've looked into the SRRV before, it seemed another potential option with some advantages, but I ruled it out because we will still be in our late 40's by the time we head over there. I think from memory it comes into play when your 50 / 52+ at the more reasonable price, there was a cost factor to do it younger as you mention. Will check again.

So the 13A seems like it'll be the easiest option, just a bit of a hassle you have to do yearly reporting and have a probation period if done over there, but I guess it's a lot easier then processes in other countries to gain residency. The two things I need to know more about the 13A are, how do you go about obtaining the criminal record check, is this check for criminal history in the UK or in the Philippines itself? The second thing is how do you get the medical sign off and Xray? I'm not sure you'd be able to walk into your local GP practice and request the medical / Xray, you'd probably need to go private, so perhaps cheaper and easier to do this over in the Philippines then here in the UK? The rest of it seems standard paperwork / documents that you'd have already and a bit of form filling. Would welcome anyone's experiences on the points mentioned.

My final thought was, could you just keep extending BB in the Philippines? So as your BB year comes to an end, take a cheap flight to somewhere like Vietnam, Hong Kong or Thailand with the Mrs, have a short break there, then fly back into Manilla a few days later and do another years BB. Rinse and repeat each year.

I suspect you'll find they've outsourced it.

Having been here on a tourist VISA myself for over 10 years I know all about the the cheap flights route... you can also go down to TawiTawi and catch a boat to Malaysia and back - @Druk1 , who seems to have disappeared for a while, is the expert on that one...

But yes you can get a BB and leave and repeat OR extend and leave and repeat after 36 months (so 3 years including 1 year BB).

In your shoes I'd almost certainly just do a BB and have a holiday once a year and renew the BB, especially if you're planning on returning to the UK often. Then when you're over 50 weigh up the pros and cons of the SSRV against the 13a.

Anyway, back to the 13a, assume you'll be looking at this:



The 13a requirements will vary a little (but not much) if you do it in the provinces like I am - the local office will give you "their" requirements , if you do it at the main office you'll probably get away with one less copy of everything etc. The rule is to check in at the office where you're going to file it so you don't waste you're time organising your documents in a black folder when they only accept white etc.

Criminal check is done in the country you're residing:
Once you have resided in RP for 6 months make an appointment with the NBI
If you're residing in the UK , get a CRB check there - lots of agencies do it for people who look after children etc.

You only need a medical cert if you're from a dodgy country on their list - probably like Congo, Haiti etc... I haven't checked but I think the UK should still be ok

Truly cracking storm here tonight - loudest I've ever heard!

The lightning is flashing the rain is belting it down.... kid's are scared to bits - just waiting for Dracula to drop in!

Thanks John, that's all really helpful info. Yes I'll probably do it the way you describe, so go over on BB and figure the rest out as I go along, my wife and daughter (if she chooses to join us) will both be Pinoys so it's just myself really to consider, so trying to think ahead.

There's a few items on that list that I'm not familiar with, like the duly accomplished CGAF and the BI Clearance, whatever these are. The rest of it shouldn't be an issue, I can get a CRB here no problem and if I don't need the medical and X-ray that makes it a bit easier. I'll probably do it at the main office near to when we arrive as our extended family lives in Manila, although we plan to move to a quieter area of the Philippines, Manila is a bit hectic for my liking. Do you find the staff are generally helpful and guide you through what's needed if you ask for this, or is it a bit of a cattle farm and they just pass you the forms and tell you to crack on?

So I take it after you've done the probationary year, you return to the office again and complete the same process to gain the complete 13a, or do you just need to return and providing you've kept out of trouble, they stamp you off as a full 13a?

I spoke to soon - not Dracula - but we flooded last night and when I was cleaning up I slipped over and elbowed my pc screen!

Had a few of those recently, I open the balcony door one night from my bedroom and a loud bang and a flash made my hair stand up, dogs hiding under the sofa lol. Sure it hit the tin roof, no damage.

Glad your not injured.

Attached CGAF - Changes from time to time so you'll need to get the up to date one but basic info will be the same...

The BI Clearance they do when you visit the BI office - It's just confirms no records about you etc to the date you're applying.

You can try doing the 13a when you arrive with your UK CRB check papers but they might ask you to wait (6 months) and get a local NBI clearance...

I've always found the BI Staff very helpful but if they can find an i you haven't dotted or a t you haven't crossed they'll notice When I tested the water with my half done 13a papers the other week... I'd enclosed a photocopy of a form, which should have been done as an original, and he was rubbing my signature with his thumb to let me know he'd spotted it

Baguio looks very nice and cool... pricey though.

Anyway, back to cleaning up for me - it's more fun in the Philippines!

(Forgot to push the Post Reply button...)

Not half as glad as I am - anyone who goes to the Western Leyte Hospital... it's 50:50 whether they come back !

Nothing on the weather forecast, which I check regularly, just some innocuous looking cloud... only about an inch of water inside but I need to build some protection around the entrances to stop it happening as it's a pita to clear up.

Thanks John, sounds like you've had a bit of an epic storm, sorry to see the screen took a bit of a battering!! I have all these things to look forward to