Help....I need a good Immigration Lawyer

I am trying to get my Filipino partner to England. I am a Englishman who met my girlfriend on the internet and have been to visit her twice, once in Hong Kong were she presently works and once in the Philippines, when she took her vacation and returned home to see her family. We now want to take our relationship to the next stage and I would like her to visit me and stay in my home with a view to us settling down together. However I have read and heard so much conflicting information about how to acheive this, the difficulties and pitfalls, what visa to go for, etc. I would therefore like to get some good, accurate advice and was hoping that someone out there could recommend a good, cheap lawyer, who they have had dealings with. I live in a village near Northampton and are looking for someone nearby. Please please help.....

I don't really think a good lawyer could do any more for you than you could do yourself if you can follow the correct route.
I'd think it would be the fiancee visa you would be needing to go for,.. but its not just the visa application,...its all the paperwork and homework thats involved. Its 8 years since I applied for the fiancee visa ( a bit differant then ), it took quite a lot of getting to know each other (verbally ) beforehand and hunting out bank statements / collateral / savings / house ownership etc.
I gather that one of the main factors that come to the fore is your savings / income ,...and a permanent house to live in when she arrives in UK.
Advise will vary from one person to the next due to people having differant experiences with their own application. Mines (and my wife) was relatively straight forward, we heard all the rumours about how hard it was to obtain the visa but we just sat for weeks on end just chatting away to each other and learning all about our differant lives. I didn't nessessary have a lot of money in savings, but I had my own business and my own house (income and accomodation )
Good luck to you bud,

Jonny

Hi English Mustard. Jane and i have just been through this, you just need to apply correctly, for all of the above reasons i would also marry in the Philippines. Do the application meticulously and comply with all requirement and you will be ok and save a fortune. Good luck, Paul n Jane

You don't need a solicitor to do this! You only need to have 6 months bank statement and ensure you have enough money to show on your account enough to live for at least 6 months, a letter from your employer stating you are on a full time job. Also she needs to have an ESOL with Citizenship in hand as they now require it. Better off to marry her in Hong Kong as divorce does not exist in Philippines. We did got married in Hong Kong simply because we don't want to get stuck in case we change our mind and cannot live with each other anymore! But almost 18 years of marriage now, no chance of changing our mind and still very much in love with each other although sometimes we are like a dog and cat, but cannot live without each other!

May I kindly suggest you review the following thread How To Apply For A Partner/Spouse Visa Under New Rules

Having read the thread you will now know that the major key is to prove that you (the sponsor) have an annual income above £18600
(unless you meet the exemptions)

Financial support from 3rd party sources are not allowed

If you still feel uncomfortable with the requirements then that would be the time to consider using the services an immigration advisor.

Well, as long as you can meet the financial requirements.

I would strongly suggest you get married in Philippines.
Fiance(e) visa's are only valid for 6 months and your fiance(e) is not allowed to work until the FLR(M) has been approved.
Currently FLR(M) approvals are taking in excess of 8 months (and rising). That's a long time for a spouse to be denied work and prevented from making finanicial contributions to the household.

Just a point about the minimum income,...does the government take into account that those of us who live south of the border, (Scotland) are far less likely to meet the required £350 per week income compared to those living in English cities ?That kind of wage is very, very difficult to reach without working 7 days a week. The average earnings around my area are around £230 - £270 per week in a good job. This is looked upon as a reasonable wage as the living expenses are far smaller around here and on a wage like that there would be no problem to accommodate a partner from abroad.
Just a thought....
Jonny

Yes, I would echo the comments about getting married in the Philippines.
It is more important for the wife to be with her family.

Have not been on here a while, but this post is an excellent example of the demographic discrimination these financial rules have had on people all over the UK, how is it fair that someone in Scotland who works the identical job, identical hours etc cannot meet the threshold whereas someone in London with the same job, hours etc meets the threshold due to London weighting.

As for the OP, you will have to asses the options of the fiance route v spouse route and ask yourself what your intentions are.

The Fiance visa allows your partner to enter the UK to marry. The visa is valid for 6 months, within which you must get married. Your partner cannot get wok, set up business or study whilst on a fiance visa. As soon as you marry your partner can make an application inside the UK to switch into the spouse visa category. This will entail further fee to the UKBA which at present is £561 by post or £867 same day service. If the spouse visa is granted your partner will receive a 2.5 year visa.

If you marry abroad your partner will have to apply for a Spouse visa and if granted the visa is given for 2.5 years.

The requirements for both of the options are very similar bar one requirement, the fees for entry clearance are the same, the forms are the same too.

Please do not think that the fiance visa option is harder to meet than the other because in my experience that is not the case, if your documentation are good then there is no reason why the fiance visa will not be granted. As I always advise my clients, you need to weigh up the options of both pros and cons and then decide on what your intention is and where you wish to marry.

As you say, there are two drawbacks of the Fiancee Visa route, which make it far less palatable..

1] FLR fees in addition to the fees they would otherwise pay for a spouse visa.

2] The time it takes to aquire FLR, as it is known to have taken 8 or 9 months in recent times. During this time the new spouse cannot work.

And yes, a lot of people get tripped up on the documentary evidence of plans of marriage, whether they have plans on paper or not.

I will counter that by saying it can balance itself by having to pay for flight tickets back and forth for spouse visa so all in all it adds up.

The intention to marry part really is not that hard to prove in all honesty.

Your second point is the messy one though, it does take a while if you apply by post, therefore PEO may be better, but then that will probably counter my own argument of balancing out as above. I suppose it is what you find practical having weighed all the pros and cons of each type and ultimately what both the Applicant and Sponsor's intentions are!!

My take on that is that for a return ticket to marry in the Philippines, one can have a great holiday and further cement relationships with the inlaws.

But I have noted some who have met the requirements on paper but been refused.

Can't disagree on the holiday aspect, each to their own though I suppose.

Every case is different, meeting the immigration rules on paper is not good enough unfortunately, it's all about documentary evidence, there are certain things that can be done to avoid refusals, I have seen my fair share of refusals in the past 7 years so I always try to preempt a refusal with the right documents and then write a clever cover letter. But ECO's are not universal and even the best of spouse visa applications can be refused. Never compare your circumstances to any other individual...EVER lol

Hello Jonnyivy, How many years accounts did you have to show at the immigration office?