Spousal visa or Tourist visa??!!

I need my beautiful wife to be here in the UK. It seems spousal visas are difficult and expensive to get, although we will go that route if we have to.

Any one gone through the spousal visa route successfully?? Any advice, hints, warnings etc? Anyone gone through the tourist visa route with an eye on permanent settlement in the UK?

we all have !

its easy enough provided you meet the financial and accommodation requirements.

Hi and Timmy_Lpool
I presume you are not married yet?

Ask about spouse visas.
Tourist visas are hit and miss.
It was expensive and a real pain to jump through the hoops and wait for everything to be done.
LDR (long distance relationships) are difficult for both to endure.

When you (can) travel over there and come back hopefully without having to quarantine in an expensive hotel, keep copies of your flight tickets and hotel receipts as you will have to prove that you visited your partner.

Take photos of you and your partner and date them, collate all information in a diary.

We're already married. She was coming over on a tourist visa last April, just before the pandemic blew into town. We've got videos of our wedding and possibly thousands of WhatsApp video pix. I'm also on Pip for long-term ill health.

PIP stands for Personal Independence Payment. This is a welfare benefit replacing Disability Living Allowance for people between the age of 16 and State Pension Age.
The UK Sponsor (British or ILR holder) does not need to meet the financial requirement when they are receiving PIP payments. Rather they need to provide evidence to support that they will be able to adequately maintain and accommodate their foreign partner in the UK.

Eligibility for UK Spouse Visa:
There is no change to these requirements except the financial requirement that are –

• The parties in the marriage must be at least 18 years of age;
• Parties must have met each other, be legally married to each other, and plan to live together in the UK as a married couple;
• A marriage visa applicant must prove that the sponsor will be able to accommodate them in the UK without any recourse to public funds;
• The applicant must satisfy the English Language requirements with a level A1 course for the purpose of Entry Clearance and A 2 for the purpose of leave to remain within the UK;
• In order to obtain a marriage visa the relationship must, without any doubt, be proved as genuine or subsisting with substantial evidence.

Spouse Visa when you are on PIP
Meeting the financial requirement is a crucial eligibility point when you want your partner or spouse to join you in the UK. But if you are on PIP – how to meet the financial requirement? You will need to prove that the amount you are left over after your expenses for accommodation is over the amount of income support for two people.

Required Evidence
1. You need to submit a document confirming your current entitlement and the amount you currently receive from the Department for work and pensions or Veterans Agency.
2. You also need to submit at least one personal bank statement before the date of application.
This bank statement should be in the 12 month period before the date of application to show payment of the benefit or allowance in your account.
If your partner applies for a visa extension from within the UK, then the applicant will be exempt from meeting the minimum income requirements unless you (sponsor) cease to be entitled to or are no longer a beneficiary of pip

Thanks. Much appreciated.

Hi Timmy L, Its always best for you to apply for the Spouse Visa rather than the Tourist Visa, unless your wife has cast iron reasons to return to the Pilippines it will more than likely a Tourist visa will be refused, usually the three strongest reasons your wife will need to show to return to the Philippines are, 1, Employment in the Philippines.2, Own property in the Philippines.3, Have children under 18 in the Philippines, If your wife meets all three its highly likely she will get a Tourist Visa, If she meets 2 out of the 3 she has a reasonable chance of getting a Tourist visa, and if she meets 1 of the 3 its possible she may get a Visa, If she has none of the 3 reasons i would,nt bother applying just save your money.
The Spouse visa, as Mattecube said there are slightly different financial requirements for yourself because you are on PIP, but you/she will still need to pay for,
1. Spouse Visa Application £1523
2. IHS £1872
3. English Language Test variable but £70/£100
4. TB Test variable but again around about £100

On top of that you may have Transport Costs for your wife to the Various Centres to take the Language and TB Tests, when my wife took the TB test (in 2019) it was only available in Manila, you also need to remember the TB test is only valid for i think it is 6 months.

Then Quarantine Red List Country, £2285 which is on top of return Airfares to and from the UK.

Personally without knowing your financial situation I think whatever visa you decide on, you will be better waiting until the Philippines is removed from the Red Travel List.

Myself and my wife have both decided the costs of travel plus the costs and Hoops of Covid here and there, do not justify the expence involved, Good luck whatever you decide.

Last April did you get the tourist visa approved?

We did get the tourist visa, yes. Much good it did us.

Thanks. Really useful advice.

Hey lads and lasses, got a few questions I need to ask from those who've been successful getting a spousal visa:

First off, is it better I apply here or my wife applies in the Philippines? Does everything need to be done here or there like booking ielts test etc?

Do we need original copies of marriage certificates etc, or will scans do?

If we are diligent with everything we do, will we need the help of a solicitor/lawyer realistically?

Basically, I'd like to hear, in brief summary obviously, of someone who's successfully applied fairly recently. Anything to think about, warnings etc??

One more related question from my wife:

Will I book the IELTS for my wife? Or she could book it already in the Philippines?

My wife came over on a spouse visa in 2015 and we have now got ILR and she has applied for British Citizenship we applied for her daughter in 2017 and she to now has ILR but cannot apply for BC till she has completed 5 years in the UK (As she is not married to a Brit)

First off Question is you can do it together this is how You create an application user name and password and you can both sign on at the same time use the same e mail address and password
As you work through the questions at the end of each section you can save or save and quit the information, one of you needs to control the input of answers and the saving of them. If you get a qquestion you need to look say a reference number then you can put in a werong answer so you can progress the application questions and come back to the wrong answer at aa later date pre submission.
If say you (timmy)does the input at the end of each section save it and your wife will have to Quit (SHE MUST NOT SAVE AND QUIT as that will wipe the info one person inputs and saves next time shee logs in she will see the saved section! On the side the sections will turn green as you complete simple steps you put in the info, she looks at the questions and helps say on skype at the end of each section you save and quit she just quyits and relogs back in you can stay logged in.

Doesnt matter where the bookings are done from as long as the provider (TB centre IELTS course) is on the approved list of UKGOV suppliers

If your wife has her originals her end great and you have your originals your end great just scan from either end (phils and UK) no need to start posting them etc

Throughout the whole process we did not and many on here have not used a solicitor and we have all been or are being successful eg (@bigmac @Heathen @UKDJ )

The system tweeked slightly in 2018 (Sopra Steria)so anyone who applied and completed the process pre 2018 is not fairly recent! on the information
I would advvsie and as I have said to many others who have asked take your time, check your answers and check again aand then check again, be honest with your answers, give them what the system asks for dont overload it with chat logs photographs etc, and aask on here if your unsure

ls

TB and Ielts can be booked from the UK , but do not forget that they must be taken at approved centres in the Philippines (google UKGOV lists) and that the TB is only valid for 6 months you need both to progress the application

She will need to attend a CFO seminar pre departure but wee can cover that as you neaar the end of the application input

Hi Timmy,

I just want to confirm what other members have mentioned here.

1. Your wife will need to apply for her spousal visa in the Philippines.
She will have to get all the necessary paperwork done over there and you will have to support her with all the things you are required to do.

2. It is not necessary for you or her to pay for an immigration lawyer over there. Most of us on this forum have helped our wives obtain a spousal visa in her passport.

3. Both of you will need to get all the documents that are required and it is a good idea to have everything photocopied as documents can get lost or be misplaced by people in offices. Original copies are needed and the photocopies are a backup.

4. Look at all the requirements both of you need to do and meticulously cross off things on your to-do list as you go along.

My wife and I married in the Philippines in 2008 and the same rules of going through everything with a fine-tooth comb still applies.

Mike
Documents do not leave the applicant or and partner as of 2018 all documents are uploaded into the Sopra Steria site to be forwarded to UKBA
Further as many will tell you that have done it recently you can apply from the UK in fact you can apply from pretty much anywhere in the world as long as you have an e mail address and access to a computer and able to attend yogic approved suppliers for t.v. scans IElts and biometrics
The applicant however in this case as she is living in the Philippines will do her biometrics t.b. test and IElts there
I agree there is still as I said in my post to check double check and check again but the way to apply the presentation of documents changed in 2018

OK, John, thanks.
The whole process of getting a spousal visa stamp in the wife's passport appears to be much more user-friendly than in the past.
This is great news.

I flew over to Cebu to take my wife to Manila to present all the documents over there.
Then I flew back to Cebu to accompany her to the UK when all was done.

I remember that the worst part of things was having to wait for the N.S.O. to process things.
That dragged on and on and on back then.

Yes I had the pleasure of doing 2 application the long way back in 2015 and 2017 posting all my stuff to Sheffield while my wife took her stuff to a vsfi centre in the Philippines but I bet even that was slicker than way back in 2008! Since 2018 the paper chase has shortened and the systems albeit not without pitfalls is slicker.
Still what price progress hey!