UK spouse visa from Manila... Granted!

Thank you Howerd. The expected travel date we put on the application was 19th August. That's the 'valid from' date on the visas that we received this morning.

Will you add all the info about the relevant date etc to the thread you started about how long people's applications took?

Seems you now have 36 days to arrange for your wife to leave the Philippines. Not much time. You may just have to apply for that Vignette replacement.

Just out of interest, I spoke to a Filipina in our local supermarket. SHe came to the UK 30 years ago. She went (presumably to the embassy) to make her application, was given a form to fill in and next day collected her visa!

Howerd, can i ask if not too personal, how long you been on the disability as i might be going that route and what did you need to show for it, thanks

Hi Howerd. Yeah I'll add that. Flights back are already booked for the 30th August and most things are organized now. I believe in being aggressive when dealing with deadlines. I'm flying out Sunday the 23rd. I definitely have zero interest in messing around with vignette replacement. It looks like it would need a new visa sticker - the visa contains a 'valid from' and 'valid to' date and the two dates are one month apart. I suspect this would be a painful and slow process..

Thank you I feel slightly shocked and strange, probably waking up at 4am doesn't help matters, but I suspect that's nothing to how @BlueberryCheeseCake feels. This morning she was strolling along nice and relaxed going on with her life. Now she's surrounded by boxes, zooming around like she's accidentally put on some electric pants. She's now overloaded and gone to bed.

ChoiAndJohn---we must have a cyber party on here when you 2 are back in the UK

Congratulations ChoiAndJohn (can't delete these two pink thingies on the android phone). What a great feeling it is.

The vignette is the 30 day stamp!

I have had a disability benefit since around 1975 - that was an invalid carriage. I then got Mobility Allowance a year or two later. DLA Mobility Component replaced Mobility Allowance, so that is what I have now and I use most of that money to get a Motability vehicle. I also used to be registered with the Department of Employment as disabled which enabled me to get a job in a sheltered workshop in 1983.

To prove you are in receipt of a disability benefit you need to show an official letter, such as one from the DWP confirming award of DLA Mobility component. You also have to show money from that allowance going into your bank account at least once. Of course you really need to submit six months bank statements anyway, so they should see the money going in anyway.

The problem comes if ALL the DLA Mobility Component is going towards a Motability vehicle as that money is paid direct to Motability. IN my case I still receive a few pounds of the DLA money into my bank account and I also provided proof that the DLA money is paid to Motability for the vehicle.

Of course there are other disability benefits that can be used to qualify under 'Adequate Maintenance' rules.

For more information...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...150803_Immigration_Rules_-_Appendix_FM_SE.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...tenance_and_accommodation_Part_8__Annex_F.pdf

There isn't a 30 day stamp anywhere.
There is a 'valid from' and a 'valid to' date on the visa. Those dates are a month apart.
The visa is a full page sticker. I don't see anything else.

OK, then it is a Vignette Sticker rather than a Vignette Stamp. Your wife would have to ARRIVE in the UK by the last date on that Vignette Sticker. But a new Vignette can be bought seemingly for less that £100.

To be honest I think the term vignette is misleading. As you know, a vignette is a small picture or logo that fades into a background. Similar to the vignetting that you could get on a camera lens. When I think of a vignette I think of a stamp on a visa. However - this visa does not have vignette on it full stop. What it does have is a definite expiry period. I will try and post a picture of it later on. I would expect that renewing the so called' vignette' would therefore involve replacing the physical visa or endorsing it in some way because the dates are physically printed on the visa document.

I realize that its possible to pay a fee to have it replaced. However I have no interest in spending the cash or the time to do it and I suspect that such an operation is not a quick or simple one. I'm not going to be the first person to find out how hard it is !

I think it is probably a Vignette to the Biometric Residence Permit as the BRP will be used to prove eligibility of residence in the UK but the BRP is only issued once in the UK. SO you can probably look upon the BRP as the Visa and the sticker in the passport as the Vignette.

That means your wife would need to carry the BRP if she travels out of the UK as she will definitely need the BRP to get back into the country. I can imagine a lot of people leaving the UK without their BRP and being refused entry upon their return!

that's a very good point. I have no idea where this is documented. The whole thing is a typical muddle. The acceptance letter does say that you need to pick up the brp within ten days and that you need it to access public services. It says you don't need to carry it with you. I don't think it makes mention of what to do leaving the country but we did read it at 4am and we were kind of excited. Be sure I'll be very very careful..

Thanks Howerd for that, i was wondering if needed to show 6 months of PIP on your bank statement.

No, you only need to show one payment of Personal Independence Payment going into your bank account in the last 12 months. I am not sure what would happen if you only have a short-term award for PIP as short term awards are always under two years and would not cover the 33 month spouse visa.

Luckily, my DLA is for an 'indefinite' period. When I first got it, it was 'for life' but when the government introduced PIP all existing DLA 'for life' recipients were moved to 'indefinite'.

I realised that you like to work to short deadlines when you first joined. You got married after us but had the visa application in before us!

Thank you. That's appreciated. I'm only just starting to get over the shocked feeling and starting to feel happy. I have problems with the little round things on my phone as well. Plus it keeps crashing.

I have posted another thread on the documentation I have submitted in the hope that some people will find it helpful since @Methersgate thought he might be interested.

I just deleted one of your pink thingies on my android phone Mike. Maybe the version? I'm on 4.2.1 if that helps.

What browser are you using on it?