Which Visa...Help needed

I know there is bound to be the information out there I need to answer my question but I have read so many pages Im going around in circles.
I want to bring my future wife to live here in the UK. I have researched the SS route but its a pain. Assuming I qualify financially the normal immigration route is what my question is regarding.
We are not married yet, we have met. After marriage, I really dont want to have to say goodbye to her while we wait for the visa.
Q. Which visa is the best one to go for, would it be ‘family of a settled person’?

Would it be easier to get married in the UK? she would obviously prefer to have it in PH but willing to do whatever is easier.

Can we get married in PH and then travel back to the UK after a honeymoon? If so, how?

I need an idiots guide...I apologise now because Im sure the answer is there staring me in the face. Ive read so much I've lost the plot, can someone just guide me back on track and explain how we can marry but not have to be separated again and timescale to make this possible.

if you want to bring your fiancee over to get married here--you want settlement (-marriage ) visa---valid for 6 months till FLR.

. if you decide to marry in the fils--its a settlement visa you require. this gives 2 & 1/2 years till FLR.

its the same online form----you need to make an account here---https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/home/welcome

the visa fee is the same--£1195.

you will also need to print off and fill out appendix 2----https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270484/VAF4A-Appendix2.pdf

Thanks for the guidance. Is there an advantage one over the other?
So if i have understood you correctly. If we marry in UK we need to apply for FLR before 6 months is up. But if marry in fils then we have 2 1/2 years before FLR, obviously need to apply in advance before it runs out.
Same settlement visa for both?

main difference is--if you marry here in the UK she applies for "fiancee" visa--settlement-marriage---£1195--then first flr within 6 months--£811 plus £500 ihs surcharge----that gives 2 & 1/2 years till a second flr--same fee and surcharge--so--you pay twice for FLR--whereas a spouse visa means only one FLR after 2 & 1/2 years. ( but you still pay for 2 x IHS surcharge.)

those figures dont include priority service--thats up to you--£500 extra. each time.

either way--start a vaf4a online account--and take it step by step. if you cock it up--no prob---delete it and start again. but--dont select " family of settled person"--thats for kids.

then its up to you where you want to get married--consider your travel cost to the filis.--but overall probably cheaper to marry over there if you weigh it all up.

I agree about not wanting to be separated after the marriage. We did what was then the fiancee visa, and that was one of the reasons.

It is more expensive, as you have one extra visa, but you get all the initial visa stuff before marriage and can be together always afterwards.

So a much nicer way in my opinion.

Aww thank you bigmac..your a brain saver...that sounds like a plan. Seems like getting married in the fils is the way to go then..can have a honeymoon before return then rather than in blighty. Thank again...i just needed showing the parh i should be on and you have. Im sure ill have other questions at some point.
Your spot on Maharg...i cant bear to be without her now so it would kill me leaving her behind after hetting married. Last time we said goodbye in Dubai i thought my heart ws being ripped out as she walked away and disappeared into the crowd. I really dont want a repeat of that.
Its a real shame someone like Teresa May could experience the pain they cause with there regulations. I understand fully why its in place to try to prevent sham marriages but the between the shammers and the government they cause their citizens so much pain and agrovation...same in the US i know. You would think what with globalisation and easy travel they would understand this planet is getting technically smaller so people will meet and fall in love with 'outsiders'....we need to start embracing other people rather than the narrow minded approach of 'get off my land!!' (Spoken in a west Country accent) and no offence meant to the west country folk

the fees went up recently - it's now $1816 USD (fees for applications from the Philippines are payable in USD) for a fiancee visa or spouse visa, which equates to £1368 according to Google's exchange rate just now

https://visa-fees.homeoffice.gov.uk...or-proposed-civil-partner-of-a-settled-person
https://visa-fees.homeoffice.gov.uk...t/spouse-or-civil-partner-of-a-settled-person

?? how do you work that out ?

I submitted our application at the beginning of May, and certainly was charged more than £1195 for our fiancee visa!

in fact, I just checked my credit card statement ....
11/05/2016UKVISAFEEGWF039778378 LONDON 1,900.00 USD AT 0.69483/GBP£1,320.18

we paid $1900 USD as our application was submitted in Cebu as opposed to Manila, so an extra charge of $84 USD was applied

I believe the page where you got the £1,195 figure from has not been updated to reflect the current charges

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/overview

it just adds insult to injury. massive 25% increase in fees this year--how do they get away with it ? then having to pay in god almighty dollars. disgraceful.

Couldn't agree more!

The gov.uk link does show the price at £1,195, but when you actually apply through the visa4uk site, the only payment option is in USD and the fees are what are shown in the links I posted on post #7. I guess they think people won't spot that they are being charged even more! (As if the 25% increase isn't enough already ....)

There is an additional service fee if you submitted your documents in VFS Cebu. Either that or the fees have gone up.

I already mentioned that in post #9 - it's an additional $84 USD to apply in Cebu

the fiancee and spouse visa fees are $1816 USD in Manila, or $1900 USD in Cebu, both considerably more than the £1,195 quoted on the gov.uk page which is clearly wrong

Looks like easyjet are running the visa4uk site then...prices are increasing daily...

Isn't the second line supposed to be ILR, bigmac?

Ok so let me get this straight....i am not making the applicatuon for my future wife...she makes it from the Philippines? Sorry if this a stupidly obvious question but shes making the applicatiin for herself to join me; correct?

Hi Matt P
I thought about which way to go but decided to go over and marry in the Philippines.
The main reason was that, IMO, it is more important for the bride to be with her family on her big day.
I would do the same thing again if it was second time around because a wedding in the Philippines and the reception with the wonderful Filipino people is second to none as well.
Once the wife arrives in the UK with her settlement visa stamp in her passport, she will just have to get a N.I. number from a jobcentre and she will be able to work.
My wife did this and she very quickly was earning her own money and having fun working with other British people.
A Fiancée arriving in the UK cannot work straight away.

Yes, she has to apply for the settlement visa but she will require lots of documentation from you also.

The costs are expensive for sure but you will not regret this when your wife is with you in the UK.

Thank you....