Hi all Last year I was sent to Singapore where I meet my now Filipino girlfriend. She worked for my companies Asia base as a duty manager. I worked there for 8 months, 7 of them we were dating/together. Since I have been back she has been over a copy of times to the UK, we now have a decision to make. Do I go over there or does she come here. Singapore is not the best of places to make a living, rubbish wages and high cost of living. It would be better if she came to UK but it seems almost impossible for that to happen. Is there any way of her coming here without going down the marriage route? We are not at that stage yet but certainly need to be together. Probably a question asked so many times Thanks in advance.
Welcome to British Filipino Dean, is there a chance that her qualifications could gain her entry to the UK under the "skilled workers" route? She could maybe apply for another visit visa which would last for six months thus giving you the time to see if she is indeed the girl for you, after which she could return home or back to Singapore to apply for a settlement visa. To be honest your options are limited if you are not yet at the stage to commit yourself to marriage.
Hi HaloHalo and Timmers My company will give her a job here, that's not an issue. She doesn't have to get the work permit on her own though, they wont sponsor her. She could get another VISA but she likes to work and would be given up a decent role in Singapore. I wouldnt ask her to come her and sit around without work tbh.
I didn't think she would like to sit around for months on end especially when you are at the office. I would have preferred that my now wife could have come here without the need to get married, not that I didn't want to marry her, just the fact that we were sort of forced to marry to be together, that's what I didn't like.
She will have to apply for a visitor/tourist visa , if she is at present no more than a girlfriend. The government are strict about visas for non-EU visitors, as too-often they overstay.
All the requirements for the various visas are on the UK gov. website. It will not be easy and it will be expensive.
If you marry then apply for a spouse visa she will be able to apply for a NI number as soon as she arrives in the UK, if she arrives on a Fiancé visa then she would have to wait until she secured the first FLR(M) before she could work, in our case we applied and got the FLR three days after getting married, two months after she entered the UK.
