How to apply for a Partner/Spouse Visa Under New Rules

To which should be appended "providing the marriage is not registered with the Philippines Embassy in Hong Kong (and therefore a NSO certificate will not be available).

ive been married 3 times already. anyone trump that ?

Very very good info, it's a wealth of useful info for us normal people that just want to be here in the UK with our special person from the Philippines.
My girlfriend and I have just took the first steps by getting her a visitor visa so she can see the UK then we will go from there, thanks for your very comprehensive info.
Thanks Triumph.

Thank you all for your information, amazing.

Wow.......I have massive life changing decisions to make. I am so nervous excited at the same time. The unknown.

I have not been married before, but nor have I met and felt about someone like this before.

It is hard, a real shame we can not spend time together at will.

But I feel good, positive about her and the future.

There are obviously doubts, but that the human nature of it.

The marriage in the Philippines sounds a real option to seriously look into.

Maybe.
I got married 3 times to the same lady. All done for good reasons and each in a different country.

nope---that dont beat my hand. yours is more like a flush

I have been married once and it is our 5 month anniversary today.

Congratulations. It's our three month anniversary next week when I'm back there. You're right you did get married well before me!

I am taking the marriage in ph option, top notch wedding and cheap as chips and then bring her back as soon as i can. been together now three years and this living apart is killing us.

Hello, I am a new member here. My Mancunian boyfriend was the one who discovered your site and told me it may be a good source of information. I am glad he did because it it has been a very interesting and informative read so far.

We are already talking about getting married next year in the UK and then of course the plan is for me to stay with him after. We are confused as to what type of visa I would need to get. Reading through the UK gov website, it seems like our best option is the visa to join family living permanently in the UK. I am not sure if this is the fiance visa. There's another type of visa that one can specifically apply for to get married in the UK (marriage visitor visa) but not sure if that's the one I should apply for as it says I can't extend my visa or apply for a different one. I have visited Manchester thrice in the last 18 months and getting a visitor visa was relatively easy. I would appreciate any type of advice we can get from you guys.

Thank you and looking forward to seeing your responses.

hello firew0myn--welcome to the site.

if you intend to settle here permanently with your future husband--you need a settlement visa--which is a 5 year process. there is a section in the application where you indicate you are a fiancee.

there is a marriage visitor visa if you just want to visit the UK to marry--then leave. it cannot be transferred to a settlement visa.

i'm sure many readers will be interested in how you obtained several general visit visas.

Hello firew0myn and welcome aboard.
Yes, as a first step please review this government website

Apply to join family living permanently in the UK


You'll really be able to get a good understand of the key steps needed in order to be ready to prepare your visa application.
Basically the 'family of a settled person visa' application will be completed online as it's a kind of 'catch-all' form with drop down menu choices a various stages.

It's early days yet but your choice for Fiancee will be Marriage.
This is for settlement and should not be confused with a specific Marriage visit visa which requires you to return home prior to visa expiry with no option for extension.

With the Fiancee visa you'll be given a visa valid for 6 months in order to get married.
Then you'll apply for Further Leave to Remain (FLR)
It's not usual to request extensions to the Fiancee visa, but it's an allowable option if there are good reasons. As always it comes down to available budgets as to the visa needed. None of them are free.

Unless you've specifically discussed the Fiance route and have finally decided it's the way to go, it might be helpful just reviewing the differences between that and the spouse route. In principle the visa documentary requirements are pretty much the same.

Thanks @bigmac.. I'm guessing I can use the settlement visa to get married yeah? Sorry if my questions seem too repetitive and/or obvious but I just want to make sure I get it correctly the first time. The fee isn't a joke. I'm just glad it says dollars instead of quid/pounds.

As for the general visit visas, I just applied online every time. I guess having a US visa and a good travel history helped. It's just interesting/funny how different each immigration officer would ask questions before I'm allowed entry. The first one tried to make me admit that my boyfriend is already my boyfriend then. But he wasn't so I said no. He even said it's okay to say he is. And I'm like, "Uhm, no. I won't deny it if he is." Second one just asked me if I was travelling with my boyfriend then and I said no, he's outside waiting for me. Third one asked what I do in the Philippines. It pays to be honest.

Thank you!

"The marriage in the Philippines sounds a real option to seriously look into."

Hey Steve, certainly look into the Philippines marriage option but take advice also about the rights of your future wife should the unexpected happen after she moves to the UK. We took this option and referred to the forum for advice during the process, it really helped. We decided to marry after 2 months together, married after 6, and we were together in the UK within 3 more, so just 9 months after meeting. Some said we were crazy but it is working. the two of you can only decide that and sometimes you just know when you have met the right person. If you want any advice on the Philippines process - it was actually fairly straightforward with good preparation - feel free to message me. Note also that there could be differences between the way certain things are managed at a local level e.g. within provinces or barangays. The list of essentials should be the same but the way it is carried out could vary e.g. the registrar managing your case may be unpredictable. It is always good for your girl to get to know them and build up a relationship as this always helps.
I would say the most difficult bits for us were:
- getting the marriage counselling completed within timeline - they will not marry you there without this
- preparation for the CFO step, this is the last step after your future wife receives her visa, but she will not be able to leave the Philippines without this approval
We also had errors on the marriage certificate that we only noticed prior to it being sent for authentication - this was a bit scary but in the end we submitted it with errors once authenticated by NSO and it was accepted by the UK BA. Do be careful and check all your documents carefully first.
That's all for now - good luck!

Getting married in the Philippines is a blast, Steve and I can thoroughly recommend it

Likewise. Despite my nerves on the big day I loved getting married there.

I cheated a bit, Paul, I had pieces of paper with the marriage vows on, but in my defence it was because my wife had lots of her family there on the day and I was on my todd.

Yep exactly the same for me. In fact I lost my notes and being on what was a marriage come holiday I didn't revise them! I couldn't find them when I got my barong on. I had a right sweat on I was just on my todd too. Parents who have both sadly passed away now would have found the journey too much. They got to see the photos of course. I'll post a few at some point.