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

Passports should have at least 6 months' remaining validity at the time of travel, so I would suggest that it may be a good plan for your wife to renew her Passport prior to making application. A side benefit of this, of course, is that it will reflect her married name.

I note that your wife is working in Hong Kong. I trust that you both realise that she can NOT apply for her settlement Visa in Hong Kong? That application must be made at the British Embassy in Manila.

That is NOT correct information.

As long as the applicant is legally residing in the country (ie not under temporary visa) then a UK visa leadng to settlement CAN be made from the country in which the applicant is living.

Peter, I would agree with you 100% but for the fact I am not convinced that an OFW is on anything better than a temporary visa. However I am prepared to be proven wrong!

Hi can anyone help?

I am not sure which is best, we are applying at the end of this month for my wife to come to the UK.Now as part of the visa application I need to have at least 6 months of my lease remaining on the property I rent. I contacted my lease agent, but they say they cannot give me a letter stating they intend to renew until it is due for renewal! iI have lived here for 3 years on a rolling 6 month lease that I renew every 6 months. So how do I convince the Border agency I will still be living here? My only other option would be to say we intend to live in the property I own (But I rent that out at the moment) and when it comes to it I just renew my lease and still live here??? really this whole system is crazy and driving us both nuts!!!! Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance

I was in a similar position to you in that I had less than 6 months to run on my lease. However, I did manage to get my landlord's manager to write a letter to say that we were welcome to continue renting the property at the end of the then current lease.

Having said that, I cant see why you ought not be able to state that you intend to live in your own property. But to be truthful, when it comes to it I am not sure. You may find someone here that will know for sure.

HI thanks for your reply
I did ask my leasing agent for a letter but as they are a company acting on behalf of yet another company they say they can't provide a renewal letter until the usual 1 month before the renewal date! I will probably just need to say we intend to live in the property I own but it seems silly when I intend to renew my lease. Thanks again for your reply

Yes. I was on chatting terms with my Landlords manager. I told him what I wanted him to write and he wrote it!

Did they ever actually contact your Landlord to confirm?

I really dont know. I am 100% certain they didn't contact my employer but am not certain that they didn't contact my landlords agent, though I rather think they didn't.

But still best to keep everything honest and above board as they can so easily check.

Yes of course best to keep it all honest I was just curious, looks like I will just be saying we will live at the property I own

Thanks for the CLEAR INFO! and for the EFFORT!

Good day! I really need your advice..

I got married in UK last June 2012, and Im going to apply
My spouse visa here in the Philippines.. Is it okay that I will not use my husbands surname in my passport?? Because when i called the DFA here in Manila, they told me that the processing time will be 6 months, and I dont want to wait for 6 months for me to apply because i have my baby with me and they only give him 1 year to stay here in the philippines.

Second, regarding the financial requirements, is it okay if my husband got 2 jobs, one is cash on hand and one is in Sainsburys? But he is paying tax for both of it?

And do i need CFO sticker even though im going to use my maiden name??

Thank you in advance..

Welcome Michelle!

Yes, that's fine, although I am surprised DFA has told you it will take 6 months to process a new Passport. My wife got her replacement within two weeks down here in Davao.

Your baby son is on a Balikbayan Privilege then. If you have an original copy of his UK Birth Certificate, you can take it to the British Embassy and they will authenticate it so that you can apply for his NSO Birth Certificate and then a Philippine Passport. The alternative is that you visit the Bureau of Immigration, Intramuros, on the day his BB expires and apply for an Extension - these are available in 1, 2 and 6 month durations and are renewable up to a total of 14 months (thus giving him more than 2 years' total stay in the Philippines).

Yes, he will need to produce payslips for both jobs and hopefully can demonstrate that he is earning at least £18,600 a year.

Yes you will do and I suggest you arrange this sooner rather than later. It seems you need to be at the CFO Office by around 4.30am in order to secure a place for that day.

My wife's documents were all in her maiden name when she applied for her spouse visa and attended the CFO. And now she is in the UK everything is still in her maiden name including her passport. The important thing is always keep a copy of the marriage certificate as this proves the marriage, as and when you need proof of marriage.

3 reasons we went that way:

1] No need to pay out for a new passport until it expires (hers expires in 2014 and she will renew it here in London)

2] It was quicker not to have the passport changed / replaced at the time.

3] We didn't want to give the DFA a chance to make a mess of the change (something I was advised of by forum members).

Thanks for your reply..

I think Im in a big trouble. I didnt register my marriage in Philippine Embassy-Uk when i was in London until now that Im in the philippines.

Can i tell my husband to go to Phil embassy in London to register our marriage?, because If im going to register it here in Phil. they are asking for too much requirements and it will take 2-4 months time to register it to NSO, while in London it will only take 1-2 months?

I need to have this because my passport is expiring on November 2013..

And in order to have CFO they are asking for marriage certificate authenticated by DFA..

So hard. I have many regrets why did i chose to come back here in Phil to do the paper works..

Please pray for me!!

I believe you have little choice but to apply for your spouse visa nowhere but in the Philippines.

I can't help you with the marriage certificate. But out of curiosity, how did you get married in the UK and what visa were you on when you were here last?

In our case we married in the Philippines. The Marriage Certificate was issued by the NSO and we didn't need to have it authenticated by the DFA before presentation to the CFO.

I am on student visa when i got married there in UK. I have our marriage certificate with me, but i didnt registered it in philippine embassy London.

So i think, I dont have a choice but to wait..

God Bless me.

I am not saying there isnt a solution to your problem, it simply is that i dont know of it.

Yes, he can do that. He will need to prepare everything in duplicate (of course!) and he will be handed an authenticated copy of all the documents - which will include a copy of your UK Marriage Certificate. He should then send that bundle to you via a secure courier (DHL or FedEx) as these will be acceptable as evidence of your marriage until you receive the NSO version. However you can go ahead and apply for a replacement Passport now and have it issued in your own (maiden) name; you can always change it to your husband's at a later date, if you wish.

Thank you for your reply! I really appreciate it.. I think we will do that.. We already requested for another copy of our Marriage Contract. and I will send the other requirements, some requirements will be needing my signature..

Hopefully, all will be well. Can I really renew my passport without the CFO? Or can I have the CFO after I get my visa (In Gods name)?