How To Apply For A UK Fiance(e) Visa

I'm not quite understanding how the shortfall works even though I've come across this possible avenue to qualifying. Can anyone clarify things for me please? This is my guess as to what it means...currently I earn around £15,500-£16,500 on a zero hours contract, so to qualify, I would need savings of £5,500-£6,500 to top up to make £21,000 and make us qualify to apply for a spouse visa? Help por favor!

in that case she will have to apply for a fiancee ( settlement ) visa from the filis. there is no other option. you as sponsor will have to meet the income / savings requirements. i dont wish to cause you any upset--but i think you have to know the facts. have you costed all this up ?

You would actually need the entire 21000 in savings, I believe.

So, is there a difference between a fiancé visa and a settlement visa? It seems some people on the forums use these interchangeably and it's pretty confusing

I know she has to apply from the Philippines. Not sure if the total cost of the process will be but I know it's going to be pretty substantial!

ok--say you earn £15,600 to simplify the maths. then £18,600 - £15,600 = £ 3,000 shortfall
then £3,000 x 2.5=£7,500...+ £16,000 = £23,500 savings needed.

so--ask yourself--have you got £23,500--in cash savings held for at least 6 months ??

or is it easier to earn that extra £3000 over the next 6 months ?

That doesn't sound logical to me! So what's the £16,000 savings about then?! They might as well tell you to save £21,000 and not bother with this shortfall issue. Maybe I'm wrong though and it's different for people with different incomes because for the 2.5x thing.

I honestly thought I couldn't get more confused than when I first came in to this place! Ha.

a fiancee--or spouse visa is a settlement visa. its the start of a 5 year route to settlement.

the 16k is the threshold --simple as that.

if you think this is confusing --lol--welcome to a whole new world of pain. but--we have all been--or are going through it---so--do all the research--and ask quetsions if you need advice.

Right ok. I understand a bit better now. A marriage visa is more probable at the moment but then the obvious frustration of having her leave after 6 months. Living in the Philippines isn't really an option for us as my job here isn't transferable to another country and finding work in Davao isn't easy and the only way of working is online doing graveyard shifts for £1.50 an hour! Ha.

I know someone from Asia (not Phils) who is here in UK now. Amazingly she was given a tourist visa to visit her British husband for 6 months.

So, what did they do when she got here? They promptly made a baby.

Now she claims she can't fly home because she is pregnant! So, baby will be born in UK. She will be mother of a UK born baby and they won't deport her. Basically they are scamming the system. Winds me up to be honest, but they may just pull it off!

no. as i mentioned before--that type of visa--is for visitors to the UK to get married here and then go on to live in another--or their own--country. it would be sooo easy to use that type of visa then the new wife/ husband to " disappear " UKVI aint that daft !!

but--there is nothing to stop you going to the filis and marrying her there. then she can apply for a spouse ( settlement ) visa--when you meet the financial requirements. that way actually saves you a £1000 !!!

I think the Home Office is wise to that old scam and if they catch-up with her in time, she may be required to undergo a 'fitness to fly' examination which, if she is adjudged "fit" then it's hasta la vista, baby. Or they wait until after the birth and then deport her - it does happen with quite some frequency. Andrew highlighted such a case not so long ago.

I'll have little sympathy if it does happen, although I watched a programme here called UK Border Force where they caught up with a Chinese woman who was an illegal immigrant but didn't deport her because she had a British born kid.

My wife asked this woman about if she was going to do English test and she said she wasn't going to because it was too hard.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. It may be a bit mean of me, but I hope they don't get away with it. I don't see why we should fork out thousands of pounds going down the proper route only for them to bypass the whole process.

Lord knows how they got a tourist visa in the first place though.

My sentiments too. There's no scam/easy route or at least without constantly look over your shoulder all the time. Towing the line is the only way forward.

So let me get this right. We cannot apply for a marriage visa if one of us is a British citizen? I can only go through the spouse(settlement) visa route, full stop? I honestly thought that it was only for the visitor visa that a non-UK citizen could invite someone over for 6 months. I know you can't get married on a visitor visa. Am I correct in understanding this right?

correct

Do you know what? I've just this moment noticed the wording for the marriage visa as 'marriage visitor visa'! I'm not sure how this bypassed me for so long! Well, at least I know what my options are! It's crazy isn't it. That's the way it is for the time being!

dont worry--it took me months--beginning with the new rules in 2012---and dozens of questions before i got the hang of it. for your info my situation is miles more complex than yours.

honestly--if i were in your shoes--i would put plans to marry on hold till you get your income up above the threshold. do 2 jobs if necessary for at least 6 months. true love will stand the test of time. also it will give you time to save up for the visa fees--flight--and your wedding.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. You said over 6 months, is it not based on 12 months income? Or do they average it out from the 6 months income? Can you help me understand this please. I don't mind getting another job but it will be difficult because of the job I have involving driving for sometimes over 1000 miles a week and I get work at random times!