Marrying in the Philippines and settlement in the UK

Brilliant post from @one world, you're head and shoulders above anyone else on the forum for putting a good and very clear guide together.

Your guides are extremely helpful for all of those visa seekers using the forum

Great info.
Just to add to the 'fun', if you want to marry in church (Roman Catholic of course) you will need your baptissimal and confirmation certificates. Also you may need special permission from the local bishop.
The pre-marriage seminar may only be held on a certain day of the week or even certain days of each month. However you may be able to request a special i.e. short notice seminar just for you and your intended.
A seminar is also required at the church before the marriage, beware to check availability.
If you have a choir, be warned that they will probably invite themselves to the celebration.
If you changed your surname, as i have, be prepared for lengthy explanations especially as my new surname is the same as my fathers middle name.
It can be a long and complicated journey but you will have a loyal, loving gwapa wife...I will marry in June...good luck to everyone else who is taking the same journey.

Amazing post OneWorld!
What a help. Not sure if this was included (we've already been through the process successfully and not had time to read everything) but a couple of things.
1) Item 6 - pre-marriage counselling certificate. May need to be careful based on our experience. Booked in for this with the local registrar as part of a visit to clear up the pre-marital items so that everything was cleared for the certificate. The registar had decided to go on a "jolly" and didn't turn up for the appointment. Nobody else present wanted to take any responsibility or re-book an appointment before my flight home. A lot of haggling and my fiancee's local knowledge somehow got us out of a big mess (no money exchanged!). Remember not to trust anybody and do everything to cover all possibilities.
2) Errors on the marriage certificate - check everything carefully before signing. We had the wrong date of marriage and it was quite stressful getting it amended for the spouse application. Other error was with my mother's name due to the way Filipinos take their name after marriage. My middle name was written as her maiden name (I think) - this did not hold up the spouse application luckily.
Hope this helps. Snap OneWorld, Jan 2015 was my wife's lucky month too

There was nobody in the province to do our pre-marriage counselling also Greg, so it was never done.
My guess was that person who was supposed to do it couldn't speak English.
We paid a little for the certificate though.

The lady at the town hall who arranged our wedding appointment, counselling, etc, was 'internet dating' with a British guy.

Thank you. Please can you tell me if my original birth certificate and passport and bank statements are enough to get my affirmation and also marry?

Because where I'm getting confused is the photo copy of BC and passport.. do they need to be just an ordinary photo copy or I need them certified and legalised?

I have an original birth certificate dated 1982.

Sorry to ask what may seem obvious.

Great post, well done!

Take your original birth certificate, plus a couple of colour photocopies. Should be enough. Also take a couple of utility bills with your name and address on them. These are for the affirmation. The documents needed are listed on the embassy website.

Update 23rd September 2016

List English Language Test Centres and Providers
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...g-for-uk-visa-approved-english-language-tests

Could anybody inform me how much the affidavit costs in Manila?
Cheers M

about £60 but you pay in cash while you are there

Is that payable in pesos? Thanks

sure is

Can anyone tell me if I can bring my fiancée on a tourist visa and then apply for her spouse visa while she's in the UK?

Your Fiancée has to be outside the UK when applying for the Fiancée visa (Marriage Settlement visa).

Thank you

Superb series of posts; 17 years ago I changed my surname to take my mother's maiden name will this affect my application for to marry in the Phils or my future wife's spouse visa application? Will I need additional evidence (other than a deed poll) ?

Many thanks in advance.

M

Hi Matisse,

I am in the same boat as you having changed my surname.
I lost my original deed poll so I got a replacement online and had that 'certified' by a solicitor.
No problems getting the affidavit or marrying in the Phils.
As for visa, the application is more to do with your spouse than you. We just have to provide the funds and the home haha.

Thank you so much for getting back to me - I have the home and limited funds (above the threshold) lets hope Theresa doesn't make it anymore difficult for us M

Please can someone help me. I'm getting confused about my affirmation I need to create.

It says sworn by ? Who signs that? Also where it says I am over the age of 18 etc. Do I type the other bit out ? ( I am under the age of 18 ? ) then cross it out on person ? Please this is getting so confusing. I'd appreciate if someone could type an example affirmation out for me to just copy ..