First things first .. just been advized to come to this forum a couple of days ago .. and i have to admit .. the kind of information posted here .. not to mention the biggest credit is that you actually get a reply back for your questions .. as they say in French: "chapeau bas"
Ill cut straight to the point .. and hope i get some answers to my fiancee's and my worries ..
The facts are as follows:
- She is English .. I am Lebanese
- We bumped into each other online like 4 years ago
- She works/lives in Sussex,England .. I work/live in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia
- We first met face to face in March 2003 and ever since then we've spent every day of our vacation days together (i only get 30 days off work per year)
- In total we have 51 days since our first meet (France twice, England twice, Jordan once)
- Everytime we've meet we were staying together as a couple and all that
- I've met her family and friends when i visited her in England
- Between our few meets .. we have kept in touch through phonecalls, SMS, Chat (on average every night)
- I have never violated/overstayed any visa given to me .. including the british visit visa (used it twice .. never overstayed .. been in england in total of 39 days)
- I proposed to her when i saw her Last (last easter) and she said YES
- We have planned that this next vacation, we meet in lebanon for 15 days so that she gets to meet my family and friends
- We know what documents we need for the visa and already working on getting our file for the application done
- She has an owned townhouse (2 bedrooms) and a 14 yrold daughter from a previous relationship
- Im 25 .. she is 33
- I never been officially in a relationship before (engagement/marriage)
- She isnt in debt (except mortgage payments for her house) and has an income of a bit less than 1000 quid a month
- I have a savings account that has around 11000 quid in a bank in Saudi Arabia
Hope i covered everything, as i said we both are going to be visiting Beirut, Lebanon this end of year for 15 days after which she leaves back to her job in england and i leave to mine in saudi, and we decided to apply for a Fiance Visa in Beirut
Our questions and worries are:
1- Accomodation: are we safe on that ?
2- Finances & Financial Support: are we safe on that ?
3- Proof the parties have met: She keeps her tickets .. i dont .. heh .. are the Stamps and Visas on my passport (include dates) enough ? (knowing that we have loads of photos)
4- When i traveled to the UK .. I basically got her some presents .. found out recently that i should have declared them when i arrived because their value is more than what i am allowed to bring in .. So if we present those in the application as gifts i got for her .. is "breaking the law by not declaring them since" going to affect us negatively ?
5- When i had applied to my british visit visa .. I said she was a 'friend' .. eventhough she was more of a girlfriend .. when we apply for the fiance visa .. are they gonna pause and fail us on this point 'hey u said she was a friend, how come one visit later u say u had proposed' ?
6- Will the age difference or the presence of a daughter going to affect our application negatively ?
7- Proof of identity (my side): Since im lebanese its all in french and arabic .. so i guess i am to translate everything that isnt in english .. What is the authorized party (approved by British Authorities) to translate my identity documents (e.g. birth certificate) ?
8-What is the authorized (approved by British Authorities) party to translate other presentable proof e.g. my phonebills (since they show that ive been calling her for the past years regularly) ?
9- Proof of keeping in touch: well as i said besides the phonecalls, we chat and txt each other, are we supposed to be saving our chat to present it with the application ????????
10- They advize that we should present any document that we feel will be a bonus for us .. an idea occured to me of taking the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) provided by the british council to prove that i speak fluent english .. is this a good idea ?
11- Do i need to present with my application my criminal record to prove that im really a harmless fellow and never been convicted or arrested ever .. heh ??
12- As i said we are going to be in Beirut for 15 days (knowing that its New Year's) the advantage is: when applying she will be there with me, the worry: if we applied then, are we gonna get a final answer from the embassy whether accepted or refused in time before we have to leave? i.e. how long is the estimated processing time for a fiance visa in Beirut?
13- We heard that if we apply and get refused (god forbid), we have to wait 3 months before we can apply again..is this true?
14- Anybody ever applied in Beirut for a fiance visa before, hows it like over there?
15- As i said i only got 30 days a year as off days from my job .. and in 2005.. ive already used 17 of em on easter to get to see her .. which basically left me without seeing her at all since easter up till when we meet in lebanon and apply .. is not seeing her face to face for around 9 months just prior to the application .. gonna affect us negatively?
16-
Are we gonna make it from the first time ? are we just being ridiculously paranoid ? 17- 'Love conquers all' .. does this apply to visas ?
Please .... somebody ??? ... anybody ???