Norwegian Embassy in Manila sent my Visa App.to UDI

was it a family reunification for fiancee or for spouse? family reunification for spouse is decided by the embassy in the philippines, so i believe u can get faster results.. 2 weeks was the fastest iv read here in the forums, but iv seen that it can also take up to 2 months..

was ur documents complete? u mentioned u applied for visa the 15th of July, after getting married the 9th... were u able to acquire an NSO marriage certificate after a few days of getting married? was the red ribboned NSO marriage cert included in ur documents? i believe if all ur documents are complete and properly filed, there's no reason for them to forward ur application to UDI.. but if they were incomplete or not properly filed (no red ribbon from DFA), then this could pose a reason why they have to forward it to UDI... coz incomplete papers can lead to getting denied, but u being 4 months along can be a "humanitarian reason" i guess to get approved..

although, i havent applied for that kind of visa yet just been reading around a lot.. hehe

Royal Norwegian embassy in manila to decide on some family reunification visas

it's spouse visa.

I'm certain that my docs. are complete basing from the UDI's checklist. The MC we used was the one we obtain the same day we got married from the Local Civil Registrar Office, was authenticated by NSO the next day and red ribboned by DFA on the 14th of July. We submitted it to The Norwegian Embassy, Manila for verification and visa app.  on the 15th of July. Everything was hand carried by us, thus it's faster than the normal processing time.
Based on the checklist we got from Manila, it's ok to used such MC . I'm not sure though if my documents with such kind of MC was the first one they got or maybe one of the few.
It's been 6 weeks now since I submitted my app. and a week since I received an email from UDI that they have my papers. And I'm kinda worried that my app. might take several months if not 9 months to be approved. :-(

hi maia... how old are u, if u dont mind??

i read in another post that ur application will be forwarded to the UDI if u got married below the age of 25

you can read the thread here:
another thread about family reunification visa

hi pheebzo501,
thanks for the info.
Anyway I'm more than 25, 30 y.o., so I think my age wasn't the case/problem. :-(
As of now, we're still waiting for the UDI's decision. Hope it will not take 9 months for them to process my papers to spare us from another trouble.
Otherwise we might need to wait for years before we can go back to Norway if I give birth here in Ph.
By the way, are you still here Ph or already in No?

ohh.. i guess its not the age that was the reason for ur case then.. btw, i am still here in the philippines

if u dont mind me asking, can u give further details abt ur relationship? coz im really curious as to why the embassy have to send it to UDI for approval.. i had been reading a lot, and really seen a lot of threads abt spouse visa getting approved after 2weeks.. 2 months was the longest iv read so far... so i am also curious... i have a few questions:

1. u mentioned he is a Norwegian citizen. how was the citizenship acquired? was it citizenship by birth (born norwegian to norwegian parents) or naturalization (for example, a filipino who acquired a citizenship in norway)?
2. how long have u been together? how long have u been in a relationship before u got married? iv heard this had been a factor as well, and they had been more strict coz of the rising cases of failed marriages or even domestic violence. so they need to prove the relationship is legit and not a marriage of convenience.
3. how much time uv spent together physically? like during vacations together, or his visits to the philippines.. iv been to norway twice, but i was denied on my very first visa application coz my bf and i never met in person yet... it wasnt explained that it was the reason why i got denied, but in one of my other interviews, this was mentioned to me... that they need to prove that the relationship is legit, and that is by having spent time together physically.. which means my bf had to come here first, which is what happened..
4. are u a skilled worker? a skilled worker is defined by the UDI as being someone with college degree or a profession (like nurse, teacher, etc).. i had been in another thread where someone was on a visit visa in norway, and was allowed to apply for a residence permit (fiancée visa) as long as she is a skilled worker. that means she can stay in norway while waiting for the result of the visa application (which could take up to 9months or 1yr) even after her visit/tourist visa is alrdy expired. so maybe this can also be a reason for a faster approval..

i believe the UDI had given the Norwegian embassy in manila a set of "rules".. meaning u have to pass all this before they can approve u.. and if u fail in any, then thats probably how it will be sent to UDI for further evaluation. thats just my assumption tho...

about having the baby here, dont lose hope i think ur baby will automatically be a Norwegian Citizen, coz one of his/her parents is Norwegian.. with that being said, ur chances will be way better coz ur married and a mother to norwegian citizens

anyways, im really hoping u get ur answer soon.. long distance relationship is really hard, and so is getting thru pregnancy alone so just hang in there good news will come soon...

hi pheebz0501,
Thanks again for replying :-)
About my relationship with my hubby; we've been living together in Norway for almost a year. We even bought us a house together and everything is fine in our relationship. He's a Norwegian by birth (born Norwegian to Norwegian parents).   As I said earlier, I've been living/working in Norway for more than 6 years until I got denied for a working visa last year for the reason that my job has no connection with my education. Norway have  rules that's quite difficult to understand but I respected it, thus, I returned back to Ph. Got married here with my bf (now my hubby) after acquiring all the necessary documents. Yes, I'm a college graduate both  from here in the Ph and in Norway. But acquiring a job that's related to my education is kinda difficult.

Well, got the latest answer from the UDI that my documents are still on process so we need to wait for 2-3 weeks or even more before we can hear from them again.  As you said, maybe there's a missing document to why they can't just grant my visa yet. I will surely notify you here if I received more news from UDI.

Oh yeah, it's so difficult to be alone ( I mean from from my hubby most especially now that I'm pregy.) but I hope we'll be reunited soon. We do see each other everyday through webcam but it's not the same as being with him physically :-).

How about you, when are you planning to move to Norway? I assumed that you and your bf were together for quite sometime now.
Where are you located in Ph?

ohh, sorry... iv been answering/reading a lot of posts, i prob got mixed up somewhere, thinking u for someone else.. yea, u alrdy mentioned in earlier posts some of the stuff i asked, hehe.. sorry about that..

but wow.! uv been there for 6yrs.. and uv studied there as well... then why are they giving u a hard time??

yea, i heard that u cant acquire a work visa if its not in line with ur education.. so was that a new a new rule? it wasnt like that years ago?

btw, im frm cavite.. my bf is in vestfold... we had been in a relationship for more than 2 years now, altho physically together for only 3 months - divided in 4 vacations he came here twice, then me going there twice as well... he proposed last april, while i was there with him in Norway.. and yea, we are alrdy finding ways for this to work.. we alrdy ruled out engagement permit, coz iv read a lot and they had been waiting for months, some even a year and we dont want that.. so more possibly getting a visit visa, get married in norway, and apply for a residence permit while im there... iv heard its possible, as long as i can prove that im a skilled worker..

have u heard abt that option? why didnt u opt for that while u were alrdy in norway? do u think there are down sides for doing that way??

hi again,
Yes,  I'm aware with that option while I was still in Norway but the problem was; I already applied for a working visa. Which was denied, we complained but it didn't help. To save us from more trouble, we decided just to obey the law...leave the country and get marry here in Ph as it's too late to do it in No. Btw, everything is fine now. UDI explained the reason why it takes sometime which we fully understood... :-)

Yeah, they're really giving me a hard time, even acquiring student visa was difficult back then... too much complicated rules to obey. I'm not quite sure if acquiring a job not related to your education is a new rule, but I'm aware even since I started my bachelor studies in 2010 that in order to get a working visa...your work should be related with your job. :-(

Vestfold, nice place... been there once... Very far from where I live. Anyway, hope to meet you in Norway someday ;-)
Visit visa, u mean tourist visa? I'm not sure though, if you can get marry there while on tourist visa. As I've heard stories that if you're on such kind of visa, you're not allowed to get married, even if you can get solemnized there, you still need to come back to Ph to wait for your visa (family reunification visa). But U, being a skilled worker, maybe it's possible. We'll I haven't tried it myself and haven't  ask somebody who really knows the law so just don't bother about it. Just try to ask more info. about this thing and I'm sure you'll get the right answer. But everything is possible so just do what you think is easier and less complicated. :-)

Hi maia, any updates on your application? 
I just bumped in to this topic thread coz i have the same situation as yours, our application for family reunification visa with spouse was also being forwarded to udi and still can't figure it out as to why they needed to do that since i can't think of any reasons yet and what i just have now are all speculations. I am on my fresh stage of waiting since i just submitted my application a week ago 17.08.15

hi my fellow filipinas..

Since the case processing times for us Filipinos are slightly different than most applications from other countries, i decided to start a thread dedicated for this topic Case Processing times for applications in the Philippines

i encourage you to read my thread and discuss your experiences about your follow-ups or how long you had been waiting...

thank you

hi Maia.

I myself had already applied for family immigration last June, and i can now relate more than I can when i responded to you on this thread last year... i've been waiting for more than 2 months now, still no result nor email if UDI took my case... the embassy cant really give any information at all for the real state of your application, thats the sad truth and based on the date of your post, I would assume you applied around summer vacation in norway which basically nothing gets done since employees are all on vacation...

I remember being subscribed to this thread, and I remember your case... seeing that this had been a topic thats been more than 1 year old, this may not be relevant anymore... still, i would just like to share this information i read in a UDI circular in udiregelverk.no

4.1. Doubts on grounds of suspicion of marriage of convenience:
The factors are not ranked, and the list is not intended to be exhaustive:

* The contact between the parties and their knowledge about each other. Consideration must be given to how long they have known each other, and to the nature and extent of the contact.
* Concurring information from the parties – for example about how they met, got married and the subsequent contact between them.
* Whether the parties can communicate in a common language.
* The age difference between the parties.
* Whether the marriage was paid for without this being possible to explain on the basis of dowry traditions in the home country.
* Whether the marriage is clearly atypical in relation to marriage traditions in the home country.
* Whether circumstances exist that indicate that the marriage was entered into as a result of coercion or exploitation, for example that the parties are clearly unequal in their psychological development.
* Whether the sponsor or close family members of the applicant has/have a marriage history that gives grounds for suspecting a marriage of convenience.
* Whether the applicant has previously attempted to gain right of residence on other grounds, for example by applying for asylum, and whether the marriage was entered into following the rejection of another application.
* Whether the parties have a former spouse/cohabitant/partner who will live with the couple.

having as you mentioned that you had been denied a work permit prior to your application for family reunification, this possibly made your application not a simple case that the embassy had to forward it to UDI.. of course, this is just my assumption based on the grounds sited above in the UDI circular... cases are still decided differently based on how strict and thorough the case officer assigned to your case is...

you can read more in the source link here: Entry visa for a foreign spouse/registered partner or joint children who wish family immigration - udiregelverk.no

pheebz0501 wrote:

hi Maia.

I myself had already applied for family immigration last June, and i can now relate more than I can when i responded to you on this thread last year... i've been waiting for more than 2 months now, still no result nor email if UDI took my case... the embassy cant really give any information at all for the real state of your application, thats the sad truth and based on the date of your post, I would assume you applied around summer vacation in norway which basically nothing gets done since employees are all on vacation...

I remember being subscribed to this thread, and I remember your case... seeing that this had been a topic thats been more than 1 year old, this may not be relevant anymore... still, i would just like to share this information i read in a UDI circular in udiregelverk.no

4.1. Doubts on grounds of suspicion of marriage of convenience:
The factors are not ranked, and the list is not intended to be exhaustive:

* The contact between the parties and their knowledge about each other. Consideration must be given to how long they have known each other, and to the nature and extent of the contact.
* Concurring information from the parties – for example about how they met, got married and the subsequent contact between them.
* Whether the parties can communicate in a common language.
* The age difference between the parties.
* Whether the marriage was paid for without this being possible to explain on the basis of dowry traditions in the home country.
* Whether the marriage is clearly atypical in relation to marriage traditions in the home country.
* Whether circumstances exist that indicate that the marriage was entered into as a result of coercion or exploitation, for example that the parties are clearly unequal in their psychological development.
* Whether the sponsor or close family members of the applicant has/have a marriage history that gives grounds for suspecting a marriage of convenience.
* Whether the applicant has previously attempted to gain right of residence on other grounds, for example by applying for asylum, and whether the marriage was entered into following the rejection of another application.
* Whether the parties have a former spouse/cohabitant/partner who will live with the couple.

having as you mentioned that you had been denied a work permit prior to your application for family reunification, this possibly made your application not a simple case that the embassy had to forward it to UDI.. of course, this is just my assumption based on the grounds sited above in the UDI circular... cases are still decided differently based on how strict and thorough the case officer assigned to your case is...

you can read more in the source link here: Entry visa for a foreign spouse/registered partner or joint children who wish family immigration - udiregelverk.no

Hi Pheebz, does this mean that I will/might have trouble if I will apply for fiance visa? I got rejected as an Aupair, the reason is that I have already visited Norway under tourist visa, I have a Norwegian partner which we have been together for more than a year now. So the case officer suggested to them that we should apply for fiance visa or marriage visa. I'm a little worried that it will take time for us before we see each other again.

hi ishgee..

before answering your question, i would like to point out the i am not in any way working for UDI or the Norwegian embassy these are just my opinion/assumption based on readings around expat-blog, UDI/embassy websites and circulars...

moving on, based on that list above, application for a family reunification following a rejection for another type of residence permit (work, student, assylum, etc) can be grounds for suspicion of marriage of convenience... because of this, it may be possible that your case will not be considered "simple" thus the embassy cant decide on it and ur case will be forwarded to UDI, but not necessarily denied right away... but of course, this depends on the case officer handling your case, how thorough or strict they are... decisions still vary on different cases...

unlike other countries, the Norwegian Embassy in the Philippines can make decision on family immigration cases.. that means it is possible to get an approved visa under a month after application... some embassies from other countries dont have this capability and automatically forwards applications to UDI which takes months of waiting for an approval... that is why i had started a thread specific to us Filipinas who applied for family reunification/immigration permit: Case Processing times for applications in the Philippines
my initial post on page 1 on that thread, i had partially discussed about this, also citing some important links... i also discussed it here: Difference in processing times for Fiancee Visa

seeing as ur new to the forums, i welcome you to expat-blog on behalf of all the members starting your journey to visa processing, it will be A LOT of reading (i kid u not )... below are some topics you can go thru, but i warn u! they are really REALLY long discussions but they are informative, lots of valuable shares from other members of the forums which you can probably relate to based on your case:
- About fiancee visa in Norway
- Fiancee Visa

and the most important site you need to know is www.UDI.no/en

hope this helps

Hello everyone!

Good news, i have just been granted a visa. So there is still hope for those applicants who were forwarded to UDI, there's still a chance to get the visa fast, i only waited for 5weeks despite of their standard processing time of 9 months. So goodluck everybody and hope that you will also get your visa soon!