A WORCESTER man will be reunited with his Filipina wife for Valentine's Day now that she has finally been granted a visa to come to Britain.

Within weeks, John and Merlinda Baddeley will be able to live together in Ronkswood, four months after being married in the Philippines.

Mrs Baddeley was finally granted a visa by the British Embassy in Manila yesterday.

"I'm over the moon," said Mr Baddeley of Ripon Road, who has campaigned tirelessly to bring his wife to Britain.

"It's taken four years to get this far and getting her here has been an absolute nightmare. It's been hard work but it is worth it in the end."

Mrs Baddeley had to leave her home in Pampanga at 4am yesterday to make the two-hour trip to Manila for her visa interview.

It was 8pm before she returned home, clutching the document.

"I am so very happy," she said, speaking from her home 8,000 miles away.

She revealed she had been to a visa interview last week, but had been forced to leave empty-handed.

Her application was turned down because she could not produce a death certificate for her late first husband the authorities insisted was only "missing, presumed dead".

But Worcester MP Mike Foster stepped in and lobbied the embassy on the couple's behalf.

Forty-eight-year-old Mrs Baddeley will be staying in Pampanga for a few weeks more to arrange flights and celebrate a religious holiday in honour of the Virgin Mary.

"I want to stay for the Fiesta in Pampanga before I come to Britain," she said.

Mr Baddeley, who is 16 years older than his bride, expects her to arrive in this country in the first week of February.

She plans to work as a beautician when she arrives in Worcester.

"But that isn't the end of the story. After Merlinda has been here for a while, she'll apply for a visa for Rowena, her 12-year-old daughter," said Mr Baddeley.