Uk Settlement Visa

[scooty]

Hi all,

I am planning to marry in Thailand this coming January.

i am looking for some advice.when we, ( me and the wife) obtain the settlement visa application form , i am wondering , Does it matter who fills the form in? ie. can i fill in the form for her or must it be her who fills in the form?

also, through other peoples experiences i am wondering if this is possible to do.i plan to marry in udon thani and then go for the honeymoon in phuket , we will then arrive in bangkok on january 24th. i fly back to uk on february 2nd. now do you think that i will have enough time between the 24th and the 2nd to register our marriage, gain all of the required documents, ie , tb certificate and apply for the visa in this period of time?i am very much hoping so .

would i be right with this planning-

jan thursday 25th- go to british embassy and fill in affirmation of marriage form

26th- collect form from embassy and get the form translated into thai

29th- get the form authenticated and go to amphur office to get marrige certificate

30th- get tb test done

wednesday 31st-

give in the settlement visa application form

this plan if all goes well would leave me with one day spare

thanks for any advice that the boys can give to me

regards

scooty

[GU22]

The good news is that it doesn't matter who fills the form in, but she must sign it.

The bad news is that the timetable you describe isn't going to work, probably. Even if she isn't interviewed it can take up to 10 days for a settlement application to be processed, usually less but you can't rely on it. If an interview is required the current wait is, I'm told. about 6 weeks.

I would revise your plans and got to Bangkok first, get all the paperwork done and then go to Phuket. You should then know if she has her visa or requires an interview well before you plan to return to the UK.

[Mahout Angrit]

Even if she isn't interviewed it can take up to 10 days for a settlement application to be processed, usually less but you can't rely on it. If an interview is required the current wait is, I'm told. about 6 weeks.

You can guarantee your wife (not you) will have to have an interview for a settlement visa especially as you've just been married. So it seems you maybe able to submit the application in the time scale but the result may not be known for several weeks. Expect to have to return for your wife or for her to travel alone to you

[GU22]

You can guarantee your wife (not you) will have to have an interview for a settlement visa especially as you've just been married.

Not necessarily. The visa section attempt to make as many decisions as they can without an interview. With over 3000 settlement applicants per year (plus over 30,000 other categories), they simply don't have the time to interview everyone.

If the application is prepared properly and all the evidence shows that, on the balance of possibilities, all the requirements of the immigration rules are met, then the visa will be issued without the need for an interview. This happens often, as posts on this forum show.

[GU22]

I would revise your plans and got to Bangkok first, get all the paperwork done and then go to Phuket.

Actually, Scooty, I would suggest the following.

Download application form from here now. Fill in as much as you can and collate all your evidence (see checklist). Arrange for your fiance to meet you when you arrive in Bangkok from the UK with her evidence.

Stay in Bangkok while you arrange your affirmation of freedom to marry, have her TB test done and the legal registration of the marriage at an Ampur. Then submit the application to the visa application centre. You should be able to do all this within 4 or 5 days at most.

Having done all that, go to Udon Thani and have the ceremonial marriage, then off to Phuket for the honeymoon.

By the time you return to Bangkok the decision to issue the visa or require an interview should have been made and, hopefully, she'll have her visa and can return to the UK with you on the 2nd Feb. At worst, she'll have an interview date, so you'll be able to plan for that.

[scooty]

i thank you very much indeed for the top advice.i do understand what you are saying. i am hoping to make the application after the honeymoon but my wife will not want to come to the uk untill june. she wants to finish studying for her degree which hopefully she will get by the end of march.its just as we will be in bangkok together i hoped to make the application for the visa and am hoping that she will have to have an interview about early march , if we she gets a visa then i understand that the visa can be dated for a maximum of three months in the future. i hope to time everything just right so as she will be in the uk for the required two years to apply for the leave to remain. so if she gets a visa without having an interview then i guess that when she comes to the uk she will not have been in uk for the full two years so i will have to pay for the further leave to remain to make up the full two years as far as i understand it. its either do it this way or she will have to apply for the visa later in the year which will mean her having to go from udon thani to bangkok alone to make the application. well nothing is life is easy!!!!

scooty

[GU22]

I see what you are saying.

Visas can be post dated for up to 3 months, but you must ask for this in your covering letter, merely filling in the date on the form may be missed by the ECO. She must check the visa when she receives it to ensure they have dated it correctly. Mistakes cannot be rectified later.

She can apply for her ILR up to 28 days before the 2nd anniversary of her first arrival in the UK with the visa, even if her visa expires between this date and the 2nd anniversary of her arrival. Once she has submitted her ILR application then her visa will automatically be extended until the ILR decision has been made.

But, she must be in possession of a valid leave to remain when she applies for ILR. So, if her visa expires before she can apply for ILR then she will have to apply for FLR to cover the gap, at a cost of, currently, £335. She will have to pay another £335 when she applies for ILR, even if it is only a few days/weeks later.

If she doesn't intend to travel until June, then I would suggest submitting the application in March, in case she needs an interview, with a request that the visa be postdated until June. This will save you having to pay the exorbitant fees for FLR.

TB certificates are valid for 12 months, so she can get that while you are in Bangkok in January, and she can make her visa application by courier or post. In which case she would only need to travel to Bangkok if an interview were required.

Edited November 19, 2006 by GU22

[scooty]

thanks for the excellent reply GU22.

I have had a good think about things and i agree with you that it is best to make the application by post in march.I had thought about this before but my woman was very concerned about loosing all the documents in the post, but i expect that the courier service should be safe.

my main worry about making the application in March is the fact that when i arrive in thailand in january i will have with me my last 6 months bank statements showing regular pay cheques being paid in. now if my woman makes the application for the visa in march of course i will no longer have the 6 months bank statements. i could mail them to her for january and february but of course i wont have had any pay cheques in my bank account for january due to the fact that i have been in thailand all month. do you think that this will be a problem?

i was also wondering about this. i read that it is possible to track your application for the visa online , now if we apply using the courier how would we go about getting the tracking number for the application?

again many thanks for the much appreciated help

scooty

[scooty]

oh i thought i would mention one more thing. the link that you gave to me to download the application form. the form is dated 2005 , now when i applied for a visitor visa for my woman in march this year we had filled in an application form that was dated 2005 and before we went into the embassy someone from the embassy looked at people in the queues forms and and peoples with forms dated 2005 were given new 2006 forms and made to fill them out again whilst still queing outside the embassy , which i thought was very ridiculous as peoples applications would be getting dirty and they also had to restick their photos on the form again. this time i will make sure that the form will be dated 2007 for sure .

[erikr_]

oh i thought i would mention one more thing. the link that you gave to me to download the application form. the form is dated 2005 , now when i applied for a visitor visa for my woman in march this year we had filled in an application form that was dated 2005 and before we went into the embassy someone from the embassy looked at people in the queues forms and and peoples with forms dated 2005 were given new 2006 forms and made to fill them out again whilst still queing outside the embassy , which i thought was very ridiculous as peoples applications would be getting dirty and they also had to restick their photos on the form again. this time i will make sure that the form will be dated 2007 for sure .

I think indeed best would be to start with the paperwork, then the wedding in udon. Probably the interview date or visa decision is allready know by the day you get through that. This way you can put all evidence in on january.

In my experience most important is that you can show your relaytionship has existed over longer period of time including proof of her contacting you. Make sure you have all that evidence in order.

They seem to make decisions rather fast these days (have heard guys mentioning 4 days to get the visa) but indeed just being married almost automatically results in an interview.

Now if you put in the application on arrival in Thailand the interview (at least at the moment) is probably about 6 weeks later. That gives you time to prep and enjoy your holiday and honeymoon.

[GU22]

oh i thought i would mention one more thing. the link that you gave to me to download the application form. the form is dated 2005

Great! That link came from the VAC website

When the time comes, download the form either from the UK Visas website or the embassy website, both of which will give you the current (Oct 2006) form.

I've sent the following e-mail to the VAC, copied to the embassy

I have just downloaded form VAF2 via the link from your website. A friend pointed out to me that it is dated Nov 2005 and showed me the VAF2 form he downloaded from the Home Office UK Visas site, which is dared Oct 2006. On checking the British embassy website I see that their form is also dated Oct 2006.

I haven't yet studied the forms to see if there is any difference, but to avoid potential problems shouldn't you provide applicants with up to date application forms? If I submitted the application using the old form downloaded from your website, would it be rejected by the embassy?

Your early reply will be much appreciated.

[scooty]

sawasdee GU22,

i have also noticed that you say in your reply to me that a TB certificate is valid for 12 months. i have just read on the embassy website that a TB certificate is valid for 6 months .

this raises a question . if for instance my lady gets a TB certificate in January and comes to the uk in June , ok this should be no problem , but my lady wants to travel back to Thailand in November hopefully for her "get the degree " ceremony at college, so what happens then when she flies back to the uk does she need to get another TB certificate or will she not need one because she has a settlement visa?

[scooty]

Anyone got any ideas about the tb test certificate quiery?

[the scouser]

The TB certificate is only required for the initial entry to the UK. Your wife can then travel in and out within the validity of her visa without having to undergo any further TB test.

Scouse.

[GU22]

Sorry about the misinformation; it is 6 months.

The TB certificate is only required when she makes her settlement visa application. Once she has the visa she will not need to get another TB certificate every time she returns to Thailand for a visit.

Note to self: Type faster!

Edited November 21, 2006 by GU22

[GU22]

I've sent the following e-mail to the VAC, copied to the embassy

Reply arrived from the VAC today, very quick! They basically say that one can use either form.

However, personally I would use the most up to date one from either UK Visas or the embassy.

[scooty]

Good work GU22, well done.

i only know from experience that in March this year people who had filled in forms from 2005 had to redo the forms on 2006 forms, this was when we applied at the british embassy for the visit visa.

by the way im still in two minds as to when to apply for my ladies settlement visa, january or march ? its all swings and roundabouts stuff .

[GU22]

If she doesn't intend to travel until June, then definitely wait until March to apply, for the reasons I outlined earlier.

[yorkieb]

My GF just sucessfully got a 6 month fiancee visa in BKK last month.

She went to the TB clinic. There are 2 doctors in action there. If you are unlucky and get the one she had he will insist in a full sputum test no matter what the x-ray shows. My GF had a clear x-ray and had to go throught the 4 day test process as did all the girls who applyed that week. So 1 day for TB is unrealistic......Sorry

Good Luck

Yorkieb

[scooty]

Wow Yorkieb . thats a turn up for the books , thats the first time i have heard of the test taking 4 days. thanks for the tip

has anyone else had this experience i wonder?

[yorkieb]

Wow Yorkieb . thats a turn up for the books , thats the first time i have heard of the test taking 4 days. thanks for the tip

has anyone else had this experience i wonder?

She went in with all the necessary stuff, fees etc on the monday morning and had the chest x-ray. Saw the doctor on the monday afternoon and started the sputum test Tuesday am, Wed am, Thurs am and back for the result thrusday afternoon. And then back to the embassy to hand the application in on the Friday. So basicly we lost a week in Bkk and she hung around the hotel. needed 4 days the following week to process the application and a phone call from the embassy officer to me in the Uk and friday she had the visa.

Incidently maybe my case is not the norm as she lived in Hong kong for 5 years and had 2 visitor visa to UK in 2004, 2005 from the BKK embassy. And what came across as the most important issue to the officer who called me was that we could demonstrate a 5 year relationship.

Yorkieb

[scooty]

Thanks for the info Yorkieb. I am again surprised to hear that you had a phone call from the eco officer when you were in the uk. why did they call you ? did they call to ask you some information or to tell you that your lady had got a visa.

I do have a friend in the uk whos lady applied for a settlement visa and the embassy phoned his employer in the uk to see if he was working or not.

i will be able to proove to the embassy that i have been in contact with my lady since october 2004 so i hope that this will be sufficeint

scooty

[yorkieb]

Thanks for the info Yorkieb. I am again surprised to hear that you had a phone call from the eco officer when you were in the uk. why did they call you ? did they call to ask you some information or to tell you that your lady had got a visa.

I do have a friend in the uk whos lady applied for a settlement visa and the embassy phoned his employer in the uk to see if he was working or not.

i will be able to proove to the embassy that i have been in contact with my lady since october 2004 so i hope that this will be sufficeint

scooty

The ECO called because the question on the form that asks when do you intend to travel to the Uk. We put september to October. And the ECO said that sounded rather vague. I said well she can come as soon as she is granted the visa, all I need to do is pay for the BA flight on my BA account and bingo she is off. And we were not sure if she would need an interview and wait a couple of weeks to be seen so how could we give a specific date. She (the ECO)said ok I see you point. She then said do you realise that you will need to marry within the 6month period. I said yes that is our plan, and we will probably do it in the New Year. Her final comment was " ok I can see that you have demonstrated a long trem relationship so I am happy to grant her a visa. Call over. We than had to wait a couple of days for the visa to be sent back to the new office that deals with all the applications.

Yorkieb