globalThailand

Thanks All, Looks like we'll apply now so he has it and if there's any whoopsie I guess we pay the fine and get it right moving forward. It does seem a little overly bureaucratic, but that's why we love Thailand, amiright? 😬 He has a work permit but needing to extend his original 90 entry visa (all of which sounds new to me too - wondering if he is getting mixed up with the 90 day report... either way he needs the TM30). Not sure exactly where he would get this done, probably BKK - does that matter? Yeah - After 13 years in Thailand, with house, wife, kid, car etc I was always uncomfortable with the fact my stay was very dependent on a continuous working permit.

Looking for some advice on the TM30 For context I left Thailand in 2017 after living there for a number of years so I totally missed the new change of law. A farang friend of mine has been staying at my condo for a few months - he's about to apply for a Visa extension and they are asking for the TM30. I can see that I'm able to sign up and register his occupancy online, but obviously way past the 24 hour mark. Is there any way to complete that form retroactively? I'm assuming not, so would I expect a fine? Or... do I take a gamble, sign him in as of today and hope no questions are asked? (though I'd obviously not want to jeopardise his stay in LOS if there was an risk in doing so). Additionally - he's not stayed at my condo continuously - he's taken weekend trips out and the like. Would they track missing days? How thorough is this as a thing? From what I can see this came into effect in 2020 so I'm hoping there are people with plenty of experience here

I fear great number of people will be on one salary as their partner looks after kids and miss the cut. I'm somewhat surprised the 18600 didn't have any increases since it was introduced but this jump is astronomical! Sad day for the UK

Applied end of May this year - Got the decision around 4 months later. Ceremony was booked I think around 3 or 4 weeks after that (we went for a group one) Passport application took a surprisingly short time - around 2 and a half weeks. Some people may be asked for an interview for first pp but didn't happen for my wife (I had heard it can be 10 weeks). One small piece of advice around the timing of your application. You can travel out the country once you make the application, but once you do the oath (ie officially a UK citizen) you will need to get the UK passport in order before any overseas travel. In our case we were ready to apply in Feb, but had plans for Thailand in the summer - I felt it was potentially cutting it fine if we got a it granted then had to arrange ceremony and passport in time for the trip so I waited until May to send in the application

The current plan looks to be an increase to £1035 per year! That's an eye watering 66% increase - way over inflation and disgusting IMHO. The last 6 years my wife went though the whole process up to citizenship at a cost of nearly £10k. Looking at the latest price increases just the very first 2.5 year spouse application will be around 5k (£1846 + (£1035 x 3)). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-health-surcharge-ihs-equality-impact-assessment-2023/immigration-health-surcharge-equality-impact-assessment-2023-accessible

You are not wrong! Hadn't really thought about it until we started the process. My half sister is married to a policeman which, while technically family, I figured it was distant enough from my wife to be ok - but got warned against using as referee by an immigration lawyer.

Many thanks @bigyin. I was advised to check into the UKVCAS website for appointments from about 9am when they update the site - the first available free appt was a day after we fly ????‍♂️ I found an £85 express appointment though - still a bit shocked we have to spend yet more cash - pretty sure this takes us to around the 10k mark for the 5 year process ????

I've hit submit, paid the £1330 and the UKVI website has now pointed me to UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services to book an appointment. This was a surprise as my wife has had her biometrics done before - the ILR was appointment free, just uploaded scans etc no problems. Going in person is not an issue but the Sorpa Speria VCAS thing is asking for £150+ for the privilege of handing in documents! Is that normal? Some afternoon appts are like £250! Also do you know if passport and BRP are returned on the day? We have flights booked in a few weeks time and I really don't want this to be a spanner in the works

Thanks @rasg. I feel like we've pretty much been in lockstep since the initial spouse visa application some years back so I'm sure I'll be knocking on your door for advice again before I submit the citizenship thing ???? Good luck with everything!

We are just about to go for citizenship here and one question I asked an immigration lawyer for clarity was the 3 / 5 year thing. While we are on a 5 year route ourselves (ie. need to have lived in the UK for 5 years to obtain ILR) the citizenship will dial back 3 years from the date of application to check that Mrs Global was in the UK at that time. This is because she is applying for citizenship as the spouse of a UK citizen. Personally I think that's an odd one, I can't actually think of a scenario where you can get an ILR in 3 years. As for evidence - The citizenship form asks for all travel details to the UK (like since forever) and we have immigration stamps in passports to prove that etc. I haven't quite got to the submission stage yet but I don't think you need the usual gumph (council tax bills, utilities etc)... I may be wrong / naïve but isn't the fact we have ILR and a BRP evidence itself that the applicant resides in the UK?

A friend of ours did the same for their five year old! I didn't even know it was a thing and was very surprised myself when they told me but apparently the flight chaperone thing is not uncommon. (This was some time back - their kid is a young adult now) As a parent myself I can appreciate it would be pretty nerve wracking - and personally would only consider it on a direct flight - but 12 year olds are pretty savvy these days and I'm sure the airline would take a lot of care to see he gets there safe. Also good to check in with the kid too and see how he feels about it (which I'm sure you already have)

Many thanks @couchpotato!

Hoping this is posted in the right thread. I'm travelling back to Thailand this summer with wife and son. My son (dual nationality) Thai passport expires in '24 but we're not sure if we'll all be back next year to renew. Is it possible to apply for a new one when you still have a year to go on the existing PP?

Can confirm that guide was a great starting point for me and gives pointers to where to go for more info - the folks here are very helpful here too. Started this process 5 years back and gone through the initial spouse visa, FLR and ILR successfully.