mistephenso

Thanks all, we are now heading down to Bangkok tomorrow to try and get a passport sorted out for my wife before mid-February... And yes, you are correct about it not being a 'formal' interview/appointment (as I previously thought). It is just a time-slot to put our application in!

So does anyone have any idea about my original questions, or do I need to try and get through to someone at the UKBA? To recap:

1) The UKBA website states that we must show evidence that 'we have met'. What do I need to do to prove this in my situation? Does the fact that we are married, have a daughter, and have spent time in both the UK and Thailand together already (I have had several year's of Non-O visas and my wife has had multiple visas for the UK) provide sufficient evidence for this point? i.e. will a marriage certificate and visa proof be enough?

Or do I need to provide pictures and/or any other evidence to prove to the person who is reviewing my wife's application that we really have met? If so, what would I need without making it 'overkill' for them (we have a LOT of photos, etc...)?

2) We will be staying with my parents for the first couple of months back in the UK, while we look for a house to buy for ourselves. Do I need to provide a floor-plan, or anything like that to prove that the house is big enough for all of us?

FYI, it is a large 4 bedroom house; my wife, daughter and myself will have our own bedrooms (one for my wife and I, and one for my daughter) and a bathroom while staying there. Do I need to prove room sizes/space available...?

3) One of the application questions asks where 'I' am currently living. At this moment in time, I am in Thailand and I will be staying here until my wife goes for her interview next month (then I will return to the UK for work).

Do I state that my current address is our house in Thailand, or should I state that my address is my parent's address in the UK - as I mentioned above, I share my time between the UK and Thailand, and I am officially a permanent resident in the UK. I just don't want them to think that we are lying on our application, when we state the last time we saw each other was very recently!?

Many thanks,

M

Hi M,

1) Write a supporting letter explaining the course of your relationship. Not too detailed, but explaining as you have done here, where you originally met. The amount of time you have spent together, where this was and provide evidence. Provide your passport and point out the visa's/immigration stamps in the passports. Provide your daughters birth certificate with your name as father and point this out in the letter. Provide some photos over the years which are obviously taken at different times and places. If you have any joint bills from you time together, provide them. You'll obviously have to provide your marriage certificate as part of the evidence and this also proves you have met. Any old online flight bookings together that you can print out and include to show you travelled anywhere together, include them. Just provide overwhelming evidence of your relationship together.

Don't go for overkill, but make it evident that you have a genuine long term relationship and have now spent a substantial amount of time together in the UK and Thailand.

2) Provide a letter from your parents giving their permission for you to stay with them and stating that it is a 4 bed room house, with x reception rooms and you and your wife will have your own bedroom and your daughter her own bedroom. If you have a pic of the house, include it. In your supporting letter, re-state that you will be staying in your parents house for approx x months while looking to purchase your own house. Re-state, the house size, bedroom situation again.

3) Write what you have written here, that you divide your time between UK and Thailand and you are currently in Thailand until x date.

Remember that the person reviewing your wife's application has hundreds of these and needs their attention to be drawn to what is included in the application and the items of supporting evidence. You have a strong case and just need to point out the obvious to them, so they can see this. Remember, they only have the evidence you supply in front of them, they can't guess at things, so provide any info and evidence to prove your case and draw their attention to what it is and why you have provided it.

Hope it goes well for you both.

CB

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Excellent - thanks very much for this...! And thank you to everyone else who took the time to reply as well (I have been without internet for a few days, hence the slow response). It is much appreciated...

Also, just to let people know (if anyone else is in a similar situation), we decided NOT to get my wife's passport renewed before applying for the visa - she will have 8 months validity when we do put in the application the week after next. There were several reasons for this:

a) The problems in Bangkok have effectively shutdown all provincial passport offices and meant that there are only 2 places left open for Thais to renew their passports at the moment - because of this, it is very difficult to get an allotted time to renew your passport in the 2 remaining offices (Pin-Klao and a temporary place at Bang Na). We got there at 7am last Friday, only to be told that all of the 1800 places had been filled for the day by 6am?! They said we would need to get there at 4:30am on Monday to guarantee a place in the queue...

b ) Because of the above, we were not guaranteed to get my wife's new passport before we wanted to put the application into VFS. According to them, the passport numbers MUST match on the online application form and anything you hand in; so we decided to wait and apply later.

c) VFS... The people we spoke to there were very helpful and categorically stated that the expiration date on the passport does not matter for a visa application. You must, however, have at least 2 spare pages in your passport for the visa and exit/entry stamps!

The "6 month" rule is apparently only looked at by the UKBA when entering the UK - we would simply apply for a new passport after applying for the UK visa and then take both passports with us when going to the UK (the old one with the visa and the new one with the required validity to get into the UK).

Thanks again for the responses. I am getting everything ready for applying now!

Fingers crossed and all that...

Cheers,

M

Thanks all, we are now heading down to Bangkok tomorrow to try and get a passport sorted out for my wife before mid-February... And yes, you are correct about it not being a 'formal' interview/appointment (as I previously thought). It is just a time-slot to put our application in!

So does anyone have any idea about my original questions, or do I need to try and get through to someone at the UKBA? To recap:

1) The UKBA website states that we must show evidence that 'we have met'. What do I need to do to prove this in my situation? Does the fact that we are married, have a daughter, and have spent time in both the UK and Thailand together already (I have had several year's of Non-O visas and my wife has had multiple visas for the UK) provide sufficient evidence for this point? i.e. will a marriage certificate and visa proof be enough?
Or do I need to provide pictures and/or any other evidence to prove to the person who is reviewing my wife's application that we really have met? If so, what would I need without making it 'overkill' for them (we have a LOT of photos, etc...)?

2) We will be staying with my parents for the first couple of months back in the UK, while we look for a house to buy for ourselves. Do I need to provide a floor-plan, or anything like that to prove that the house is big enough for all of us?
FYI, it is a large 4 bedroom house; my wife, daughter and myself will have our own bedrooms (one for my wife and I, and one for my daughter) and a bathroom while staying there. Do I need to prove room sizes/space available...?

3) One of the application questions asks where 'I' am currently living. At this moment in time, I am in Thailand and I will be staying here until my wife goes for her interview next month (then I will return to the UK for work).
Do I state that my current address is our house in Thailand, or should I state that my address is my parent's address in the UK - as I mentioned above, I share my time between the UK and Thailand, and I am officially a permanent resident in the UK. I just don't want them to think that we are lying on our application, when we state the last time we saw each other was very recently!?

Many thanks,

M

The rule states within 6 months of the expiry date, but if you visa is granted 3 months later it could be denied.

The passport renewal takes only 1 week. I would suggest you to postpone your interview date until the new passport is ready. Why take the risk when you can be 100% sure.

OK, thank you...

Passport renewal only takes 1 week during 'normal' circumstances - ALL government offices that can renew Thai passports apart from 2 in Bangkok (Bang Na and Bin Gau) are unable to do so now because of the protests.

The absolute fastest they can get a passport to my wife is, apparently, at least 2 'working' weeks. That is not guaranteed either!?

Looks like we need to change our appointment, which is a pain due to the fact my wife has booked time off work and we already have flights to Bangkok, etc, etc...

Any ideas on my other questions??

Many thanks,

M

It is best to renew her passport before applying for the visa.

Thanks kittaya - this is what I thought would be best too... However, are you stating this from experience or is it just a recommendation from yourself?

As I mention above, we are NOT going to be able to get my wife's passport renewed before our allotted visa application interview next month. We thought we would be able to do this, but due to the protests in Bangkok this is now not going to be possible!?

Is there a rule that states how much time must be left on a passport before applying for settlement in the UK? Normally, they say that you are not allowed to enter the country unless you have at least 6 months left on your current passport - is this the same rule for applying for a visa?

If we apply for a new Thai passport for my wife now, we will have to wait to apply for the UK visa (missing our current appointment). Ideally, this is not something we want to do. We want to get back to the UK as soon as possible really...

Many thanks,

M

Hi All,

My wife and I are planning to move back to the UK with our daughter in a few months' time and I have a couple of questions about the settlement visa questions that we need to answer. Hopefully someone can help!?

First off, some background information:

My wife (Thai national) and I (UK national) will have been married for 5 years next month. We have a 19 month old daughter and I spend my time between Thailand and the UK.

We met in the UK about 8 years ago, lived together for about 2 years there and have spent the past 5 and a half years with my wife in Thailand and myself flying back and forward between the two. We have a house in Northern Thailand, where I stay when we are here together and I stay at my parent's house back in the UK when I/we am/are there...

I meet the financial requirements for the settlement visa and my wife has already passed the English language tests without issues.

My questions are as follows:

1) The UKBA website states that we must show evidence that 'we have met'. What do I need to do to prove this in my situation? Does the fact that we are married, have a daughter, and have spent time in both the UK and Thailand together already (I have had several year's of Non-O visas and my wife has had multiple visas for the UK) provide sufficient evidence for this point? i.e. will a marriage certificate and visa proof be enough?
Or do I need to provide pictures and/or any other evidence to prove to the person who is reviewing my wife's application that we really have met? If so, what would I need without making it 'overkill' for them (we have a LOT of photos, etc...)?

2) We will be staying with my parents for the first couple of months back in the UK, while we look for a house to buy for ourselves. Do I need to provide a floor-plan, or anything like that to prove that the house is big enough for all of us?
FYI, it is a large 4 bedroom house; my wife, daughter and myself will have our own bedrooms (one for my wife and I, and one for my daughter) and a bathroom while staying there. Do I need to prove room sizes/space available...?

3) One of the application questions asks where 'I' am currently living. At this moment in time, I am in Thailand and I will be staying here until my wife goes for her interview next month (then I will return to the UK for work).
Do I state that my current address is our house in Thailand, or should I state that my address is my parent's address in the UK - as I mentioned above, I share my time between the UK and Thailand, and I am officially a permanent resident in the UK. I just don't want them to think that we are lying on our application, when we state the last time we saw each other was very recently!?

Any advice would be much appreciated - I would like to make sure we get everything just right!

Many thanks in advance,

M

mmm som tom, gai kaeng and khao neow with a cold beer on some roadside stall anywhere by a rice field floats my boat.

Haha - 'hard' chicken (gai kaeng) is one of my fetishes too...! Who would have thought it???

I also like to eat 'gai yang' (grilled/BBQ'd chicken) with my som-tam, sticky rice and cold beer...!

Anyone looking for something to do over the next few days...!?

Well, Boon Rawd Farm are having a festival (of sorts) at Singha Park in Chiang Rai. Looks like there is quite a lot going on there (hot air balloons (although I'm not sure if people can ride in them), fairground rides and food-stalls) and it is on from the 13th - 17th Of November, from 11am to 10pm.

There are more details here if you can read Thai - if not, I'm sure the other half can help you out (assuming they are Thai )?

Friends of ours went last year (this year is the second year it is running) and said it was good fun! I'll be there on Saturday with the wife and daughter in tow, so keep an eye out for an exceptionally good looking 'farang' if you want to say hello!

Cheers,

M

P.S. And no, I have absolutely NO connection with Boon Rawd Farm or the Singha Corporation whatsoever - just passing on information that people may find helpful!?

It is 1200 to the centre of Phayao - I paid 1300, as I live a short way to the other side of Phayao (south)... Like I say, I thought it was a pretty good price for over an hour's worth of driving; especially as he had to make the trip back again at 10:30pm!

Just to clarify I need a van for 13 passengers, that has seat belts as I will be bringing a school group from Australia. I would prefer a company that has insurance.

Thanks, for the replies so far.

The booking was via the airport taxi number - I arrived quite late on a Sunday, so I had called them in advance to make sure someone would a) be there; and be willing to drive me down to Phayao....!

The guy was a good driver, the minibus was new and in good condition (it was his own) but I'm not sure about seat-belts in the back to be honest. I threw my bags in the back and sat up front with him!

I would imagine he has insurance (given that he was working via the airport company), but you never know with cars/buses/drivers here...?? You aren't likely to find out the truth unless you actually crash either, sorry to say...

I used a guy from the airport (who gave me his card) the other week - he drove me from Chiang Rai to Phayao for a very good price...

His driving was great and he had a Toyota minivan, which seats 13 I believe (I was the only person in it at the time)...?

I can give him a call and see if he can help out if you like? Let me know when you need it for and for how long and I'll give him a shout - you can then discuss prices with him directly for whatever you want to do.

Cheers,

M

Never go to these places unless you want to spend 10000 thb for 2 small drinks. Oh sorry after alcohol tax went up 2 weeks ago it might be 15000 thb

You would have to be a complete retard to pay 10K or 15K for two small drinks at any bar in Chiang Mai - it simply does not happen! Yes you can get ripped off, but only if you are too stupid to be let out on your own.

Chiang Mai is one of the easiest places for a beer, if you don't like it, pay the bill and go elsewhere, if you get stitched up here then you are pretty easy meat - you will get ripped off by the whores in Trumpton or Camberwick Green!

You haven't got a clue what you are talking about mate...

The year before last, a friend and I decided that we fancied another drink after a bar we were in had closed for the night. Stupidly, we asked a tuk-tuk driver where there were places that were still open (it was just after midnight).

We ended up in the Loh Kroh/Chiang Klan area at a karaoke bar a few minutes later and duly wondered inside. I looked at a menu and we ordered a bottle of whisky (1200 bht on the menu) and some mixers, when 2 girls decided they wanted to join us to 'serve drinks' (they said 200 bht each, plus a drink for both of them). After a glass of whisky/soda we decided that we didn't want to stay and I asked for the bill (expecting it to be about 2000 baht, maybe a bit more?) - it came back at 14000 baht...!! Somewhat surprised, I told them they had the wrong bill and sent it back. The manageress then came in to 'speak' to us....

To cut a long story short, they then realised that my Thai wasn't actually that bad and had figured out what was going on (they were trying to royally stitch us up). I had also managed to call the police after the manageress said she would too!? Before I even knew what was happening, 3 Thai guys had punched my friend to the floor and were kicking him in the head. I ran over, managed to pull 2 of them off and get him up (absolutely covered in blood).

Thankfully, the police who I had called then showed up just before the police "friends" of the manageress. They calmed the Thais down and we ended up at the hospital - my friend being treated for a large gash in his head (8 stitches) and multiple bruises, and me with a large chunk having been bitten (yes, bitten) out of my chest.

We filed a report at the police station, but were told that it was probably a 'misunderstanding' on our part (it definitely wasn't)!? Nothing more ever came of it in the end, but we certainly learnt a lesson!

Stay WELL away from these Karaoke bars if you don't want something similar happening to you...! The only good thing, was that we didn't end up paying a penny to the bar.

Are you sure you've got this right??

If you are the "groom", you are getting married - if your girlfriend had to tell you that, then you have a WHOLE heap of problems other than being funny in a speech!?

...oh my...case in point ..American are you?

A brit would have seen the humour in 3 seconds

Sent via tin can and string after pigeon shot

Haha - no, I'm English too...!

But now I see why you are asking for advice on being funny. I was joking too my friend...

On a slightly more serious note, I have given a 'best man' and groom speech here in Thailand to a mixed (Thai and Farang) audience bi-lingually. If you can speak Thai fairly fluently, then you can probably get away with telling a few jokes. If you can't, then I would forget it completely!

Some of the jokes in my best man speech didn't come across as I wanted them to in Thai, but I did get a few laughs. Who knows though, maybe they were laughing 'at' me and not with me?! Not that I care now it's done, but anyway...

Just get up and thank your wife-to-be's parents for having such a beautiful daughter and tell everyone how much you love her - they'll enjoy that and, more importantly, so will your other half.

Good luck anyway!

The Discovery Channel documentary/series "Don't Drive Here!" is quite amusing is you have some spare time...!? You can see the Bangkok episode here. The first episode in Delhi is funny too - the procedure to get a driving license in India is even easier than it is in Thailand!

There is a long list of things that makes Thailand a dangerous country to drive in; especially on a moped/motorbike with no helmet!

I think a lack of education (not just in driving skills, but across the board) has got to play the largest role in the high number of crashes on the roads here though...? People just don't seem to be aware of what they are doing wrong? Or if they are, they don't want to admit to it...

Since last week Thais and foreigners can enter Myanmar with passports at Tachilek and proceed with a visa to other points inside Myanmar, no need to exit at Tachilek either.

The old system is likely to stay in place too, so if you only want to visit Tachilek, then a border pass for a Thai or a passport with a stamp and a US$10/500 Baht fee is still applicable I believe.

OK, thanks for the info Tomtomtom69 - is it just a 'visa on arrival' if I wanted to go and tour Burma/Myanmar do you know? Or would you need to apply before bowling up to the border...?

Also, how much is this visa and where does it allow you to travel?

It's a lose lose situation anyway, you take 'em to Burma they shop, you leave 'em in Mae Sai they shop.

Well, Mr 'Shadow-Goer', if I take the better half to Burma with me, I will at least know what she is spending (she has no escape there)...!

Leaving her in Mae Sai to shop on her own is a recipe for 'wallet disaster'!

It's not a superstitious 'fear', but a religious one - especially a male wearing a 'phra-khruang' (Buddhist amulet)...

You aren't supposed to put your head lower than clothes hanging above you, as the clothes are all worn below your head and it is not the 'done' thing. Even more so if women hang their undies out on these lines too!

Not the best security against an atheist thief...!?

Yes - although they don't even need a passport. Thais can use their ID card to go across into Tachilek for the day...

Just stop off in the Immigration centre on the left hand side (a few hundred meters before the border crossing, when heading towards Burma) and follow the crowds. Last time we went, my wife had to pay 30 baht I think!? Not sure if it has gone up since then, but we will be going tomorrow if you really need to know?

Cheers,

M

Did a trip up to Mae Sai today.

The majority of the market downstairs is under water.

So if you want to do a bit of shopping, would be best

to put it off or take your scuba gear.

Anyone know if this is still the case now...!? Has anybody been up there in this past week?

Was planning on heading up to Mae Sai on Sunday, but it was miserable that last time I went during heavy rain - I'll give it a miss if there is still a lot of surface water around at this time too.

Cheers,

M

Since we've had a lot of rain preceding Sat., I reckon it will be either flooded or, at best, muddy and soggy, with half the vendors absent, and the remaining half in variations of glum moods.

OK, thanks - I guessed that would probably be the case! It really hacked it down when I last went there and I stupidly thought it would be alright on the Burmese side...

Wading around in filthy, calf-deep water was not a great shopping experience!

If I'm feeling brave, I may attempt it without the wife - if not, I guess the DVDs will have to wait for a while!?

Did a trip up to Mae Sai today.

The majority of the market downstairs is under water.

So if you want to do a bit of shopping, would be best

to put it off or take your scuba gear.

Anyone know if this is still the case now...!? Has anybody been up there in this past week?

Was planning on heading up to Mae Sai on Sunday, but it was miserable that last time I went during heavy rain - I'll give it a miss if there is still a lot of surface water around at this time too.

Cheers,

M

Not sure who this is. Only saw him once many years ago.

Wow, supercool!

It's a Longhorn Beetle, probably Aristobia horridula.

It looks similar to this one:

Thysia wallichi tonkinensis with similar 'tootbrush' antennae LOL

Yours is way more cool!

Thanks guys - I was wondering what my little critter below was! It's difficult to search when you have no idea of the name...

Is that the driver's legs at the bottom of that hole on the left (under the tarmac slab)...??

It's going to take longer than 15 days to clean up if they only use paper towels of this size...!

Time to start asking for some outside help Thailand!?

"The lab result showed no residue of methamphetamine in her body system"........

Oh......that is way her blood samples were taken days after the incident.

I am looking at her and read "Guilty" on her forehead.

Mr. Chalerm you are a clown.

Exactly - when was the picture taken??

Given that amphetamines (all types) will not be detectable in your blood/urine/saliva after ~5 days, it's not really surprising that they didn't find traces of anything if the picture of her doing the drugs is more than a week old...!