Trebilcock

I was thinking of phoning for advice but after your post, Andy, I think I'll give that a miss.

We did the full Amphur procedure when we married in Thailand, but my wife thinks it will help the ILR application if we also have it registered in the UK. Doubtful myself, as I'm sure it's already legally recognised here.

I understand the 2 year visa is automatically extended from the moment you apply for ILR, but if you needed to prove you'd posted the application, which method would the HO look for? I guess Recorded Delivery?

Finally, and at the risk of going off-topic a little, my wife has been working one or two nights a week at the local Thai restaurant, and we were thinking of enclosing a letter from the proprietor as evidence of where she's been living. People tell me there was no need to register for tax or NI as she's earned well below the yearly £5,035 tax allowance, but I'm still a little wary in case that's not so, and the HO put the tax people onto it.

Once again, many thanks for any advice. Really not sure what we'd do for advice without Thaivisa and folks like Scouse and GU22. (BTW Scouse, I think we've got the Citizenship angle covered, thanks)

This has got me a little worried. My wife's 2 year visa was issued on 7/4/05, but she did not arrive in the UK until 13/5/05. So, if I understand correctly, we can't "officially" apply for ILR before 15/4/07, ie 28 days before the second anniversary of her arrival, and 8 days after the old visa expires?

So I'm currently thinking of posting the application for ILR on 7/4/07 and (paying by cheque) hope they won't come to process it before 15/4/07. Does that sound realistic? If the 2 year visa is automatically extended from the day you apply for ILR, presumably you need to send the application by Recorded/Registered post?

One other area for concern about the ILR application is that we don't have a lot of documents showing both her name and address for the last couple of years. Tried to open a Bank account in her name, but they turned her down because she had no credit history (?) in the UK, and there didn't seem any point in putting any utility bills etc in her name. What we do have is letters/cards from Thailand, mail order invoices, correspondence from college here in the UK, and (hopefully our trump card) quite a bit of stuff from the hospital and midwife (baby due in April)

So guys, how do you think we stand? Sorry if there are a lot of questions, but any help or thoughts would be extremely welcome.

Whoops (double post)

Will the drivers in Brighton insist on a detour to their brother-in-law's jewellery shop?

Many thanks for the detailed and helpful replies, guys. I will talk it over with the missus but I don't really think we will register the marriage in the UK, as there doesn't seem much to be gained. Thanks again.

Hi. Me and my wife married in Thailand last year, and as we did the full procedure at the amphur I thought that it was automatically recognised here in the UK. But now someone has told her we also need to formally register the marriage in the UK, and that if we don't it may prejudice our case when we apply for indefinite leave to remain. Can anyone clarify please? Many thanks for any help.

Just seen an item on BBC's "Look North" which has me a little worried. As I understand it, a pregnant Thai lady married to a Lincolnshire man is facing deportation because they don't have sufficient paperwork to support her residency (?) visa application. I think they've been told they need at least eight documents such as tenancy agreements, bank statements, etc, with her name and address on them. Is that correct? Apologies if I've misunderstood something, as I didn't catch all that was on the TV story.

No, no, it's true. Think about it. The Roundheads won the English civil war, and the Squareheads lost both world wars. Obvious, innit?

I met my wife when she was working as a receptionist at the hotel where I was staying. Both too shy to really speak much until her mate sorted us out . Kept in touch mainly by email, went back and had a side-trip to Chiang Mai, then brought her to the UK for a holiday/look-see, with separate rooms all the way. Got spliced in her home town last April.

On first visit to the UK I laughingly asked her what she had in her 2 suitcases and suggested ..again laughingly they were so heavy that it was a couple of bags of rice ................o dear dear....20 Kg Thai frag.....

Exactly, but exactly, the same thing happened with me. I live in a fairly large city (55,000) in the UK, but some guest at the hotel where she worked told her it was a tiny place with a two hour bus ride to the nearest shops. As such she has been amazed at the amount of shopping in town, and the fact we can get even simple things like fresh Mangoes, ginger, lemons, pineapple, etc. I'd echo what others have said about light nights, sunshine while it's cold etc, and she really loved seeing snow for the first time. My big worry was how she'd take to falang food, especially after seeing her first bite of a McDonald's when we were in LOS; thought for a moment she was going to be sick. But now she loves nearly all our food, and I have to smile as I watch her wolfing down good old roast beef, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, roast spuds, etc. Now we probably eat English and Thai style food about 50/50. Her latest discovery is Mustard, and she actually loves that moment when it flies to the back of your throat and makes your eyes water and your nose run (hope you know what I mean) Like others have said, I'd encourage your wife to develop her own interests and friendships here, too. All the best, and I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised at how adaptable she can be.

Congats to both of you.

Interference

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Sorry to hijack your thread, ladies, but Mrs Scouse is pregnant, and it is the potential for interference from my mother (an ex-midwife) which is concerning me. In order to obviate any conflict, I've already spoken to her and explained that the child is my wife's and that whereas we'll be happy for my mother to interact with her grandchild, any decision with regard to the child's upbringing is ultimately Mrs Scouse's. So fingers crossed..........

Scouse.

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Congratulations, Scouse! Never met you mate, and probably never will, but boy have you helped me with useful info in the past. God bless all three of you.

Just to wish you all the very best, mate. Don't worry, and don't expect everything to go perfectly; there are bound to be glitches, but all that matters is you and the new Mrs Spuds fulfilling your destiny.

Outside a seafood restaurant in Phuket; "Price 100B per gm includes Cook" Didn't fancy her though.

Can anyone help me out, please, with those old sayings about the respective European and Asian versions of Heaven & ######? The only parts I can remember are-

In European heaven, the cooks are French, the police are English, the women are Italian, and the whole thing is organised by the Germans.

In European ######, the cooks are English, the women are German.

In Asian heaven, the cooks are Singaporean, the women are Thai, the mechanics are Korean, the whole thing is organised by the Japanese.

In Asian ######, the women are Japanese (or is it Korean?), the police are Thai, the whole thing is organised by the Fillippinos.

I seem to recall that one version included the weather, except of course that that would mean England having two hits in the "######" category. Incidentally, when I clicked "preview post", the obvious and apparently harmless word for the opposite of heaven (rhymes with "bell") seems to have been censored. Am I missing something?

Just a quick and belated line to say thanks to everyone who replied. Not feeling quite so panicky now, thanks in part to all the sound advice and good wishes here. I guess it's true what people say, that you learn parenthood as you go along, just like everything else in life. Expect to be living in the UK more or less indefinitely, so thinking of an English first name and a Thai middle name. Any thoughts on that?

Congratulations Trebilcock (maybe it was having 2 many of these that's got you into this predicament)   

(For the benefit of non-English members, it's pronounced "Treb-ill-coe"

Thanks again folks.

They are the stuff of my nightmares..........

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Vaguely reminiscent of that TV advert for some alcopop or something; "Beware the Judderman my dear, when the moon is fat" I used to sit there chuntering to myself about what a load of &lt;deleted&gt; it was, but something buried deep within me was just a bit disturbed. I reckon it touched upon the old fears of childhood, and maybe the first hint that there were things even your mother couldn't protect you from. Oooer...

Just learned that (God willing) I am to become a father for the first time, and right now I'm bouncing like a pinball between euphoria and panic . I know it isn't easy at any time of life, but by next Spring I'll be nudging the big Five-O. So if anyone out there has any advice on how to cope with becoming a father later in life, how your own Thai wife/girlfriend fared with having a child in the UK, or anything at all, I'd be very, very grateful, as I'm now in completely new territory and feeling just a bit scared. Thanks for reading.

Ttrebilcock: I was really worried about the weather here in NYC for my wife.  When we moved here the only pair of socks she owned was a few pairs she got while bowling (you know, the ones you pay 20 baht or so for at Major Strike Bowl).  She had no jacket, no gloves, no scarf, etc.  But, she did awesome!  Actually likes the snow.  I walk around shivering and she is digging it.  And she really likes it when it rains.  Feels she can stay home and be lazy...watching it all out the windows from the warm comforts of our home.

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Thanks for the reply. Must admit, I quite like snow when I don't have to go out in it!

Even making a sandwich was funnier than ######.  She can't understand why I eat them!

My missus used to think that however much filling came in a pre-pack was the correct portion for a round of sarnies; for a long time I didn't have the heart to tell her, but I just couldn't go on eating inch thick corned beef sandwiches.

Been here in the UK for about 3 months now, and she's surprised me with how well she's settling in. I think it helped that she came here for a two week holiday before we got spliced in LOS, so at least she knew what she was letting herself in for.

For the first few weeks I felt the onus was on me to keep her occupied and happy 24/7, especially as she'd given up all her family and friends, and the hotel job she loved, to be with me in such an alien environment. As so many others have discovered, communication can be a problem when something goes wrong. Whereas the Western way is to talk things through, Thais seem to just withdaw into themselves, so you'll need to be patient at times.

But now she's got an unpaid job in a charity shop as well as working in a Thai restaurant, and we both seem more relaxed and happy; she has the self-esteem of making new friends (Thai and English) and as much money (sending home) in a day as she made in a week in LOS, and I have time to rediscover my old hobbies and interests. She also seems to love "luxuries" we in the West probably take for granted, like microwaves, our own PC, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, etc. I'm a bit worried about how she'll react to Winter, but hopefully she'll adapt to that too.

Best wishes, and good luck in whatever you decide to do.

The normal method for an ongoing arrangement is to open a new bank account with international ATM card access that you then send registered mail to the party in Thailand to use in ATM machines here.  You provide the pin number by phone or in another letter.  When you need to send money you just deposit into that account and Thai end can withdraw it.

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This is just what me and my wife are currently planning, but when we opened a Nationwide Flex-account recently they were a bit snotty about giving the card to someone else to use. Has anyone had any problems with this? If the card is being used in Thailand when I'm clearly still in the UK (ie from the time the deposits are made) will they think the card has been cloned or something? Thanks in advance for any info.

Lincoln, UK. Born & bred Yellowbelly.

If you want to use them for official purposes in Thailand, I think you need to have the translation verified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Hi IvanLaw,

Just sent you a PM.

As well as the "Big Wok" And "Thailand Number One" in Lincoln, there's "Thai One On" near Brayford Pool and the "Chiang Mai" takeaway on Corporation Street. Also a Chinese supermarket on Tentercroft Street which sells all kinds of herbs and spices, not to mention good old Singha and Chang.

Chok dee khrap.

I am here. have been to thailand and brought the GF back to the UK on monday.

Have been busy showing her everything and YES she could not understand why it wasnt dark at 9pm she thought her watch stopped. She loves it here and my family.

She is getting spoiled stupid by everyone. She has a whole new wardrobe.

I do want to write a lot more but shes just got out the shower and i have to go and shower to go and take her to get some food.

Will try and write more when things calm down a little.  

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So there you are, Spudsie! I've been looking on the Visas board and getting a bit worried about you and Mrs BS. My new Missus is now into her 4th week over here (not a million miles from where you are) so drop me a PM if you ever feel like comparing notes. Congrats to you both.