thaigirllondon

PS my husband has entered thailand in the same way

My USA visa is also in my last passport, just attach both. I have done this in Amserican, once entering UK and also in Holland. No problem at all and easier than transfering visas.

Other's experience in this is not an accurate guide. Enquiries into the applications can be made made.

The UKBA say up to 120 days for settlement as explained to you here http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/thailand/processing-times/?langname=UK%20English#resultTableAnchor

Posting on this thread will not change the answer or give you accurate information for your case.

Anyone who takes any exam without studying for it will almost certainly fail; not because they are "little bit dumb" but simply because they didn't study

That depends what the exam is about. I would pass a BA exam in my degree subject tomorrow without studying. I would pass an exam in thai literature or history at anything below degree level also.

That is true whether they are a "professional English man, with good social standing" or a "poor Asian villager who may or may not have lived very long in the UK."

You quote out of context which reduced your arguement. IF you contextualise it, I said that a Brit national IE an educated professional (my husband is a PhD) should have more change of passing a life in uk exam than a poor asian villager in the same subject. Surely that is logical. If we contextualise it here, many of the people maybe lived in the UK there whole life and have the professional backgrounds and many perhaps marry relatively uneducated Thais so of course the Brit should be able to pass better than the Thai.

IF you turn that around, how many Brits could pass a P6 exam compared to Thais. Of courser the Thais will do better as they speak better Thai and have abetter understanding of life in Thailand .

Though how someone's "social standing" is relevant to their intelligence or ability to study and understand what they are studying only you know.

Sorry, it is tough for me to express my thoughts in English that well. What I meant is that social standing IE a good background IE they went to school and are not the uneducated people. It is my belief that people from good backgrounds do better in formal education worldwide. I am trying to show that the life in uk test is unfair as even Brits cant answer so what hope does a thi villager have...why should I have to study when a Brit doesnt. Imagine if Farang had to study a life in thai course that even I couldn't answer (I am educated to Master degree level).....there would be an million threads complaining. You would all be making mountains out of mountains (not mole hills because the problem would be a big one).

Remember that this requirement applies to anyone who is applying for ILR, regardless of their nationality or their "social standing," unless they are exempt (see here). If your poor Asian villager, or anyone else, does not have the English ability to study for and pass the test then they can take the ESOL with citizenship course route, as already explained to you.

That os true, there is an alternative for people with the poor English. However, that does not draction from the issue. The issue here is life in uk is not fit for purpose if majority of nationals cannot pass it. Life in UK could be written so it is more practical and reflection of the actual life in UK.

Whichever route they take, it is not something which has to be rushed. They do have at between 24 and 27 months before they can apply for ILR and so in which to satisfy the requirement.

That depends on individal situations. Some people want a ILE visa so they must rush to take it, like me, on a visit to the UK. Also, not all visa appplicants have the poor such standard of English of A1, A2 like many Thais. So, an Indian guy for example must take life in uk but his English friends tend to fail even though they come fro educated bacngrounds.

You seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill (ask your husband to explain if you don't understand).

In your opinion, but that is not the opinion of a foreigner residence in UK, of which I know many many. And my opinion is a shared opinion by many of them (as I am sure yours is by many Brits), so is my opinion a mountain? to you, yes. But you, I consider, are making a mole hill out of a montain. We are all different.

Requirements etc. change and are updated.

Better to go with the latest official list rather than what someone did a few years ago.

True for sure

That your husband couldn't pass merely shows that he had not studied

And logically that he is a little bit dumb. Becaus how can a professional English man, with good social standing fail an exam about life in UK BUT a poor Asian villager who may or may not have lived very long in the UK be expcted to pass.

Yes, yes I know its the law....but I think its a little bit silly.

Each to there own,

I think ESOL is a better idea, I have pointed many Thai people in that area, all of them have said that its very good. Not only do they learn the correct way to do things but also about the life in the UK test, It also makes them more confidant, My wife could not speak any English when i met her, I speak Thai, It seems that the Thai custom is not to speak to much and keep everything inside, the ESOL course brought her out and now she voices her opinions, which i like.

You mean (ESOL) course in English with citizenship.

ESOL is just English for Speakers of Other Languages.

Two very different courses

Hello

I have lived in the UK for nearly 3 years. I can apply when I reach 3 years.

3 weeks? Wow. Thanks for the input.

Any first hand expereince Thaivisaforum posters?

Thank you.

Thanks Eddie,

brilliant post. You are a star.

Hello

Can anyone still hanging about with a Thai partner who got the passport, please offer some opinions?

Thank you

Jazz.

Hi Razzel

I just checked through all old applications forms and docs (I am a horder ) and I submitted, at one time, my company health and security insurance which also covers overseas travel healthcare and security emergencies (because of my past job's nature). It was issued by Zurich insurance. Later I did indeed source insuarance, on another trip, from moneysupermarket but I cannot find that doc.

Seems to go against the advice BUT it was not questioned. I am unsure why perhaps because I am the frequent traveller and a passport only lasts me maybe 2-3 years due to all the stamps.

Strange.

probably one of my friends.

That seems silly. Insurance from a multinational insurance company covers all countries, who cares where it is bought from? I will check tonight about where I got insurance when I applied in Bangkok.

Your best option for your wife is to do an ESOL course she will be assessed by the college,E xample assessed at level 1 progress to level 2 thats all you need if she gets on level 3 though she will have to do the "life in the uk test", my wife was assessed at below level 1 so will do level 1 only, the course must be with citizenship materials included, for ILR she can carry on learning part time after,

Our plan is to apply for citizenship after 3 years so she has dual nationallity and can the come and go without visa's

With the greatest of great respect but how do you communicate with your wife if she was below level 1? This is very basic level. Are you a Thai speaker?

Totally agree that ESOL is the better way forward. It takes longer, may cost more but it improves all sorts of other skills. My wife did a course and some very basic aspects of UK life (doctors visits, getting library books etc) were covered.

But if you wife had B1 English then it would be boring as watching the pain drying. Imagine if you spoke Thai but had to go to the class about ordering in a restaurant, going to the doctor.....so boring. But yes, I agree, for a Thai with a low level of English ESOL classes are better option and they will learn alot and improve confidence of speaking etc.

The Life in the UK test is a bit of a waste of time and I doubt many people have gained better English skills from it. I learnt a lot of facts about the UK that I did not know before, a few of them moderately interesting! It is not there to improve your English but test the level of your language skills.

Very true but life in UK study is not meant to help raise the English level, its not that kind of exam. And it is cetainly not to test Engloish level, not at all. My husband failed also but he's a Jordy so that has somethng to say about it :-)

I think but this is my personal opinion, the ESOL courses are a better thing, at least they will guide them/you through ,And they will teach only whats relevant.

But very boring in an ESOL class (if you are only there for citizenship content) if you are B1 and above level. It would be like you in your BA class studying with the a level kids. of gcse kids.

Well I was born and raised in the UK, consider myself reasonably educated, and just done an on-line test. Scored 50%!

And how much studying for it did you do beforehand?

I've said it before, and will say it again; in my opinion what is scandalous isn't that immigrants have to learn this stuff, but that British schoolchildren don't!

Yes they do. In state schools children study citizenship classes.

My ILE still has an expiry date on it!

Anyone who is applying for ILR needs to demonstrate their knowledge of life and language in the UK (KOL) unless they fall under one of the exceptions. See Knowledge of language and life in the UK.

The LitUK test is actually very easy, if one's English is good enough to understand the study materials and the test itself.

Learning all possible questions and their answers by rote is not the way to do it; would you do the same for a GCSE or other exam?

If one's English is not good enough to understand the study materials and the test then there is an alternative; an ESOL with citizenship course.

For more details, see Demonstrating your knowledge of language and life in the UK.

.

My English was bagofshite when I took the test, I was B1 level and of course passed but my English was not good. Yes, I could understand and keep up with conversations on some subjects but not very well and certainly not good enough to have a proper commicative life and marriage in the UK. I was ashamed in front of the Europeans. Thing is, when a Thai speak English at B1, everyone thinks they are great because of the poor standard of English in my country. In reality, B1 is very poor.

Also, I learnt all the materials by rote. Why? Because that's how Thais tend to learn at school even nowadays and also, its a good way to learn the materials. I approached it just as I did my maths exam, best to learn all by heart and tick the boxes than produce language. Afterall, most questions in the life in uk test are of no use for normal life in the UK. OK, many not most but certainly alot.

The Life in UK test doesn't help improve the language, its just to lern content (and not much use) so best to just pass and then learn English. As soon as I had passed, I applied for ILE and then when I arrived nearly two years ago, I started learning English and now I'd say its perhaps B2/C1. I don't know how anyone can live in a country which is not their native land and not learn the language. And the language of some Thais I meet is terrible, not even A2. How can they live with an English speaker only?

I goy my insuarnce for time from the www.moneysupermarket.com , think it was about 100 USD

OP

I called my friend at the Thai embassy (your wife or you can PM me too to Talk about this)

Was you wife and this man married before in the amphor (local registration office)?

Also, if you have had his name removed from all records, our shared assumption is no, they were never legally married. So, pl confirm.

However, if they were married and the issue present itself when yoour wife applies for visa for the child, then the issue can be fixed with small expense through the Thai family court of the birth registration district. The process takes 28 days but I will only post up the procedures IF you tell me they were married legally married before and are now divorced.

Jazz

Thank you very much for all your effort. ( nice to see some people not making blind stupid racist assumptions)

They were never married.She had his name removed from papers a few months ago at her local Amphor but when she asked if that was all she had to do they kinda fobbed her off saying yes yes that "should" be ok,so she is a bit unsure. She also got a new passport for her daughter with her surname not the ex boyfriends so I assume the only place that his name would be would be on a birth cert or hospital record.

What would the papers she got changed at the Amphor have been ??

Thanks again

Oops sorry just to confirm we are not married yet. We are getting married in September.

If they were never married then you have nothing to worry about. But if the Child's father makes the claim to the child by theregion's family court and can provide DNA evidences, then he has a legal case. And, he will win too but that does not seem his goal as you say above.

Not sure what papers your wife had changed, if she PMs me the Thai names I could tell you (or try) a near example in English systems.

And wonderful news for you for September. I love Ireland, many kind people who welcome Thais in my expereince.

Since the mother was never married the full custody of the child belongs to her, no need to get any signatures etc. from the father.

You wrote that the daughter already has a passport. To be able to apply for a passport you need the person with full custody (or both in case of shared custody) to sign all papers and documents, which explains it all anyway.

And your quote: Life is a gamble but if you don't play you don't win ... might be true ... but you certainly don't lose!

It's interesting that you should say that custody is required to apply for a child's passport, as I fully agree with you. However, the British Embassy doesn't accept that argument ( we currently have a child application ongoing, where I argued this point), and have insisted on a Por Khor 14 from the applicant's local amphur. We had provided a Por Khor 14 but the Embassy are insisting that they require the latest version provided by amphurs in Thailand. This is a quote from their reply to me :

"It was noted that the Por Khor 14 submitted was not of the standard format that the central Thai authorities distributed to their regional offices last year for use in showing which parents of common law relationships had custody. The document sent with the application was in effect an affidavit using a question and answer format with the mother. As you point out an affidavit in itself is not strong evidence of a fact or event, however the standard Por Khor 14 template referred to above consists of an investigative process carried out by regional government offices and draws a conclusion as to which parent has custody."

UKBA seem to make work for themselves. They have required the child's mother to revisit the amphur to obtain new documents (thereby extending the processing time for the application), to obtain evidence which you quite rightly say has already been accepted by the Thai government. As evidence of custody has already been seen and accepted by the Thai government, why can't the British Embassy and UKBA accept it too ?

the OP is Irish and not British......UKBA has nothing to do with him...

Wow! That is why no one needs these so calling self promoted 'agents' that I see in tourist areas. A Thai needs to apply to the INIS Visa Section , even I know that.

The British embassy cannot be expected to know that an old form is actually ok to use in Thailand's local Amphors. The BE takes its rules from central government and central government has issued a directive to use PK.14.

It is a shame that all the local Amphors are not up to speed like the BE.

Farang, define tiny?

Exactly, he is what they all call on forums, a 'Troll'.