GarryUK

Are we sure the car hit the central reservation BEFORE hitting the mini van? Would like the story from the Koreans' perspective. Maybe the mini van went in to the back of the car causing it to hit the central reservation...

Just giving some ammo to the conspiracy theorists as this thread doesn't have anywhere near as many responses as normal.

It's a few years back when we were in this situation, rules had just been tightened, but my then girlfriend's first visit visa application was going to be for a trip for more than 4 months. She had no assets and no job, I was supporting her completely. We too got an initial refusal because I didn't explain having a second phone (cheaper international calls), didn't provide evidence of regular communication, and didn't show clearly my financial support. In our re-application we addressed the points from the refusal by providing almost excessive documentation for each one raised. We also reduced the length of her visit by a few weeks (still 13 weeks) to maintain the same date of return to Thailand indicating that we planned to get married on the anniversary of when we met.

Point out that the deeds were provided to show assets she owns and did not form any part of her income, apologise for the confusion. Make sure any money you've been sending is paid into her bank account and that she provides statements that reflect these transfers, and make sure she's clear that all her money comes from you. We used Western Union at the time (have since switched to Azimo as it's cheaper), so include any transfer confirmation emails etc. Make sure your sponsorship letter details that you're funding the entire trip from the flights to the money you'll spend whilst she's here. Include proof to show you have sufficient funds to cover the cost of the trip. Medical insurance is recommended as it cost my girlfriend £85 to visit the doctor as we feared her sore throat might be tonsillitis, and travel insurance too in case anything unforeseen should happen. Show quotes for both with start and end dates reflecting the proposed travel dates - it's no guarantee she'll actually go home at the end of the trip, but it suggests that to be the case. And make sure you show evidence of your relationship - the more times you've been to Thailand to see her the better, but you'll need to provide any proof you have that you actually met her each time you went over as visa stamps are not enough - at the very least include dated photos. Post #3 does appear to suggest you did provide this, but be sure it's all very clear.

On the pretense that we can apply 28 days before she's been in the UK for 5 years - now's the time! We've started the online application and I'm starting to look at what documentation we'll need? So a few new questions:

1. For proof of address and ongoing relationship, do we provide recent documents to show we're both (still) at the same address, or will we need to provide documents in her name over the course of the last 5 years?

2. Does anyone have actual experience of her ability to continue working during the application process if her FLR expires before a decision is made? Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 suggests she can continue working, but have heard employers are worried about the £20k fines for employing illegals so some might not let her keep working?

3. The wife has averaged at least £100 a week since she changed jobs in October, so is expected to earn in excess of £5k. I've got myself a 3 month contract until August which will pay £15k, so should we be okay with the financial requirements? I lost my last job in March and didn't land this til the end of May, and from August I don't know if I'll get an extension or when I'll land the next job.

I suspect finding past threads about visas that were refused, and what if anything was done to address the refusal, may help you to understand what you need to provide.

I've just dug out the refusal letter from our first visitor visa application made in March 2013 and thought I'd share it with you so you don't make the same mistakes. Reasons given for refusal were:

1. She was unemployed and totally dependent on the money I sent to support her, but I failed to provide anything to show regular money transfers.

2. They were happy from the photos provided that we'd actually met, but I failed to provide evidence of the claimed daily communications in the form of chat logs from Facebook, Skype, Line.

3. I provided 'WorldSIM' phone bills showing regular calls, but the number didn't match the number I declared as my mobile number.

4. We'd mentioned visiting her aunt in the UK but gave no evidence of the aunt's immigration status or of her having knowledge of our visit.

In May 2013 we re-applied, going to great lengths to address all the points raised in the previous refusal. My letter of invitation referred back the the refusal and explained what steps we'd taken to address the concerns raised. These included:

1. Bank statements showing a fund transfer to Thailand and ATM withdrawals made whilst I was on holiday in Thailand, and Western Union transfer receipts. We also included her Bank statements showing receipt of these funds.

2. Screenshots of chat logs on Facebook (21 pages) with appropriate content showing dates to prove regular contact during 2 sample periods in Dec 2012 and Apr 2013, and an edited Skype log (11 pages down from 160 removing 99% of the text chat) showing call start, end and duration of video calls proving daily communication.

3. I explained that I used WorldSIM for cheap international calls, but that I retained my 'Orange' SIM for UK calls. I copied the SIM wallet to show the phone number, and screenshot the registration page showing it in my name.

4. I explained we wouldn't be staying with her aunt, merely visiting, and included an email from her welcoming a visit. I also copied her British passport.

While OldGit has pointed out that it is your girlfriends application not yours, of the supporting documentation we provided, 90% came from me with her providing only ID (passport, ID card and house book) and a bank statement. I, on the other hand, was listed as the source of evidence proving a genuine relationship (photos, phone bills, chat logs), financial support (bank statements, money transfer receipts), proof of finances to fund the trip (bank statements, wage slips, P60, mortgage statement with evidence of overpayment), the sponsors letter of invitation and a few other bits (quotes for return flights, quotes for travel insurance which in the end we didn't buy so a trip to the Doctor cost us in excess of £80 for a sore throat diagnosis).

Hope this is of some help to you and others trying to sort their first visit visas. I appreciate it's an old thread.

Garry

Apologies for the laziness, but I know the first question will be answered immediately, so it's much quicker than going looking.

1. My wife entered the UK on 5th July 2014 so we'll soon need to start the final application for ILR. When can I start, is it 1 month before this date?

2. I lost my job a few weeks ago. How serious is this regarding meeting the financial criteria? Her residency card expires November so do I have to delay the application until I'm working again, or will the fact that I earned more then double the requirement in the previous financial year have any bearing? In my line of work at my level, it's typically taken me 3 months to find my next job, I can't assume my 2nd interview next week will come to anything, so let's plan for worst case scenario. In June I'll probably have £10k savings left and my wife looks like she earns around £8k per year.

It seems we've dropped lucky... just.

On checking again it appears her passport expires on the 14th rather than the 10th as first believed, so if we do indeed fly out on the 13th it'll still be valid when leaving the UK. I share everyone's belief that getting in to Thailand, even if it had expired, would be okay.

I will, however, pop the question to the Emirates desk and at passport control when leaving the UK to see where we would have stood, but while I may get an answer regarding this leg, I'm not sure what would happen when we reach Dubai for the next leg, or that they'd understand my question if I try to ask. I'll try to remember to to update the post at the end of October when we're back.

Thanks for the responses.

Two questions:

1. Can we go on holiday to Thailand on 13th October if the wife's passport expired on the 10th? She wants to renew it there rather than have to go to London. As she's leaving the UK will she have a problem (more concerned about this than what'll happen at the Thailand end).

2. We're on the second 2.5yr stint with FLR visa and we're 1 year off applying for ILR. Is this affected if her passport expires, does she need a valid passport at all times? She has the new-style residency card rather than the old-style stamp in her passport.

Cheers, Garry.

On 3/20/2017 at 5:10 PM, rasg said:

Never in a million years would I pay the extra £500 a Premium Centre charges unless there were huge reasons to do so. The visa etc is expensive enough as it is without adding another £500. The only possible I can think of would be if we needed our passports fast for a family emergency. A holiday would have to wait.

The thinking behind using the Premium service was with the assumption that we'd be able to get a visa within 10 days and so get it all done and dusted before the expiry date. Once I realised that the nearest appointment was a month away, more than 2 weeks after visa expiry, I too was of the thinking that why should I pay all that money if I can't get it done right away.

In the end I posted it Special Delivery on Monday so it's with them now. As for it not getting there 15 days before (running out I guess) otherwise it could be refused, all we can do now is wait and see what happens and hope they don't get petty. If I get a letter asking the wife to go and submit her biometrics at the Post Office I'll read that as a positive sign....

7by7 I'll give you the requested review of our experience with the online application soon.

I'll keep it fairly short...

Due to lots of reasons mainly around getting the necessary supporting documents and waiting until I'd completed 6 months in my job, we've left the FLR visa application until now. We're completing the application online and I've litterally just hit save and continue later. Technically we could have applied in January, but having been out of work 6 months prior to starting my current job I didn't want to encounter problems meeting the financial requirement. I've paid the £500.00 NHS surcharge (not happy that we still have to even though she works and contributes NI) and came to pay the visa application fee. Having seen that applications should be sent 15 days before (I assume visa expiry), which would have been Friday gone, I decided to stump up the extra £500.00 for the Premium Service which would also give me the opportunity to take along additional documentation in case anything was not acceptable but something else we have was. However, choosing the Premium Service Centre in Solihull which is the nearest to us we can't get an appointment until 19th April at the earliest, but her visa expires on the 2nd April. In fact none of the centres can offer an appointment before her visa expires.

What do I do? Select Standard Service and post everything Special Delivery tomorrow to arrive 21st March, possibly late in their eyes but at least before the visa expires, or go with the Premium Service but not get an appointment before her visa expires anyway and be out of pocket an extra £500.00? I know from previous threads that my wife can remain in the UK whilst awaiting a decision, but can she continue to work between visa expiry on 2nd April and decision date?

Seriously need advice from the big hitters, admins and/or visa agents on this. While I appreciate all contributors, new posters and/or those without experience of this situation will only speculate as to the outcome depending on the route I choose.

Garry and wife.

Anyone point me in the direction of detailed guidance notes for the online application? I found these for the printed form, but they don't say anything about how detailed specific answers need to be: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592950/FLR_M__guidance_notes_12-16.pdf

Anyone else applied using the online form? Will I have to print it out and the end and send it to the address in Durham given in the above mentioned guidance notes along with my supporting documentation?

Thanks 7by7, always a fountain of knowledge and advice.

Just got this question which I think is a bit silly: "What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold? Please provide details of these family and friends, for example, their names, relationship to you and where they live". Once again left wondering just how much detail we need to go in to? I've listed her father, mother, brother and niece who all live at her home, but I've only listed the town and Thailand, not given a full address. She has many relatives (both parents are from big families) but wasn't really close to any, and she has a few friends, one being her cousin. Do we really need to list these? We've nothing to hide but why list extended family you rarely/never see?

I've completed the first section now, but numerous answers allow 5000 character replies, for example "Where did you first meet your current partner?". I've had to be honest so put "Pattaya, Thailand where I was working in Family Mart" but with so much space do we need to go into any more detail? I really wouldn't know what else to put. Another example was "What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?" where again my answer was simply "Simple ceremony at Ampur (equivalent to Registry Office in UK)".

The time has come to start the FLR visa application. The wife has been in the UK for 31 months with her visa due to expire 2nd April. We've been hanging on as I was out of work for a while but will have 6 payslips from my current job at the end of February so it saves a lot of complication.

It's not long ago that I posted about her English certificate. We believed she now needs A2 but only has A1, and we decided she should try to pass B1 so she wouldn't need another when we get to ILR. Of course she knew best, so with virtually no preparation she took it and failed. As it happens though, as her visa expires before May she can still use her A1, so that was £165.00 down the drain. If only that had been clearer in the first place.

We're now completing the application online and got to this question: "Country you lived in. Type the name of a country; use the arrow keys to navigate and 'enter' to select one. Please enter the country you have lived in. You will be able to enter additional countries after you click save and continue. Include all countries no matter how long you lived there". What's not clear is whether we have to state the obvious, i.e. Thailand since birth because she's a Thai national (I've gone with this option but saved for later at this point), or whether they only mean other than your country of birth, what other countries have you lived in. Any body sure of the interpretation?

And what happens if we submit the application at the start of March once I have my payslips if we don'y hear back by April 2nd? Must she leave the UK and wait for the outcome? Or overstay? I believe the In Person same day service costs something like £500 extra which is way to much to pay if I can possibly avoid it.

Thanks again as always, Garry.

According to UK Visas & Immigration there are no approved test centres in Leicester: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/573290/Approved_Secure_English_Language_Tests_and_Test_Centres.pdf

And according to the Trinity website there are also no official Trinity test centres in Leicester: http://www.trinitycollege.com/site/?id=3286. It looks like we'll have to use Peterborough if we want to avoid Birmingham if we stick with official sites.

But according to the College of Skills & Learning their qualifications meet the requirements for visa applications and they offer tests in Leicester which the wife wants to use: http://www.cslearning.org.uk/ukba-requirements

I'm concerned that contrary to what they're claiming about meeting the requirements for visa applications, and even though they're displaying a Trinity logo, if they're not approved then the UKVI aren't going to accept the test are they? The Thai girl my wife works with says she took her test in Leicester about a year ago. However, I think I've been told she's been here 8 years so I'm not sure what test it was or what it was for as she'd have been on a 2-year track back then. I suppose it could have been citizenship to get her British passport (which I'm told by the wife she has), don't know if after ILR there's any different requirements or whether she did Life In The UK locally and if that would be okay?

2 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

have you checked out Loughborough Univ? not too far from Leicester...

 

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/applicants/english/

 

 

That would be for study, for which she can go to, and has been to, Nuneaton (North Warwickshire & Hinckley College). No, we need an approved test centre near to us as the wife doesn't want to go to Birmingham next time for fear she gets the same woman. But thanks anyway for the input.

4 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

A1 to B1 is quite a jump in levels unless she was a particularly strong A1 or picks up language easily. the grammar is more challenging, especially tenses for thais. can she confidently use comparatives, superlatives, modals, future continuous, past perfect/continuous/simple, present prefect, present perfect past and phrasal verbs. if she can and she failed you have a case, if she cant then the examiner was probably correct

To be perfectly honest I don't know what most of those are. Picking up on some of the words and what I've read, I've been trying to make sure she can talk about past and future and can express a preference.

Yes, within seconds the examiner knew she could speak English so she walked out with an A/A pass.

Since the A1 test my wife took to come to the UK is no longer acceptable for her FLR application, we decided she should go for B1 which, unless they change the rules in the next few years, should sort her for the ILR application. So she recently took a B1 test in Birmingham, and from what she said about the woman conducting the test it doesn't sound like she enjoyed her job. She's (my wife) been in the UK over 2 years now and she has a job in a shop, so she can communicate perfectly well, but she was failed on pretty much everything she could fail on. Now I'm sure she wasn't properly prepared for the test which can't have helped, but the fail sheet pretty much suggested she doesn't speak or understand English which I disagree with. Sadly I can't be present and she can't record the test, so we'll never know if my wife sucked or if the woman was overly harsh. At the risk of getting the same woman, my wife wants to retake her test somewhere else. We live in Leicester, and a Thai girl she works with said she took a test about a year ago in Leicester, so that's where my wife wants to go.

I was looking at the approved test providers, and it's not clear if the following is acceptable for taking a B1 test as anyone can put a Trinity College logo on their page, doesn't mean they're affiliated or approved. Can anyone help me out?

http://www.cslearning.org.uk/b1-test-leicester

Another reason I'm not sure is the test cost me £150 in Birmingham which I assume is the rate Trinity College charges, but these only want £125. Would hate to pass the test only for Immigration not to accept it.

We're just a few months off doing FLR ourselves, so would appreciate a running commentary Rob on everything you have to do, and how it's going for you. Can you expand on the "months of gathering documents and paperwork" please.

When the wife first came to the UK she had to pass "Grade 2 Graded Examination in Spoken English" at level A1. Although technically expired, I know you were always able to use it again for the FLR, only needing to show improvement when applying for ILR. However, the wife has now been told (and so believes) it's not good enough any more, she needs to pass A2 level. Do you know anything about this? She was easily A2 level when she took it the first time, but as A1 was all she needed that's all they gave her, with Distinction. Won't be happy if I've got to pay again.

And what about the NHS Surcharge? I understand for people applying for their first visa, but I think it's not very fair making people pay at FLR that didn't need to on first entry.

Good luck!

My wife told me about this story yesterday. According to her the child died. There are plenty of places in Thailand to seek your sexual gratification so I cannot comprehend why someone would even consider doing this to a baby.

Long way off, but just a thought....

What happens if they fail the Life In The UK test? And how soon can you sit it so as to allow time for retake(s)?

Her English is fine, it's the additional cost we are going to have to pay that doesn't make good reading.

Why can't you quote something from the original post, but you can quote replies? That doesn't make sense!

Thanks for the info Rob180, sadly it's not good reading for us with regard to her A1 test not going to be valid by the time we have to do our FLR in December/January. BTW, the application form/process at the moment only refers to the need for A1, although the "Approved secure English language tests and test centres" list dated 18th May 2016 does indeed start at A2. I found a link to the announcement here.

Anybody know the level required for ILR? And if she takes and passes that level this year, will it be valid when we do ILR in just over 3 years time? I ask the latter as it's always been accepted that you can use the same test that you passed for the initial application for the FLR application even though it would have expired. No point aiming for a higher level if it'll have expired and need to be taken again, especially if the cost goes up relative to the level being taken.

I'm not sure that it's automatic, though it might be, this route, as I understand it, is meant to cover those who wish to apply using the Human Rights provision of a family life.

Family_Life_10-year_routes_guidance_August_2015.pdf

How annoying, everything I typed in my response was replaced with a copy of the document OldGit posted so I'm having to edit my post and respond again

In short the wife is of good character and neither of us have criminal records or any immigration discrepancies so this is a positive contribution in answer to the original question posed, thanks.

Remember that if your wife is working then for both FLR and ILR her income can be added to yours to meet the requirement.

I'm afraid that if she does have to return to Thailand because you cannot meet the requirement then if she is out of the UK when her current visa expires she will have to start the whole process all over again.

As I feared. Okay, two application forms for Domino's Pizza it is then if I can't land something in the meantime

Can you meet the savings requirement?

No I've emptied everything. My mum has money from when hers died so she won't see me lose anything like the house or car, but if she transfers any of it to me to meet the savings requirements for the visa then my benefits will stop. I know £70 a week is nothing, but it's still £70 a week to go on food.