NEWMAN2930

Thanks Bob

Thanks bellboy,

Sorry for being a "bit thick" but what would be the advantage of leaving Thailand on a Thai passport and entering the U.K on a Swiss passport ?, obviously "Mum" will carry birth cert and translations with her to prove she is the biological Mum however Mum and Stepdaughter have different Surnames (stepdaughter has her Fathers surname) though i don't think this will be a problem as my wife as stated can prove she is the biological Mum.

However my wife's lack of Por Kor 14 and Custody is the concern either at immigration leaving Thailand or entering UK.

Thanks in advance for all who read this and especially those who reply and can help;

I'll try to outline the situation as best i can;

My Thai wife fell pregnant with her then Swiss BF in 2009 and he reluctantly married her at the Amphur prior to her giving birth, once baby was born he was registered as the Father upon the birth certificate and the birth was registered at the Amphur, a temporary passport was granted for the baby from the Swiss Embassy BKK however as soon as baby was born he shot off into the sunset (back to Europe!) and has had no involvement in the babies life from that day to this.

My wife divorced her "husband" in 2011 via the Courts in Switzerland - this despite my wife being in Thailand, we used a lawyer from Switzerland and petitioned the Court on the grounds of his unreasonable behavior - abandonment and this proved successful, however despite him being recognized as the Father and both the lawyers and Court being aware of this so no Custody arrangements were given or made as part of the divorce decree, in fact no mention of the child at all within the divorce settlement as apparently this would have complicated matters with my wife then needing to be present in Switzerland to attend Court if the child was brought into matters, i think the Swiss court decided to let the Thai authorities deal with the custody issue, the Thai's however want any custody matters to go through the Swiss court where the divorce was issued...hope that all makes sense!.

We have tried by via a Swiss lawyer and a Thai lawyer to gain custody however without success on both occasions, the Father absolutely will not consent to signing custody papers despite never once having any contact or interest in his daughter.

Anyway onwards to today and we have now at least successfully applied for a Swiss passport for my stepdaughter despite being told at first that we could not do this.

My wife is here in the UK with me and soon to apply for ILR and the child until now has lived in Thailand however with the Swiss passport we intend to bring her to the UK as no visa required as a Swiss passport holder...however as my wife does not have formal custody and likewise cannot obtain the Por Kor 14 due to having legally married the Father before so the Amphur want to see custody arangements within the divorce decree...and yup they are not there and so around in circles we go...now my question is can my wife bring her daughter here to UK with her both removing her from Thailand and entering UK without the Por Kor 14 or formal custody ?, will immigration at either end want to see custody docs ?...as i say a visa is NOT required for the child due to being a Swiss passport holder and this has been confirmed by UKBA so the only possible issue is around a lack of custody or Por Kor 14

Thanks

Hi Guys

Firstly thanks for taking the time to read my post and secondly mods please feel free to move this if posted in wrong section.

I have a 5 year old step daughter who's Father is also a Farang (Swiss National - im English).

My now wife fell pregnant with a Swiss guy and after he intially excepted the child - registering his daughter at the Amphur, signing the birth certificate and making a Temporay Swiss passport for his baby daughter as well as marrying the babies Mum (now my wife) in Thailand at the Amphur he quickly backed out and ran away back to Switzerland, not long after i got together with my wife and have been "Dad" to my stepdaughter since she was around 6 months old. Me and my wife have been together ever since finally getting married 2+ years ago having gone through a complicated process of my wife divorcing this guy via the Swiss Courts using a Swiss lawyer whilst being present in Thailand throughout.

The divorce was mutual and the grounds being his behaviour, abondoning his then wife and baby ect. Their divorce was obviously granted however no provision for Custody was made at this time despite the Swiss Court being aware he was the babies Father.

Now as we understand things the Amphur will not grant my wife full legal custody without the Dads permission, we have contacted him but whilst he has had nothing at all to do with his daughter and has not supported her or shown any interest whatsoever in her so he eqqually will not give my wife custody, seemingly out of "revenge" "hatred" ect as he feels wronged...the point being we are in limbo, we cannot get our daughter a passport and my wife cannot gain custody without his signature and yet he will not give this seemingly out of spite as he has absolutely nothing to do with his child.

We have tried using a Thai lawyer who just ripped us off, we have tried using a Swiss lawyer to help but again the Dad will not sign the custody consent papers and so as i say we are stuck. Does anybody have any advice or knowledge of what we can do ?, as the Father is Swiss and legally declared the Child as his at birth in Thailand and got the child a Temporary Swiss passport at birth so can we apply to the Swiss authoriies to get our daughter a Swiss passport now as she is half Swiss by birth right ?.

Any advice greatly appreciated

If you are not in Thailand and are applying for a visa to enter Thailand, how is it they expect you to already have money in a Thai bank account before you get the visa when Thai banks require you to go there to open it in person first?

Do Thai embassies really expect something that is impossible or are the people posting here incorrect?

Hull asks for 3 mths statements from British bank or BS showing required income, with your name and British address on it. Thats all for multiple entry 'O' for over 50 retirement. If over 65, u just need UK state pension statement -It says no minimum income requirement for this on their website.

That was correct up until YESTERDAY, the rules for a Multi enrty Non O based on marriage is now the same as for retirement, EG: Need to show £16,000 in a UK bank account

They have just confirmed single entry O visas are still available.

Posted 6 minutes ago

I heard rumours about Hull wanting proof of funds so I emailed them specifically asking if I needed to have a certain amount of money in the bank to gain a multi non imm O based on marriage to a Thai as I have received them from Hull, London and other consulates for the last 11 years without showing any proof.

Their reply on Aug 29 was -

Hello

Please see attached form, if you are married to a Thai national a copy of your Thai marriage certificate is required along with a copy of her thai id card or thai passport.

Regards

Pauline Murden

In the attached file Abb Additional Evidence for Non-Immigrant Visas 31.08.12 there is no mention of funds being required.

Abb 31.08.12

2/3

Category “O”

--------------------------

Married to a Thai national.

Evidence required:

If married in Thailand:

Copies of Original Thai Marriage Certificate and Thai ID Card or Thai Passport.

If married in UK:

Copies of Original UK Marriage Certificate and Thai ID Card or Thai Passport.

Either a single or multiple entry visa can be granted in these circumstances.

That was on August 29th, these new rules came into force as from yesterday, i called Hull Thai consulate around 30 minutes ago and had the new financial requirements confirmed to me. For a Multi entry Non O visa based on marriage you now need to show £16,000 in a UK Current account or an income of £1,400 a month.