Jared

Thanks for your reply.

In the supporting documents guide in the .gov website is says this below so we will add a Birth Certificate.

Under 18s – we strongly recommend you submit the following information otherwise it may delay consideration of your application.

a Birth Certificate or legal document (such as adoption papers) showing the relationship between you and your parent or guardian

Passport photos I read both, the .gov website says that you need one but later on they say you dont need them because of the biometrics.

My niece is 11 and in school in Thailand, we have just got a letter from the school allowing her the time off so we will add this as well. She also has a couple of savings accounts and we will add statements from those.

Ok we have one letter with an official stamp that gives my wife permission to take my daughter out of the UK at the Thai end but will need to get this translated for the Uk end. Infact we will probably have to do a second letter because not all of the details are on this letter. We need a letter with details of where she will stay, sponsors address DOB etc.

Hopefully my wife is able to act as her guardian when we visit the VFS. 

Were currently looking into applying for a visitors visa for our niece to come to the UK for a month.

We are currently in Thailand on holiday with our kids and would like to bring back our niece for a short holiday.

Has anyone recently done this? Im looking for all the documents I need on the .gov website and its not very clear.

So far its looks like she must provide.

Her passport including passport sized photos.

Birth certificate

Financial documents from her sponsor who will be us. I read 6 months worth of bank statements.

A signed letter from her parents giving us permission to take her.

Copy of her mothers Passport or ID card.

Also when we go to apply for this at the VFS it says a parent or guardian must accompany the child. Can this be a relative as neither parent are available?

Thanks for any help, we have about 4 weeks to get this sorted before flying back.

Jared

Next week my wife would have been in the UK for 3 year. We are going to use a local council checking service for her 'Naturalisation as a British citizen'

I've gone through all of the note books that help with the application and there are a few parts that mention that ILR must have been held for 12 months before you can apply.

I was under the impression that she could apply for her ILR at anytime after doing her tests and then at the 3 year point she could apply for citizenship regardless of how long she has held her ILR?

Thanks Jared

Wife's confirmation letter turned up today After calling the home office about our application they told me to write a letter. A couple of days later I was sent a reply back asking for 3 recent bank statements from my wife, myself and my latest company accounts. Sent those straight back and got the confirmation today. I think the problem was that I'm set up as a limited company and my wife and I both take a salary and then I take out all the profit as dividends. It a pretty common set up these days instead of being self employed.

Next step is British Citizenship!

Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) was the test she took, its just a pass or fail at B1 level.

I've just seen the collage has actually closed down. She took the PET exam at the London Crest Open centre in Edgeware.

I wonder if this could be the reason for her visa delay.

She done the test back in August last year and then as soon as we got the paper work we applied for her ILM.

So are you saying that if her qualification and provider are not on that list she will have to do another English test if she applies for naturalisation after 5/11/15?

Providing she gets her visa back before September (Been waiting 6 months already) She should be alright.

Here's a quick update on this one. We applied for my wife's 'indefinite leave to remain' via our local checking service back at the beginning of October. She already redone her English tests and passed that fine and we finally had all the documents in order. A couple of weeks later we received a conformation letter and were told to go and do her biometrics at a post office. All of that was done and we were told we would have the visa back within 6 months. Its been over six months and still no word so I called them today and they would not let me know anything other than to write a letter to find out what the problem is. Stressful process but hopefully we get there in end!

Current plans are to have the mother sign the papers and send us all the documents.

We are filling out the MN1 form and will register her under section 3 (1)

I don't know if they will accept this because the niece is not currently living in the UK, the father is though.

Does anyone think we may have to go the British embassy in Bangkok and get her registered?

Does anyone think there will be a problem doing all this from the UK when the child is actually in Thailand?

I've looked in a few forums and its been mentioned but with slightly different circumstances.

Thanks for the replys guys.

Firstly were not trying to bring her here just so she can have a UK education. My wife and I have practically raised her since she was just over 1 until she was 7 when we left for the UK 2 years ago. There's only around a year and a half between her and our oldest son and all 3 of our children consider her their big sister. When we moved to the UK at the time we asked her if she wanted to come with us and back then she didn't because she would miss her mum too much which is understandable. Now she's a bit older she has decided that she's like to come and live with us. When we left she was living in the family home and there were plenty of family member's looking after her. Now they have all left, got married and had their own kids. Its just the grandma and her mother left. Her mum works crazy hours at a franchised restaurant and they send her away for months at a time to other locations where she has to help train up the new staff. This is when my niece is practically left to fend for herself.

The situation now is that I have been in contact with the father and I believe we can move forward and get her registered. I was never going to be the one signing the document and registering it was always going to be the father providing he agreed to do so.

Registration at the Home Secretary’s discretion – Section 3(1) application
Illegitimate children

We may normally register the illegitimate minor child, born before 1 July 2006, of a British citizen father under section 3 (1) if the criteria at a-c. (and, if appropriate, d.) below are all satisfied:
a. We are satisfied about the paternity of the child; and
b. We have the consent of all those with parental responsibility; and
c. If the child had been born to the father legitimately:
i. the child would have had an automatic claim to British citizenship; or
ii. the child would have had an entitlement to registration under either section 1 (3), section 3 (2) or sections 3 (5); or
iii. we would normally have registered under section 3 (1). And, if appropriate
d. There is no reason to refuse on character grounds

The paternity I believe should be satisfied as he is on the Thai birth certificate. The father is willing to do the DNA test if need be but according to the document below they should accept the birth certificate.

Paternity

Where the mother was not married at the time of a child’s birth and no provision is

made through surrogacy arrangements or the female second parent provisions of the

HFE Act 2008 as to the identity of the father, the “father” will be any person who is

shown to be such by either:

a birth certificate, issued within 1 year of the birth, naming the child’s father, Or

b.any other evidence, such as DNA test reports and court orders, the Home

Secretary considers to be relevant to the issue of paternity and to constitute

sufficient proof.

We have consent of both the Mother and Father, check!

I believe everything is covered.

The plan now is to get her mother to translate the documents we need, sign the correct forms, get photos etc and send all of that to us.

I will then fill out the forms and go with the father to a 'checking services' and he will submit the documents.

Once she has been registered the passport should just be a formality and I believe we can also do that from the UK.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Can admin please move this topic to 'Visas and migration to other countries' where I might get more help?

Thanks Mario,

So I guess the question is, Has anyone managed to register there child as a British Citizen prior to July 2006 when they were not married to the mother?

I'm looking into the possibility of registering my niece as a British Citizen so that she can come and live in England with us.

Short story is she was born in Thailand in 2005 to a British father and Thai mother. The father is on the birth certificate but they never married and split shortly after.

According to 'Check if your a British Citizen' page on the GOV.UK website she is not because they did not marry and she was born pre July 2006.

My first child was born in October 2006 so we didn't have any problems registering any of our kids.

The father is on the birth certificate so I'm wondering if it is still possible?

Our Aim is to get her to England to live with us and our kids so she can finish her education off over here.

We moved back to England in 2012 and at the time my nieces mother wouldn't let her come with us or we would have adopted her or looked at other options.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks 7by7

The fact that she would of had to redo it anyway for naturlisation will certainly soften the blow.

Thanks for the list, we might try a different provider.

Ok thanks, ill get her booked in on another Bulats test, they have them in the Uk also.

Shes going to kill me when she finds out!

I think Ive messed up again. I still havent applied for my wifes visa and by delaying it I think ive given her an extra test to do.

The main reason I didnt apply for the visa after she originally completed the life in the uk test was that we didnt have all the paper work.

We didnt have enough letters at the same address in single or joint names because we were staying with family at the time.

I had two weeks off over Christmas and I decided to sort out all of the paper work and apply for her visa.

It looks like theyve added an extra English test. My wife did take this test when she applied for the visa but only got the b1 in the English - Reading and listening.

In the Writing and Speaking tests she only got an A2-High. These were Bulats tests.

Does she need to retake the writing and speaking tests before she can now apply?

Thanks 7by7, you really have been a great help.

Ive found a local checking serice so im going to use those.

ive already messed up my wifes original visa app and her life in the uk test twice.

Thanks 7by7, Your correct it is 27 months.

Ive read a lot more and found out most of the information.

The one thing im stuck on is that it says you cannot apply for ILR until around 30 days before your visa is due to run out.

Is this the case with my wifes or can we apply anytime?

Im worried about this because there seems to be a limit on the length that your 'life in the UK' stays on there system.

Thanks quadisking, we had been married for over 5 years in Thailand so we can go straight for it.

Thanks 7by7, Im getting a bit confused by it all at the minute. My wifes visa in her passport says, 'Visa Settlement Spouse/CP(Kol Req) J P Williams' with a validity of two years.

I was under the impression that once she passed the test we would have to send off her passport and KOL certificate and she would be given the new visa.

Do we have to apply for a complete new visa? New docs, new evidence, new fee's etc

Her visa doesnt say she has ILE or ILR, Just a Visa Settlement.

Ive looked on the Uk Border Agency website and I cant find the correct forms to fill in, it all seems like its for the new rules.

They do have a section called - Settleing in the UK - Find the right forms - Family Categories - Partner of a permanent UK resident - Form SET(M)

Then it says that 'If you have lived here for at least 2 years, you can apply using form SET (M).

Weve only been here 5 months.

Any help from anyone who has done this recently would be great.

Thanks for all the help on this guys. My wife passed the life in the UK test last month and I want to apply for her ILR.

Because we applied for the initial visa before the 9th of July will we still be under the old rules?

Has anyone recently done this in the UK?

My Wife collected her settlement visa today.

We applied 25th June and it was issued 09th August

One thing im not sure on is if she has the correct visa type. Weve been married 6 years abroad so wanted an ILE.

The visa say 'Visa Settlemtn Spouse/cp(Kol Req) xxxxxxxx Valid for 2 years.

Im sure its correct and once shes done her Kol she will get an ILR visa?

Then its a 3 year wait before she can apply for her passport

Thanks but I'm not renewing the marriage visa because we're going back to the UK, minimum of 3 years.

Went to the DLT this morning and it was also shut, now not open until the 14th.

I might try the immigration office and see if they will give me a 2 week extension.

Thanks

Another problem that I have is my Visa runs out on the 14th, its my marrage visa that ive been reniewing for the last few years. I also have a work permit but the company is in the middle of closing down, I think its still valid. We cant collect my wifes settlement visa until the 15th and then we have a few other things to sort out before we can fly back to the UK. Im thinking of either doing a border run (15days) or a night in Singapore (30days) and returning on a tourist visa. Do you think I will still be able to use my work permit and if not will I be able to get a residency certificate on a tourist visa?

Another thing I just noticed is that the address in the car registration book is different from the address in my work permit, could that be a problem?

I just got the email to say they have made a decision on our application and our documents can be collected in two working days.

We applied 25th June, Happy Days, providing we get what we want.