7by7

Indeed, his employment status in Thailand is somewhat irrelevant as, obviously, any job he has there will end when he moves to the UK to live.

If he isn't working, simply say so.

As visitors to the UK are not allowed any NHS treatment except initial emergency treatment in an A&E department, make sure that you include evidence that the treatment he received in the UK was paid for.

I would also explain why he stayed longer on his visit than originally stated.

Personally, I believe that it is best for both parent and child to apply for settlement at the same time. Not just to make the child's application simpler and easier (if parent and child have been living constantly together and apply together then sole responsibility is almost a given) but also to avoid the heartache of separation. From the day we started to get serious and talk of marriage, my wife made it clear that her daughter was part of the package and she would not move to the UK with me unless her daughter came too; I would not have wanted it any other way.

However, I fully understand that practical issues, such as finding suitable accommodation, may make it difficult or even impossible for parent and child to both move to the UK at the same time. Each couple must decide for themselves. But the shorter the period of separation, the better for parent and child and the easier it will be to obtain a settlement visa for the child

in your opening post you say "but due to work commitments it will not be suitable for our son to come to live with us until march 2013" i do hope that information doesn't get on the application form.

Why?

In my opinion a full explanation of why the boy has not applied earlier can only help the application.

Does the old Thai passport have a current visa affixed? If so you will probably be able to show both passports. What about when you enter the UK? Will they accept both passports? A phone call to the British Embassy might be worth while.

If a UK visa is valid, then it is still valid even if the passport it is affixed to has expired.

There is no need to pay the UK government's exorbitant fee to transfer the piece of paper, simply show both old and new passports when required.

Moved to Thai visas.

Topic closed.

Please post any updated information or questions in this pinned topic.

Topic closed.

Please post any updated information or questions in this pinned topic.

I have, for clarity, closed the two topics currently running: UK-Vac Closed Until Tues UK Visa applications and Embassies Open In Bangkok ? and started this one.

If anyone has any updated information on any embassy or visa application centre, or any questions, then please post here.

This topic will remain pinned until the situation returns to normal.

Thank you.

If she does not have a British passport and is traveling on a Thai passport then she will need to have the appropriate visa to enter the UK.

To apply, see Applying for a UK visa in Thailand. Note that you will need to make an appointment to submit the application.

You will need to provide evidence of your ties and reasons to return to Thailand after the visit to show that you do not intend to remain in the UK with your daughter but are just visiting.

Processing times depend upon demand. Anecdotal evidence suggests that visit visa applications are currently being processed in 5 working days or less. However, the floods may have changed this as both the UK Visa Application Centre and the British embassy are subject to closure and staff shortages due to the flooding. See Visa application centre in Bangkok closed due to floods.

You may find VAT03 - Special visitor: Child visitors helpful.

NB

British nationality law can be complex. As she was, presumably, born outside the UK then just because you are British and her mother does not automatically mean she is British; it depends on whether you are British by descent or British otherwise than by descent; which is why your long form birth certificate is needed to obtain a British passport for her. See here for more on British nationality.

Even if you cannot do so in time for this visit, you should, assuming she is eligible, obtain a British passport for her ASAP. She can then use her Thai passport to leave and enter Thailand and her British passport to leave and enter the UK, without any restrictions at either end.

Forum rules. 16) Not to post about gambling, betting, pornography, illegal drugs, fake goods/clothing etc and other activities that are officially illegal in Thailand.

Closed.

He cannot enter the UK with a Thai passport unless he has the appropriate visa.

If he enters Thailand with a British passport then he will be treated as British and not Thai for all immigration purposes. Not a big problem at his age, but could cause problems when he is older.

Best to obtain both passports for him and use the Thai one for entering and leaving Thailand and the British one for entering and leaving the UK.

Firstly, UK visa statistics are broken down simply into applications received and visas issued, rejected or application withdrawn. The applicant's past or current occupation is not included.

Neither are reasons for refusal.

However................

Someone applying to come to the UK, in any category, who admitted to currently being a sex worker would almost certainly be refused; the assumption being that they want to enter the UK to continue that profession and not for the reasons stated in the application.

However, someone who previously worked in that area, and may even have met their British partner through that work, but does so no longer will not be penalised for their previous employment; provided they are honest and open about it in their application.

Ex Bar Girls do get UK visas; liars don't.

The length of the relationship is also a factor. There is no minimum length for a relationship required in the immigration rules, merely that the couple have met, but the ECO has to be satisfied that the relationship is genuine and lasting. Obviously, the shorter the relationship, the more difficult this will be to do.

Note to all.

Keep replies to the topic; which is UK visas. Off topic replies will be deleted and appropriate action taken against any offenders.

I have no knowledge of the Australian visa rules. However, I doubt very much that her being resident in the UK rather than Thailand would change much; except, maybe, reducing or eliminating any concerns over her leaving Australia after the visit. Plus, of course, if she is resident in the UK, she applies to the Australian High Commission in the UK.

A question about Australian visas will probably go unnoticed in a topic about UK visas by those who can offer you useful advice. So if you have specific questions on that subject I suggest that you start a new topic.

As for settling in the UK; obviously there is no compulsion on you to do so. If you would rather live in Thailand, or elsewhere, and merely visit the UK from time to time then visit visas is the way to go. Remember that she can apply for longer than 6 months; up to 10 years. But; this does not mean she can spend 10 years in the UK as a visitor. The maximum per visit would still be 6 months and there is a convention that a visitor should not spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in the UK.

From what you have said; she is your wife, you live together in Thailand (correct?), she has visited the UK twice before, and presumably complied with all the conditions of her visas on those occasions, I can see no reason why a longer term visit visa would not be granted. Be warned, though, that the longer term asked for, the higher the fee and if the ECO issues a shorter period than asked for there will be no refund of the difference in fees.

See VAT1.4 Visa validity - What period for a multiple entry visit visa?

Having said all of that, if she wants a British passport, then she is going to have to satisfy the UK residency requirements detailed above; and the other criteria.

You, or rather he, applies for settlement as a child. As your wife has no time restriction on her stay in the UK, then, if successful, he will be granted Indefinite Leave to Enter.

Children under 18 cannot be naturalised as British, but they can apply to be registered as British; which to all intents and purposes is the same thing. Registration in his circumstances is not a right; it is at the UKBA's discretion, but as his mother is already naturalised then there should not be a problem.

He will not need to satisfy the knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement and there is no minimum residential requirement; although he must be resident in the UK with no time restriction on his stay.

See Can I register a child aged under 18 as a British citizen? and Other cases where it is considered to be in the child's best interests to be granted British citizenship as well as the relevant links from those pages.

My one concern is that his mother has been living apart from him in the UK for some time; at least three years now (or she would not have been able to become a British citizen); nearly 4 by the time the boy applies. The longer parent and child have been separated, the more difficult it can be showing that the UK based parent has been exercising sole responsibility over the child. See SET7.8 What is sole responsibility?

If the sole responsibility 'test' is not 'passed' then his visa application will be refused.

An off topic post has been removed.

With respect, from your recent posting history it seems that you are still looking for a way of converting her visit into settlement whilst she is still in the UK.

This is not going to happen.

Even if the situation in Thailand deteriorates to such an extent that her return has to be delayed beyond the expiry of her visa (doubtful), she would still have to leave the UK when the situation improved.

As you have been told several times before, there is no way she will be able to make an in UK application for settlement whilst in the UK as a visitor. She will have to return to Thailand and apply for settlement there.

Whilst she is living in the UK with her initial settlement visa she can leave the UK and return as often and for as long as she likes. However, when she applies for Indefinite Leave to Remain she will need to show that she is a UK resident; which may be difficult to do if she has spent more time out of the UK than in.

When she has ILR she can, again, leave the UK and return as often as she likes. However, if she spends a continuous period of two years or more outside the UK her ILR will lapse and she will have to apply for the appropriate visa to return.

Once she has lived in the UK for long enough and has no time restriction on her stay, e.g. ILR, she can apply to be naturalised as British, both the UK and Thailand allow dual nationality. Once British she can, of course, leave the UK when and for as long as she wishes and return at any time; just like any other British citizen.

However, there is a residential qualification for naturalisation. If you are British, then as the spouse of a British citizen she must have been in the UK on the exact day three years prior to submitting the application and during the intervening three years have spent no more than a total of 270 days out of the UK, with a maximum of 90 days in the final year.

If you are not British, then the qualifying period for her naturalisation is 5 years, with no more than 450 days out of the UK during the last 5 years, and 90 days in the final year.

For how to apply for ILR, see Completing application form SET(M) and Knowledge of language and life in the UK.

For more on naturalisation, see How do I apply for naturalisation as a British citizen? and the appropriate links from there.

Obviously, whether she is using a Thai or a British passport, she will have to obtain any necessary visas before traveling. Having ILR in the UK does not exempt her from any visa requirements other countries impose on Thai nationals.

Remember, though, that if you are an EU citizen, e.g. British, then as the spouse of an EU citizen a Schengen visa to travel to most European countries is free and easy to obtain, provided she is traveling with or to join you; regardless of where she lives or her status in the UK.

NB.

The information posted above, and in the links provided, is the current situation. The rules and requirements are subject to change at any time by the government, so you should check the requirements and procedures for both ILR and naturalisation nearer the appropriate time.

Thanks, VP.

I printed the document off last night (UK time) but haven't had a chance to study it thoroughly yet.

I'll try calling Ms Bryant.

Important; so bumped.

Very interesting, but one question left unanswered which I hope someone may be able to answer.

A Friend of ours is coming to the end of her 27 month spouse visa. During that time her husband decided that he didn't want her anymore and kicked her out; even though she was pregnant by him at the time.

She has since given birth, and I understand that the husband is named on the birth certificate, and even if he isn't the child would still be a British citizen as she was born in the UK and her mother, at the time of the birth, was resident in the UK.

So, to cut a long story short, she wants to stay in the UK and I've told her that she can apply under this judgment; but does anyone know how?

I'm assuming she can't use SET(M) as her husband wont support the application, so should she use SET(O), FLR(O) or something else?

I appreciate that you are concerned; our house in Bangsu is OK as I write, but the water's getting nearer.

However, this is nothing to do with visas and migration to other countries. As you have posted in the main flood topic, I'm closing this one.

Visitors to the UK are not entitled to any NHS treatment except the most basic emergency care in an A&E department. This has been the case for many years. This measure, if it ever happens, will only, hopefully, enforce regulations already there.

And these days you have to have an appointment; so unless you like sitting around, get there at the appointed time.

Moved to Thai Visas etc.

DMB, the letter you have now received from the college does, as bobrussell says, now meet the requirements.

Also, an ILR application is very straightforward. all you have to do is show that

• The relationship is still extant.
• You can accommodate and support yourselves without recourse to public funds.
• Your wife meets the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement.
• Your wife has not been convicted of a criminal offence while in the UK.
• Er.....that's it!

You say 'our son.' Is one of you a British citizen? If so, then the boy is probably British and does not need a visa, just a British passport.

Q1. You do not need a letter confirming a school place in the UK; although you do have a legal obligation to send him to school once he is resident in the UK.

Q2. A visa's start date can be postponed for up to three months.If his parent(s) has ILR then he will be granted Indefinite Leave to Enter. This must be used to enter the UK within 1 year of it being issued. If his parent(s) doesn't have ILR then his visa will be timed to expire at the same time as that of his parent(s); he must enter the UK before this date or else he will need to apply for a new visa.

Q3. Form SU07 applies to applications by adult dependant relatives; not children.

You may find Settlement; Children helpful.