7by7

The first thing you both have to decide is what you want. A visit or for him to live in the UK with you.

Assuming it is the latter, the procedure is relatively easy. He applies, not you; although you will be his sponsor. He needs to show three things:-

He is a genuine applicant in a genuine relationship with his sponsor.

He will be adequately accommodated in the UK.

He will be financially supported in the UK. (He will not be able to work until after the civil partnership has taken place.)

Assuming his application is successful he will be issued with a 6 month visa which will allow him to travel to the UK and you can both register your civil partnership. Once that has taken place he then applies for further leave to remain in the UK. This lasts for 2 years and at the end of this he applies for indefinite leave to remain.

The following links should be helpful to you:-

UK Visa Application Centre in Bangkok

Guidance - Husbands, wives and partners (INF 4)

Chapter 9 - The maintenance and accommodation requirements

Chapter 13 - Settlement : Fiance(e)s, proposed civil partners, spouses, civil partners, unmarried and same-sex partners

Well he got good free advice. Oh Scouse remember this is Thailand NOT the uk.....

One of the things they always look for is the padding of an applicants bank account. Doing this is not only risky, it is pointless. As long as there are sufficient funds for the visit it does not matter if those funds are provided by applicant or sponsor.

This may be Thailand, but all UK visa applications are decided by British staff at the embassy, using British law and the UK immigration rules.

I'd go Monday.

BTW, this is in the wrong forum.

As she holds a UK settlement visa she can enter Switzerland as a tourist without a visa. However this may change when Switzerland fully implements their membership of the Schengen agreement.

What do you mean?

Immigration at ports of entry to Thailand will obviously still be open. I suspect that MFA offices will be closed.

If you mean visa offices at foreign embassies, the British one does close on Thai public holidays, don't know about other countries.

Mrbojangles is spot on, she is not allowed to claim certain public funds, but you are. You should have claimed as soon as you were entitled to. It would not have effected her application as long as her coming did not cause you to claim any additional funds.

Not all public funds are proscribed. For a list of those that are see 9.2 - Public funds in Chapter 9 - The maintenance and accommodation requirements.

As she is your niece there is, I'm afraid, no way you will get a visa for her to live with you in the UK.

Were you to legally adopt her then it may be possible. See Chapter 14 - Settlement entry for children, especially 14.8 - Adopted children and how they qualify.

Adoption, especially of a foreign child, is a complex matter and you should seek specialist legal advice.

From the British embassy website

Please bring with you to the Embassy your passport and evidence that any previous marriages have been dissolved/terminated (death certificate or divorce certificate(s) as appropriate). Only the original evidence or a certified copy will be accepted – photocopies will not be accepted under any circumstances.

If you are sponsoring a vistor to the UK then you have to show you have the funds to do so.

Supply everthing they ask for. Not doing so will only cause problems with the application, and may even result in a refusal. Don't worry, all information will be treated in confidence and all original documents will be returned.

Congrats to Youngsue, enjoy his visit.

Despite the horror stories one reads on sites such as this, your experience is the norm. The vast majority of visas are issued within days, without any interview. Provided, of course, the application includes all the relevent information.

My advice always has been, and always will be, to include everything. Better to give them information they don't need than leave out something that they do.

Quite agree. I have just read a thread where the OP is given a lot of advice about the US. Problem is, it appears he was asking about the UK!

Maybe a bold notice should be placed on the forum home page asking posters to always say which country they are asking about.

I was in a similar position to you. I had a 3 month visit visa with two entries allowed but wanted to leave Thailand and return for a third time. I applied for this extra entry at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok and it was granted.

However, this was 8 years ago, I'm not sure if rule changes since then mean this is still possible.

BTW, you would probably get more helpful replies if you posted this in the Thai visas, residency and work permits forum.

An appeal will only consider whether the refusal was correct, based upon the information the visa officer had at the time!

From what you have said, this refusal was correct as she lied on the application form and at her interview.

Therefore any appeal is bound to fail.

The only way forward is for her to apply again, explaining why she lied in her first application. Whether this will succeed depends on what she was actually asked at the interview. She can explain the 'mistake' on the application form by saying she thought her previous UK entry was more than 10 years ago, but if at her interview she was asked if she had ever applied to or been to the UK before and replied "No" then she really has no hope.

ILR is indefinite, even if the passport the stamp is in has expired the ILR is still valid.

If you do wish to transfer the stamp to a new passport then yes, you do have to pay. However, there is no need to do so and many ILR holders carry both their valid passport and the expired one which contains the ILR stamp.

It is impossible to advise on your next step without knowing the reason for refusal. Therefore it would be a great help if you could reproduce the refusal notice here.

She will have been given details of how to appeal with the refusal notice.

However, for an appeal to succeed she will need to show that the refusal decision was wrong.

Section 5 of the application form asks about previous foriegn travel, especially to the UK, in the last 10 years. So if she did not disclose her previous sojurn in the UK and the circumstances of her leaving she effectively lied on the application.

Therefore it seems that the refusal was correct and any appeal is bound to fail.

That is my opinion as a layman. You really need professional advice on this either from a solicitor specialising in immigration law or an OISC registered advisor.

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5) At this stage all you need to do is show that the marriage has taken place, so no other documents are required.

<br /><br />I am sending this form off on Monday. Are you saying that there is no need to include any bank statements or payslips with the application?<br />

Sorry, I meant no other documents other than those requested in the form/guidance notes.

Avoid having to make another FLR application in 2 years time by ensuring that she has passed the Life in the UK test or, if her English isn't good enough for this, made progress from one level to the next on an ESOL with citizenship course so that she can apply for ILR.

In your opening post you say that she has been given an appointment for a NI number interview.

Has she or not?

If she has, then what is your problem? Go to that appointment, get her NI number then make your tax credit claim.

As long as you show that you can support and accomodate her whilst she is in the UK you wont have a problem in that area.

The only problem could be her reason to return. You should include in the application a detailed explanation of why you do not currently want to livce permamently together.

For a married couple tax credits are claimed jointly as the amount you recieve depends on your joint income. Whilst they are on the list of public funds unavailable to new migrants, this does not apply when one of the couple is a British citizen or long term resident.

However, to claim them your wife needs a NI number. Go to that interview, get her NI number then submit your tax credit claim.

1) Black and white is ok, colour is better.

2) Always send important papers by recorded delivery, registered is better. Enclose a recorded or registered envelope for their return. The post office will tell you how to do this.

3) & 4) She can use whichever name she chooses. There is no compulsion in the UK for a wife to take her husband's surname.

5) At this stage all you need to do is show that the marriage has taken place, so no other documents are required.

I also have been given an appointment for a work national insurance number but have been advised not to go for this appointment as she is not allowed to work and I am told that the national insurance number so I can claim Child tax credits is not the same.???

Whoever advised you is wrong. There is only one type of NI number, and once issued it stays the same for life.

It is true that she cannot work until you are married and she has FLR, and one cannot apply for a National Insurance number unless one has a need for it. She needs one so you can both apply for tax credits.

Go to the appointment, have the interview, get he NI number.

The major problem when my wife first settled in England was boredom.

I was out at work all day, she was stuck at home alone all day.

When she found work for herself this changed, but what also helped was finding Thai friends.

I believe that the Netherlands has a substantial Thai community, so I would suggest finding and introducing her to other Thais while she is with you on her visit, so she can link up with them again when she comes to live. However, remember some she will like, others she wont. Don't expect two people to be friends just because they are both Thai!

Although I have yet to meet a Dutch person who could not speak English, she should, of course, learn Dutch. Enroling her in a language school will also help keep her occupied.

1) She will need a Schengen visa. Probably simpler if she applies once she is in the UK.

2) Unlikely.

3) No. Settlement visa ho;ders are allowed holidays outside the UK.

It means what it says.

Which bit don't you understand?

I know a couple who were in a similar situation to Narrad, i.e. returning to the UK after some time living in Thailand. They were married and had an offer of financial support from the British partner's parents until he found work in the UK. They also provided details of the British partner's qualifications, the type of work he was seeking and copies of letters he had sent to prospective employers in the UK. The visa was granted without an interview.

As Chapter 9 of the Entry Clearance Guidance - General Instructions, Para 9.7 says

If the applicant and/or sponsor has skills or qualifications which offer a reasonable chance of obtaining employment or already has employment arranged, that should be viewed as sufficient to meet the maintenance requirement without having to make further enquiries.

Although the Immigration Rules do state that a married couple should be able to support themselves, the Entry Clearance Guidance - General Instructions, Chapter 9, Para 9.7 also clearly says

it may be appropriate in certain circumstances to exercise discretion for a spouse or civil partner where it is clear that such an arrangement will be for a limited period and that the couple will be in a position to maintain themselves shortly after the applicant’s arrival in the UK.