wasas

what time does the party start, i,mean the freeby food

is your missis, doing her chilli con carni ?

i never take alcohol with my med.and was on water after i took it to mate and i only had 3 chang before i took my med some no prob though it would of been cheaper in that one bar the rst were fine mate.

you are definately on some sort of meds ,cos i cant understand what you are on about in that statement

i know lamai very well, and i have a good idea who charged you 90b for water, and even though its expensive, if you had live music, then i dont think you were ripped of

Hi, I believe there are only three tests available in Thailand which are accepted by the UKBA. My wife did the BULATS through Vantage Siam in Bangkok, but that was back in May this year. We paid 5600thb at the time but the test was changed in July to the "Certified BULATS" and I think its now 7000thb. Others will be able to advise better than me on the current situation. When my wife did the test Vantage were only offering the speaking part on Fridays but I think its more regular now.

Its 7000 baht now for the test & its Thurs & Fridays only.

thanks for the response guys

Needs speaking & listening. But the tests offered in Thailand test all aspects of English, of which she needs to show an A1 level in speaking & listening

thanks for the reply toddmeister, another question please if you dont mind, Where is this test done,and the number please,and how much, and can we go anytime,as the wife and i live in samui, and dont want to be hanging around bkk to long

Can somebody please update me on this test my wife has to do.

Is it speaking only, or is it writing and reading as well

hi doing ok, i know you are new to samui, i give you a little bit of advice, when you see an accident, the best thing to do is leave the scene,as it has been known that whoever caused the accident ,they have blamed other people ie thai have accident they will blame the farang, even if you werent there and came afterwards,its there word against yours, and you lose,its the way of life here

wasas, were you not here last November, December, January, and then again late March this year.

You are talking a load of crap.

yes i was here last year when we had the bad floods, i am not talking crap, look out the window today, and see if the monsoon has arrived

its really hot out there today

and today its really hot outside,and the past weekend, but hey what do i know apparently i talk crap

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.

thanks again for your help, yes we both live and work in thailand, but i,m trying to find easier ways to go travelling together

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.

7 by 7, thankyou for your detailed response, much appreciated.

I am grateful you told me about the shengan visa, much helpful.

My reasons for being on this visa page is this,

I am married to my thai wife,legally, she has been to england twice, i ,m almost certain we wouldnt have any problem with a settlement visa.But neither of us really wants to spend 3 years in the uk,so that travelling to other countries can be easy for us.

I have friends in australia we would like to see, is there an easy way we can visit them, we both have businesses in thailand. I.E we are both company directors.and my wife has 2 houses in her own name{ if this is any help}

hi all, hope you can help me.

If and when my wife gets her settlement visa for the uk, what are the conditions of her remaining in the uk,.

I mean can she come back to thailand for holidays as many times as she wishes, and for how long at a time.

2nd question,After her 2 years in england,is she eligable for travelling to other countries easily, or does she have to stay another year ,and take some kind of test

thanks

so far the facts are that there was a crash, many people hospitalized and aprt from that to this day nothing is clear apart from the fact that Julie was out of hospital within days and running visa run tours.

i know that for a fact.

Is there any update on the guy, who was in a coma please

wasas, were you not here last November, December, January, and then again late March this year.

You are talking a load of crap.

yes i was here last year when we had the bad floods, i am not talking crap, look out the window today, and see if the monsoon has arrived

Is there any reason yet to suggest we are going to actually have a rainy season? Sure, we've just had a little storm but otherwise the weather so far has been good. I wonder whether the north and central Thailand might have taken our rain too.

I'd be absolutely delighted to listen to your comments.

The Northeast monsoon IS upon us.

i think you are talking nonsense.

One thrd of thailand is under water ..FACT.

Samui has a couple of bad days of rain, and its called monsoon.Rubbish

I agree with carmine, samui might miss it this year because the rest of thailand, is getting too much.

The Farangs here are starting to behave like the thais, i go to makro every day,and what do i see . I see Farangs stocking up on water, i know some of these people and i like them dont have a bar, but i see them getting 40, or 50 cases of water, and when i asked this person why ,they have so much, they said in case it runs out.

Well done. it has run out, you win,

If everyone just bought what they wanted ,we wouldnt run out.

Many people on thai visa moan about the thai people and there ways, well i,ve seen it for myself the farangs are worse.

I am glad i.m not living in the flood areas with the farangs that live here

130 Baht for a Heineken??

Its a proper rip off aint it!

The whole island is a rip off.

the whole island is not a rip off.

I went to Honda yesterday to get a new seat clip fitted, and it cost a staggering 138 baht fitted

no problema, name is Birdman, who is dave?

dave a.k.a sweeney todd

great, chilli for me tommorow, i,ve had a couple and will say they are good,

fpound one not that 120 quid a shot lol and the price of a drink here glad i do not drink much now lol mine you only 100baht large singha in the fresh sea food place facing us lol

Your not related to big c are you

as david james has pointed out that Julie reads these pages, then i think for your business purposes its best if you now speak up Julie.

Alot of these expats writing on here must obviously have travelled with you one time or more.

And they just want some clarification. And thats down to you julie

Otherwise you will lose a lot of customers, including me

Can anybody tell me the cost of the metered taxis at bangkok airport {suwanapoon} i know not the right spelling. to Jomtiem, and how long it takes please

I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

TV has not offered to sponsor anything yet and we don't know if they will.

Even so, let's not be cheap Charlies, it's still a great idea to have another 'meet' like last time even if we do have to pay for our own drinks and 'nosh'

Why not same place (Emerald Bar) as they are sponsors and may be prepared to give us the food at reduced prices or our other sponsors Premier Bar, same idea?

I think unfortunately Sweeneys and Haveli are not the places for a party although they deserve support with our custom at other times.

Maybe Rooo will organise it as before?

I agree with you yorkie, nobody in these times can afford to give out free food to balloon chasers, I for 1dont mind paying, its good to meet up.

I enjoyed the last meet.But if the sponsors wanted to, discount, i,m all up for that.

Why don't we make a day of it:

Sweeney Todds for a late breakfast then into the village for an afternoon session in The Emerald followed by a trip up to Bangrak for a curry in Havelis ending up in The Premiership bar for the evening.

All food and drink provided by our wonderfull sponsors?:jap:

Sounds like a great day

That' breakfast sorted

Just need to hear from lunch and evening entertainment then

Have a safe trip SBK. Enjoy. I would say " While the cats away " etc but no doubt you can crack the whip from the other side of the world with your IPhone

I seemed to remember h2o dunc, being rather peed of, when sweeney todds first sponsored thaivisa,about opening times etc,and when sweeney todd apologised, there was no answer from h2odunc.But any signof free food,hes first to reply

Has anyone been into the new furniture shop at the bottom of the hill, headed up to Makro... ? ( same side....coming from Bophut traffic light, on ring road) it looks huge.... been open a week to two now....

Might be worth a try... perhaps some "opening specials"?

yes i was there last week, some very nice furniture, many items that i have not seen anywhere else in samui, they also have a brochure that you can order from.

I dont know how long you habve to wait for things

Its good to see some businesses on the island are thinking of there staff.

I have been to sweeney todds a few times and i see he always seems to have the same staff, and good english speaking ones

I go many places and always see a big turnaround of staff,