enquirer

I have read of these devices being refused, though I have no certain knowledge myself. It would be devastating for this to happen at the point of application.

I have helped my son and his wife to apply for her Visa in Bangkok, and she received the Visa in August six weeks later. Apart from hundreds of photographs carefully assembled into 5 photograph albums with dates and explanations, my son documented their time apart by condensing records of their daily talk via skype and a message service, with a covering note explaining these otherwise incomprehensible sheets.

In the event, his wife expanded these into many pages (I don't know how many) which she had neatly bound into a thickish booklet, handed over with the rest of her documents. I prepared these documents myself, so I know that although they were very copious and potentially irritating and confusing for the ECO, I had divided them into logical groupings, placed them in open sided clearly labelled plastic holders, stapled them together with further labelling, and in principal made everything extremely easy and quick to check through.

I imagined the ECO reading each label, leafing through the quantities of paperwork behind it, moving on quickly through the categories, which of course included the neatly bound booklet of recorded conversations, and eventually being satisfied on all counts.

So may I suggest that you provide a list of all your conversations - presumably several pages of small writing fronted by a brief statement of what this is about, as we did - backed up by a neatly bound booklet of as many examples as you can bear to print out? I imagine the ECO would grasp the point, riffle through the conversations to make sure they are convincing, and tick the box....

Likewise with the photographs. I privately thought my daughter-in-law was overdoing it by supplying her 5 albums, but she sent me a photo of them neatly piled together, the covers clearly labelled with their dates - and it looked perfectly manageable. It took her a great deal of time to sort them out and label them, and I privately think that a smaller selection would have done the job just as well - but she got the visa.

This may all sound like overkill, but we had a weak case (my son lives on benefits) and it worked for us. Maybe you have a strong case and need not put so much work into it.

Perhaps you already know that whatever container holds all these papers, it will be emptied and the papers placed in the VAC's own containers. I warned my daughter-in-law so that she would not be upset, and she was allowed to place the papers into the VAC container herself, in the correct order, calmly.

Might it help to have letters (fairly short and factual) from members of her family, and from friends, testifying that you stayed with her? Possibly with affidavits? I do believe that anything that shows that you have gone out of your way to prove the facts is useful in helping the ECO to come down on the right side of assessing "the balance of probabilities".

Who knows what were the factors in making our application successful (I prepared it, with advice from a specialist solicitor), and in such a comparatively short time.... However, I did include two letters from UK friends of our couple testifying to the strength, length, and mutual supportiveness of their relationship.

We also had a wealth of photographs. I forget the length of your relationship with your fiancée, but many of our pictures included the couple with my various grandsons, visibly developing from baby to toddler over about three years. My daughter-in-law spent a lot of time arranging these photographs in albums with clearly printed labels explaining the different venues and people and dates, and pointing out the children's development. Were your photographs clearly mounted with similar labels?

I hope that a factor in our success was that I imagined a harrassed ECO riffling through a mass of papers with no time or incentive to work out what the papers were trying to prove. I therefore sorted them out into logical sequence and placed those that belonged together into plastic envelopes with two sides open (easier for ECO to pull them out and replace them) with large clear labels showing their purpose.

For example, my son produced a great mass of skype records, meaningless to the uninitiated - these had to be stapled into a "booklet" and explained by a clear label informing the ECO that they were 12 months of records showing that he and his wife spoke on skype daily and often for several hours. This is not clear from the records themselves unless you study them for ages.

I read here that however carefully you arrange your papers in order, the VAC tips them out into their own containers. My daughter-in-law was warned about this, and was careful to place the papers in their labelled plastic envelopes in the right order into the VAC container. I also used staples or treasury tags to keep the papers within the plastic envelopes in the right order, in case the plastic envelopes were taken off and lost.

Bank statements: I highlighted relevant entries (eg Housing Benefits payments to prove he had accommodation and income with Tax Credit payments) with a simple key to the different colours; I thought the ECO would find it difficult to pick out important payments among all the rest, and would not give it enough time.

Forgive me if any of this is irrelevant to you, but it may help someone else.

idmilla 14/08 VISA GRANTED 7/10 7 Weeks 5 days TUESDAY

Enquirer 19/08 VISA GRANTED 1/10 6 weeks THURSDAY

Wonderful, idmilla! We both got shorter waiting times than expected!

My daughter-in-law made an application on 19th August and got her visa today, after only 6 weeks! It was not a straightforward application because my son is on benefits and is partially disabled. So things seem to be speeding up.

They had to make the application on-line, then print it out and take it and all supporting documents to the Visa Application Centre in person.

Ask me if you would like to know any more detail.

Sorry:

Enquirer 19/08 VISA GRANTED 1/10 6 weeks THURSDAY

FEB'S APPLICATIONS

Rob01792 02/2 granted 30/3 - (8 weeks) MONDAY

Chris41 10/2 granted 16/3 - (4 weeks 6 days) MONDAY

Kooyoonii 10/2 granted 04/5 - (11 weeks 6 days) MONDAY

Pikwik 11/2 granted 27/4 - (10 weeks 5 days) MONDAY

Xiengmieng 17/2 granted 24/3 - (5 weeks) TUESDAY

Lindty 18/2 granted 24/4 - (8 weeks 6 days) FRIDAY

Tahaan 18/2 granted 13/5 - (12 weeks) WEDNESDAY

Eddiebabyyeah 20/2 granted 01/4 - (5 weeks 5 days) WEDNESDAY

MARCH'S APPLICATIONS

Tlusername 04/3 granted 15/5 - (10weeks 2 days) FRIDAY

Tricknicky 09/3 granted 23/4 - (6 weeks 3 days) (Special Case) THURSDAY

AnyaDharu 09/3 granted 19/5 - (10weeks 1 day) TUESDAY

Tango7 10/3 granted 12/5 - (9weeks) TUESDAY

Johnson83 11/3 granted 22/5 - (10 weeks 2 days) FRIDAY

Chanthas 12/3 granted 25/5 - (10 weeks 4 days) MONDAY

Gypsymoth 13/3 granted 25/5 - (10 weeks 3 days) MONDAY

chrisspuresbkk1 13/3

Friend Boo 16/3 granted 18/6 - (13 weeks 3 days) THURSDAY

Dave W 16/3 granted 17/6 - (13 weeks 2 days) WEDNESDAY

Stonewall 62 17/3 granted 19/6 - (13 weeks 3 days) FRIDAY

Kennkate 17/3 granted16/6 - (13 weeks) TUESDAY

Chewy 18/3 Granted 07/08 20 weeks and 3 days

PeterHThai 19/3 granted 19/6 - (13 weeks 1 day) FRIDAY

Pingit 19/3 Refused 19/6 - ( 13 weeks 1 day ) FRIDAY Decision overturned 15/07 WEDNESDAY

TheFiend 20/3 granted 18/6 - (12 weeks 6 days) THURSDAY

Jaja 20/3 granted 9/7 - (15 weeks 6 days) THURSDAY

Pudsey 23/3 granted 10/7 - (15 weeks 4 days) FRIDAY

Sumrit 24/3 Granted 26/6 - (13 weeks 4 days) FRIDAY

Merangue 25/3 Granted 03/6 - (10 weeks) WEDNESDAY

Domm44 27/3 Granted 22/7- (16 Weeks 5 days)WEDNESDAY

Fluidfusion 27/3 Refused 03/06 - (13 weeks) WEDNESDAY

TickTock 30/3 Granted 19/6 - (11 weeks 4 days) FRIDAY

George & Dragon 30/03 Refused 26/06 (12 weeks 4 days) FRIDAY

Delboy 30/3 Granted 22/06 - (12 weeks 1 day) MONDAY

APRIL'S APPLICATIONS

Borodave 01/4 Granted 24/6 - (12 weeks) WEDNESDAY

JasonThai 02/4 Granted 25/6 - (12 weeks) THURSDAY

Mikeyp 03/4 granted 26/6 - (12 weeks) FRIDAY

Mrburb 03/4 Granted 26/6 - (12 weeks) FRIDAY

Feasantplukka 03/4 Granted 14/7 - (14 week 4 days) TUESDAY

Muaylaosfalang 03/4 Granted 26/6 (12 weeks) FRIDAY

Lerningcurve 07/04 Granted 30/6 (12 weeks) TUESDAY

Bigsy94 07/04 Granted 30/6 (12 weeks) TUESDAY

Kate46 (son) 08/4 Granted 22/7 - (15 WEEKS) WEDNESDAY

AndyJoy 08/4 Granted 21/7 (14 weeks 6 days) TUESDAY

Marcjaiyenyen 08/4 (Applied in Jamaica) granted 7/7 (12 weeks 6 days) TUESDAY

ExoticMatter 09/4 Granted 23/7 (15 weeks) THURSDAY

Dolphy 21/4 Granted 29/7 (14 weeks 1 day) WEDNESDAY

Scotland 22/4 Granted 24/07 (13weeks) FRIDAY

Jes5133 24/4 Granted 24/7 (13 Weeks) FRIDAY

Lee888 28/4 Granted 22/7 (12 week 1 Day) WEDNESDAY

CinnamonRoll 29/4 Granted 22/7 - (12 week) WEDNESDAY

Gena 29/4 Granted 22/7 (12 week) WEDNESDAY

Rolypies 29/4 Granted 10/6 - (6 weeks) (Special Case) WEDNESDAY

Castor83 29/4 Refused

TDM 30/4 Granted 24/7 (12 Weeks 1 Day) FRIDAY

MAY'S APPLICATIONS

Nelson111 04/5 Granted 23/7 (11 Weeks 4 Days) THURSDAY

Marky1600 05/05 Ganted 28/7 (12 Weeks) TUESDAY

Wayne Mcclymont 06/5 Granted 04/08 12 Weeks 6 Days TUESDAY

Alanr 07/5 Granted 28/7 (11 Weeks 5 Days) TUESDAY

Suprich 07/5 Granted 28/7 (11 Weeks 5 Days) TUESDAY

Buzby 11/5 Granted 27/7 (11 weeks) MONDAY

dean999 12/5 Interview 27/7 10 Weeks 6 Days/rejected 6/8 (12 weeks 2 days) THURSDAY

Dont panic 13/05 Granted 29/07 (11 weeks) WEDNESDAY

Zim 13/5

True blue 14/5 Granted 27/7 (10 weeks 5 days) MONDAY

Spot 15/5 Granted 31/07 (11 weeks) FRIDAY

uaelaelil 20/5 Refused 14/8 12 Weeks 2 Days FRIDAY

Johnokk 25/5 Granted 04/8 (10 weeks 1 day) TUESDAY

moodysufc 26/5 Refused 19/8 12 Weeks 1 Day WEDNESDAY

Ade2007 29/5 Granted 04/8 9 Weeks 4 Days TUESDAY

leefreight 29/05

JUNE'S APPLICATIONS

Ajsp9 02/06 Granted 10/8 (9 weeks 6 days) MONDAY

Globaleyes 08/06 Granted 17/8 10 Weeks MONDAY

Bukseeda 09/06 Granted 02/9 12 Weeks 1 Day WEDNESDAY

Hawkinsschris 19/06 Granted 09-09-09 11 week 4 days TUESDAY

Thongkorn 23/06 GRANTED

Dowman73 30/6 Granted 10/09/09 10 weeks 2 day Thursday

JULY'S APPLICATIONS

tjthai 2/07 VISA GRANTED FOR WIFE DAUGHTER REFUSED (APPEALING!) - 11 Weeks 2 days FRIDAY

simiUK 6/07 VISA GRANTED 12 Weeks 6 days MONDAY

bobrussell 13/07 VISA GRANTED 23/9 10 weeks 2 days

Jaggg88 14/07

Bananaman 30/07 GRANTED 8 Weeks

AUGUST'S APPLICATIONS

learningcurve 13/08

idmilla 14/08

Enquirer 19/08 VISA GRANTED 6 weeks THURSDAY

UNBELIEVABLE! Frantic messages from Bangkok: my daughter in law has her spouse visa TODAY, after applying on 19th August! Is that 6 weeks? I am trembling too much to count.....

For anyone worrying about living on benefits and a vanishingly tiny part-time income - that is my son's position. Yet it worked! I was SURE we would have to go to Appeal/Human Rights/months and months of more agonised waiting.

Good luck to everyone - they seem to be speeding up!

By the way, we did overkill on documentation - PILES of the stuff all carefully sorted and labelled. By her account of today's visit to collect it and her passport, they were glad to get rid of it......

Thanks again, nice and clear.

Thank you very much, both. I now fear she will not have her passport back in time. If she gets it with a UK settlement visa, she will be off to UK at once, and if she doesn't, she'll maybe be too depressed to come to a wedding, but we'll have to wait and see.

I went to Singpore for a wedding on UK passport 2 years ago and got free visa on arrival for a limited period - going again in November expecting the same efficient routine.

My Thai daughter in law is stuck in Bangkok waiting for a response to her settlement in UK visa.

I and my daughter are going to my niece's wedding in Singapore (both UK passports) and the family would like to invite my d-i-l to come too, from Bangkok.

For one thing, her passport is still at the UK Embassy while we wait for visa result. But IF she had it back, would she have to apply for a visa to go to Singapore and possibly make daytrips to the other countries? Does anyone know?

And is it hard to get your passport back from the UK Embassy before they have taken a settlement visa decision?

It is so sad that everyone here has a much loved "applicant", in my case my beloved daughter-in-law who has transformed my disabled son's life............... but it may not happen easily.

She is strong, loving, employable, has UK degrees and diplomas, but it may not happen without endless expense and lengthy appeals.

Just a brief complaint.

People who might advise you need to know about any accommodation you can offer your wife. Three factors are looked at - relationship, funds and accommodation. An adequate room to live in is the only way in which your family is allowed to help you.

"Any news tjthai?"

We need to know! So sad if is bad news............

"I'd be very interested to know how many Thai girls actually do a runner when they get to the UK. Very few I would imagine."

I do know one Thai woman who, while in UK on a student visa, contracted a marriage with a UK man (money changed hands) on the understanding she would be off as soon as all hoops had been jumped through and she had ILR for herself and toddler daughter (from previous relationship, born in UK).

Daughter is now 10 - we played with her yesterday - and mother is still studying and working and on benefits.

So it does happen, but this is the only example I know of. If her history is somehow in the system, I suppose it makes it harder for those who follow, including my son's wife who has just made her spouse visa application from Bangkok.

I don't know for sure - but I have been obsessively following this forum because my daughter-in-law made her application for spouse visa recently and I helped her with it - but an earlier post was about a stressed wife who was NOT allowed to show her digital camera photographs at the interview, and was very upset about it.

To be really confident, she should print them out and put them in an album that the ECO can flip through quickly. That is what my daughter-in-law has done.

Trailfinders! Not the cheapest, but very efficient and helpful. I booked 3 of us to Bangkok in early December to visit my daughter-in-law (applied for sttlement 19th August this year), and was very upset when PAD blockaded the airports so we couldn't go. FULL refund from Trailfinders and no argument.

Just got return to Singapore from them for £488, and even if you tell me it is cheaper elsewhere, I would not risk it.

The silence from the visa application centerer is deafening. 10 weeks to day , looks like June applications have come to a halt. has anybody got the Big TeX message yet.

My daughter in law (Thai) got a probably automated message via sms telling her that her Spouse Visa application was forwarded to the Embassy the same day she submitted it, 19th August.

Not very exciting news, I agree.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/processingtimes

According to this, settlement visas are currently completed at the rate of 35% in 60 days, 98% in 90 days and 99% in 120 days. Surely this is even worse than it used to be? If the bulk are completed within 90 days, that is up to18 weeks!

Sorry, Thongkorn, I did not mean to imply that certain plastic folders are "wrong" - it's just that it is easier to get at (and replace) papers in a folder open on two sides.

Our application is so bulky (trying to make up for the lack of income by using other arguments) that I imagined the ECO becoming irritated with the plastic and perhaps not bothering to look at some of our stuff. We are grasping at straws.

Best wishes for your application.

Please add us to the list! My daughter-in-law went to the VAC in Bangkok this afternoon, 19th August, handed over the printed application (electronic one sent a few hours earlier with the fee) and had her finger prints done.

In case it is useful to anyone, here are some details:

I made up a concertina file of all possible documents from the official list and many others besides. Because I learned here that the VAC staff take everything out of any container and put it into their own boxes, I labelled everything meticulously and clearly, and stapled together all papers that had to stay in order, and put most documents into open sided plastic envelopes, also clearly labelled (someone here said they don't like the plastic envelopes that only have one opening at the top, which is understandable). They did want everything removed from the concertina file, but my dil calmly insisted on taking them out herself one by one to place in the VAC box in order.

Apparently the member of staff could not get over how clearly and neatly everything was displayed, and kept showing them to her colleagues in the same room. I know they are not the ones who take the decision, of course, but it can't hurt that they considered this to be an exceptionally well-presented application.

Although she had not made an appointment, she had to wait only 45 minutes to hand over the documents and do her biometrics.

This is a difficult application because my son is partially disabled, lives on housing benefit, works as a selfemployed computer supporter at the lower rate of 16 hours a week plus tax credits, and has a vanishingly small income. We are confident about accommodation (landlord's letter of permission, enough rooms) and relationship - the main worry is income. However, even after removing living expenses, the remaining money is JUST above the target of a couple on job seeker's allowance: £100.95. So if they apply their own rules, it might be all right. I hope we don't have to go to Appeal.

One point that might help someone is that they had a problem with proving that they have kept in touch during long separations. Since marrying in Feb 2008 (after a well documented 2 year relationship in England) he has been able to make only one visit back to Bangkok. They talk to each other constantly (daily, hourly) by Skype so have no phone bills to show. Apparently there are almost insuperable problems in printing out informative Skype logs to prove these conversations, but he has managed it. There is a forum about exactly this problem of proving regular contact now that most people use Skype, and their advice was helpful.

Good luck to everyone else waiting for news.

Enquirer

Very interested in your story. Depressed by your disgraceful treatment. Son about to apply for his wife's spouse visa on a very low income. It is horrible for genuine loving people to be put through such an ordeal.

When I left Bangkok after a visit in 2007, I handed my UK passport over to any official who demanded it and did not pay attention to anything except getting it back.

When I re-entered Bangkok the following year, I was taken aside and questioned for 30 minutes. It turned out that no-one had bothered to stamp me out in 2007. In the end, one of the ?police wrote something in Thai where the stamp should have been, and let me go.

So make sure your passport does get stamped.

Wonderful news! Congratulations!

I am butting in because my son is about to apply for a spouse visa for his wife. They met in UK and married last year in Bangkok. We have been preparing this application for months (feels like years) and it is on the verge of going in. Your story has been interesting and educational, and we are definitely providing 12 months of bank statements.

Well, on Silom, I and my son and daughters and my son's bride had wonderful clothes made for wedding clothes and business suits. Plus they keep your measurements for 5 years, and he has just made me two more pairs of trousers recently delivered.

And replaced the zip in v ordinary trousers from M&S for almost nothing.

A good and honest tailor is worth a lot. (The last tailor before the Hindu temple, walking towards the river).