Mercury

You do have it wrong.

ILR and ILE are to all intents and purposes the same; the difference being that ILR is applied for and issued in the UK whilst ILE is applied for and issued overseas.

A spouse visa is valid for 27 months, during which time the holder cannot claim certain public funds, although the 'no recourse to public funds' condition does not apply to the British spouse. At the end of two years in the UK the holder can apply for ILR.

See here for more on this.

NB. Although we talk about 'spouse visa' and 'family visit visa' these are not official terms; they officially are a settlement visa for a spouse and a non-settlement visa for a family visit.

An unmarried partner of 4 years standing does not have to get a 27 month visa and then do anything else if they have passed the KOL test. They are given ILE/ILR at once. As this test cannot be completed outside the UK, her coming here on any visa is not connected with any subsequent settlement claim other than the fact that she will take the test and can then claim ILE/R whenever she next wants to come to the UK.

If the partners are unmarried (I don't know about married as it is not relevant to me), then if you go the 2 years route with this 27 month visa thing, then issuance of that visa is dependent upon your both being able to exist without recourse to public funds, not just the Thai.

The relevant paragraph is:

you both have enough money to support and adequately accommodate yourselves and any dependants without help from public funds (see Rights and responsibilities for more information on what this means); and

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukreside...marriedpartner/

This does not appear in the 4 years provision.

OK, I see a family visit visa form now thanks. One page different by the looks of it.

The difference between a single claimant and a joint claimant is £36.65 per week (£100.95-64.30). There is another theoretical benefit in terms of Council Tax (single person's 25% discount would not be allowable but the whole 100% would be claimable, thus rendering a 25% recourse to public funds).

You can check at http://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Benefits claims ask whether the partner is subject to immigration control.

This comes from the guidance to ECOs:-

"Where an applicant has satisfied all of the requirements for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE), except the KOL requirement, they should be granted 27 months Leave to Enter (LTE). During this time they can, at any point, satisfy the KOL requirement in the UK and apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)."

If you're visiting the UK and will be staying at least part of the time with members of your family, she can apply for a "family visit visa". The only significant difference between that and the "tourist visa" is that a family visitor has a right of appeal if refused.

As far as I can see, there is no "family visit visa". There is a settlement visa to go and live with family but visiting family is just a regular visitor visa where you would state visiting family as part of the application process. If granted you would get a maximum of 6 months but you would, as you state, have a right of appeal as you would be applying to visit family.

As to the passing the KOL test, the distinction between entering on the 4 year relationship with ILR and the 2 year relationship with LTE can have consequences, which currently have no bearing on my case but may on some. Enter on ILR and there are no public fund issues but entering on LTE means both the UK resident and his partner have to satisfy the no recourse to public funds requirement. If I read it wrongly please let me know but it seems that way to me.

If you married her she can apply for settlement or a family visit, otherwise it is a Tourist visa only.

If you can proved you have lived together for 4 years or more you maybe entitled to apply for an unmarried partner visa.

Feel free to pm me if you require professional help.

We've no intention of getting married so all marriage related visas are out of the question. The 4 year thing apparently requires the passing of this Life in the UK test which cannot be completed outside the UK and thus, no-one can apply for ILR on the basis of a 4 year plus relationship outside the UK, if they have never first visited the UK to take this test.

She could apparently apply on the basis of a 2 year plus relationship and then do the test in the UK. I do not know whether that would then mean she could just get ILR automatically ? Costs, feasibility and times - any ideas ?

So you're saying the only visa she could apply for is as a tourist ? That does not seem logical as she is my partner and we have a child. Surely the relationship and child are relevant ? She would be going as a temporary visitor, to see family, but not as a "go and see London" tourist. Should the visa applied for not reflect this ?

You may stay with family however third party support is only short term.

As you will be waiting 12 weeks why don't you return and gain employment in the UK whilst waiting for a decision.

Sorry if I have misunderstood but just what would he be waiting 12 weeks for ? Surely visa applications don't take that long to process for the UK ?

If she fails, she can retake it after a week. I've gone through it online and it is utter rubbish and unlikely that most of the UK would pass it first time.

However, if she takes the online examples and learns the answers rather than learns the theory, it should be possible to pass the test "parrot like" so to speak.

I've lived in Thailand with my girlfriend for about 6 years (except when working away) but I want to spend some more time in the UK and get her a visa.

I know about the provision of having lived together for over 4 years outside of the UK and she would qualify for indefinite leave to remain immediately if she had passed the Life in the UK test.

We have a child together who has a UK passport.

What I am interested in is the easiest visa to get her to the UK for a few months, likely until the early part of next year.

Is the normal 6 month visa the easiest and can you be guaranteed of 6 months ?

What about my taking our child to the UK and then her coming over later ? would she be able to apply on the basis of a tourist or coming to see her child ?

I have read some of the government websites but to be honest, the rules and sub rules are a nightmare and I'd appreciate some guidance.

The end result is that we will get her to the UK and there she will pass her Life in the UK test and thus be eligible to apply for ILR the next time she comes to the UK.

For information, she has a small business in Thailand, she has her own house and house book, we obviously have documents covering our relationship as well as the child but she doesn't have significant savings or money in the bank as we mainly use my accounts.

Thanks

I agree that Thailand is losing out because I once investigated a business requiring import and it was impossible to get any straight answers and it was made clear that money, cash bribes or equivalent, from my import order, would be required. You cannot do business with thieves like that.