UK visa question

[Tongjaw]

Friend is looking at moving back to UK with his Thai wife and their child. He’s lived in a thailand over 12 years, been married 9 of those. Has apparently got £90,000 savings in UK plus money oversea, overseas cash he would like to keep secret. What’s the best visa option for his wife and child. Child I believe had British passport. Does child also require a British birth certificate ( if that’s at all possible ). His wife has never been to UK so never held any visa except a spouse Visa for Singapore when they lived there for 3 years for his work. 

[theoldgit]

Your friend should apply for a Settlement Visa for his wife, if their child has a British Passport a visa isn't required, a British birth certificate isn't necessary if the Thai one was used to obtain a British Passport.

 

Your friend will need to demonstrate that thy meet the financial requirements, either with an income or cash savings, evidence of the £90k in cash savings would be enough.

 

Your friends wife will need to pass a simple English test and provide evidence that she's free from TB, they will need to provide evidence of suitable accomodation in the UK.

 

The application has to be made online, and an application fee and NHS Surcharge needs to be paid at the same time. Applicants have to attend the Visa Application Centre near Asoke, details in the link below, applications are processed in Sheffield.

 

Refer your friend to the pinned topic near the top of the forum and get him to read this http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/thailand/

 

 

Settlement supporting documents guide.pdf

Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_August_2015.pdf

[7by7]

2 hours ago, theoldgit said:

 

Refer your friend to the pinned topic near the top of the forum

That's a little out of date; especially the links.

 

 Tongjaw, see the relevant to your friend parts of the UKVI guidance Family visas: apply, extend or switch; your friend's wife will be applying as his spouse.

 

Her initial leave will be valid for 33 months, and once she has lived in the UK for 30 months she applies to extend her stay, known as Further Leave to Remain. See 'extend' in above guidance.

 

This is valid for a further 30 months, at the end of which she applies for Indefinite leave to Remain, aka settlement; see Apply to settle in the UK.

 

At each stage she will need to meet the financial requirement.

 

She will also need to pass increasingly higher English speaking and listening requirements; A1 for the initial visa, A2 for FLR and B1 for ILR. Note that if of the required grade, a previous pass can be used for subsequent applications; so if her English is good enough try for B1 now.

 

However, if she has an acceptable degree which was taught in English then she is exempt from these tests; see "7. Knowledge of English" in the first link above.

 

For her ILR she will also have to pass the Life in the UK test; even if exempt from the speaking and listening test.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tongjaw]

Appreciate the information guys. Thanks. 

[Tongjaw]

They got married in Thailand and got all the papers at the amphur in Bangkok. He got papers from the embassy to say he was free to marry etc. He says he never registers the marriage with the British embassy at the time. Does he have to register the marriage with the embassy? They have registration certificate from the amphur in Bangkok. 

[7by7]

You cannot register a foreign marriage again in the UK, either at a registry office in the UK or via a British embassy. This is because ever since the Foreign Marriages Act 1892 if a marriage is legal in the country where it was registered then it is also legal in the UK (with some exceptions which do not apply here). Under UK law you cannot register your marriage twice.

 

Registering a marriage at an ampur makes it legal in Thailand, therefore it is legal in the UK as well.

 

It used to be possible to deposit a foreign marriage certificate with the GRO in the UK via a British embassy; for a fee; doing so or not made zero difference to the legality of the marriage in the UK. It merely meant that a copy of the foreign marriage certificate cold be obtained from the GRO if ever required in the future. This service was discontinued w.e.f. 1st January 2014; probably because so few couples ever bothered. It is still possible to deposit the foreign marriage certificate directly with the GRO if desired.

 

We never bothered with any of that, and our Thai marriage certificate, with certified English translation, has been acceptable when ever required in the UK; including my wife's visa, leave to remain and naturalisation applications.

 

Your friend's will be as well; all they need to do is obtain a certified English translation of the certificate.

 

For UK purposes the translation only needs to be certified by the translator; but for other uses, such as obtaining a Schengen visa to visit many European countries, it needs to be certified by the Thai MFA as well.