What Are Our Chances?

[Discopants]

Hi new to this forum but read a lot of threads great advice guys.

our situation:

1) Met in December (my first trip to Thailand)

2) I'm returning in Feb/March 2007 for 3 weeks

3) Want to take her back to UK with me (6 month visitors visa)

4) She has some land in her name, the house is in her mothers name

5) She is presently self employed doing massage on the beach

What are our chances of getting a 6 month visitors visa ?? I am sponsoring the application but from what I have read the case is going to rest on if they believe my girlfriend is going to return to Thailand after visa runs out.

I just want the oppertunity to spend some time with her to see if we have a possible long term future, meeting her folks on my next visit. Want to get her as long a UK visa as possible for her to sample life in the UK and meet my friends and family. When her UK visa expires I am planning to finish my job and take a year out to travel around SE Asia.

Any advice or thoughts from some old hands on this one ???

[Mahout Angrit]

Your chances IMO are slim in view of the short time you have known each other and the minimal contact. Forget even trying for 6months, although the standard visa is given for 6 months you should be thinking no more than 4 weeks. Reason to return will be weak to non existant. If you want to test your compatability you should be thinking of spending more time in Thailand and maybe getting her a job with payslips.However nothing is impossible, good luck

[cleggit]

Slim but not impossible.

A friend of mine met his GF and our wedding last April they were only together for a few days before he had to go back to the UK. After a couple of months contact via tel/email they applied for the visa and it was granted without interview.

I beleive they were successful despite the short time as they put a lot of effort into the application ensuring they had ticked all the boxes, she also had a fairly good job at the time and they also limited the request to just a holiday of a couple of weeks.

Best of luck.....

[tag420uk]

hello im in a similar situation i met my tg in november and spent a lovelvy week together and when i returned we emailed/called and texted nearly everyday.now i have just spent another 2 weeks with her over christmas and the new year and im certain i would like to take this relationship a bit further.

now i cant afford to go back and fourth to thailand every 6 weeks as i need to work and thought maybe a fortnights holliday to see me in the uk would be a better option,as she could get a taste of what the uk was like.

i would be sponsering here trip would there be any requirements that she has to meet and if so what are they.

[Mahout Angrit]

i would be sponsering here trip would there be any requirements that she has to meet and if so what are they.

The requirements are simple

1) there has to be enough funds to cover the trip either from the applicant or the sponsor

2) the applicant must show a good sound reason, with proof, that she will return to Thailand

Thats all.. but satisfying those conditions is often not so easy.

[tag420uk]

hello thanks for the response mahout angrit but could you give some more info on the sound reasons and proof that you talk of.

do you mean she has to have property or something like that?

[Mahout Angrit]

hello thanks for the response mahout angrit but could you give some more info on the sound reasons and proof that you talk of.

do you mean she has to have property or something like that?

For requirements for a visitors visa see

Visitor Visa Guidance British Embassy

and

Visitor Visa Guidance UKVisa

For what a sponsor needs to show see

Sponsor Guidance UKVisa

and

Sponsor Guidance British Embassy

For reason to return to Thailand the best would be she has a job (and proof of the job) and a letter from her employer to say she has a job on her return, if she is a student then if she is booked on a course on her return,. Property helps, if she has property or a family (child) to return to. If she has visited another country before and has proof of returning to Thailand as promised.

For the first visit you should expect it to be a holiday visit (say 3 or 4 weeks) and not use it as a trial to live together for several months.

The ECO will be looking to see reasons to satisfy himself that your gf will not simply decide that she will stay in he UK once there. Guarantees from you the sponsor wont help in this respect as they are legally unenforceable (although there is no harm in you stating that in your covering letter)

Edited January 14, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[Discopants]

Hmm thanks for the reply Mahoot. Thing is if she does get a salaried job then the embassy are going to know that she has only just got the job. Then from what I have read you can only really apply for a holiday stay (say 3/4 weeks) as they wont believe a new employer will be willing to let her go on extended leave after being such a short time in a job anyways.

All I really want to do is spend some time with her and I want her to get a real feel for the UK too.

Ideally a 3 month visit over here would give me the chance to work until June to make a few quick bucks (and get a tax rebate)

She has no children but her mum and step father are both getting on in years, does this hold any sway on the reasons to return??

There are quite a few english language schools in my area some of which are offering a 13 week course in english starting in April. If I enrolled her onto one of these courses would she be practically assured a student visa for the length of the course?? A bit drastic I know but if this is our best chance of getting her here for 3 months then I think I would go for that. and the lessons will come in handy.

Otherwise what happens if you apply for say 4 weeks but end up staying for 3 months?? Technically you can do this but how badly would they frown upon this for any future visa applications. Anyone have previous experiance of this or the student visa approach ??

[GU22]

For the visit visa you/she will need to show that:

She can afford the entire cost of the visit without recourse to public funds; with your help if necessary,

She will be adequately acommodated for the entire visit,

She will reteurn to Thailand, or at least leave the UK, when or before the visa expires.

It is the third one that is often the problem, especially when the applicant is self employed or doesn't work. She owns land, good, but that's about it. Her family would not be seen as a reason to return because many Thais travel abroad to work and support their families. Employment is a definite plus, but you have to be realistic. No one is going to believe that having just started a new job she is going to be granted 3 months holiday!

Many applicants have overcome this 'reason to return' problem based on the length and strength of their relationship with their sponsor. The reasoning is that they would not want to put any future settlement application in jeapordy by overstaying on a visit visa. Unfortunately, as MA says, you have not, IMHO, known her long enough for this. An inportant point to remember is that although the sponsors intentions carry some weight, it is the applicants that are paramount. I am not suggesting that this is the case here, but if she got you to sucessfully sponsor her for a visa and then once in the UK disappeared to work in the black economy in some way she would not be the first to do so.

If she were to say that she was only coming for 2 or 3 weeks and the visa was issued then staying longer would not be illegal, provided she left the UK before the visa expires, however, unless there was an exceptional reason such as sickness, it would show a lack of trust and make future applications difficult.

Applying when you visit her in Feb/March may be successful, but, IMHO, it's a long shot. However, even if refused the application will be on record and so will be more evidence of the length of your relationship when she applies again.

Unfortunately, many people in the past have used a student visa to gain entry to the UK saying they will be attending an English school, only for them to disappear. Therefore getting a student visa for this purpose is now a lot more difficult.

Two questions she will definitely have to answer:

Why do you need to study English?

Why can't you do so at one of the many excellent English schools in Thailand?

See:

Guidance - Students (INF 5)

DSPs Entry Clearance Vol 1 Chapter 12 - Entry for studies

Do not try and cherry pick the type of visa that seems easiest to get and then attempt to fit her into the requirements for that visa. Choose the visa that most suits the purpose of her visit. Be realistic in your expectations and remember it is the applicant's responsibility to show that they qualify for the visa.

[Guemlum]

Well Mr Discopants. I'm embarking down the same route as you right now. However, I have been with my girlfriend for 19 months now. I have only just finished gathering all of the necessary info together for her application. Months and months of phone bills, bank statements, my own business information, other hotel invoices, photos etc...think you get my drift.

I visit my gf every 3 months in Thailand and will be going back on 24th Feb to hand in all the info to the application centre. She only plans to come over for 4 weeks as she runs her own business and also has a son, so we are hoping that considering those are her reasons for returning, we will have a smooth application process. But things never turn out the way they should. Good luck mate and let me know what happens.

[Discopants]

Well good luck to you too! but from the sound of things you guys have a much stronger case than we do. Longer relationship, buisness and family in Thailand and more visits.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself a little. I don't know. Only really known the girl for 10 days face to face, but we do have contact most days since I came back with calls sms and e mail. Thing is your not going to find out if things are going to work out unless we get the oppertunity to be together. I'm back over in Thailand for 3 weeks end of Feb / early March. I'm thinking I should can the student application and get my visit done see how things go ( but have a good feeling about this girl). If all is good we can make a visitor visa application ( chances would appear to be a coin toss but worth a shot) If we get a refusal we'll just have to slog it out for three months then try again for visit or I could jack my job in then and spend a year travelling SE Asia with her (I'll be the one putting the visa applications in then )

[chokdeekrap]

i spent 18 months with my gf & she was refused our first go round with canadian embassy. but i didn't know about this site at that time or i would have been 100% better prepared of what to expect. after reading many, many & many more posts on this site. i have now read about so many more things i could have/should have done to have given the gf a real good chance at getting a visa the first time round.

something i would definately recommend is ensuring you have proof of how long you have known each other. after 18 months with my gf i don't really have much way to prove we have lived together for 18 months. i have lots of photos but no date/time stamps on them (currently updating those photos via photoshop to include date/time stamps). it is also very easy to open a shared thai bank account & throw a couple thousand baht into it, even if you are just on VOA. here's wishing i had done that 18 months ago.

save your emails & phone bills while you are apart. even if they don't hold much water (can be editted) at least i am hoping it shows a good effort to try & prove how long we have known each other for.

i'm also saving my skype call logs because although the gf has a pay as you go sim card i am going to mention in my coverletter that someone from the embassy can call her mobile # during the interview if they wish to verify that the number i have been calling all this time is indeed the gf's mobile #.

we also asked for 6 months which i do honestly believe now was a major strike against a successful application. definately we are just asking for 4 weeks max next time we apply & hopefully longer visa will be issued in future.

also during the gf's interview they yanked me in also & questioned me about my status. the end result of that was there was mention that i wasn't an ideal stable sponsor because i wasn't working (even tho i could prove adequate fundage without working) & i didn't have a current home/address (except for my mom's) back in canada. i haven't really read about anyone here else having that problem but i did so thought i would mention it.

good luck with the app

[Discopants]

Success

Just got home this morning and my GF rang me today and told me that the visitor visa we applied for on Tuesday was approved .

We decided to ask for a 1 month visit in the end and she should be coming over in a month or so.

Big thanks to everyone. This site is the best, great advice.

I think what swung it for us was the fact that she owns a small buisness back home. She never told me this until I got to her house and saw it for myself but she has a mini mart. Shes had it for 5 years or so and her mother actually works the store mostly. She hadn't actually registered the buisness with the Thai authorities until the week before we actually applied for the visitor visa but this didn't seem to matter as I think you have to register anually anyways.

Using all the info from the site I think we put a solid application together .

For info I was calling her almost every day from the UK using alcatel asia phone cards (calls to a thai mobile less than 2p a minute I put all my used cards in with the application as well as the emails and a few hand written letters we had written to each other. 1 months payslip and 6 months internet bank accounts printouts. Letter from my father who's house I rent and my sponsorship letter. She provided bank statements (even though she had only 50,000 baht savings) land registration documentation and buisness registration documentation plus lots of photos of us and also photos of her buisness and me meeting her family. She was interviewed (of sorts) the day after putting in the application but they only asked her a few questions about me and they did this by calling her mobile (3 times in one day) Simple questions based only on the information I had provided in my sponsorship letter. Easy in the end.

Looking forward to seeing her and what she makes of East Kent now lol!

[BIGJIMMY]

Nice work squire, all the best to you both, perhaps we can meet up in May.

Ta ta

Jimmy and Mon

[Guemlum]

Congratulations Discopants. Glad to hear your application was accepted, and I'm sure she'll like Kent. I will find out myself next week if my long term gf has been successful or not in obtaining her tourist visa. She only wants to come over for 4 weeks holiday as well, so we've got our toes and fingers crossed right now. Well done again to both of you.

[Mahout Angrit]

Success

Well done, if she enjoys Kent it'll be all downhill from now..and the next one. Good luck.

[RAZZELL]

Looking forward to seeing her and what she makes of East Kent now lol!

Not Chatham?

RAZZ

[BIGJIMMY]

Nothing wrong with Da Planet Thanet, saying that I moved to Pattaya so what do I know!!!!

[topdjdel]

Big Jimmy what was it that made you leave us?????????

East kent is wonderful,Thanet is a cool trendy place to be.

Who am i kidding,tax tax tax tax tax oh and more tax!!!!

Discopants well done sir,after reading your story i was to be honest thinking that your Visa application was hopeful but...

It proves that the Embassy people do have a bit of common sense(not all the time) but a good well prepared application will be accepted.

Forums like this are a god send,everybody that uses this forum are heros in my book,peoples own experiences and knowlege willing to share and help others is wonderful.

I personally didnt know of this site or even if was open then when my TW came to uk but back then it was hard and a painful experience-I would do it all over again if I had to tho.

Finally Discopants,

have no fear mate,im sure your TG will like it here(UK Kent) the weathers improved(only a bit) she can eat thai food and believe me it wont take long before she finds other Thai's.

We are in Thanet if your nearby keep in touch guv,Big jimmy is over with his MON in May.

I can feel a big knees up coming on

[BIGJIMMY]

Topdjdel is to modest, it was him that told me about this site, saying that I was with the Delboy when we first visited Thailand 5 years ago, he's now hapily married and living with the Mrs in Margate, I moved there and will be over with The Mon in May, so we can both say it was a life changing experience visiting The Land of Smiles - ha ha.

Good Luck to all

Jimmy