Thai daughter with British Passport wants to live in UK for good, what next?

[BillyBobzTeeth]

Fellow members,

I brought my Thai daughter to the UK 2 months ago, she's 11 years old and it's her first time here on her new British Passport. She loves it here so much she doesn't want to go back. I've spoken to her Mother back in Thailand and her and her parents are all for the idea. My sister here in the UK has a 5 year old son and my daughter gets on great with them both and wants to live with them. My sister is okay with that but I'm not sure what steps I need to take next.

 My sister and I want to make sure all this is legal and we're not breaking any laws, does anyone have a breakdown of what we should do next to make this all go smoothly?

There's a good school close by but I imagine my daughter would struggle with reading and writing in English so I guess she would have to drop down a year?

What documents would I need to take to the school? I have her original BC and a certified translation in English showing my name on it. 

I need to go back to Thailand next year in Feb but will be coming back 6 months later, so do I need to somehow make my sister a legal guardian and how do I go about doing that?

 

Any help and guidance from people who've been through a similar situation is very much appreciated.

 

Thank you! :) 

 

 

[steve187]

get her enrolled in a  school, the same as any other UK/EU national. they will give her some extra English schooling as required, the same as EU children, so she not be the only one 

get your family allowance sorted, doctors, etc

why do you refer to her as Thai

[tonray]

29 minutes ago, steve187 said:

why do you refer to her as Tha

Because she has spent 10.99 of her 11 years living in Thailand as a Thai ?

[steve187]

19 minutes ago, tonray said:

Because she has spent 10.99 of her 11 years living in Thailand as a Thai ?

but she holds a UK passport  ?

Edited December 5, 2017 by steve187

[sanuk711]

1 hour ago, BillyBobzTeeth said:

she's 11 years old and it's her first time here on her new British Passport. She loves it here so much she doesn't want to go back.

Good to see someone in the family making all the important decisions---has she told you about the new Tattoo she wants to get......

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

get her enrolled in a  school, the same as any other UK/EU national. they will give her some extra English schooling as required, the same as EU children, so she not be the only one 

get your family allowance sorted, doctors, etc

why do you refer to her as Thai

She is British , with all of the benefits  and rights that any British citizen has.  Education,  extra remedial lessons for  English if she needs it,  NHS access, etc are all hers by right.  I  don't see what your problem is. 

[Pilotman]

42 minutes ago, tonray said:

Because she has spent 10.99 of her 11 years living in Thailand as a Thai ?

That is irrelevant in terms of her rights as a British Citizen. 

[Pilotman]

My  19 year old daughter holds both Thai and British  citizenship. I am her biological Father, her mother  is Thai.  She was born in Thailand,  but considers herself equally British, as she is Thai. She went to kinder garden in Thailand but the rest of her education was in the UK, where she is now at University.  I think you are over thinking this.  Its not really an issue and she is lucky to have the choice that she now has, as I am sure she will appreciate when she is older.

[theoldgit]

As a matter of interest, and not really relevant to your question, but is the childs mother staying in Thailand?

[BillyBobzTeeth]

5 hours ago, theoldgit said:

As a matter of interest, and not really relevant to your question, but is the childs mother staying in Thailand?

Yes she is, we're not together anymore, we didn't marry but before I came to the UK, she gave me a letter of permission saying she could come to the UK which I had translated. 

 

I'm married to another Thai with a son and one on the way and plan to bring them all back to the UK when the baby is older.  

 

So used to calling her nationality as Thai lol but yeah you guys are right, she's now British also.

 

I'm going to the school this week and will get her registered at the local doctors.

 

Would love to hear how any of your kids have adapted the the UK lifestyle.

 

Thank you guys 

 

 

 

 

 

[BillyBobzTeeth]

9 hours ago, steve187 said:

get her enrolled in a  school, the same as any other UK/EU national. they will give her some extra English schooling as required, the same as EU children, so she not be the only one 

get your family allowance sorted, doctors, etc

why do you refer to her as Thai

Thanks Steve will get right on it!

Just so used to calling her Thai lol but yeah she's now British 

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, BillyBobzTeeth said:

Yes she is, we're not together anymore, we didn't marry but before I came to the UK, she gave me a letter of permission saying she could come to the UK which I had translated. 

 

I'm married to another Thai with a son and one on the way and plan to bring them all back to the UK when the baby is older.  

 

So used to calling her nationality as Thai lol but yeah you guys are right, she's now British also.

 

I'm going to the school this week and will get her registered at the local doctors.

 

Would love to hear how any of your kids have adapted the the UK lifestyle.

 

Thank you guys 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be surprised how fast she becomes just another Brit teenager.  Her new Brit friends will see to that!  Interestingly, our daughter was brought up very much in the Thai daughter tradition.  My wife was (is) quite strict with her in keeping up with her Thai roots and  family traditions, whereas I was the usual Brit Dad and perhaps more relaxed about  that kind of stuff. As a consequence, the girl is very in tune with her Thai heritage, which is a good thing I think.   

[roamer]

My Stepdaughter came here at the age of 8 with zero English. At 22 she has just graduated from a Uni ranked in the worlds top 10. It was a steep learning curve for her and at 11 your daughter is just that bit older and will go to secondary school. More intense and will need some hard work to catch up.You mentioned in your post about dropping down a year etc. That is no longer done, brings up all kinds of issues so now she will be in her correct age group. You also said about a good school nearby, don't know where you live but catchment areas can be a big issue here. "Good school" can also be a relative term here, according to the area, some such schools may have very limited experience or provision in teaching English to non-native pupils and a child can struggle in such a school. It really does help if a child doesn't have to struggle to fit in with her peers. We have friends who recently moved back to London from the country for just such a reason.

 

Enough about the negatives, get it right and your daughter will grow up with far more opportunities than she will in LOS. I really agree with the comments about the importance of keeping her Thai roots & heritage. My daughter is very proud of her heritage and slips easily between the 2 cultures. We certainly know a couple of kids where that was not the case and have difficulty in relating to their Thai heritage. It's a balancing act, hard enough with teenagers anyway but put in the work and the results will hopefully bear fruit. Good luck :-)

[7by7]

On ‎05‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 10:53 AM, BillyBobzTeeth said:

Just so used to calling her Thai lol but yeah she's now British 

She's both!

 

I'd get her a Thai passport as well as a British one, so that when she visits Thailand in the future, as surely she will want to do if only to visit her mum, then she can use her Thai one to enter without restrictions.

 

As said, she is a British citizen with a British passport so can enter and live in the UK without restrictions; as far as immigration law is concerned.

 

But have you considered child abduction laws?

 

Whilst Parental child abduction - know the law applies mainly to parents taking children out of the UK, you could still have problems.

Quote

“We also see cases where British nationals simply return to the UK with their child after their relationship breaks down whilst living abroad - this is still likely to be considered abduction. A parent will normally require the consent of the other parent and possibly permission from the courts of the country concerned. It is important that a parent obtains legal advice before taking any action.”

 

You say 

On ‎05‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 10:49 AM, BillyBobzTeeth said:

we're not together anymore, we didn't marry but before I came to the UK, she gave me a letter of permission saying she could come to the UK which I had translated. 

What is that permission? Does she clearly, unequivocally and irrevocably give permission for the girl to live with you in the UK indefinitely?

 

Were I in your position I'd have that checked by a solicitor experienced in this field to ensure that you aren't storing up big trouble for the future should the girl's mother change her mind.