Applying for a 10 year visit visa for the UK

[Tongjaw]

Sorry for hijacking the OP’s thread. If it’s against forum rules please delete my question. 

What’s required to apply for a 10 year visa, does your wife need to have some 6 month visas first? Is it easier to get an agent to do the application? I’ve had a couple of 6 month visas for my wife over the years. Previously we done the process ourselves but had to plan the trips up and down to BKK during our kids school holidays. This was a slight inconvenience  plus the added expense of 4 people to and from BKK. Both our kids have British passports. 

[theoldgit]

Sorry to be pedantic but you haven’t “a couple of six month visas for your wife over the years”, you may have done all the donkey work and maybe even paid for the visas, but your wife was the applicant and it’s her that needs to meet the requirements.
 

Sorry again, now back to your question.

 

For your wife to be granted a visa with a ten year validity she need to satisfy the Entry Clearance Officer in Bangkok, next month in Delhi, that there’s a reasonable need to travel to the UK over an extended period and that her circumstances are unlikely to change during that period.

 

Longer term visas are normally issued to those with a previous history of travel to the UK, my wife had two six month visas and a two year one before she got a five year one. Longer term would be not be considered for an initial application, this is not a hard and fast rule, or even a rule, I’m sure some applicants have received longer term visas far earlier.

 

I'm led to believe that ten year visas are normally only issued to business people, but I don't know that for sure and it's certainly not in the rules.

 

I’m not sure that the use of an agent would be easier, your wife either qualifies or she doesn’t, and in any case your wife would still need to attend the Visa Application Centre in Bangkok. That said, a reasonable agent, I would only suggest a couple in Thailand, might guide you through the process and advise you if the application is likely to fail, remember that if the UKVI issue a visa with a shorter validity there is no refund of the extra fees.

 

A ten year visa is certainly better value for money than a five year one.

"If you need to visit the UK regularly

If you need to visit the UK regularly over a longer period, you can apply for a long-term Standard Visitor visa that lasts 2, 5 or 10 years. You can stay for a maximum of 6 months on each visit"

 

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa

 

I’m going to split this thread and start a new topic for you.

[LivinLOS]

I just applied (on my wifes behalf) exactly like I did for 6 month visit visas.. 

 

No issues, issued in the same time span, seemed almost a formality.. Just said we like to visit the uk each summer.. 

 

I wouldnt use an agent, the way its all online these days means you will need to answer the same questions to an agent, which you would need to fill into the web forms. 

[musicscene]

You should not have a problem from my experience. I am British my partner is Thai. We go to England at least twice a year. When we first applied for a visa she was granted a 2 year visa. When that expired we applied again and she was granted a 10 years visa. I supplied a letter in support saying where we would be staying [a family house] what we would be doing and that we intended to go often to see family friends and sightseeing. The visa is expensive 35,000 baht if I remember from 2 years ago 

[Stocky]

My wife has had a couple of six month visas, a two year and currently on a 5 year that will expire next year. Had been contemplating applying for a 10 year next year, I'm encouraged by the posts above, USD1,162 is a sizeable wedge of cash.

[Megasin1]

Yep, what they say is correct. Using an agent guarantees nothing and is a waste of money, you can do it online and then attend the Bangkok centre which she will have to do anyway, or the one in Chiang Mai.

You have to ask yourself why you feel she needs a 10 year one, are you going to be returning home so often in the next 10 years that it warrants the outlay.

There are other options open to you, some less heard of, in fact my daughters mother is about to apply for 'parent of a British child'. This also is expensive, about £3,200 (aren't they all) however this is on the basis that the child is in English schooling and has the added benefit that she can work, it can also lead to citizenship. When she approached an agent in Pattaya they had never even heard of it. She is coming first on a 6 month one to tick off some of the qualifying points.

I would recommend that you think carefully before you apply for a 10 year visitor visa and consider your future plans etc. as in that 10 year period it may turn out to be the wrong visa.