UK visit visa gf bank account balance?

[jose34]

i read that there is no mininum account balance (to support themself) when applying for visit visa to uk because each case is different i.e accomodaton, length of stay etc...

 

so planning a weeks trip for her and contacted a visa agent and lawyer one said B5000 and the other B40000 but now worried they will say anything just to get deposit!!!

 

anyone got UK tourist visa for gf and how much was in her account?

 

any decent visa agents out there? 

 

thanxs

[theoldgit]

You're right there is no set amount required in the applicants bank account, as you say it depends on the length of the their proposed trip, their accomodation and whether the applicant is being sponsored or not, it also depends on the applicant has an income in their home country.

 

For a standard visit visa and agent shouldn't normally be required, the applicant will need to satisfy the decision maker that their proposed trip is genuine, affordable and that, on the balance of probabilities, they will return home at the conclusion of their visit, the use of an agent isn't going to change that and your girlfriend will still have to supply the relevent evidence to support her application.

 

As you've found out you've asked an agent and an immigration lawyer and got two different answers, I think your assuption is correct.

 

You really need to supply futher details about your girlfriend, you and her proposed trip before we can advise you further.

[Jip99]

She wouldn’t need any money in her account if you act as sponsor.

 

But, as OG suggested, there are more important questions to be considered about genuineness of relationship/reason to visit plus reasons for your GF to return to Thailand.

[jose34]

18 hours ago, theoldgit said:

You're right there is no set amount required in the applicants bank account, as you say it depends on the length of the their proposed trip, their accomodation and whether the applicant is being sponsored or not, it also depends on the applicant has an income in their home country.

 

For a standard visit visa and agent shouldn't normally be required, the applicant will need to satisfy the decision maker that their proposed trip is genuine, affordable and that, on the balance of probabilities, they will return home at the conclusion of their visit, the use of an agent isn't going to change that and your girlfriend will still have to supply the relevent evidence to support her application.

 

As you've found out you've asked an agent and an immigration lawyer and got two different answers, I think your assuption is correct.

 

You really need to supply futher details about your girlfriend, you and her proposed trip before we can advise you further.

thank you oldgit 

 

ok she has no proof of income so unemployed currently

 

ive been sending money monthly to her bank account 10K for last couple of years so im her sponsor right? what exactly is a 'sponsor' and how do i prove it?  

 

accomodation will be a rented 4 bedroom semi with spare room for 7- 10 days then return solo to thailand 

 

thx again

[jose34]

18 hours ago, Jip99 said:

She wouldn’t need any money in her account if you act as sponsor.

 

But, as OG suggested, there are more important questions to be considered about genuineness of relationship/reason to visit plus reasons for your GF to return to Thailand.

thanxs jip99 

 

i have heard that no money is required cheers for cleariñg that up 

 

how about the sponsors account balance? 4K sterling acceptable?

[Jip99]

2 hours ago, jose34 said:

thanxs jip99 

 

i have heard that no money is required cheers for cleariñg that up 

 

how about the sponsors account balance? 4K sterling acceptable?

 

For the intended length of holiday......more than sufficient.

[theoldgit]

The fact that you send your girlfriend money to live on in Thailand and the fact that you propose to fund her trip to the UK, are totally seperate.

 

You send her 10k every month towards her living expenses, I'm assuming that's Baht. you need to explain your reasoning for the sending of cash rather than her working. There is always a danger that the Entry Clearance Officer might assume, rightly or wrongly, that your girlfriend intends to visit the UK on a holiday and remain there with her benefactor, she really needs to satisfy the ECO that she will return to Thailand at the conclusion by convincing the decision maker that her ties to Thailand are more compelling than those in the UK.

 

I agree with Jip99 that the funds you have available are sufficient to sponsor your girlfriends trip, but you need to make it clear that is what you're doing, maybe give an indicative sum of what you expect the expenditure to be.

 

You mention a rented house, is that your current accomodation or one your renting for the duration, you need to make it clear.

 

It's always more difficult for an unemployed person in Thailand, whose only means of support is a benefactor in the UK, and wishes to visit them, to obtain entry clearance, it's not impossible and many visas are granted every year, but she really does need to convince the ECO that her ties to her home country are compelling enough to satisfy the ECO that she will leave the UK at the conclusion of her proposed trip.  

[Tony M]

13 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

The fact that you send your girlfriend money to live on in Thailand and the fact that you propose to fund her trip to the UK, are totally seperate.

 

You send her 10k every month towards her living expenses, I'm assuming that's Baht. you need to explain your reasoning for the sending of cash rather than her working. There is always a danger that the Entry Clearance Officer might assume, rightly or wrongly, that your girlfriend intends to visit the UK on a holiday and remain there with her benefactor, she really needs to satisfy the ECO that she will return to Thailand at the conclusion by convincing the decision maker that her ties to Thailand are more compelling than those in the UK.

 

I agree with Jip99 that the funds you have available are sufficient to sponsor your girlfriends trip, but you need to make it clear that is what you're doing, maybe give an indicative sum of what you expect the expenditure to be.

 

You mention a rented house, is that your current accomodation or one your renting for the duration, you need to make it clear.

 

It's always more difficult for an unemployed person in Thailand, whose only means of support is a benefactor in the UK, and wishes to visit them, to obtain entry clearance, it's not impossible and many visas are granted every year, but she really does need to convince the ECO that her ties to her home country are compelling enough to satisfy the ECO that she will leave the UK at the conclusion of her proposed trip.  

Quite right.  One of my concerns in this application would be the length of the visit, and the expenditure involved.  The ECO will be asking himself why the applicant (and the sponsor, of course) intend only a one week visit. The sponsor is spending a fair amount of money on a one week visit.  The applicant is unemployed, so why is she only staying in the UK for a week ? Why not a month, or whatever. These applications are not just about finances, they are also about the credibility of the application. Is it credible that an unemployed applicant, with no (stated) reasons to return to Thailand, would take a one week holiday to the UK ? Put yourself in the ECO's shoes for a minute.   

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

Sounds like an absolute car crash of an application. Good luck, you certainly need it.

[Tony M]

2 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

For the intended length of holiday......more than sufficient.

I don't like to disagree with your normally good advice, but ( and I have posted this before) see below. This is from a refusal of a Thai girl going to visit her boyfriend in the UK. I think it's wrong to tell an applicant or sponsor that their funds are "more than sufficient",  because it is the ECO, and only the ECO, who will decide that.  What will you say, or do, if the applicant is refused for the reasons in the screenshot below ?  Do you take responsibility for the advice given ?

 

 

[Jip99]

2 hours ago, Tony M said:

I don't like to disagree with your normally good advice, but ( and I have posted this before) see below. This is from a refusal of a Thai girl going to visit her boyfriend in the UK. I think it's wrong to tell an applicant or sponsor that their funds are "more than sufficient",  because it is the ECO, and only the ECO, who will decide that.  What will you say, or do, if the applicant is refused for the reasons in the screenshot below ?  Do you take responsibility for the advice given ?

 

 

 

I stand by my comment that the amount quoted is more than sufficient for the short duration of this holiday. 

 

I agree that I would have questions about the visit only being one week. I have seen a friend go for for a fortnight and there were good reasons for that - which were fully outlined in the application.

 

This, of course, is the whole point; everything should tie up together and not give an ECO any reason to doubt any aspect of the application. The numbers are the easiest part if everything else is properly covered in the covering/sponsor letter - and the application. 

[BritManToo]

I would have thought a Thai girl living with her boyfriend for a week and with tickets both ways, about 300 pounds would be enough.

[thonglorjimmy]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I would have thought a Thai girl living with her boyfriend for a week and with tickets both ways, about 300 pounds would be enough.

I wouldn’t mind the contact details of your travel agent ????

[wgdanson]

19 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I would have thought a Thai girl living with her boyfriend for a week and with tickets both ways, about 300 pounds would be enough.

For the whole trip or per day?!    LOL

[sampson]

Ask 10 agents and you'll get 10 different answers.  They just have a format that is presumably relatively successful (although not always!) and they'll stick to that.  I found the same thing for my now ex, one even suggested dumping a large amount of money into her account which I've always read as a big no no.  Others said they wouldn't use the statements and others suggested something like 30k being in there, going up over a few months.  

 

If you use an agent make sure they are OISC registered as they should at least act to some sort of professional standards.  Some of them will just ask you for some documents from you both then write everything themselves, you will never see what's written except briefly at the Trendy in Bangkok when she scans them in, before the files are taken away again.  This means you are tied to them in future as you actually have little idea what was said on the application and in the letters written pretending to be you.  I heard about a guy who's girlfriend used a Thai bloke on Facebook, it wasn't cheap either, and the rejection letter read like they were talking about somebody else and the agent just said he'll do it again but he still wouldn't share what was written.  I can only imagine what the letters pretending to be the farang read like if the Thai "agent" didn't have a native speaker doing them for him.

[rasg]

There is no need to supply bank statements for an applicant. I didn't submit any for my, then, GF. I just explained that she was paid cash each month and the money was never banked as she paid her rent and sent money home and not much was left worth banking. It wasn't a problem.

[Scouse123]

On 10/21/2019 at 10:28 AM, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

Sounds like an absolute car crash of an application. Good luck, you certainly need it.

 

 

I am completely with you on this one!

 

OP needs to realize he has asking the British Embassy to grant a visa for an unemployed woman to visit the UK to stay with him in rented accommodation for a week. The Embassy do not care that he sends 10K  baht a month, they get these applications every day.

 

They don't care he has 4K sterling in the bank.

 

They care about REASONS TO RETURN.

 

They have seen too many of these trophy wife and girlfriend applications before and when these Thais arrive in the UK they are not ready or adjusted as to what to expect and in many cases these visits end up a disaster and a burden on the British system, when they meet up with fellow Thais and find out the tricks to stay in the UK long term, and join the ranks of over stayers funded by the British taxpayers.

 

1. Does she have land or property in her name?

2. When was her last employment?

3. Does she have any other visible means of support other than your 10K a month?

4. Has she ever travelled outside ASEAN countries before? or indeed has she ever travelled anywhere before?

5. Her age?

 

 

All these things are taken into consideration and more.

[worrab]

On 10/20/2019 at 10:53 PM, jose34 said:

ok she has no proof of income so unemployed currently

This would be a major concern for the ECO as she has no reason to return home. My gut feeling is this would be a refusal unless you can prove she has solid family ties for her return.

[theoldgit]

Post giving totally misleading ''advice'' removed.

[rasg]

By showing that she has an income from her sponsor of 10K a month by supplying her bank statements and she is also unemployed I think it will be a big problem. If she is allowed to come to the UK, her financial benefactor is here and she has no reason to return to Thailand.

 

The best thing to do would be to get a job and leave it a while before applying unless the applicant has other reasons to return.

Edited October 25, 2019 by rasg

[jose34]

On 10/23/2019 at 4:10 PM, rasg said:

There is no need to supply bank statements for an applicant. I didn't submit any for my, then, GF. I just explained that she was paid cash each month and the money was never banked as she paid her rent and sent money home and not much was left worth banking. It wasn't a problem.

so she was employed then? employment contract submitted? 

[jose34]

7 hours ago, worrab said:

This would be a major concern for the ECO as she has no reason to return home. My gut feeling is this would be a refusal unless you can prove she has solid family ties for her return.

ok so how do i prove solid ties? how did anyone else prove this?

[jose34]

2 hours ago, rasg said:

By showing that she has an income from her sponsor of 10K a month by supplying her bank statements and she is also unemployed I think it will be a big problem. If she is allowed to come to the UK, her financial benefactor is here and she has no reason to return to Thailand.

 

The best thing to do would be to get a job and leave it a while before applying unless the applicant has other reasons to return.

ok maybe no need to mention the 10K or show her bank statements then? 

[rasg]

33 minutes ago, jose34 said:

so she was employed then? employment contract submitted? 

No. No employment contract either but she had a very good letter from her boss on hotel headed paper and it was stamped. Not sure what the stamp did but it looked very professional. ????

[worrab]

11 hours ago, jose34 said:

ok so how do i prove solid ties? how did anyone else prove this?

You are in a very difficult place with this application. Because she is unemployed the ECO is going to ask himself, on reading your application, why will she return to Thailand after the visit? When we did an application, even though my g/f at the time, we are now married, was employed we backed that up with the fact she owns land here. So there were 2 solid reasons to come back. Another advantage we had was the fact that at the end of her visit we were both flying together to Thailand as I was retiring here.

What I would advise you to do is to involve an agent. I know others will disagree, but they have ways of working the wording to your advantage. I would recommend Siam Legal from personal experience and it is worth the money.

[jose34]

thanxs to everyone who replied 

 

ok so one week too short a month better

 

thinking that showing i support her would help with genuine relationship? but if not i wont mention it then

 

shes not unemployed she sells food with mum at the market and does eyelash lifting but all cash no proof of income

 

 

and lastly she got a visa to australia with ex 5 years ago so think ill use that same agent