Planning Uk/usa/nz/trip With Girlfriend

[Greenside]

Our circumstances:

I'm a retired UK national and been living in Thailand since Oct 2006. I'm 56 and have a non-immegrant O with retirement extension valid to early December 2007. I intend to return to Thailand at the end of this trip and stay for the forseeable future.

My girlfriend is 33 and I've known her since October 2006. We travelled around Thailand for while before Christmas and have lived together for the last three months. She has one child living with parents-in-law and a dependent father both of whom she partially supports, some savings but no recent employment history. Presently I'm supporting her and can can provide evidence of places to stay in both the UK and US with sufficient funds to cover the trip.

I was planning to return to the UK for a month in August using the return half of my original ticket but would now like to take my girlfriend with me. I have friends in the US that I'd also like to see and if I buy "round the world" tickets in London it's a relatively good deal (well, only about double the cost of BKK-LON-BKK!) to come back to BKK via the US/NZ and Australia but....

1) My girlfriend would have to enter the UK on a one-way ticket since the RTW fare has to originate in England, although I would have the onward tickets available for immigration to see at the airport. Might this be a problem?

2) USA/AUS/NZ - given the above circumstances and onward ticketing does anyone see this as making visa application difficult? I would like to spend 4 - 6 weeks in each.

3) I live in Chiangmai. Do any of these countries require attendance for an interview in BKK?

There's a lot of co-ordination required here since I need to be sure that she can get all the visas before I commit to the tickets. I have the time to do the legwork - does anyone think that it's worth paying to get an agency to deal with the whole thing?

The benefit of anyone's experience would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Greenside

[lopburi3]

From the information, or lack thereof, provided for GF I would not expect her visa applications to be routine. Around the world with no savings, or job, or work history. With someone she will meet five months from now (I know you must have typed the year wrong but if her applications appear this way don't believe it will help). Does she have any travel history that might point to her return to Thailand? You need to look for reasons she will return. Does she own property? Is she from a responsible family? Having a child, could be positive - child living with parents, could be negative.

If this travel does not work out there are a lot of places you could go together without the severe visa restrictions of the countries you mentioned and that she and you might enjoy just as much.

[kiakaha]

NZL tourist visas a pretty straightforward as long as the applicant can prove that they have sufficient reason to return to Thailand.

Interview may or may not be required depending on the applicants personal situation.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/str...ors/default.htm

[Greenside]

From the information, or lack thereof, provided for GF I would not expect her visa applications to be routine. Around the world with no savings, or job, or work history. With someone she will meet five months from now (I know you must have typed the year wrong but if her applications appear this way don't believe it will help).

Oops! Fixed the typo and take your point about checking documents.

Unfortunately she has no previous foreign travel experience at all since she only just got a passport so I will put together as much detail as possible regarding her ties and responsibilities. I was rather hoping that the evidence of firm (and relatively costly) onward travel arrangements and my travelling with her might count for something although I suppose at the time of visa application these will be hard to prove.

I was sketchy about her work history but she was in employment up until last spring when she returned home to look after her father. It was pretty menial stuff however, hotel cleaning, supermarket, 7/11 etc - am I right to dismiss it as not being of use?

Whilst there are plenty of places we could go, it's the destinations (at least the UK and USA) that are the point rather than the travelling!

Thanks for your thoughts and speedy response as ever.

[gregchambers]

Just to get the UK visa you will need some hard evidence of staying together - apartment lease in joint names, identical visa stamps for visits to nearby countries and I would also get some kind of confirmation from previous employers, history of money coming into her bank account also good - I had all these and managed to get UK visitor visa after my eight month relationship with Thai girl - she had no land, no job, about 200k in bank and no close family ties - visa agent I talked to said it would be impossible and wanted 50k to sort it. Same as you, lived in Thailand a while and had good reason to come back here and not stay in the UK. I was 46 she 26, not married but living together. You will need full financial details and even a letter of confirmation/invitation from London friends or family if you are staying with them.

Get the UK visa first, then try your luck at the other country embassies, NZ more likely than USA. I think you can even get a NZ visa for her in London if necessary but not a USA one.

If you are lucky with the others, please let us all know!

[Greenside]

Thanks for your comments. I'm going to get started on having her contact her employer last year and will work on the UK application first because if the RTW idea is too ambitious a trip home would suffice. I can get high quality professional invites from my friends in the US so perhaps that will help some.

[the scouser]

In terms of the UK visa, to have an onward or return ticket is not a prerequisite. Under the immigration rules, the applicant has to show that they intend to leave the UK at the end of the trip, and your g/f will have to do this by other means in order to get the visa in the first place.

Your major hurdle would appear to be the relatively short period of time you've known each other, although your extended immigration status in Thailand will be of benefit in demonstrating your intention to return, and, by association, your girlfriend's too.

Scouse.

[Greenside]

Your major hurdle would appear to be the relatively short period of time you've known each other, although your extended immigration status in Thailand will be of benefit in demonstrating your intention to return, and, by association, your girlfriend's too.

Scouse.

Thanks. The lease on my apartment expires when I plan to leave for the UK. In line with this thinking, I guess it would be of advantage to make arrangements for a new lease in joint names timed to start on our proposed return date. If I pay a significant deposit, it would demonstrate a commitment to return.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Greenside

[fisherd3]

In terms of the UK visa, to have an onward or return ticket is not a prerequisite. Under the immigration rules, the applicant has to show that they intend to leave the UK at the end of the trip, and your g/f will have to do this by other means in order to get the visa in the first place.

Your major hurdle would appear to be the relatively short period of time you've known each other, although your extended immigration status in Thailand will be of benefit in demonstrating your intention to return, and, by association, your girlfriend's too.

Scouse.

When I was living in Jamaica, I had a Jamaican passport, owned a resort condominium and four acres of reasonable land, and showed US$100,000 in the bank , known the lady for two years and just bought a 3 bedroom house at the other end of the island 1km from where she lived (in between the first and the second application by which time I had known her nearly three years) , and this was most definitely not any help in demonstrating my then lady's intention to return to Jamaica on the 30 day return ticket I had unfortunately already bought, having read the UK immigration site not realising how misleading it is .

If the face doesn't fit (is she basically poor by UK standards?) you can forget it, and yes you need a good agent to apply for you so you do not make any innocent remarks that will be construed as a reason for refusal , you definitely need to fill the form in the right way, and you probably don't know what that is, oh yea and the other blatent lie the Embassies put out, that the little stamp they put in your ladies passport when they refuse her will have no effect on future applications.

Edited May 9, 2007 by fisherd3

[Greenside]

If the face doesn't fit (is she basically poor by UK standards?) you can forget it, and yes you need a good agent to apply for you so you do not make any innocent remarks that will be construed as a reason for refusal , you definitely need to fill the form in the right way, and you probably don't know what that is, oh yea and the other blatent lie the Embassies put out, that the little stamp they put in your ladies passport when they refuse her will have no effect on future applications.

Well, that's somewhat less encouraging but I do know of people who have taken Isaan girls more or less straight off the farm (albiet after having a relationship for a while) over to the UK so perhaps there were other factors in your lady's case. Thanks anyway.

[Greenside]

OK, with grateful thanks to Davis Khan for their advice and support in preparing the UK application, my girlfriend was granted a 180 day multiple entry visitor's visa for the UK in just over a week from submitting the paperwork here in Chiang Mai. The next step is applying for visas for the US, NZ and Australia if the round the world idea is to work out.

If anyone has recent experience that would guide me in the following areas I'd be really pleased to hear from them:

1. We have lived in Chiang Mai since January. The US Visa website says that to conduct an interview in CM they need proof of residency but that houshold registration alone is insufficient. Given that she's not employed here or enrolled in a school yet, what could they expect her to produce beyond our apartment lease which is in joint names? We'd obviously rather not go to the expense and hassle of traveling to BKK for this.
   
2. I don't need a visa to holiday in the US because I am a UK citizen. The fact that we are traveling together, will have onward bookings and she has no family ties in the US will form the basis of her application - we're genuinely just ordinary tourists with invitations from friends with whom we'll stay. Will I be allowed to attend the interview with her since I am not actually applying?
   
3. Given that time is tight, what are the current processing times for tourist visas for US, NZ and Australia. Does anyone have a view as to what order I might best apply for them - ie: Does anyone think that already having a NZ and/or Australian visa will re-assure the US authorities of our intention to leave at the end of our holiday?
   

Your thoughts on these questions would be appreciated.

[expatwannabe]

I wish you the best, but I think you're going to have a lot of trouble with the U.S. visa. They're very hard-nosed.

A letter from you or any of your friends offering to support, house, or guarantee your girlfriend will do no good. The US Immigration website says as much - applicants must qualify of their own accord.

Best of luck and if you do succeed, for heaven's sake tell us what you did!

:-)

... just FYI, the U.S. doesn't have a "tourist visa," per se. It has a non-Immigrant visa.

Your girlfriend should do whatever she can to show significant ties to Thailand, like ownership of a house, family connections, money in the bank, car, and other assets she has that she obviously wouldn't walk away from. A job would have been great too.

Edited June 2, 2007 by expatwannabe