From Settlement To Passport

[CarlBkk]

Myself and my wife have decided to apply for a settlement visa in order for her to travel back to the UK with me when I need to go. I usually go for between 1-5 months. Up until now we have been living in Bangkok with her returning with me on tourist visas but staying for nearly the full 5 months each time (which doesn't look good).

Another reason for the settlement visa is to start the path to obtain a UK passport. As we want to stay most of the year in Thailand due to our son being educated here etc. we are a little worried about the need to remain in the UK a "certain number of months per year" until she gets the passport.

Can anyone shed some light on these rules please?

[the scouser]

Carl,

Your wife can apply for naturalisation once she holds indefinite leave and has been in the U.K. for 3 years. The time qualification is that the applicant can't have spent more than 270 days of the 3 years outside of the U.K. and no more than 90 in the last year. The Borders and Immigration Agency is allowed to exercise a degree of discretion with these figures, but your wife would need to justify why she has spent more than the allotted time outside of the country.

Scouse.

[paully]

The residence requirements are outlined here: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents...exb?view=Binary

[CarlBkk]

Thanks guys. Actually disappointing news for myself as we want to spend more than half of each year in Bangkok (son's education, our suppliers here). Maybe we want the best of both worlds whereby she can travel with me at any time but also base ourselves in Bangkok. Can you confirm that the Settlement Visa is the best bet?

[the scouser]

What will your missus want to do whilst in the UK? Will she want to work, for example? Additionally, what do you foresee as being the Thailand/UK split?

Scouse.

[CarlBkk]

What will your missus want to do whilst in the UK? Will she want to work, for example? Additionally, what do you foresee as being the Thailand/UK split?

Scouse.

I foresee the split as being 9 months in Bangkok and a total of 3 months in UK per year. My wife would want to work with me, as she does now, in our wholesale company each time we return (managing the sales staff, attending some trade shows etc.). She won't be working outside of my company in the UK.

[the scouser]

Carl,

Based on that split, I would normally suggest a visit visa. However, this doesn't allow your wife to work, in which case, it'll have to be a settlement visa.

You don't have an entitlement to a passport of another EEA country, do you?

Scouse.

[CarlBkk]

Thanks Scouser,

Visit visa is risky now as she's stayed the max. 6 months for the past two visits. UK immigration advised not to come back to visit on the same visa again (we didn't need to).

No entitlement to any other passport unfortunately.

[the scouser]

If you were to be intent on a visit visa, you could always explain in a covering letter that you operate a business which involves you splitting your time between Thailand and the UK, and that you envisage your wife spending no more than 3 months of any twelve in the UK. Failing that, it will have to be a settlement visa. Should you apply for a settlement visa, it is unlikely that your wife would qualify for indefinite leave at the end of the two years simply because she will have spent so much time outside of the UK.

Scouse.

[Mahout Angrit]

Carl

If you were to be intent on a visit visa, you could always explain in a covering letter that you operate a business which involves you splitting your time between Thailand and the UK, and that you envisage your wife spending no more than 3 months of any twelve in the UK.

I would tend to think this may be the best approach, It really also depends on how visible your wife will be when working (you mention trade stands) but I am guessing she has been doing the same things for the last two visits and nothing was said (that never means that next time.....). I'm sure you know she shouldn't be working on a visit visa.

As a matter of interest when were you warned about not arriving in UK on another visit visa, surely not on only your second arrival?

The problem of a settlement visa, as Scouse suggests, is , in your circumstances, it's only a short term solution (2 years) and will give you at best only 3 trips for your £500 as you will struggle to satisfy the requirements for ILR or even FLR. So after 2 years you will have the same dilemma.

[Monkeypants]

Also to apply for ILR you would have to show proof of living together in the UK,

i.e gas/electric bills, concil tax, bank statements etc etc, to prove that you actually are living together in the UK.

Seems to me that the visit visa is the right type of visa for your current situation.

[CarlBkk]

Thanks for the info guys. A huge dilemma for us at the moment when planning the next 5 years around us, our business and our son.

A visit visa each time does seem the simplest option but I'm worried that when we'd like to travel to other countries (Europe, Japan, USA) it will be a stress to get my wife visas each time. If she goes back to work the visas won't be a problem, but then getting time off to travel with me as a family will be. Catch 22.

To answer Mahout's question: last year as we were building up the business we had no choice but to spend most of the year in the UK. Even though we're married and had our son with us my wife entered the UK twice in that year (on her 2 year tourist visa) once staying for 4 months, and the second time staying for the full 6 months. On the second occasion the immigration officer spoke frankly and said that she will allow her to come in this time, but it was obvious she was basically using these visas to "live" in the UK, and advised her to come in on a different visa next time, as there would likely be a problem entering for a third time on a visit visa after the lengthy previous stays.

[Mahout Angrit]

To answer Mahout's question: last year as we were building up the business we had no choice but to spend most of the year in the UK. Even though we're married and had our son with us my wife entered the UK twice in that year (on her 2 year tourist visa) once staying for 4 months, and the second time staying for the full 6 months. On the second occasion the immigration officer spoke frankly and said that she will allow her to come in this time, but it was obvious she was basically using these visas to "live" in the UK, and advised her to come in on a different visa next time, as there would likely be a problem entering for a third time on a visit visa after the lengthy previous stays.

At the risk of causing another thread to go somewhat off topic. If she didn't spend more than 6 months in any 12 month period in UK then you would be within the guidelines of the Immigration Directorate's instructions regarding frequency and duration of visits and therefore she should not be penalised.

As it was a verbal warning and provided your wife can get another visit visa I shouldn't worry too much.

The problem is if you write promising that she will only stay 3 months she doesn't have a very good track record of proof but if you use 6 month visit visas for a couple of times then you could start to think about the longer term visa once you have built up a trusted history of compliance.

As far as going to other countries, having a settlement visa wont help her to enter any country without a visa and she is a long long way off qualifying for a British passport.

If you are based in Thailand, your wife should have an adequate 'reason to return' when applying to visit any country.

It shouldn't be a case of going for the simplest visa option but going for the most appropriate and as your wife wants to work it should really be the settlement visa but it will unlikely lead to FLR on expiry so it would be the same again.

Edited June 19, 2007 by Mahout Angrit