Long term UK Visa for thai national

[novster]

I would be grateful for some advice.  I am a UK National and girlfriend is Thai.  Looking to both relocate from Thailand to the UK  at the end of 2022 with a view to living in the UK for the foreseeable future.  

 

Been in a provable relationship for 3 years.  We have lived together in Thailand for 2 years and in the UK in 2019-20 for 5 months (under a 6 month UK tourist visa).  Girlfriend does not work and has no real ties to Thailand in terms of children or property (but was able to convince UK immigration of my financial support and intention to return when she applied for tourist visa in 2019 ).

 

My question - Would she be better applying for another 6 month tourist visa and then looking at extension options during this period fom the UK or to apply for a UK settlement VISA from Thailand? I would prefer not to go down the spousal route!!

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

  

[BangkokAlan]

I suggest you go for the 2 year multiple entry visa and she can then fly back and forth every 6 months. Once you had a base with income in UK it should be easier to start looking at long term visa.

[Jumbo1968]

13 minutes ago, BangkokAlan said:

I suggest you go for the 2 year multiple entry visa and she can then fly back and forth every 6 months. Once you had a base with income in UK it should be easier to start looking at long term visa.

Even if she got a 2 year visa she could only stay 6 months, I think she would have to stay in Thailand for 6 months before returning for the next 6 months. 

[2ndhomepattaya]

I fear the only alternative I am aware of is for your GF to apply for a work visa in one of the many "labour shortage areas". But, and the devil is in the detail she would have to even if sponsored by an employer pass an English language test at an appropriate level. I am told these tests can get quite tricky but that is hearsay.

[novster]

Thanks for the replies. 
 

I am actually retired and she won’t be seeking work in the UK. 
 

She has a reasonable level of English (both written and spoken) and so think she will be at the necessary language level already or if not should be able to attain it fairly comfortably. 

 

 

[theoldgit]

If she applied for a visit visa, of whatever length, she would need to satisfy the decision maker that she's a genuine tourist and will leave the UK at the conclusion of her visit.

 

As Jumbo1968 has already correctly pointed out, she could only stay in the UK for a maximum of six months, whatever the length of the visa, and whilst there is no requirement to leave the UK for six months before returning, the Entry Clearance Officer making a decision on the visa application and the Border Force Officer at the UK Border are required to check the visitor’s travel history, including how long they are spending in the UK and how frequently they are returning to assess if they are, in effect, living in the UK through frequent or successive visits, or making the UK their main home. They must look at the purpose of the visit and intended length of stay stated, the number of visits made over the past 12 months, including the length of stay on each occasion, the time elapsed since the last visit, and if this amounts to the individual spending more time in the UK than in their home country.

 

I really don't think that a Visit Visa is what you're looking for, you say you have lived togther in Thailand for two years, if you can provide evidence to support that you've been in a sustainable relationship, akin to marriage, for in excess of two years, then she could apply for  a Family (Settlement) Visa based on that fact.

 

She couldn't apply to extend her tourist visa in the UK, based on what you describe, and neither could she, based on what you've indicated, apply for Settlement whilst in the UK.

[novster]

Thanks very much for this information. 
 

Both our names are on the tenancy contracts we have used in Thailand and so it should be relatively straightforward to prove the relationship and a settlement visa application seems the way forward.