Uk visitor visa

[Adelphi]

I would like to obtain a UK visitor visa to take my partner to the UK. We have been together about 6 months. My financial position is strong but you could not say the same about my Thai partners position (no property/job).   I will be paying for everything.   Can anyone based on recent experience recommend an Agent who might be able to help us?  Any suggestions on what we might do/say to strengthen the application would also be very welcome e.g. fit in a trip to Singapore, take out a years medical insurance for my partner, have our condo rental put into joint names.  Thank you in advance for all helpful suggestions. 

[Celsius]

I would not waste money on agent. They will bring zero value to your application.

 

What I would suggest is that your wife join many of the Facebook groups that will offer her a solid advice from Thais who went through this process. That being said they are really tightening on these tourist visas to USA/Uk/Australia/Canada especially from Thais. I am going through something similar with my wife who is fully employs, owns property, has a letter from the company and multiple visas to Australia and US (family). Very, very long wait.

[brewsterbudgen]

If she's going to the UK for a holiday you, as her sponsor, just have to demonstrate that you can pay for her trip and accommodate her in the UK.

 

More problematic will be showing that she has a genuine reason to return to Thailand after the holiday, as she doesn't have a job.  Do you have a life together in Thailand?  If you can show that you live together in Thailand and are just having a holiday in the UK it would help.  Do you have a work permit/retirement extension for Thailand?

 

There are plenty of agents available (including a sponsor of this Forum) but without a good reason for her to return to Thailand, I'm not sure that they can do much.

[Adelphi]

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Do you have a life together in Thailand?  If you can show that you live together in Thailand and are just having a holiday in the UK it would help.  Do you have a work permit/retirement extension for Thailand?

Yes we now live together in Thailand and I have retirement visa.   I think our biggest problem will be that we have only known each other for six months and only recently started living together.  I am concerned that if we apply this year and get turned down that may count against us in the future.   Maybe I should just do a short trip to the UK on my own and put off applying for a visitor visa for my partner until next year.  Next year we will be able to evidence much more of a shared life in Thailand.  

[brewsterbudgen]

9 minutes ago, Adelphi said:

Yes we now live together in Thailand and I have retirement visa.   I think our biggest problem will be that we have only known each other for six months and only recently started living together.  I am concerned that if we apply this year and get turned down that may count against us in the future.   Maybe I should just do a short trip to the UK on my own and put off applying for a visitor visa for my partner until next year.  Next year we will be able to evidence much more of a shared life in Thailand.  

I think that would be sensible, although your retirement extension will help.  Living together in Thailand for 6 months and with you having an extension of stay, is a much bigger 'plus' than guys with 'long distance' relationships.

 

Some of the Forum's experts on this subject should be posting soon, and will have helpful advice.

 

 

[marin]

16 minutes ago, Adelphi said:

Maybe I should just do a short trip to the UK on my own and put off applying for a visitor visa for my partner until next year.  Next year we will be able to evidence much more of a shared life in Thailand.  

Its not so much a shared life. Its about showing she has reason to come back. IE, family, job, property, investments. Until she can show something there its going to be a hard road for her. 

[yeahbutif]

I just got my lady a UK visa again this year easy ..the first one I did I was going to use an agent.but they said she would not get one and told me not to waste my money.. due to many hiccups...but I thought the visa for 6 months in cheap. So what have I got to lose?  So I just logged on appyled and got it .. you do need to be able to show papers for everything you answer a question for. And the Thai paper's need to be certified translations.  You can start and stop the application on line so don't need to do it all at once.. I may be able to help you with the a copy of the questions but they do vearie a little..

Edited February 16, 2023 by yeahbutif
Added more information

[theoldgit]

2 hours ago, Adelphi said:

Yes we now live together in Thailand and I have retirement visa.   I think our biggest problem will be that we have only known each other for six months and only recently started living together.  I am concerned that if we apply this year and get turned down that may count against us in the future.   Maybe I should just do a short trip to the UK on my own and put off applying for a visitor visa for my partner until next year.  Next year we will be able to evidence much more of a shared life in Thailand.  

 

As @brewsterbudgenhas rightly pointed out, the applicant, your girlfriend not you, has to convince the Entry Clearance Officer, the decision maker, that their proposed visit is genuine, affordable and on the balance of probablities they will leave the UK at the conclusion of the proposed trip.

 

BB also makes the valid point that this is not so easy when the applicant lives here in Thailand and the partner in the UK, even if the partner supports the applicant financially, the ECO could be forgiven for believing that the applicant might remain in the UK with the benefactor, you are not in that position.

 

It's certainly sensible to consider the fact that whilst you've extended your stay based on retirement, you've not been together that long so may not be able to demonstrate a sustaining relationship, though it's clearly better than a long distant relationship. Can your girlfriend demonstrate other ties here, such as longer term employment?

 

If she did apply this year, and her application was refused, she would need to declare the fact in any future application, all applications are considered individually on merit, so a refusal wouldn't be held against her, but in any future application she should address the reasons for the refusal, and by explaining that she'd waiting a bit longer to prove your relationship before reapplying.

 

I wouldn't necessarily agree that an agent would "bring zero value to your application", a genuine and qualified agent could offer meaningful advice to the applicant on the likelihood whether an application might succeed, given the circumstances surrouding the applicant and any partner/sponsor, and assist with the drafting of the application.   

[BLACKJACK2]

I wouldn't bother with an agent, my wife recently got a visa and we thought the agent route would be the best option but after getting nowhere for 10 days we dumped them and did it ourselves, very easy and painless. I live in the UK and she lives in Thailand so with you already retired there that has to be a bonus. Best of luck ???? 

[Millian]

I applied for UK Visa for my then Girlfriend in 2016.

She had no job at the time so I was the sponsor.

It was pretty simple, and I sent exactly what they asked for on the UK Gov website.  I had read threads about people supplying reams and reams of documents such as  such as, photos, email messages, etc. However on the UK Gov website, it stated (at that time at least) to send only what they asked for, which I did.

This is what I sent. (this was 2016, may have changed?)
 

• Girlfriends Passport and Copy
• Girlfriends ID card and copy
• Short Letter from myself explaining why I'm paying for her (as we have been together for 6 years and going to visit my family for Xmas and do some tourist stuff)
• My passport and copy
• My work permit and copy
• Copy of my work contract
• Our Condo rental contract and copy (which is in her name)
• 6 months of my Thia bank statements showing enough savings to pay for both our trips and monthly salary payments (went to the bank to get printouts)
• Print out of email from my parents confirming we will be staying with them (So less spending money needed)
  
   

Filled it in online and paid via paypal on the 23rd Sep, she went to apply at the office on Soi 21 on the 28th Sep, they rang her up 2 days later and asked her questions for approx 10 mins about the application (double checking facts it seemed) and the visa was ready to pick up on 7th Oct.

My post from the time here: 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Millian

[brewsterbudgen]

21 minutes ago, Millian said:

I applied for UK Visa for my then Girlfriend in 2016.

She had no job at the time so I was the sponsor.

It was pretty simple, and I sent exactly what they asked for on the UK Gov website.  I had read threads about people supplying reams and reams of documents such as  such as, photos, email messages, etc. However on the UK Gov website, it stated (at that time at least) to send only what they asked for, which I did.

This is what I sent. (this was 2016, may have changed?)
 

• Girlfriends Passport and Copy
• Girlfriends ID card and copy
• Short Letter from myself explaining why I'm paying for her (as we have been together for 6 years and going to visit my family for Xmas and do some tourist stuff)
• My passport and copy
• My work permit and copy
• Copy of my work contract
• Our Condo rental contract and copy (which is in her name)
• 6 months of my Thia bank statements showing enough savings to pay for both our trips and monthly salary payments (went to the bank to get printouts)
• Print out of email from my parents confirming we will be staying with them (So less spending money needed)
  
   

Filled it in online and paid via paypal on the 23rd Sep, she went to apply at the office on Soi 21 on the 28th Sep, they rang her up 2 days later and asked her questions for approx 10 mins about the application (double checking facts it seemed) and the visa was ready to pick up on 7th Oct.

My post from the time here: 

 

Nice one.  Presumably she didn't have a job either, which just goes to show it's definitely possible for unemployed people to get a Visitor Visa if it's genuine application.

 

If she did her biometrics in Bangkok, the VFS office is on Sukhumvit soi 13 not 21.

[Millian]

Yes that's correct, as I mentioned she was unemployed at the time.

 

My friends were surprised, because they had been following a certain guide and checklist which told them to include photos, emails, txt messages, etc to prove the relationship. They thought my application would be denied when I told them what I supplied with the application. However on the UK Gov website, it specifically said to not send any such documents.

 

I guess the rent agreement in her name and my Visa and Work Permit was enough to prove the ties here, as that's all I supplied along with the very short letter saying we had been together 6 years.

 

They also rang her up and asked her questions for around 10 mints.  This were things such as how to spell my full name, what is my job and what does it entail, where my parents lived, what were their names, what dates were we planning to go, where we were planning to go when there, etc.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Millian