Uk Settlement Visa Application

[bannangio]

Hi all, this is my first post here, but I'm a long time lurker. I hope you can all give me some advise on what to do next, or at least sympathise with me.

OK, so I put all the documents/information/photos etc together and headed down to Bangkok last week, along with my girlfriend and our 3 month old son, to apply for her settlement fiancee visa. After havng to do the sputum tests and everything we finally submitted it Monday, only to be called up today and told they couldn't accept it, and could we come back to Bangkok and collect it. There problem is that my girlfriend is not a Thai national, but Burmese.

Is it true you can only apply for a settlement visa in your country of origin? I think it's a load of bull. I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned on the application centre or embassy website, otherwise I would never have submitted it in the first place. In fact, in the list of documents required it asks for my gf's current immigration status in Thailand, implying she doesn't have to be Thai. When I pointed this out to the lovely English lady on the phone she just said 'no'. When I tried to ask about compensation for not telling us when we first handed it in, but rather making us pay for more flights from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, she hung up on me.

So what are my options? Go to Bangkok, collect my application, and resubmit it in Yangon? (where in all likelihood they will submit it to Thailand to be approved or not). The reason I don't like this option is that the amount of red tape in that country makes it difficult to get anything done - My gf's passport application took 4+ months, and you have to bribe, bribe and bribe again.

Or maybe I can kick up a fuss and hope they change their minds? Who knows. One bright spot. They've agreed to give me back the 36,000. Don't know how I'm going to be able to cash a bankers draft made payable to the British embassy Bangkok though. Any ideas?

Dan

[the scouser]

Dan,

What is your fiancée's immigration status in Thailand? If it is anything other than a short-term status, then she may apply at the embassy in Bangkok. Failing that you may have to trudge to Yangon.

I'm not aware of how you encash the bank draft, but presume you take it back to the bank from which you got it, explain the situation and ask that they refund the money.

Scouse.

[bannangio]

Hi Scouse,

Thanks for your reply. Following that call this morning we had another call, this time asking about my fiancee's previous time in Thailand. She came over 10 years ago with her mother, but stayed when her mum went home. The only problem is there is no proof of this, as she came illegally. In this call they didn't commit to considering her application or not, so I'm still hopeful. She is currently in Thailand on a tourist visa, so we have the added complication that returning to Yangon would mean she couldn't get another visa to Thailand for 3 months, and we would have to fly from Yangon to the UK, or try to get a transit visa to Thailand. Does anyone know about these transit visas? i.e. validity, requirements etc.?

Dan

[dan060975]

Hi all, this is my first post here, but I'm a long time lurker. I hope you can all give me some advise on what to do next, or at least sympathise with me.

OK, so I put all the documents/information/photos etc together and headed down to Bangkok last week, along with my girlfriend and our 3 month old son, to apply for her settlement fiancee visa. After havng to do the sputum tests and everything we finally submitted it Monday, only to be called up today and told they couldn't accept it, and could we come back to Bangkok and collect it. There problem is that my girlfriend is not a Thai national, but Burmese.

Is it true you can only apply for a settlement visa in your country of origin? I think it's a load of bull. I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned on the application centre or embassy website, otherwise I would never have submitted it in the first place. In fact, in the list of documents required it asks for my gf's current immigration status in Thailand, implying she doesn't have to be Thai. When I pointed this out to the lovely English lady on the phone she just said 'no'. When I tried to ask about compensation for not telling us when we first handed it in, but rather making us pay for more flights from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, she hung up on me.

So what are my options? Go to Bangkok, collect my application, and resubmit it in Yangon? (where in all likelihood they will submit it to Thailand to be approved or not). The reason I don't like this option is that the amount of red tape in that country makes it difficult to get anything done - My gf's passport application took 4+ months, and you have to bribe, bribe and bribe again.

Or maybe I can kick up a fuss and hope they change their minds? Who knows. One bright spot. They've agreed to give me back the 36,000. Don't know how I'm going to be able to cash a bankers draft made payable to the British embassy Bangkok though. Any ideas?

Dan

what is a sputum test??

thanx

[markr]

When an application for a settlement visa is made you have to provide a tuberculosis test certificate with your application, this is done by an X-ray, if the X-ray is not clear then the hospital take a sputum sample and check for TB that way, its a saliva test basically.

Mark

[toasted]

I'm a bit unclear on your girlfriend's status as you say she originally came here illegally ten years ago, but now has a passport and a tourist visa. Either way I hope the following helps.

The British Embassy has, at least once in the past, granted a settlement visa to a Burmese national who had fled the country and entered Thailand illegally, but not been given refugee status in Thailand. This person had no passport or visa for Thailand, but having married a British national and subsequently having had a child, the embassy finally came through for them in a big way (albeit after a lot of pressure was put on them by the husband).

If your girlfriend is not in a position to return to Burma due to similar circumstances, you should make it very clear to the embassy and not take no for an answer.

[bannangio]

Sputum tests are tests they run on any saliva that comes up when you cough, i.e. the thick phlegmy stuff from the back of your throat. They seemed to like it if it had a bit of colour too

Thanks for the information Toasted. Yes, my gf entered illegally, but when I found out she was pregnant I did some research and found she would need a passport in order for us to get married, either in Thailand or the UK. So off she went back to Myanmar (illegally again) and after lots of time and money we managed to procure an ID card, and from that a Myanmar passport. I think it was exceptionally difficult because her Dad was killed by the government/army.

Anyway, it looks like we'll probably have to go back, so more money on flights/hotels etc. At least my son has a UK passport this time. We had to bribe airport officials to let him leave the country the last time.

[randall]

Hi all i am going to bangkok on monday to sort out my wife settlement visa is it just the tuberculosis test certificate that she needs or are there any more health certificate that she need and can she just goto the local doctors and get this.Thanks Mark

[the scouser]

The TB test can only be performed under the supervision of the IOM in Bangkok. Have a look at the British embassy site for the finer details.

Scouse.

[bannangio]

So, my fiancee got her settlement visa and is now in the UK, and not a moment too soon looking at the news now. The staff at the British consul in Burma were nothing but helpful, in contrast to their colleagues in Bangkok, and it was only the Myanmar government making things difficult for us by refusing a visa for me and my son. Anyway, 10 days apart wasn't that bad, and taught me to appreciate what she does around the house anyway

So now the question is: What are the steps to get my fiancee a British passport? Obviously get married would be a good start. And then does she have to take English tests? How long must she be resident here for? Anybody else gone through the same procedure? What happens if her passport expires and she doesn't have a British one yet? I doubt the current regime in Burma will issue her a new one.

Also, with a visa to the UK can she go on holiday to any EU country without applying for a seperate visa?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help,

Dan

[Mahout Angrit]

What are the steps to get my fiancee a British passport? Obviously get married would be a good start. And then does she have to take English tests? How long must she be resident here for? What happens if her passport expires and she doesn't have a British one yet?

Also, with a visa to the UK can she go on holiday to any EU country without applying for a seperate visa?

To apply for British citizenship she must be married to a UK citizen, hold permanant unrestricted leave to remain in UK and must have lived in the UK 3 years. If not married she must have lived in UK 5 years. She must hold British citizenship before she can apply for a British passport.

She can apply for Indefinite leave to remain in UK once she has spent 2 years in the UK. She will need to prove competence in English language by passing a 'life in the UK' test as part of the qualification.

If her current passport expires she must apply to the Myanmar embassy in London to renew it.

If she wishes to travel to another country she must satisfy the immigration requirements for that country with respect to a Burmese national and that will most likely involve applying for a Visa. Specifically for the EU countries she will need a Schengen Visa which will allow her to travel to the countries which are signatories to the agreement (which is most but not all)

Edited September 27, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[the scouser]

If your wife's passport expires whilst she is in the UK, this does not mean that the validity of her permission to stay is removed. Evidently, however, having an expired passport would preclude travel abroad. I don't know on what grounds you believe that the Burmese embassy would decline to extend your wife's passport, and you're not obliged to say, but if the worst were to happen and she became stateless, she may apply to the Border and Immigration Agency for a travel document.

Scouse.

[vinny]

If your wife's passport expires whilst she is in the UK, this does not mean that the validity of her permission to stay is removed. Evidently, however, having an expired passport would preclude travel abroad. I don't know on what grounds you believe that the Burmese embassy would decline to extend your wife's passport, and you're not obliged to say, but if the worst were to happen and she became stateless, she may apply to the Border and Immigration Agency for a travel document.

Scouse.

bannangio, see also Travel documents.

Scouse, would having only an expired passport also preclude the Home Office's ability to affix future FLR or ILR?

Edited September 27, 2007 by vinny

[the scouser]

Scouse, would having only an expired passport also preclude the Home Office's ability to affix future FLR or ILR?

To the expired passport, yes. However, if circumstances are such that you can't renew the passport and you don't have a travel document, they can grant you leave on a letter. The difficulty then is that, although lawfully in the UK, the holder would be unable to travel abroad for lack of either a valid passport or travel document.

Scouse.