I am in a relationship with a thai lady and we have recently discussed our hopes for the future together and i have done some research into visas. I go back to Thailand in September and hope to return again in December/January. When i go back in January we are looking to submit an application for a visa in Bangkok for her to come to the UK. By this time we will have known each other for approximately 1 year. The problem we have at the moment is deciding which type of visa to actually apply for. My initial idea was to apply for a visitors visa for her to come to stay with me for a month or two for a holiday. The problem we have is that it seems unlikely that she could get this amount of time off from her job. We are getting engaged when i return in September so the other option I have looked at is the fiancee visa with a view to us getting married in the UK and her settling here with me.

At present I live with my parents but am currently looking for a property of my own. I am in full time employment with savings to my name and I am willing to sponsor her application and cover costs. My concern is that when we are looking to submit an application our relationship will only be 1 year old. Would this count against us? Would we need to be in a relationship for longer than this to have a realistic chance of being successful with a fiancee application? I have done my research into visas and I am currently compiling a portfolio of evidence of our relationship consisting of telephone & SMS records, e-mails etc. When i go back in September we hope to talk with her employer to allow her to take a month or two off from her work to come for a holiday as this is the preferred option for us both. Failing this we may just press ahead with the fiancee application. Basically i am looking for any advice on our chances of success. Would i be wasting my time and money pursuing the fiancee application? Any advice anybody could give me would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

I am not an expert but i believe it would be possible to get a fiance visa with the relationship being 1 year old. I think what might be an important consideration is how much of the 1 year the 2 of you have actually spent together.

See also 13.4 - Fiancé(e)s/proposed civil partners and how they qualify.