The girlfriend and I now have a healthy 14 month old girl and are currently residing in Thailand. (decided to take a year off after all - she won the debate!)

We we would like to go back to the UK for a couple of months, and then come back here (Thailand) for about 8. What visa to go for? Fed up with trips to Bangkok for VV, and would like to start the process of getting the gf into the UK with ILTR. But main snag I see is us being out of the UK for at least 8 months in the 2 year period ( Indefinate Leave to Remain) though together.

We have been together for best part of 4 years now, living together for 2, via VV and long holidays. I had read the 6 month rule as ...

13.14 - Unmarried (i.e. opposite sex) and same-sex partners and how they qualify (Rules Paragraph 295A)

The parties having been living together in a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more.

"Living together", should be applied fairly tightly, in that we would expect a couple to show evidence of cohabitation in the preceding 2 year period. Periods apart would be acceptable for good reasons, such as work commitments, or looking after a relative which takes one partner away for up to 6 months where it was not possible for the other partner to accompany and it can be seen that the relationship continued throughout that period by visits, letters etc. Where a couple have been living together for the preceding 2-year period but have been dividing their time between countries and may, for example, have used the "visitor" category, then this will be sufficient to meet the requirement.

In our case we had 3 months apart as baby was born in Thaland and I had to be in th UK for work before the baby could fly. This will have taken us over 6 months total apart in 2 years, will this be a problem?

I am loathed to go the VV route again as the cost of travel and time is significant in gong to Bangkok every year (i am right in assumig the gf must do the biometrics etc again?). Also we would like to start planning for life in the UK, schools etc. .

Is there a danger she could be refused a VV as we are using it as a means to live in the UK?

Could she be refused a Partner Visa and Indefinate Leave to Remain as we will be out of the UK for a long spell?

Are the Consulate offering 2, 5, or 10 year VVs?

Sorry for all the questions, just starting out on the next process!

Thanks

Iain

In theory, to qualify for the unmarried partner's settlement visa, the parties have to have lived together for the entire two years. The six-month absence is essentially at the discretion of the UKBA and I can't see them allowing absences of in excess of this. In that case, you're either going to have to go the visit visa route or, if you want to immediately settle in the UK, contemplate marriage.

Whether your partner would be refused further visit visas will ultimately depend upon how long she has been spending in the UK. There is no hard and fast rule, but as a general guide, she should aim to spend no longer than six months of every twelve in the UK. The embassy in Bangkok are certainly issuing two-year multiple-entry visit visas again, so perhaps think about applying for one of those. The only word of caution is that they are generally only issued to those who wish to make a number of short visits, and not those who wish to wish to visit for long periods. The other factor to bear in mind is that the government's consultation on reducing the length of a visit to 3 months must be due for publication soon, and it's only a matter of time before the suggestion becomes fact.

Scouse.