Settlement Visa

[makavelli]

Next week me and my thai wife are going to Glasgow to get her settlement visa. I have the correct forms to fill in and I know I have to write a bankers check out but is there anything else we should be aware of that might happen or be asked?

Thanks people

[the scouser]

You will need to show that you can maintain your wife without recourse to public funds so take along your last 6 months' bank statements and 3-4 months' wage slips. You will also need to prove that there is sufficient accommodation for your wife so take proof of your mortgage/rental agreement. You will additionally need to produce your passport as ID and, of course, the marriage certificate. Also take along any letters addressed to your wife at your home address as proof that you do live together. Some photos of the happy couple at their wedding whilst not necessary can give the Home Office stafff a bit of a giggle.

Any questions will be of a routine nature because, after all, in obtaining her fiancé(e) visa your wife has already satisfied the visa officer that her intentions are genuine.

Best of luck,

Scouse.

[makavelli]

Thanks Scouse for all your help, I must say and I spea for alot of people that u r a great deal of help! thanks mate.

Next week I go to get my wife's settlement visa, we have all the forms, passport pics and everything sorted, but when she gets this new visa will it be stapled into her passport because her passport currently has her surname on, but seeing as we r married now wont she have to take up my surname?

Also we have flights booked for chrsitmas to thailand under her current surname so I dont want the home office to issue her a new passport with my surname in because we will loose the flight tickets because the names are non-refundable.

thanks again,

[the scouser]

Hi Makavelli,

The Home Office won't issue your wife with a new passport but they will place her new stamp in her existing Thai passport. It will say something along the lines of "Spouse of (your name) permitted to remain until (2 years from the date of decision)." For the time being leave her Thai passport in her maiden name and carry your marriage certificate with you as this provides a link from her maiden name to her married name. By the way, she can keep her maiden name if she so wishes. Look at the Prime Minister's wife for example. When she practises as a barrister she uses Cherie Booth rather than Blair. In actual fact, you can legally call yourself whatever you like as long as it's not for the purposes of perpetrating a fraud. However, we digress. If your wife does wish to change her name to yours then once you've returned from Thailand pay a visit to the Thai embassy in London and they'll change it.

Cheers,

Scouse.

[makavelli]

hi scouse, u r number 1!!

Currently I am student and living with my parents, when we applied for the fiancee visa they had to send a letter away confirming they r going to take care of finacee (wife now) and send there mortgage details off to help with the application for the visa, do I need to take these again when I apply for the settlement visa?

As for her current passport, they will staple the new settlement visa inside it, wont they? but when after we have been on holiday to thailand at chrismas and return to england she is going apply to get a new passport with my surname , when she get this new passport will her settlement visa be transfered into it, and will this encounter any problems that she has taken up my surname?

Sorry scouse for all the questions.

Thanks again for all your time.

[the scouser]

Yes, your parents should then provide another letter stating that they are willing to financially support you and your wife. They should also provide proof of their ability to do so. In the letter they should also say that they are happy for you and your wife to live with them and how many bedrooms the house has. Take their mortgage statement too.

Your wife's new endorsement will be stamped in her passport. Once you've returned from Thailand go to the Thai embassy and ask them to change the name in the passport from her maiden name to her married name. That way she won't need to get a brand new passport and won't need to get the stamp transferred. You shouldn't face any problems because of the name change.

Your wife's stamp will be for 2 years. Near the end of that time she will have to apply to the Home Office again and she will then be given permission to stay in the UK indefinitely. Once she's possessed the indefinite stamp for 1 year she can seek naturalisation as a British citizen.

Cheers,

Scouse.

[Richard W]

As for her current passport, they will staple the new settlement visa inside it, wont they?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As Scouser implies, no, they'll glue it in!

What does one do when the glue fails, as it will? At present, my wife's Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) carnet (Anglice sticker) is secured by a paper clip as it has come unglued over half its area. Will stapling it to the passport or applying new glue invalidate it? There is now a hefty fee for transferring such carnets to new passports - the recommended option when the old passport expires and cannot be renewed is to use the old passport together with the new passport for entering the UK and checking in on flights to the UK.

[the scouser]

the recommended option when the old passport expires and cannot be renewed is to use the old passport together with the new passport for entering the UK and checking in on flights to the UK.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In t' good ol' days when you wanted a stamp transferring from an old to a new passport the simplest course was to take a short trip outside of the UK armed with both passports and upon returning ask the immigration officer to make the transfer. However, with the advent of charging for extensions of stay and such transfers, some bright spark at the Home Office realised that all and sundry would be popping over to France for the weekend and getting their transfers gratis at, for example, Dover on the way back. So to circumvent this they rescinded an IO's ability to grant extensions and withdrew their indefinite leave stamps. However, on reflection perhaps the latter isn't such a bad thing as most were missing anyway having been nicked by the West African cleaners.

Scouse.