Thai Girlfriend Granted Uk Visa 1st Time Refused The 2nd?

[loonodingle]

Can anybody offer advice on this situation????

A friend of mine Uk citizen who has been living in Thailand for 4 years with his Thai girlfriend applied to take her to Uk on a 6 months tourist visa while he was working on a contract in the UK. She was granted the Visa the 1st time within 4 days no questions asked and straight through.

She returned to Thailand within the 6 months validity of the visa with her Partner and they re applied again for a 6 months visa as he had a contract extension. Refused. imeddiatly within 2 days. Reason for the refusal was that it is not in the spirit of a tourist visa???

His papers all stack up. he has a rented house in Uk which he stays in whilst working there. he has all the papers you could ever ask for.

But the British embassy wont grant her a visa to be with him on holiday whilst he is working again, despite the fact they did before and she never overstayed. she never used the Uk health facilitites she was never a burden to the Uk state and neither was my friend.

Can anyone advise on what visa he should have applied for for her??? or how he can proceed as he doesnt want to be apart for 6 months.

Thanks in anticipation.......

[micky44]

hi, on a tourist visa, the applicant can only stay a maximum of 6 months in a 12 month period in the UK, i.e she must return to Thailand for at least 6 months before reapplying. how long had she been back in Thailand when she re-applied ?

[wasabi]

If he can just find a second girlfriend he can rotate them every 6 months.

[d0om4gloom]

Correct, you cant get back to back tourist visas because you stop being a tourist and instead start becoming resident - remember anything greater than 6 months in the UK affects tax especially and there's international law to consider around your domeciled status after 6 months.

If your friends have been living together for 4 years then she'll actually qualify for a spousal visa which allows her to work as well. They would need to prove that the relationship is like a marriage in every way and need to prove the duration of it also. Before others shoot this suggestion down, go read the uk immigration/visa site.

Lastly of course, if the relationship isn't truly 4 years old, then there's two realistic alternatives : a) Get a marriage visa - this i believe allows 2 years in the uk but no work until after the marriage and further resulting visas granted or Wait 6 months and apply for another tourist visa but remember she does need to be seen as a tourist and not just an adhoc resident.

Yeah, its a real pain to negotiate the various visa rules when your in a real relationship especially when you consider that in the UK just a 6 month joint living arrangement is deemed a common law marriage ! Where's the sense in that i dont know. The trouble is there's no real advisory service either - you cant go and discuss what would be allowed so its largely a case of do your research, then apply and hope.

[Eff1n2ret]

If they can show that they have been living together with her in a relationship akin to marriage for more than 2 years, she could apply for settlement as an "unmarried partner". This is a more expensive process than applying for a visit visa, and not totally appropriate if they are not intending to stay in the UK long-term, but it gets round the problem mentioned by the previous poster, that visitors are not expected to spend more than 6 months in any 12 in the UK. Such a visa would be granted for 2 years, and an advantage would be that she could work if she wanted to.

It really depends how long the guy expects to be on contract in the UK, and whether he thinks the cost of the visa is worth it.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

The applicant must spend 6 months in her host country before she can apply, otherwise she may be classed as a resident in the UK.

A Tourist visa is for a short stay.

[Eff1n2ret]

The applicant must spend 6 months in her host country before she can apply, otherwise she may be classed as a resident in the UK.

A Tourist visa is for a short stay.

Nothing to stop her applying straight away for an unmarried partner visa. The visit visa refusal should not count against her if she has all the evidence of at least 2 years' cohabitation.

[CharlieB]

The applicant must spend 6 months in her host country before she can apply, otherwise she may be classed as a resident in the UK.

A Tourist visa is for a short stay.

Nothing to stop her applying straight away for an unmarried partner visa. The visit visa refusal should not count against her if she has all the evidence of at least 2 years' cohabitation.

Now they have applied and been refused a second 6 month visit visa and told the embassy that he has got a 6 month extension on his contract, his settlement visa will have to overcome the fact that the embassy will think they are now doing anything and everything just to get her into the UK, including putting a settlement visa application in when she probably has no real plan to settle. This may raise some additional questions in the mind of an ECO.

[Eff1n2ret]

The applicant must spend 6 months in her host country before she can apply, otherwise she may be classed as a resident in the UK.

A Tourist visa is for a short stay.

Nothing to stop her applying straight away for an unmarried partner visa. The visit visa refusal should not count against her if she has all the evidence of at least 2 years' cohabitation.

Now they have applied and been refused a second 6 month visit visa and told the embassy that he has got a 6 month extension on his contract, his settlement visa will have to overcome the fact that the embassy will think they are now doing anything and everything just to get her into the UK, including putting a settlement visa application in when she probably has no real plan to settle. This may raise some additional questions in the mind of an ECO.

It's not been stated how long his contract extension is.

As far as "doing anything and everything just to get her into the UK" is concerned, there's no suggestion that she has any other motive in going there, other than to be with him. If she had, she could have overstayed the previous visit. As he is a British Citizen with right of abode, he is entitled to say that his only current prospects are of working in the UK, and he is entitled to seek to take his partner with him if they qualify under the Rules. They simply applied for the wrong visa last time.

[loonodingle]

Thanks for all the advice.......

I suggested he goes along with the 2 girlfriend, however he reckons he cant afford to keep another set off uncles brothers and a father in thai Whisky. Let alone the vets bills for the Buffalo who's sick and the mother hospital fees.

So he is goner call it a day in Thailand and apply for settlement for her. he has been with her for 4 and a half years so shouldnt be to much problem, we hope!!!!

[Freddie212]

Does the six month in six month out apply when your wife visits the UK on a Family Visit Visa.?

[7by7]

Yes, the general convention is that a visitor should not spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in the UK.

[torrenova]

Could one not argue the first 12 month period ended as she returned to Thailand, in that she ws in Thailand for 6 months prior to coming to the UK ? The second 12 month period would then start immediately, allowing her to come straight back to the UK. She would still only be eligible for 2 x 6 month stints to the UK within 2 years and would satisfy that rule.

[Eff1n2ret]

Could one not argue the first 12 month period ended as she returned to Thailand, in that she ws in Thailand for 6 months prior to coming to the UK ? The second 12 month period would then start immediately, allowing her to come straight back to the UK. She would still only be eligible for 2 x 6 month stints to the UK within 2 years and would satisfy that rule.

If you were an MP, you'd have been switching your second home every year.