Taking My Thai Husband And Step-son To The Uk

[naomisri]

At some point in the future my husband and I would like to go over to the UK, there are numerous reasons

- I don't want to draw a line under my life there and hopefully make some kind of investment in my home country

- My husband works incredibly hard here for not a great reward and the pros and cons of living here or living weigh up to it being worth us going over there

- We would like to give my step son (currently 13) the opportunity to study in the UK as opposed to further education here

- We hope to have kids and would like them to study in the UK and get to know their maternal family

- I don't work in Thailand and although we have income through rental properties I miss my career back home

We would hope to come back to Thailand later on.

I've done the research through TV and UK Gov websites and I think it is possible. We've been living together for 2 1/2 yrs, married for 14 months and I have contacts back home and don't see it as a problem to get work or a place to live. My husband also has a document from the Gamnan here saying that solely he has taken care of his son for the past 11 1/2 years.

Which leads me to the question of timing (I want to get this right!)

We would rather not drop everything and leave right now, so when is the right time legally to make the move?

I think, if I'm not mistaken, that my step-son will have the status of dependent child for the next 3-5 years and therefore could get the same visa as his father, that my husband will have the opportunity to get indefinite leave to remain after we have lived together for four years, that our kids (if we have them) would be entitled to automatic Thai and British citizenship and that I would be entitled to apply for Thai Citizenship after living here on extentions 5 years.

How can I play my cards right so that I can get the best of both worlds?

[the scouser]

Hi Naomisri,

Firstly, Thai citizenship. I understand from another thread on the forum which can be found here, that as a woman married to a Thai man you don't need to serve any qualification period in order to qualify; i.e. you can, in theory, get it now.

With regard to the UK visa applications, your husband would be given permission to stay for 2 years initially, near the end of which he can apply for indefinite leave to remain without leaving the UK. Your step-son will be treated in line; i.e. 2 years then ILR and will be considered dependent until 18 unless he forms his own independent family unit before this age. In order to get the visas, you will have to demonstrate, inter alia, that your husband and step-son can be maintained and accommodated without resorting to claiming a list of benefits proscribed for foreign nationals until they have ILR. To prove this you will have to show that you have a job to return to in the UK or sufficient income/savings from an alternative source. Additionally, you will have to show that you have somewhere to stay. This may be your own home or one shared, as long as your family unit has the exclusive use of 2 bedrooms (one for you and your husband, and one for your step-son). You also need to show that you are married and that you intend to live together permanently. This latter point should not be difficult to achieve as you've already done so for in excess of 2 years, therefore the visa officer cannot really doubt your intention to do so in the future.

British citizenship. Yes, as a child's mother you automatically pass on your British citizenship irrespective of where the child is born.

The timing is, as they say, up to you but bear in mind that if you leave it until your step-son is 16 he will not then be educated as a right. Your husband may require an interview at the embassy and currently there is a c. 12-week hiatus between applying and being interviewed which should be factored into the decision.

Best of luck,

Scouse.

[naomisri]

Thanks a lot Scouse.

I found this quote on the UK Visas website, is it not valid??

"If you and your husband, wife or partner have been living together outside the UK for four years or more, there will be no time limit on how long you can stay in the UK. "

Could this mean that we could apply directly for indefinite leave to remain after the 4 years? If so, how much hastle/money would we save waiting?

Source: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pa...d=1018721067257

Do you have any links to sites which discuss the right to education? I have searched, but couldn't find any.

As for the citizenship requirements - unfortunately the Thai side of things are a lot less documented, I am in the same boat as SBK as we both report to the same immigration office and therefore Special Police Branch, which doesn't know how to carry out the procedure. Also SBK has been here a lot longer and speaks more Thai which unfortunately make my case pale into insignificance!!

I'm going to have to post in the other forum about that...

Thanks once again

[the scouser]

Yes, if you've lived together for 4 years or more, and none of this time has been spent in the UK, then you can jump straight to the indefinite leave stage, but the standards that are applied to this are quite rigorous and you will have to be in a position to prove absolutely that you've lived together for this length of time.

I don't have any links to the right to education but I am aware that the relevant local authority is obliged to educate any child settled in the UK up until the age of 16. A friend of mine who has been through the education process found that it's not that simple. He approached all the local schools in an attempt to find a place for his Thai step-daughter, none of which would take her. In the end he had to go directly to the education dept. of the local authority who then compelled a school to accept her.

Coincidentally, my friend's step-daughter was also 13 when she came to the UK and she didn't settle well. I appreciate that it depends on many factors such as the child's application and ability, but she found it an uphill battle having to learn English from scratch to such a standard as to enable her to take formal exams. In the event she only took 2 GCSEs, one of which was a specially constructed Thai-language paper. It is my friend's belief that it was because of his step-daughter's "advanced" age that the schools were reluctant to take her, as the diminished chances of her succeeding in her GCSEs would impact adversely on the school's league table standing.

Cheers,

Scouse.

PS. Perhaps do a search for the local authority's website for the area in which you'll be living and follow the links to the education dept.

Edited April 17, 2005 by the scouser

[naomisri]

Thanks once again for the info. I have two advantages in terms of the education - one that his English is actually very good and the other being that my mum is a teacher and manages the department in a school that deals with all kids with education barriers including a whole busy English as a Second Language department. That's one of the advantages of being from London.

However, after reading in the forum on www.thailand-uk.com quite a few comments with similar stories to yours I am erring towards us all going out in three years time when he has finished his education here. In that case it would also be possible to go to a further education college and get his GCSE's (even if it's not free!) it will give us time to get his learning up to scratch here before hand and with good GCSE's it is possible to get entrance to the best Thai Universities (Thammasat, Chula, etc), so no need to study A-levels if he really wants to come back here, otherwise we're looking at a mountain of tuition fees for a UK uni!

So we'll aim for the move after he's finished school, but up until then aim to spend as much time as possible in the UK so both him and his dad can aclimatise!!

Thanks as always Scouse you're a mine of information