Help Needed

[hellyes2oo2]

I am hoping someone can give me some advice.My Thai wife and I have been married for almost 7 years. We do not have any children of our own, but we have taken care of my wife's niece's child since she was a month of age (she is now 6 years of age) because her niece did not want her ( she has 3 children 2 of whom are looked after by relatives and 1 which she sold to a childless couple in a nearby village). We have never legally adopted her because we never felt the need to. But now things have changed,I have been offered a fantastic job back in the UK on a 5 year contract with great wages, accomodation, and a company car as well as a job for my wife.But I am worried that if we adopt the baby now, the british embassy may think that we are trying to pull a scam. We do not have any solid evidence, apart from loads of photo's of us and the baby that we have been her parents for the last 6 years.I am afraid that they may refuse us a visa for the child on the grounds that we did not adopt her when she was born, we would be heartbroken if we did not get a visa for her, and we both would never leave her here, because we could not bear to be without her. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what was the outcome, any help would be gratefully accepted.

[bobrussell]

I am sure you will get a reply from one of the more senior members of the forum but I would suggest professional help with this one.

My wife and step-daughter got visas with little difficulty (other than long wait) but a non-adopted relative such as a niece is not going to be so straight forward unless you can prove that she is totally dependent on you, there are no close relatives that can take care of her etc.

This situation has appeared on the forum before and seems to cause problems.

Make sure the experts are OISC regulated or you could end up with unreliable (and expensive) results.

[7by7]

It is possible that she would be granted a settlement visa under paragraph 297(i)(f) of the Immigration Rules

297. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom are that he:

(i) is seeking leave to enter to accompany or join a parent, parents or a relative in one of the following circumstances:

(f) one parent or a relative is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care

Which basically means that you need to show that there is no other family member in Thailand who can take care of her.

See also SET07 - Children.

Given your history, you may have a good chance, but I agree with bobrussell that professional advice is needed in this case. As he says, make sure you choose an adviser who is qualified in the UK; that is OISC registered. The average 'visa agent' in Thailand is, at best, an unqualified form filler and would be unable to cope with a complicated case such as yours; wont stop them taking your money though!

Best of luck.

[antony77]

my wife adopted her neice when she was 8 and then we went to live in New Zealnd. No problems.

Should be OK for UK too. But you must officially adopt her here before applying to go to the UK. This means going to court and quite a lot of red tape and it might take a month or two. Get a good lawyer