Hello to all you marriage visa experts out there (including jack, i used your index as a guide to prepare settlement visa application, thanks) the questions i have is whether or not i should go for settllement visa initially (for which i have prepared all required information to prove i can accomodate and support my wife to be (26th january) in the UK without recourse to public funds, or whether we shoud go for a visitor/tourist visa as my wife to be has a sister living in the uk for 8 years, who has her own home and uk passport.

The background story is that i had a thai fiancee before who i went with for 18 months (she visited the uk dec 2008 for 3 months on a fiancee visa, but said it was too cold for her to stay and we did not marry) and we finished last november, when i started seeing her friend whom i have known since july 2009 and we are to get married as i said on the 26th.

thanks in anticipation of your replies and advice.

tibap.

Who can answer that question ?

If your relationship is subsisting and you can maintain and accommodate her as per the rules then you are free to apply for either visa the choice is a personal one.

The ECO will be aware you have previously sponsored another person and you should cover this in you covering letter of sponsorship.

Hi Tibap

Glad you found my index useful but if i am honest mate I am by no means an expert. The main players for me was 7by7 and sumrit who know far more than me.

The only advice I can give you is too be totally honest and cover everything in the application explaing reasons for your actions. You must decide what visa your going to apply for but you need to make the application water tight. Dont give the money grabbing bastards any reason to refuse becasuse they will unless its water tight then they can not refuse it.

If your still unsure send a pm to 7by7 /sumrit as they are very helpful

good luck

jack

The only reason I can see for a visit first would be to see how she likes the UK; but it's a decision only the two of you can make.

Fortunately for you, it's not anyone here's job to make decisions for you on where to go in your life. You have to think whether your Fiance needs a short visit here to get a feel for things, or whether you don't want to wait that long and are sure that she will be ok to come over to settle now. I can see that the previous experience with you old fiance leaving after you had gone the whole settlement visa route has made you a bit more wary of going for a settlement visa. As your wife to be already has a sister in the UK she must have an idea of the way things are here and what to expect. She starts with an idea of what life will be like here, it's up to you to make the decision as to whether to do the visit visa before a settlement visa.

Fortunately for you, it's not anyone here's job to make decisions for you on where to go in your life. You have to think whether your Fiance needs a short visit here to get a feel for things, or whether you don't want to wait that long and are sure that she will be ok to come over to settle now. I can see that the previous experience with you old fiance leaving after you had gone the whole settlement visa route has made you a bit more wary of going for a settlement visa. As your wife to be already has a sister in the UK she must have an idea of the way things are here and what to expect. She starts with an idea of what life will be like here, it's up to you to make the decision as to whether to do the visit visa before a settlement visa.

thanks to all you guy's for your helpful replies, and i agree that i need to be up front about previous sponsorship, and have helped me confirm what i think and we apply for settlemet visa, so wish me luck and again appreciation for your replies thaivisa express, jack, 7by7,and charlie B.