can anybody please give some advice on which is the best way forward to bring my wifes neice to the uk for a holiday. my wife is currently in the uk on a spouse visa for 2 years we have a 3 year old daughter who was born in thailand but also has a british passport who is in the uk also.Are neice is 11 years old and lived with my wife for the last 10 years prior to her coming to england as you can imagine they miss each other alot and beleive me there has been many tears shed. is there anyway i can bring my neice over here for a holiday for a couple of months each year as im sure this would be a great help to us all.

thankyou for any help at all it will be greatly appreicated.

Yes she may be eligible for a family visitors visa.

The applicant's spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or first cousin (NB: "first cousin" means, in relation to a person, the son or daughter of his uncle or aunt .

Family visitors visa

If you require professional help we have an office in Thailand which can deal with this application feel free to contact me via our website.

neice is 11 years old and lived with my wife for the last 10 years

Where are the girl's parents? Who is she living with now?

It may be possible to obtain settlement for the child if there are "serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable." (Immigration Rules, Para 297)

neice is 11 years old and lived with my wife for the last 10 years

Where are the girl's parents? Who is she living with now?

It may be possible to obtain settlement for the child if there are "serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable." (Immigration Rules, Para 297)

the childs mother works in malaysia and visits her once a year but there is no relationship between them we fully support her fiancially eg pay for private school buy clothes give money for weekley food this has been the case for the last 6 years since i have known my wife previous to this my wife bought her up as her own daughter and now we also pay for her to stay with her aunt. her aunt is weelchair bound and struggles to cope with day to day chores so the situation is not the best but my wife and i hope to be able to stay 6 months in thailand and 6 months uk with in the next 2 years so hopefully this will lessen the burden on her aunt so as you can imagine if we can also bring her to the uk for a holiday each year this will only help the whole situation.

It is, of course, your decision; but I still feel that it may be possible for you to obtain a settlement visa for the child so she can live with you in the UK. Although the mother still being alive, albeit working abroad, complicates things, from what you have said you and your wife have effectively been exercising parental care and control of the child for some considerable time and are still doing so.

As well as Para 297 linked to above, the 'de facto' adoption provisions of Paras 309 to 316 may also apply. See also SET7.23 Consideration of De facto adoption.

However, this is a complicated area and not one in which I have any experience. I may be completely misreading the rules and guidelines. So, if you do consider applying to bring the child to live with you in the UK I suggest that you seek the advice of an OISC adviser first.

BTW, whilst holidays out of the UK are, of course, allowed while qualifying for ILR, you and your wife spending 6 months a year in Thailand and 6 in the UK may complicate things when she comes to apply for ILR as the UKBA may consider that she is not resident full time in the UK; you may need to convince them that she is.

It is, of course, your decision; but I still feel that it may be possible for you to obtain a settlement visa for the child so she can live with you in the UK. Although the mother still being alive, albeit working abroad, complicates things, from what you have said you and your wife have effectively been exercising parental care and control of the child for some considerable time and are still doing so.

As well as Para 297 linked to above, the 'de facto' adoption provisions of Paras 309 to 316 may also apply. See also SET7.23 Consideration of De facto adoption.

However, this is a complicated area and not one in which I have any experience. I may be completely misreading the rules and guidelines. So, if you do consider applying to bring the child to live with you in the UK I suggest that you seek the advice of an OISC adviser first.

BTW, whilst holidays out of the UK are, of course, allowed while qualifying for ILR, you and your wife spending 6 months a year in Thailand and 6 in the UK may complicate things when she comes to apply for ILR as the UKBA may consider that she is not resident full time in the UK; you may need to convince them that she is.

thanks so much for the information its given us plenty of hope. will try for the family visitor visa first then will take it from there

For information on a visit as well as the link provided by TVE have a look at Child visitors.

I would just stick with a visit visa for now for the child.