Which Visa If Any?

[Scoot74]

My thai wife wants to bring her 11 year old daughter to the UK.

Her daughter lives with her ex boyfriends aunt (he no longer looks after her).

We have trouble proving she has sole responsibility of her child, I have posted once on here before (we could probably get sole custody doc)

I want to know what my other options are:

Adoption?

Student Visa? local school charges £6000 per year!

Speak with local MP?

Move to Thailand for a few years? (my wife would lose her ILR)

[ThaiVisaExpress]

If you can demonstrate sole responsibility then apply for a settlement visa for her.

IMO the sole custody document is a great help but you must also demonstrate the above also.

[Scoot74]

If you can demonstrate sole responsibility then apply for a settlement visa for her.

IMO the sole custody document is a great help but you must also demonstrate the above also.

Thats the trouble, we have little documentation to prove sole responsibilty.

Also she has been living with her ex boyfriends side of the family since they split.

SET7.8 What is sole responsibility?

A sponsoring parent (see SET7.2) must be able to show that he/she has been solely responsible for exercising parental care over the child for a substantial period.

If the sponsoring parent and child are separated, the child will normally be

expected to have been in the care of the sponsoring parent's relatives rather than the relatives of the other parent. An application should normally be refused if the child has been in the care of the other parent's relatives and the other parent lives nearby and takes an active interest in the child's welfare.

Her ex boyfriend takes no interest in looking after her, she has lived with her aunt past 3/4 years.

I would love to apply for a settlement visa but have a lack of evidence to prove this.

We have a few Western Union statements, my wife is on the phone every week, might be able to dig out a few phone bills?

[7by7]

As your wife has not had custody and her daughter has been in the care of her father and his family for the past 8 years, then as advised in your previous topic, you really need to seek professional advice on this.

Adoption? Inter country adoption is a complex issue; and the child would still need to obtain a visa to live in the UK, with no guarantee that it would be granted. See SET7.18 How do adopted children qualify for settlement?

School student visa? Would have to obtain a place at a fee paying school, and when she finished her schooling would have to return to Thailand.

Speak to your MP? The rules are the rules. If you feel that your step-daughter's treatment is not in accordance with the immigration rules then your MP may be able to help; otherwise, unless you can persuade him to attempt to get Parliament to change the rules, there is nothing he can do.

Move to Thailand? Yes, if your wife were resident outside the UK for a continuous period of 2 years or more her ILR would lapse. However, as she has ILR, then once she has been in the UK for 3 years she can apply for naturalisation as British. Once she has British citizenship she can, of course, absent herself from the UK as often and for as long as she likes and return whenever she wishes; the same as any other British citizen.