Uk Spouse Settlement Visa - Wife'S Gone

[phomthai]

Hoping I can get some help for a mate of mine who's Thai wife is in the UK on a 2 year spouse visa.

Following a silly row 3 weeks ago she left my mate & is now at the other end of the country staying with her sister & some friends.

Problem is the police have been involved over an allegation that my mate verbally threatened to kill his wife's sister cos she wouldn't let him talk to his wife. My mate strongly denies this allegation but naturally the cops have to take such an allegation seriously so my mate's on bail and not allowed to contact the sister

My mate has a bit of a temper but he assures me he has never hit his wife and like me he abhors domestic violence

My mate is gutted, loves his wife mak mak & wants her to come back home.

I've told him he needs to give the wife time, even suggesting that he waits for her money to run out.

Personally I think the classic Thai "loss of face" and a strong willed sister is probably preventing the wife from going back home.

My Thai girlfriend told me that she knows they both have" hot hearts" but also that she knows the wife loves my mate mak mak

The Thai family are none too pleased with my mate but that hasn't stopped him sending money over to help the family.

The wife is due to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) early next year.

Current thoughts are:

Should he contact UK immigration to advise on change of circumstances for his wife & her visa? Not a route he particularly wants to go down but is he legally obliged to tell them?

The cynic in me thinks....could the sister be trying the "victim of domestic violence" route to help the wife get her ILR? What are the chances of success?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

[kevozman1]

I would guess that if she does seperate from husband she has no chance of recieving

ILR.................... unless she is pregnant then I do not know at all. Despite UK immigration

being ridiculed they can be strict. Where I am living there has been a increase in foriegn

people being deported and they are clamping down on people who do not reach requirements

to stay in the UK officially.

I think your mate should try to sort out problems with wife then if she is not co operative

report to UK immigration that wife has left him................. then it is time to move on. It may

seem sad to do so but if your mate has been sincere to the relationship and she has

walked out on him for what sounds like something minor then she is not a loving, loyal

woman and obviously does not value their relationship.

Edited August 18, 2010 by kevozman1

[SirPaul]

There used to a rumour that the quickest route for a Thai Lady to full citizenship in the UK (including a flat where the rent would be paid, etc) was to walk into the police station and say my husband hit me and I have no where to go!

[7by7]

If the marriage has broken down then the only way she can remain in the UK is to apply for ILR as the victim of domestic violence. Despite the flippant response above this is not straightforward and would require hard evidence such as police and medical reports.

Your mate does not need to inform the UKBA of the situation. If the situation remains as at present when her current leave expires then she would not be able to extend it or apply for ILR without his assistance, so would either have to leave the UK or remain illegally.

From what you have said, I have a feeling that even if the marriage has ended he may still be willing to help her stay in the UK by claiming otherwise in an ILR application. I would strongly advise against this as making such a false declaration could have serious consequences for both of them.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Maybe this thread should be closed recent experience of similar threads of this nature is we go way off subject here are the rules on domestic violence .

Victims of domestic violence

Part 8 - Family members

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the victim of domestic violence

289A. The requirements to be met by a person who is the victim of domestic violence and who is seeking indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom are that the applicant:

(i) was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled here; or;

(ii) was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled here; and

(iii) the relationship with their spouse or civil partner or unmarried partner or same-sex partner , as appropriate, was subsisting at the beginning of the relevant period of leave or extension of stay referred to in (I) or (ii) above; and

(iv) is able to produce such evidence as may be required by the Secretary of State to establish that the relationship was caused to permanently break down before the end of that period as a result of domestic violence.

Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence

289B. Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 289A is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence

289C. Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 289A is met.

Regards Paul

[bobrussell]

It is interesting that there seems to be a very clear distinction between domestic violence which does allow ILR to be granted and domestic 'abuse' which has a much wider definition and includes such things as psychological/mental and even financial abuse.

To qualify under this, there has to be good evidence - a conviction / permanent restraining order will do or two or more bits of evidence such as a GP/Hospital Dr report stating injuries are consistent with domestic violence, a Police caution, letter from a refuge etc.

It does not seem to be an easy route to take to 'get round' the system!

[phomthai]

Thanks for all the advice

There have been no police reports, doctors/hospital reports etc so looks like the sister's plan probably wouldn't work, what do you think?

Police have said the wife doesn't want to talk to my mate nor does she want to go back to their home, she will stay with friends. Guessing the police know whether they'd have to report her to immigration, they know she's on 2 year visa so guess it's a wait & see what happens

[Thongkorn]

Thanks for all the advice

There have been no police reports, doctors/hospital reports etc so looks like the sister's plan probably wouldn't work, what do you think?

Police have said the wife doesn't want to talk to my mate nor does she want to go back to their home, she will stay with friends. Guessing the police know whether they'd have to report her to immigration, they know she's on 2 year visa so guess it's a wait & see what happens

if she is on a settlement visa you can inform the Boarder agency that the relationship has broken down , they would let the visa run its full course , then its up to them , But you would have no further contact with her or maintain her in any way,

[Petergreet]

A few things strike me as odd here.

1. After a silly row she walked out? Was the marriage in trouble before this silly row? Seems odd to me that she would walk out after a silly row.

2. Your friend is on bail for allegedly threatening to kill his wife's sister. That would mean he was arrested.......this seems really strange without any previous involvement with the police. She clearly has no evidence and I would have thought that the police would not even bother to investigate such an allegation. Everyone can threaten in the heat of the moment, but it means nothing. Now if the Police visited his home and found him with a packed suitcase complete with sharpened knife/loaded gun and a rail ticket to her town, he will likely be arrested, otherwise not.

3. If wife does come back eventually he should be aware that her motive may only be to get ILR then bugger off again. Has she got KOL yet?

[phomthai]

1. After a silly row she walked out...

Mate's self employed & work has dried up somewhat lately, bills have been mounting up, he's already bought land in Thai & has got the ball rolling on new house plans etc, but he's pretty pissed off working with nought to show for it and felt his wife was not really supporting him enough and the silly row was the final straw. Lots of shouting blah blah blah, we've all been there....

Result is she's walked out...over reaction? Only she knows why but she's not saying...

2. Your friend is on bail...

I can see where you're coming from but I can only relay what my mate's told me over the phone & I can't sit down with him & have proper chat over a beer cos he's at the other end of the country!

But I have spoken to other friends near him who are all surprised she upped & left the way she did and they're upset that she's not talking to any of the family & friends she's left behind.

Looking at it from the sister's point of view I would hope that if I reported someone to the police for verbally threatening to kill me they'd investigate it even if it turns out I've got me knickers in a twist & over reacted.

Now we don't know what the sister, wife etc have said to the police but guessing that they'll have seen the sister's mobile with mate's number as a received call plus it doesn't look good that the wife has legged it 200 miles with nothing but her purse...and passport! Throw in post Moat stuff maybe and add in that my mate when confronted by cops may well have over reacted himself it's not difficult to see how he came to be arrested...

The sister has wanted the wife near her for some time; maybe the whole thing was planned, who knows...

In my experience Thais don't know how to say "Sorry, I got it wrong, heat of the moment stuff etc" and would rather see the stupid farang take the rap especially where the farang has allowed his temper to take over his voice!

Even when confronted with concrete proof that she was lying my Thai ex still tried to lie her way out, blaming me "Why you don't believe me!" and to this day has never accepted that what she did was wrong...I'm the farang so everything was my fault!

Unfortunately it's made me somewhat cynical about Thais, the RTG's were thrown away a long time ago! & it will take some time, if ever, for me to get close to trusting Thais again and this episode for my mate doesn't help. So Mr Cynic me may not therefore be the best person to advise my mate!

I've no problem swallowing my pride & admitting I got something wrong but I've yet to meet a Thai who can stick 2 fingers up to "loss of face" and admit they were wrong! And I suspect that this may well be the case with the sister & wife...they've dug a hole & won't get out of it!

3. If wife does come back...

She's been doing the English courses but not yet got her KOL, currently waiting for her ESOL level 1 results.

I fear you could be right re ILR...it doesn't look good, a lot of trust to be rebuilt and that's going to be difficult the longer she refuses to talk to my mate. The cynic in me says wait til she runs out of cash & see how quick she comes running back to you mate! But then is she coming back just cos she's got no dosh???

BTW my mate has tried to post on this thread but he's not very computer literate & for some reason can't get it to post so apologies for getting it a bit 2^nd hand. Must admit have had a few problems myself logging in, had the odd "Oops! This link appears broken" and "Cannot find server" messages

As with everything there are always 2 sides to every story and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle...

[cardholder]

As with everything there are always 2 sides to every story and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle...

This suggests that you may not 100% believe your mate's side of the story.

This suggests that he is in the sh!te.

This suggests that there was sufficient evidence? for the police to arrest him.

I imagine that further evidence will be produced.

His wife is prepared to see him arrested and has made it clear that she does not want to come back.

That seems concusive that the relationship is over.

The threat against the sister will come to nothing. Perhaps he should keep a low profile and hope that they cannot build a case against him for DV. .