Hi all,

My ex wife is intent on bringing her 16 year old daugter to England to live permanently. I am not sure what the requirements are for this and am hoping you guys can shed some light for me. First of all let me give u some info about her:

She is 44 years old

She came to England in Nov 2002

Naturalised as British Sep 2010

Divorced from myself Jan 2010 (although seperated for a number of years previous)

Works in a bank taking home approx #1000 a month sterling

Lives in shared accommodation

Has a mortgage on a property in Bangkok that costs around #400 a month

Currently single

Her daughter is 16 (from previous husband) and is very keen to move here (her english is excellent). Her fathers side of the family have offered to pay some money to help with the move but I am doubtful the embassy will see my ex as financially capable to take care of her daughter. Even if she moved into bigger accommodation I don't think they would grant the visa, am I right? Ex is desperate to bring her here and I am happy to help where possible but I myself cannot offer any financial support. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately it's not as simple as a financial matter. It's rather more complicated, in that your ex-wife will have to show that she has had " sole responsibility" for her daughter even though she herself lives in the UK. Basically, this means that she must show that she has provided financially for her daughter, had a say in her day to day upbringing, schooling, religion, etc. I have given an extract from the official guidance below. If her daughter has been living with the daughter's father or his family then it may well be almost impossible to show sole responsibility. This is an extract from the guidance :-

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.

The following factors should be considered in assessing sole responsibility:

• Are the parents married / in a civil partnership?
• If the parents' marriage / civil partnership is dissolved, which parent was awarded legal custody, which includes assumption of responsibility for the child?
• Where there is a custody order the ECO should take care to ensure that the issue of a settlement entry clearance to the child will not contravene the terms of the custody order. Annex 1 contains a list of those countries whose custody orders can be recognised as valid in UK.
• Does the marriage / civil partnership subsist, but the parents do not live together?
• If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, how long has the sponsoring parent been separated from the child?
• If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what were the arrangements for the care of the child before and after the sponsoring parent migrated?
• If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what has been/what is the sponsoring parent's relationship with the child?
• Has the sponsoring parent consistently supported the child, either by:
  direct personal care ; or by regular and substantial financial remittances?
• By whom, and in what proportions, is the cost of the child's maintenance borne?
• Who takes the important decisions about the child's upbringing, for example where the child lives, the choice of school, religious practice etc?