Hello

First time poster here, having lurked for a while.

My Thai girlfriend is currently staying with me in the UK, four months into a six months visitor visa. Things are working out well between us, and we are looking to take things a step further. We were thinking about applying for a fiancee visa, but the advice from a Thai visa agency (which we used to help us obtain the visitor visa) was that this type is very difficult to obtain. They advised us to marry on our return to Thailand in October, and apply for a marriage visa.

Whilst I am not averse to the idea of marrying my girlfriend, I feel that doing so under the duress of trying to obtain a visa is not a good way to go about it.

Anyone here been in a similar situation/got any much-needed advice?

Thanks

Siam Simon

Hi Simon,

The immigration rules governing the issue of fiancé(e) visas and marriage visas are more or less identical, therefore, one is not more difficult to obtain than another. However, getting married in Thailand and applying for a marriage visa obviates the need to extend a fiancé(e) visa in the UK, thereby saving you the cost of the extension (currently £335 for postal applications).

Scouse.

Whilst I am not averse to the idea of marrying my girlfriend, I feel that doing so under the duress of trying to obtain a visa is not a good way to go about it.

Simon, a fiance visa is not another type of visit visa, it is a visa to allow the holder to travel to the UK for the purpose of marrying the sponsor. It is for 6 months and cannot be extended except in the most exceptional circumstances. Do not apply for one unless you definitely intend to marry her.

If marriage is a definite for you both, then as Scouse says, marrying in Thailand and obtaining a spouse visa has certain financial advantages.

The advice from the visa agency is rubbish. Sadly this is true of most agents. Save your money as everything you need to know can be found on various government sites and in forums such as this.