K.wife is on about bringing one of her nieces (think we have adopted ...not sure )over for a hol next spring and when i checked out with the sunshiners at UK Visas it seems that the visa is/could be free...well well....

Never given it too much thought but seems that with being "thaied up" with the EU and et there are some advantages of being European citizens...

anyway..

You asked if a national of Thailand needs a visa to come to the UK as a non EEA/Swiss family member of an EEA/Swiss national.

If you are an eligible family member you need an EEA Family Permit.

Eligible family members are defined in the EEA Regulations as:

the spouse of an EEA national, excluding a person who is party to a marriage of convenience a descendant (child or grandchild) of an EEA national or his/her spouse who is 21 years of age or is their dependant (this includes stepchildren or adopted children)

a dependant in the ascending line (ie parents or grandparents) of an EEA national or his/her spouse

A Family Permit is similar to a visa, but is issued free of charge to eligible family members of EEA and Swiss citizens.

It allows you to travel to or stay freely in the UK with your EEA family member.

UK Visas....

I may be wrong, but I think you'll find that this applies to everyone else bar UK nationals.

So if you are a Frenchy living in the UK, then no worries, your relos visas come gratis.

But as a Brit, if your relos are coming over as a family member of a british national, then you have to pay the visa fees.

I think that is why the Scouser posted his sticky at the top of the 'visas to other countries' forum. What he meant there was that if you want to bring your partner to Britain and want to make it as hassel free as possible, check to see if you are entitled to ANOTHER EU nationality as well as your British one.

So for instance, there are tonnes of Brits with Irish grand parents, and hence eligible for an Irish/British dual nationality. If you applied as an Irishman to the British embassy, you would be granted a EEA family permit free of charge and with minimal hassel. However, if you applied as Brit, well, then you run the Big Spuds guantlet that brings a tear to the eye, and the wallet.

Note these are for settlement visas only. I doubt they apply for tourist visas.

Yeah, I think Samran is correct.

The Family Permit applies to all EEA countries EXCEPT your home country.

Very useful if you are working in another EEA country though.