A young Thai woman, (27) just returned from The Netherlands on January 1, 2011

She had been there for about nine months, on three separate 3 month visas (tourist visas, I think)

She got married to the 31 year old man who originally invited her to go there nine months ago.

All was going well, learning Dutch, etc.

She returned two nights ago, and then received a phone call that her husband had died in his sleep. He had a bad heart, and took a lot of medication for it for much of his life. His death surprised no one in his family.

The Thai woman came back to take her Dutch language test.

She is now totally stunned. She had started her new life there.

She has just learned (after I started writing this) that his family is going to send her all of the documents concerning the death, so that the Embassy will hopefully provide her with a visa for the funeral.

Anyone have any ideas on this sort of thing?

She was planning on taking the Dutch language test next month, and then applying for a marriage visa.

Now that there is no marriage....? Her long-term stay possibilities appear to be unlikely.

The circumstances are very sad. In addition, she will no longer qualify for a visa to live in the Netherlands. She may also, unfortunately, encounter problems even obtaining a visa to attend her husband's funeral ( if they suspect that she does not intend to leave the Netrherlands after the funeral ). A lot will depend on her personal circumstances, finances, etc, and it's impossible to even give any possible outcome without knowing the full details. Hopefully the Embassy would grant a visa on compassionate grounds, but they may not.

Thanks for you ideas

I will learn more on Tuesday. The man's family phoning the Embassy may help.

She got the visa and flew out on Wednesday Morning.

Good luck for her.