Hi again,

To apply for a settlement / fiance visa to the u.k is there a minimum amount of time you must have lived together. I have been living with my girlfriend in Thailand for around a year apart from my 2 trips back to uk for a month during this time.

She has also not been to u.k before so it it hard to get a fiance visa without getting a tourist visa first ? One last thing if my gf were to get a settlement visa is it multiple entry for if she wanted to come back to thailand to visit family ect ?

Thanks for taking your time to help out the newbies :-)

There is no minimum time sponsor and applicant must have known each other before applying for settlement as either a fiance or a spouse. Neither do they need to have been living together.

They must, however, have actually met.

There is also no need for the applicant to have visited the UK first.

However, they do need to show that they are in a genuine relationship.

They also need to show that they can be adequately maintained and accommodated without recourse to public funds.

See Settlement - visa application guide.

A settlement visa is multi entry, with no limit on how often or how long one is out of the UK. However, when it expires and one is applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain the applicant will need to show that they are a UK resident, and have been for the preceding 24 months. Which may be difficult to do if most of the preceding 24 months has been spent out of the UK.