Hi

My thai girlfriend is currently in the Uk on a tourist visa, and the plan is for her to return to thailand after six months and immediately submit a fiancé visa. To speed things up we plan on completing the new English requirements test here in the Uk before she leaves for Thailand. Her English is pretty good and she should be able to pass Esol skill for life entry 1 or something on that level.

I'm new to this and I might be looking in the wrong places. I have inquired at some places but they require her to enrol for atleast 6 months starting in September.

1. I was hoping for her to just sit the exam rather than do the course, is that possible?

2. We are currently located in the Cardiff area, does anybody know where we can obtain these English requirements?

3. Does anybody recommend an easier or simpler test than Esol skills for life entry 1?

Thanks!

The basic requirement for a settlement visa is A1 speaking and listening, which is very simple. If she can hold a conversation in English then she should have no trouble. See New English language requirement for visa applicants coming to join partners in the UK , which also contains a link to the UKBA approved providers of the test. You should contact each of them until you find one who provides the test in or near Cardiff.

The ESOL course you refer to is one way of satisfying the Knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain; which she doesn't qualify for yet.

I'm moving this from Thai visas to Visas for other countries.

I suspect that if your partner were to start on an ESOL course she may fall foul of the terms of her tourist visit visa. The college course my wife has been taking needed to see her passport and visa to make sure she was entitled to study.

The basic English language skills test and the more involved requirements for indefinite leave to remain are not the same thing!

Good point, Bob; as a visitor she would not be allowed to undertake a course of study; unless she has a student visitor visa.

She can, though, take an A1 test, or indeed the LitUK test, while in the Uk as a visitor.

As an aside, although the LitUK test is harder than a basic A1 test, it is written and does not contain a speaking and listening element. Attempts to get an answer to the question of whether passing the LitUK test would satisfy the initial, more basic requirement have gone unanswered by the UKBA!