Hi,

My wife, her son, our daughter and myself are looking to go to the UK in July next year. Looking at some of the threads and the interview wait times am i right in thinking i should apply for the settlement visas in January ?

Is there a link or thread on this site which details everything i should include in this package ?

Our brief details are:-

We met in August 2003 and hve been living together in Thailand since August 2003. We visited the UK (wife on tourist visa) in October 2004. We were married in April 2005 and our step-daughter was born this month.

With regards to my step-son, we have sole custody papers and can get letters from his schools saying we have been responsible for his education. Is there anything else we should get ?

Also, the house we intend to live in at first only has two bedrooms. Is this acceptable for the visa application ? The children will be 4 and 6 months when we get there and we wish them to share a room.

Many Thanks.

Hi Lawnmower,

I presume your daughter has a British passport, in which case, she, obviously, won't require a visa for the UK.

In view of the length of your relationship with your wife and the existence of your daughter as living proof, it will be difficult for the visa officer to suggest that you don't intend to live together permanently in the UK. Consequently, your wife and step-son may be given a "short" interview. I would therefore apply around March time and, on the assumption that the visas will be issued, ask for their validity to be post-dated until July. That way your wife and step-son obviate the risk of not qualifying for indefinite leave to remain after 2 years.

The accommodation should be fine, bearing in mind that your daughter will only be a year or so old when she arrives in the UK. There are guidelines about how many people can live in a property of a given size, and until a certain age (I can't remember off hand) your daughter will only count as a half for the purposes of the calculation.

The documents you intend to submit with the applications appear to be in order, but also provide your bank statements, wage slips (if any) and evidence of either your intended employment in the UK, or sufficient funds to support your family.

Cheers,

Scouse.

Having just read the embassy press release contained in this topic, I would leave applying until perhaps late April, providing, of course, that queues are reduced.

Scouse.

Cheers Scouser.

I will leave applying until a little later, but will keep an eye out too.

Will they require all the evidence i put in the first tourist visa we did, or should it be based mostly since then ?

Just to avoid any technical hitches, start from scratch with the supporting evidence.

Scouse.