Advice On Uk Visa For 2nd Time For My Thai G/f

[Rye]

Hi All

Hope you dont mind me emailing you all but I have read some of your comments on the forums and Some advice would be much appreciated !?

I would like to ask for some information regarding a recent Visa for my Thai girlfriend who visited me at my home in Scotland for a 4 month holiday on a visit Visa it is valid from below;

Valid from May 2005, Expires Nov 2005

I have been in a serious relationship with her since August 2004, and I have returned recently to Thailand with her after her stay in Scotland at the begining of Oct 2005.

I arrived back in Scotland last week Oct 2005 and I would like her to have the opportunity to stay with me again.

At the moment we have no immediate plans of getting married but we would like to further our relationship together for the prospect of such circumstances if we can.

I would obviously be her sponsor again for her stay and will be responsible for payment of her return flights to and from Thailand etc.

Could you please advise me on the correct process regarding either extending the above referred Visa with my G/F currently back in Thailand ?

or having to reapply for an new visit Visa and the duration this can be for as I have noticed you can apply for a 6 month, 1, 2, 5 or ten year visa ?

I have heard horror stories that if refused a visa you cant reapply for 1 year ?!

Also that she cant re-enter the UK for 6 moths ?! because she has already had a visa and stayed in the UK this year ?

She got her visit visa no problem in May after I sent her a folder that would sink the titanic ! with information on my job, house, pay slips, phone calls, emails and phot evidence so on and so on.

She has a job working in a beauty salon which she has gone back to, can she give this up and say I fully support her form the UK as I have sent her money a few times and could show the evidence ? would this help for her visa ?

So many questions but I have forgotten them ! I'm sure they will come back to me but this should be a good start.

Thank you all in advance for your help and advice its is very much appreciated!

Cheers

Rye

[the scouser]

Hi Rye,

There is nothing in the immigration rules strictly prohibiting someone from having a succession of 6-month visits to the UK. However, once they start spending more time in the UK than in their home country, unless for a good reason, the visa officer/immigration officer will construe them as effectively living in the UK, and therefore to no longer be a visitor. As a general rule of thumb, your g/f should not spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in the UK as a visitor, otherwise she will run the risk of being refused further visit visas. Furthermore, you refer to 2/5/10-year visit visas, but bear in mind that this relates to the validity of the visa, and not the permitted length of stay. With such a visa, the maximum length of a visit is still 6 months.

Your g/f's job in the beauty salon was probably an integral factor in her getting the initial visit visa. My personal opinion is that if she were to give this up, it would make her more reliant upon you, thus meaning that the visa officer will, perhaps, be less-inclined to accept that she will leave the UK at the end of her visit and, therefore, may result in future visit applications being declined.

Cheers,

Scouse.

[silomfan]

Hi All

Hope you dont mind me emailing you all but I have read some of your comments on the forums and Some advice would be much appreciated !?

I would like to ask for some information regarding a recent Visa for my Thai girlfriend who visited me at my home in Scotland for a 4 month holiday on a visit Visa it is valid from below;

Valid from May 2005, Expires Nov 2005

I have been in a serious relationship with her since August 2004, and I have returned recently to Thailand with her after her stay in Scotland at the begining of Oct 2005.

I arrived back in Scotland last week Oct 2005 and I would like her to have the opportunity to stay with me again.

At the moment we have no immediate plans of getting married but we would like to further our relationship together for the prospect of such circumstances if we can.

I would obviously be her sponsor again for her stay and will be responsible for payment of her return flights to and from Thailand etc.

Could you please advise me on the correct process regarding either extending the above referred Visa with my G/F currently back in Thailand ?

or having to reapply for an new visit Visa and the duration this can be for as I have noticed you can apply for a 6 month, 1, 2, 5 or ten year visa ?

I have heard horror stories that if refused a visa you cant reapply for 1 year ?!

Also that she cant re-enter the UK for 6 moths ?! because she has already had a visa and stayed in the UK this year ?

She got her visit visa no problem in May after I sent her a folder that would sink the titanic ! with information on my job, house, pay slips, phone calls, emails and phot evidence so on and so on.

She has a job working in a beauty salon which she has gone back to, can she give this up and say I fully support her form the UK as I have sent her money a few times and could show the evidence ? would this help for her visa ?

So many questions but I have forgotten them ! I'm sure they will come back to me but this should be a good start.

Thank you all in advance for your help and advice its is very much appreciated!

Cheers

Rye

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Rye,

I agree with all of Scouse's comments. Your girlfriends job was the crucial thing that got her the first visa. To give it up would be fatal. The best way for you to progress is for you to spend as much time in Thailand as you can together and for her to visit not too often (twice a year is the most they would believe her employers would give her in paid/unpaid holidays) and only for a few weeks maximum.

Once you have "lived in a relationship akin to marriage" for 2 years you can apply for the unmarried partners visa and then your problems are pretty much over. However that assumes you want to do this . You can of course marry but again you may not want to. If you want to keep the current status quo then you have to do as above. Do remember that the 2 years together only starts to tick from when you start living together and not when you first met.

Silomfan

[GU22]

Once you have "lived in a relationship akin to marriage" for 2 years you can apply for the unmarried partners visa and then your problems are pretty much over.

Silomfan, you've missed out an important word; together! It is extremely unlikely that, even with frequent visits, that one partner living in the UK and the other living in Thailand would be viewed as living together in a relationship akin to marriage.

From How do I qualify to join my unmarried partner in the UK?

You and your unmarried partner must show that:........you have been living together in a relationship similar to marriage for two years or more........The Entry Clearance Officer will need to see evidence of a two-year relationship. This may include:

documents showing joint commitments, such as bank accounts, investments, rent agreements or mortgages

letters linking you to the same address, and

official records of your address, such as your National Insurance card or health card.

Rye, my advice, visit her as often as you can, get her to visit as often as she can, within the rules as Scouse explains. and build a relationship so you can both decide the way forward. Then, if you both decide it's the right thing for you, you can marry each other and she can apply for settlement. You've known her for over a year, and provided you can show the embassy that, this is already long enough for a settlement visa, if marriage is what you want.

But, as I've said elsewhere: Don't marry her just to get her a visa! Marry her because you love each other and want to spend the rest of your lives together.

[walg]

im in the same boat. my gf is going home before christmas. i think im going to try to get her a student visa this time round so she can be more occupied and even work part time. at least for 19 hours a week. does anyone know anything about this????

[GU22]

im in the same boat. my gf is going home before christmas. i think im going to try to get her a student visa this time round so she can be more occupied and even work part time. at least for 19 hours a week. does anyone know anything about this????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From Guidance - Students (INF 5)

How do I qualify to travel to the UK as a student?

You must be able to show that you have been accepted on a course of study at an educational establishment that is on the UK's Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Register of Education and Training Providers. Contact details for the DfES are near the end of this guidance or you can search the register on the DfES website at www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister

So I suggest that you start there. Edited November 2, 2005 by GU22

[britmaveric]

Rye - I concur w/other replies - gf needs to keep job. (most important thing going for her)

[walg]

Thanks GU22

[the scouser]

Walq,

Don't just enrol your g/f on the first course that comes to mind. One of the issues the visa officer will consider when assesing her student application is whether the course is appropriate for her needs. He will also take into account factors such as her age and her standard of education in Thailand. Your g/f will also need to satisfy the visa officer that she is seeking to enter the UK with the genuine intention of studying, rather than as a means of prolonging her stay with you.

Cheers,

Scouse.