Uk General Visit Visa Refused Twice

[tribalfusion001]

Hi

I've been reading the Thai visa forums for a year or so now, only just signed up. I've been living in Thailand since the end of November 2010.

My Thai girlfriend and I have applied for two UK general visit visa's, these were refused on 13/05/2011 and 25/05/2011. The first application was a bit of a mess, didn't include much information, no photos of us together, my friend advised me to put as little as possible in the application as we had only known each other for about 3 months. Refused on no substantive evidence of a relationship, no bank details from myself, I had offered to pay for the return flight, refusals were paragraph 41 of HC395, i,ii, vi. My father is the sponsor for the accomodation and the financial sponsor, his 6 months of bank statements were included and also my girlfriends 6 months of bank statements. My girlfriend has a full time job as a cook, no children, no property, no land, no business and earns 8000 baht a month paid in cash to her.

The second application I thought I had covered their points, lots of photos of us together, photos of my family home, my fathers bank statements, my girlfriends bank statements, but I did not include mine as I am not the sponsor, evidence that we have lived together since 28th February 2011, we met on 8th February 2011, over 300 text messages, no emails or letters, becuase we are here together in Bangkok. The purpose of the visit was the same as the first one, we wish to visit my parents and do some sightseeing together in London. In hindsight I made two errors, I did not include my fathers other account which had £5000 at his disposal and I made the mistake of saying I was going to come back to Thailand to work after our 3 week visit to the UK, i also said that I had been working too. The refusal was that my fathers account had a low end balance of £500 and it was not enough to provide return flight, be maintained and accommodated in the UK, paragraph 41 of HC395, vi, vii. The other two refusal points were that I did not include my bank statements or any funds that I hold, also that I have provided no information on where I had worked and if I would be permitted to return to work in Thailand, paragraph 41 of HC395, i, ii. They did note that we had known each other for over 3 months, that my father was now the sole sponsor.

A firend of mine told me recently that the UK border agency will not give visa's if you have known someone for less than 6 months.

We applied for a 3rd time on Monday 8th August, exactly 6 months after we first met. This time the application has been updated to include that we got engaged on 29th June 2011 and that we visited her parents in Sakon Nakhon a few days later at the start of July. I included both of my fathers accounts which have a balance of £5800, enough for a 3 week visit and return flight, I included my UK and Thai bank statements for 6 months, both have very little funds at present, the UK bank is overdrawn, my girlfriend signed up for internet banking, so a full 6 month statement, rather than a passbook update. I included over 40 photos of us together, photos of us in Sakon Nakhon, photos of her family, her work colleagues, my family home, every room and bathroom, the garden etc, photos of my mum and dad. I included every page of passport to show that I've been in Thailand since 28/11/2010, my expired non b, my expired work permit, emails from the company I was working for. I also included coach tickets to Sakon Nakhon, coach tickets for visa runs when we went together, boarding passes to Trat in March, the text messages. My girlfriend also wrote a letter which accompanied mine, her letter stated that she was the eldest child and had to support her family with money to be sent back, she did not want to stay in the UK, just visit my parents, she has a job and does not want to lose it, she doesnt want to be apart from her family, this was her reason to return, she has no land etc and she is 21 and not had enough time working to have more in Thailand. I stated that I am not working at present so do not need a work permit, a tourist visa is sufficient for me and I will be returning to Thailand with her after 3 weeks to look for work and will obtain a suitable visa when I have secured a job. I am working at present as a part time English teacher, but without work permit, so hence saying I'm not working.

I think I covered their refusal points, but I get the feeling their don't like the applications, maybe that she is a cook, 21, no return to reason, i don't know, but I hope that it goes through as I have to go back to the UK later this month to sort some affairs out.

[tribalfusion001]

She has a letter from employer stating how long she has worked there for, how much her monthy salary is and its ok for her to have a 3 week unpaid visit to the UK.