UK Visa And Marriage Help Needed

[tomcreeduk]

Gents.

Thanks for taking the time to read this I guess if you seen the title you can feel my pain...

In December myself and my thai girlfriend plan on applying for her first visiting visa to the UK and fingers crossed she is excepted. Currently I am building a evidence portfolio for the visa. I am 31 and she is 28.

If i'm honest you may think i'm nuts but we met June 2011 and spent the best part of 10 days together where she showed me the island of Phuket and we flew to Pattaya too.

We speak for a hour a day on the phone and communicate via Skype regually we have email contact ect. I have done my home work via forums and friends..

I return In mid October for 3 weeks where I will meet her mother who i speak to regually on the phone and she is happy that her daughter is happy and gives us full concent to travel Thailand and her to visit the UK (Visa Permitted)

My parents are going to Phuket this December and they will meet her and her mum for dinner so i'm sure this will help greatly with the visa application as she will stay with me and my family if the visa is granted.

I then return December the 30th and we have another 16 days together during this time we plan on applying for a UK tourist. I know its about submitting and praying hard but we have nothing to hide and i hope its about do the right thing and the right thing will happen.

I guess i'm inquiring about settlement visa / finance visa I know i not even got the 1st visitor visa yet. But ideally if all continued as it is id lie to propose to her and its what we spoken about in dept the future and life ect.

If thats the case and I do is the best visa to apply for still a visitors visa or a fiancé. I know the embassy are suspicious about relationships as short as this.

Does anyone have any experience about Thai marriages. My friend had his GF come over for her second visit on a finance visa and they got married here in UK.

Ideally I know I'm talking future but I'd like to get married in Thailand but it seems very hard to make it legally biding for a settlement visa. Is it possible to do or does anyone know the step by step procedure into getting correct paper work in order and the step by step procedure. We have spoken about getting married in her home village in Udon Thani which I would like very much.

I hope someone can make sense of what i've typed but it's flying about in my head and if anyone can clear any of my questions up then i'd be a very grateful member.

Thanks for your time....

[7by7]

The first thing you have to decide is whether or not the two of you definitely want to marry and settle in the UK as husband and wife, or do you simply want her to visit.

Do not marry each other simply to get her a visa; marry each other because you want to spend the rest of your lives together.

If a visit is all you want at this stage, have a read of UK Visit Visa Basics.

If you both definitely want to marry then you have two choices; marry in Thailand or marry in the UK.

A ceremonial marriage in Thailand is not a legal marriage under Thai law and so is not recognised as a legal marriage under UK law. To be legal in Thailand, and therefore recognised under UK law, you need to register the marriage at an ampur (a sort of combined town hall and registry office). There are certain requirements under Thai law that a non Thai marrying in the Kingdom has to comply with, see Guidance for British nationals wishing to marry in Thailand.

Once married your then wife can apply for settlement in the UK as your spouse, see Settlement, Spouse.

A spouse visa is valid for 27 months, and once she has been living in the UK for 24 months, and meets all the other requirements, she can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, see Completing application form SET(M). One of the requirements is that she can demonstrate adequate Knowledge of language and life in the UK.

If you decide to marry in the UK then she applies as your fiancée; see Settlement, Fiancé(e)s.

A fiancé(e) visa lasts for 6 months, during this time she must travel to the UK and you marry. Once the marriage has taken place she then applies for Further Leave to Remain, see Applying from inside the UK. FLR will last for 24 months, at the end of which she can apply for ILR as above.

A spouse visa and a fiancé(e) visa both cost the same. If she applies for a fiancée visa then there will be another fee when she applies for FLR. Therefore, in my opinion, unless you have a compelling reason for following the fiancée route it is better to marry in Thailand and apply as a spouse.

Whether she applies as a fiancée or a spouse, she will need to submit with her application evidence that she meets a minimum standard of spoken English, see here for details of this and here for a list of approved test providers in Thailand. She could take this test while in the UK as a visitor, if she wished.

She will also need to provide a certificate to show that she is free from infectious tuberculosis. She must obtain this via the IoM in Bangkok, see here.

She will also need to show that she will be adequately accommodated and maintained in the UK without recourse to public funds, see Maintenance and accommodation.

For where and how to apply for a UK visa in Thailand see Official UK visa application website in Thailand.

Finally, she could marry you in the UK whilst there as a visitor, but she cannot convert a visit visa into settlement whilst in the UK; she would have to return to Thailand and there apply for settlement as your spouse.

BTW, I've changed 'Thai' to 'UK' in your topic title and subtitle.

[picnel]

Very good answer from 7by7

You also have to check if your girlfriend :

1. Has some child (children)

2. Was (is) already married

3. If yes to 2. Is she now divorced ?

4. Did she already ask a Visa for abroad ? when ? how many times ?

5. Is she (or was she) working in a beer bar ?

If the answer is "no" to all the questions you'll get the Visa. For sure

if the answer is "yes" one or two times, its possible to get a visa

if the answer is "yes" 3 or 4 times, it will be difficult to have a visa

if the answer is always yes, ... so why do you want to ask a visa ?

[bifftastic]

All the decisions about your life together must be yours, based on what you both want to do, not on the UK immigration rules.

Personally, I would bring her over to the UK for a visit before you decide whether or not she wants to live here. There are big cultural differences, as you already know, having been to Thailand, she doesn't quite realise that yet, assuming she's never been here before.

You can have a legal marriage in Thailand and obtain a Family Visit Visa for your wife to come over for a holiday (I've done both).

You mention something about 'apply and then pray'?

The benefits, or otherwise, of prayer is perhaps something for a different thread!

However, I do know that if you prepare your g/f's or wife's visa application correctly, and answer the questions any ECO (Entry Clearance Officer) would have when making their decision, the application will be approved whether you pray or not (I didn't pray, my wife may have mentioned something whilst passing by a Buddha statue but he died years ago and wasn't overly concerned with visas whilst he was alive).

Regardless of any supplications you may make to a higher power, if you do not include evidence of your relationship (you need to keep everything, phone/skype records, photos, emails, etc) and evidence of the finances that will fund her visit (they can be yours or hers) together with evidence that shows adequate accommodation for the visit, and if the ECO is not convinced that on the balance of probabilities, your partner will return to Thailand when the visit is over, it will be refused.

Everything is based on evidence, proof, not just a letter saying that the relationship is real, the money and accommodation are there, evidence.

Settlement visa would be very similar but with a different emphasis, because your g/f or wife, will be staying in the UK so evidence (there's that word again!) of accommodation would need to be of a more permanent nature. Your finances and ability to support her until she is able to find work would be more important. Also your wife would need to meet the English language and Knowledge of life in the UK requirements as 7by7 pointed out in his usual extremely helpful and informative way.

If I were you, I'd take my time, by all means marry in Thailand, it was a great experience for me and something I'll never forget, but that's me, I don't have any family in the UK so there was no-one to disappoint by saying "mum, I'm getting married thousands of miles away and Auntie Ethel won't be able to come cos she can't even get on the bus never mind a plane"

The same goes for your g/f, maybe she will love the UK, but I would find out first, also her family would miss out on a wedding if it were in the UK.

I know that visas are in your mind at the moment, but I don't think that they should necessarily be your first concern.

You can, if you do it right, get whatever visa you want.

What you will find much harder to do, is to make the right decision for you and this lady.

I would try and do that first.

Just my opinion of course, what you do is, as they say, up to you..

Good luck with it all,

Biff

PS. Do you think I mentioned evidence enough? Personally I don't.

EVIDENCE!

there, that should do it!

Edited September 19, 2011 by bifftastic

[malct]

It took me 4 Years before i got married and that was after 2 visitors Visa's

It takes time to get to know someone and life is very different in real life than on a holiday, So be sure on what your doing.

We got turned down on our first application, not enough evidence of a relationship, Looking back, I think it was the correct thing that the ECO could do since we had only known each other for a few months

Malc

[tomcreeduk]

Gents

Thank you very much for your time and effort to read and reply. I appreciate it very much....

Got lots of positives to take from this..... A few negatives are that

Everything is positive apart from as follows...

Am I being realistic regarding applying after 6 months as just had a visa company ring me and tell me there experience is it will fail due to only being 6 months and they believe I need to wait until 9 months before I even try....

She needs to prove she will return which will be covered by a letter from her work to say her job is left open for her fingers crossed... As she has no land or motorbike to prove otherwise.... My family intend to visit her once she returns to see her home town ect.... They will state this in the supporting letter.....

Also she has no money in the bank and lives on 6600 baht to cover living, bills & eatin ect so her savings are minimal also if at all...

But I take on board all you have said and I am very grateful for your time.....

[bifftastic]

There are no hard and fast rules about the length of your relationship. They need to be sure that you have actually met, and that your relationship is 'real and subsisting' ie, genuine.

The fact that your parents will have met her by the time you submit your application will, in my opinion, help a great deal. There's not only contact between you and your g/f but also between both families.

The three months extra waiting that the visa 'company' have recommended will not make the slightest bit of difference assuming that you will not be able to make any more visits during that three months, and even if you do, it will, most likely only be one more visit right?

I think that if your application is strong enough, there won't be any reason for it to be refused. And it can not be refused simply because you haven't know her long enough. They could refuse it if you don't convince them that the relationship is genuine, but that would apply after 9 months as well.

Reason to return looks ok to me, not that I'm an expert you understand but do make sure that whoever writes the letter from her workplace understands what they've written. If they can't speak English, don't write a letter in English and get them to sign it (they could well be contacted and asked about it in English!) get them to write it in Thai and have it translated, that way they won't be expected to speak or understand English, they'll be fully aware of what they wrote, and if the embassy want to talk to them, they'll get a Thai person to do it.

Also, you should mention that it is her intention to apply for more visit visas, possibly a settlement at some time in the future too, so it is not her intention to breach the terms of this first visa, if it's granted, as that would jeopardise any future applications and thereby, your future together.

As for the money for her trip, in my wife's application we answered the questions 'who will pay for your trip and your expenses?' (there's a few questions like that, and I can't remember the exact wording) with 'my husband will pay for everythying' there's a question 'what is the total cost to you of this trip?' again, we answered 'zero, my husband will pay for everything'

Of course, I had to prove my ability to do that!

6 months payslips. 6 months bank statements, P60 from last year, breakdown of my monthly expenses (rent, phone, food etc.) in my covering letter.

It's a 'box-ticking' exercise, tick them and you'll get it

[RAZZELL]

"The best part of 10 days together"...and you want to get married!

Yes, you are nuts!

Was it your first trip to Thailand?

Seriously, slow down and take your time. Another few visits will make thing's clearer.

But all the best for the future anyway

RAZZ