Language Problems At Uk Immigration

[kimamey]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum or maybe should be in travel.

Next year my Thai gf and her 17 year old daughter are coming to the UK. I may be coming with them or meeting them depending on which country I'm in at the time. My gf is pretty good at english although she had a little problem going through Abu Dhabi last year but then again I have problems in the UK sometimes. The trouble is her daughter is good at maths but not so good at languages including Thai apparently. I hardly ever hear her use english although I think this may be because she is too shy to use it while I'm there. Amazingly my complete lack of expertise in Thai doesn't seem to help. I'm a bit worried about how she will get on at UK immigration. Her mother will be there but she may be at a different desk.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had experience of this.

[Thongkorn]

Are they coming to live or Visit. if live, they may have to take the Life in the Uk test first.if only for a visit dont worry because you would not have got a visa other wise.

Edited November 12, 2011 by Thongkorn

[bifftastic]

If your g/f's daughter is on a visit visa, there is no requirement that she should be able to speak, or understand any English at all.

Many people take holidays in places where they can not speak the language.

Your g/f should go with her to the booth and explain that her daughter does not speak English and that they are travelling together.

In the unlikely event that the UKBA do want to ask her any questions, they will either have to do so through your g/f, or provide an interpreter.

[kimamey]

Thanks for the replies. I should have said it's a visit. I realise how lucky I am to speak english as you can be fairly certain it will be catered for at most airports. I have a feeling she is a lot better at english than she shows. Last year she wanted to buy a board game which was basically Scrabble but under a different name so the makers didn't have to pay a licence fee or intellectual property theft as it's sometimes called. Anyway when the 3 of us played I won of course which was a relief but I was surprised how well a girl who gives the impression of only knowing about 4 words of english which she hardly ever uses managed to play. With her apparent lack of ability at a foreign language she could almost be a Brit.

[bifftastic]

When my wife arrived at Heathrow recently for a visit, she had trouble understanding some of the IO's questions, but instead of saying "Sorry, I don't understand" like I told her to, she said "I don't remember" Luckily, the question wasn't 'what's your husbands name?'

Her English is quite good but she got confused by a few people here, probably because they weren't native speakers themselves!