Hi All,

The dreaded time has arrived and I am in the process of helping my wife apply for a settlement visa.

Just wanted to ask a couple of questions:

In the application form it asks 'have you lived in a relationship like a marriage or civil partnership with your sponsor before?' --I dont know what they class as a marriage type relationship? does this mean joint accounts and joint bills and rent etc? or does it just mean long periods of time we have spent together living under the same roof i.e when i vist her in thailand or she visits me at my mothers house in the uk? They say you need to provide documentry evidence to support if you anser yes to this question, but what documents can I show other than her visas clearly showing she was in the UK at certain times?

I've noticed that you have to get english translations for any document in thai now, is this just for settlement visas becuase the past tourist and visit to marry visas we got did not need translations? is this a new thing??

And finally, my wife is booked to do the BULATS test on the 2nd of Dec. Is there any advice on that? Ive heard you need to show the results as well as the preformance reports for each section with the application.

Thanks!!!

"have you lived in a relationship like a marriage or civil partnership with your sponsor before?" means what it says; living together as if married. That is a permanent(ish) arrangement where household bills and responsibilities are shared. It does not mean staying with each other whilst visiting.

From what you say, she should answer "No" to this question.

Guidance from the VAC and UKBA does now say that all documents in Thai should be accompanied by an English translation. There are plenty of bureaux near the VAC and elsewhere who will do this for you. Anecdotal evidence suggests that documents such as birth and marriage certificates don't need to be translated; but she may very well need these once in the UK, and it will be cheaper to have them done in Thailand.

Sorry, can't help you on the English test, other than to say that it is very basic and she does not need to worry about the reading and writing part; the requirement is for speaking and listening only. If she can effectively communicate with you in English then she should be fine.

English test is very basic but about business. Your wife will need to talk about her business or office. An office can be anything. Shop. Bar. Deck chairs on the beach.

Arrive early there are some help sheets in thai for her to read. Practice online with their examples. Food available on floor 5

You'll be given test results from Bangkok. May take a week. You'll also get a certificate from the uk. Can take up to 3 weeks. I'd advise to submit both.

The certificate from the uk is valid for 2 yrs

Thank you both of you,

Good advice as usual,

Regards