Visa For My Wife To The Uk What Are The Chances Do You Think?

[JusticeFT96]

Hi there,

I am 29 and my wife is 20, we have just had a baby together and we are married. We want to go to the UK for a year or so to save some money to buy our own house so I was planning at living at my parents house. Neither of us have been married before or had any children with anyone else.

I am worried however because my job is a poker player and my credit from years ago when I started my own business and it went wrong is pretty bad and being lazy I didnt file for bankrupcy. I earn a good wage but everything is put in my dads name due to bad credit in the past.

Would this affect my application? I am going to get my son his UK birth certificate and passport then apply for her visa. My parents are more than willing to act as guarantors to say we will stay at their house and if needed will say they will financially support her whilst she stays in the UK.

Would it be possible do you think to apply for a year long or so visa or would I have to apply for a 3 month visa for her?. I dont really want to be having to pay for flights every 3 months because the reason we are coming here in the first place is to save money to buy a house.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I am looking at going around August next year.

Cheers

[7by7]

Visit visas would not be suitable for your plans. The maximum she could stay in the UK as a visitor is 6 months. Furthermore there is a convention that visitors should not spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in the UK. This is a convention, not a rule, but in the circumstances you describe I cannot see that she would be able to return to Thailand after 6 months living with her husband and son in the UK and immediately be granted another 6 months in the UK as a visitor. Visit visas are for visits, not for living in the UK.

So your only option is to apply for a settlement visa for her. This is valid for 27 months; but she can of course cease living in the UK at any time during this period.

After she has been living in the UK for 24 months she could apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain; which lasts indefinitely. However, were she to spend a continuous period of two or more years outside the UK it would lapse, and if it became apparent that she was actually living outside the UK and using her ILR just for visits it would be canceled.

If you can remain in the UK for three years then she could apply to be naturalised as British (both the UK and Thailand allow dual nationality) and when she has that she can leave and reenter the UK whenever she wished; just like any other British citizen.

Whether applying for a visit or for settlement she will need to show that she will be maintained and accommodated without recourse to public funds.

The finance for her maintenance can come from her, you, a third party or any combination of these. Whoever is providing finance must show that they have the means to do so. Your credit history should not be a problem as long as you can show that your are servicing your debts to your creditors satisfaction and still have enough to live on.

Likewise, accommodation can come from a third party; as long as there is at least one room for your exclusive use.

For more see:-

Husband, wife or civil partner of a British citizen or a person who is settled here.

Maintenance and accommodation

SET03 - Spouses

For where and how to apply, fees etc. see UK Border Agency in Thailand

[JusticeFT96]

Thank you very much for this excellent help. I have one last question, I see many visa shops offering the service to do it all for me, are they trustworthy and worthwhile or am I just better off doing it all myself?

[7by7]

Whether to use an agent or not is your decision.

The only two agents who advise on UK visas I would recommend are Visa Plus and Thai Visa Express. Not because they are sponsors of this forum but because I know them both and know them to be trustworthy and competent.

If considering using an agent, I suggest that you read this pinned topic first.

[beano2274]

Was there not a rule about a wife actually having to be over a certain age before settlement would be granted? (I remember reading something, but am not totally sure, so just asking).

[7by7]

The minimum age, for both sponsor and applicant, was raised from 18 to 21; but this was ruled illegal by the courts so it is now 18 again.

[beano2274]

The minimum age, for both sponsor and applicant, was raised from 18 to 21; but this was ruled illegal by the courts so it is now 18 again.

Thanks for that.

[JusticeFT96]

She would be 21 by the time we would move anyway Will check the pinned thread now, thanks again for your help.