Uk Residence Rights For Married Filipinas In Thailand

[SPIKECM]

I am living in a condo in Thailand with my filipina wife. we're having a kid soon and I am wondering.. if I should die what right will they have of getting into the UK? I guess without any rights, they would have to head back to the Philippines and our kid grows up there. Terrible thought. I guess the only alternative is for me to go back to the UK and get a settlement visa but that obviously entails staying there for most of the time.. in what 2 years? 5 years? .. before she has a permanent visa. I am not so sure if we can go back and have the child born in UK this summer or of that would help her case... we were there last summer and although she seemingly has no rights to the NHS, she used it without a problem. I was told by the receptionist that they never refuse anyone. all we had to do was fill in a small form which I am sure would have been stuck in the bin when we left.

I'd be grateful for any advice on this.

[bkk_mike]

Assuming you were born in the UK, the child will be allowed to apply for a UK passport, so the child is sorted. If you only have UK nationality by descent, you should think about going to the UK for the birth.

As you say, the issue is your wife. There doesn't appear to be a visa for widow of UK national with UK national child, until it gets to the point of 65 and she's a dependant of the child.

How long have you been married, and do you intend to travel to the UK as a family at any point?

If you've been married more than 4-5 years, then on a trip to the UK as tourists, get your wife to sit the KOL test for life in the UK. Assuming she passes, she can then apply for ILE from Thailand rather than applying for a settlement visa (I believe you apply for the settlement visa but with the length of marriage, and the KOL pass, she should be issued with ILE).

ILE is actually ILR but the stamp is the absolutely worst designed stamp on the planet. (ILR - if you spend 2 years outside the UK you lose it, so the ILE stamp has an expiry date on it as you're currently outside the UK for when those 2 years are up - i.e. the date when you must enter the UK by, but airlines looking at visas never understand that if you've entered the UK in the meantime, this date is no longer valid as an expiry date - although you'd have no issues at immigration in the UK.)

Solely for the airline reason, on the next trip to the UK (or when your wife gets her next passport), while in the UK, apply for a vignette transfer to get a more normal ILR stamp that doesn't have an expiry date on it.

Once she has ILR, your wife must always travel to the UK within 2 years of her last exit or she will lose her ILR status.

Also, at the time of the settlement application, you would have to have the intent to settle in the UK. This process just avoids the necessity of staying there 2 years just for the ILR status.

[SPIKECM]

Assuming you were born in the UK, the child will be allowed to apply for a UK passport, so the child is sorted. If you only have UK nationality by descent, you should think about going to the UK for the birth.

As you say, the issue is your wife. There doesn't appear to be a visa for widow of UK national with UK national child, until it gets to the point of 65 and she's a dependant of the child.

How long have you been married, and do you intend to travel to the UK as a family at any point?

If you've been married more than 4-5 years, then on a trip to the UK as tourists, get your wife to sit the KOL test for life in the UK. Assuming she passes, she can then apply for ILE from Thailand rather than applying for a settlement visa (I believe you apply for the settlement visa but with the length of marriage, and the KOL pass, she should be issued with ILE).

ILE is actually ILR but the stamp is the absolutely worst designed stamp on the planet. (ILR - if you spend 2 years outside the UK you lose it, so the ILE stamp has an expiry date on it as you're currently outside the UK for when those 2 years are up - i.e. the date when you must enter the UK by, but airlines looking at visas never understand that if you've entered the UK in the meantime, this date is no longer valid as an expiry date - although you'd have no issues at immigration in the UK.)

Solely for the airline reason, on the next trip to the UK (or when your wife gets her next passport), while in the UK, apply for a vignette transfer to get a more normal ILR stamp that doesn't have an expiry date on it.

Once she has ILR, your wife must always travel to the UK within 2 years of her last exit or she will lose her ILR status.

Also, at the time of the settlement application, you would have to have the intent to settle in the UK. This process just avoids the necessity of staying there 2 years just for the ILR status.

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. I think she's exempt from the KOL test as she is the mother of a UK citizen...well, will be in August.

I have two children to Thai mothers already and getting UK passports for them was dead simple.

[steve187]

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. I think she's exempt from the KOL test as she is the mother of a UK citizen...well, will be in August.

I have two children to Thai mothers already and getting UK passports for them was dead simple.

I am not sure you have that correct, an exemption to kol for settlement is - a parent, grandparent or other dependent relative of a British citizen or someone who has settled here (under paragraph 317 of the Immigration Rules); But when clicking on the link above it goes on to mention being over 65, A lot of members on here are in the same boat as you, and i have never read a thread on here that backs up your theory, but of course you learn something new every day

bkk_mike mentions having to return every 2 years to keep ILR, i would suggest it has to be more often than that, a friend of mine had her ILR cancelled, and had last visited the uk 15 months before.

A kol test will be required for citizenship, extract from ukba wesite regarding excemptions to kol for settlement - However, you will need to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life in the UK if you later apply for British citizenship, unless you are exempt for other reasons. For more information, see the Citizenship section.

Who did you get the uk passports for, the children, or the mothers?

Edited January 23, 2012 by steve187

[PattayaParent]

Assuming you were born in the UK, the child will be allowed to apply for a UK passport, so the child is sorted. If you only have UK nationality by descent, you should think about going to the UK for the birth.

As you say, the issue is your wife. There doesn't appear to be a visa for widow of UK national with UK national child, until it gets to the point of 65 and she's a dependant of the child.

How long have you been married, and do you intend to travel to the UK as a family at any point?

If you've been married more than 4-5 years, then on a trip to the UK as tourists, get your wife to sit the KOL test for life in the UK. Assuming she passes, she can then apply for ILE from Thailand rather than applying for a settlement visa (I believe you apply for the settlement visa but with the length of marriage, and the KOL pass, she should be issued with ILE).

ILE is actually ILR but the stamp is the absolutely worst designed stamp on the planet. (ILR - if you spend 2 years outside the UK you lose it, so the ILE stamp has an expiry date on it as you're currently outside the UK for when those 2 years are up - i.e. the date when you must enter the UK by, but airlines looking at visas never understand that if you've entered the UK in the meantime, this date is no longer valid as an expiry date - although you'd have no issues at immigration in the UK.)

Solely for the airline reason, on the next trip to the UK (or when your wife gets her next passport), while in the UK, apply for a vignette transfer to get a more normal ILR stamp that doesn't have an expiry date on it.

Once she has ILR, your wife must always travel to the UK within 2 years of her last exit or she will lose her ILR status.

Also, at the time of the settlement application, you would have to have the intent to settle in the UK. This process just avoids the necessity of staying there 2 years just for the ILR status.

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. I think she's exempt from the KOL test as she is the mother of a UK citizen...well, will be in August.

I have two children to Thai mothers already and getting UK passports for them was dead simple.

You got UK passports for the 2 Thai mothers easily? or do you mean for the children?

[SPIKECM]

Assuming you were born in the UK, the child will be allowed to apply for a UK passport, so the child is sorted. If you only have UK nationality by descent, you should think about going to the UK for the birth.

As you say, the issue is your wife. There doesn't appear to be a visa for widow of UK national with UK national child, until it gets to the point of 65 and she's a dependant of the child.

How long have you been married, and do you intend to travel to the UK as a family at any point?

If you've been married more than 4-5 years, then on a trip to the UK as tourists, get your wife to sit the KOL test for life in the UK. Assuming she passes, she can then apply for ILE from Thailand rather than applying for a settlement visa (I believe you apply for the settlement visa but with the length of marriage, and the KOL pass, she should be issued with ILE).

ILE is actually ILR but the stamp is the absolutely worst designed stamp on the planet. (ILR - if you spend 2 years outside the UK you lose it, so the ILE stamp has an expiry date on it as you're currently outside the UK for when those 2 years are up - i.e. the date when you must enter the UK by, but airlines looking at visas never understand that if you've entered the UK in the meantime, this date is no longer valid as an expiry date - although you'd have no issues at immigration in the UK.)

Solely for the airline reason, on the next trip to the UK (or when your wife gets her next passport), while in the UK, apply for a vignette transfer to get a more normal ILR stamp that doesn't have an expiry date on it.

Once she has ILR, your wife must always travel to the UK within 2 years of her last exit or she will lose her ILR status.

Also, at the time of the settlement application, you would have to have the intent to settle in the UK. This process just avoids the necessity of staying there 2 years just for the ILR status.

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. I think she's exempt from the KOL test as she is the mother of a UK citizen...well, will be in August.

I have two children to Thai mothers already and getting UK passports for them was dead simple.

You got UK passports for the 2 Thai mothers easily? or do you mean for the children?

Yes, that was ambiguous. I mean for the children. The mother of Child Number One had a UK passport anyway. Child Number One was born in the UK, but we got the Thai passport in London no problem. That's another story. If he goes to the UK for the last few years at school he will lose his potential right to Thai citizenship, which is something I look forward to (buying land in Thailand). If he stays in Thailand which looks like happening, I will have a hard time getting the UK tax payer to pay for any further education. He's never been to school in the UK, so I doubt if he would be happy now out of Thailand, but his future career prospects in Thailand are worrying.

[SPIKECM]

Thanks for that. Much appreciated. I think she's exempt from the KOL test as she is the mother of a UK citizen...well, will be in August.

I have two children to Thai mothers already and getting UK passports for them was dead simple.

I am not sure you have that correct, an exemption to kol for settlement is - a parent, grandparent or other dependent relative of a British citizen or someone who has settled here (under paragraph 317 of the Immigration Rules); But when clicking on the link above it goes on to mention being over 65, A lot of members on here are in the same boat as you, and i have never read a thread on here that backs up your theory, but of course you learn something new every day

bkk_mike mentions having to return every 2 years to keep ILR, i would suggest it has to be more often than that, a friend of mine had her ILR cancelled, and had last visited the uk 15 months before.

A kol test will be required for citizenship, extract from ukba wesite regarding excemptions to kol for settlement - However, you will need to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life in the UK if you later apply for British citizenship, unless you are exempt for other reasons. For more information, see the Citizenship section.

Who did you get the uk passports for, the children, or the mothers?

Dunno, I just glanced at the website so you are probably right. The KOL seems no big issue anyway as her English is fluent and she'll be able to read "Life in the United Kingdom" in a day or so. Or am I being too confident? The main problem is that I can't go back myself for any more than 90 days in a year so she won't be able to stay longer than that in a year. Not sure then if I will ever get ILR for her unless I finish off being an expat. Going back every year is not a problem but staying more than 90 days is. Unclear about whether I should try at all for ILR.