Uk Visa - Which One And When To Apply?

[demus20]

Hello all,

The situation so far;

• Met my thai girlfriend whilst backpacking two years ago. i'm 28 and so is she.
  
• I do work, but including any tax credits etc, my annual income only amounts to around 17k
  
• She works as a travel agent and runs her own travel agency with her best friend. They pay the rent together, etc.
  
• ive been back to thailand to see her twice since, once for 8 weeks, recently for 2 weeks.
  
• we've recently discovered she is pregnant due at the end of this year
  

now, before we discovered she was pregnant, our plan was to apply for a tourist visa once i'd bulked my bank balance out a bit! but obviously this pregnancy kind of changes things.

I hope i dont come across as ignorant with this post - i have looked on all the official websites and forums for ideas but generally no posts or information give any kind of exact advice for this situation - sorry if i appear lazy! i have really tried doing some research

Our main worries are ;

• do i earn enough for a visa to likely be granted?
  
• have we been together long enough? seen each other enough?
  
• how long should we wait after the baby is born before applying for a settlement visa ? (we are thinking about getting married in bkk later this year - perhaps at the same time i go over for the baby's birth)
  
• do i need a lot of savings? my missus seems to think i need at least £4000 in the bank before they'll even look at the application
  
• what about her savings?
  

as a side note, she also has a 5 year old son, whose father did a runner before he was even born, and isnt a thai national. chances of the boy also getting a visa??

sorry if this is way too much to answer, if theres information that covers most, id appreciate being pointed in the right direction!

many thanks for any help

p.s we have text/phone calls pretty much every single day for the two years, as well as letters, emails, presents and the odd western union gift

Edited April 28, 2012 by demus20

[7by7]

UK Settlement Visa Basics will tell you much that you need to know, so have a read of that first. Any further questions, feel free to ask.

With regards to income and savings, there is presently no minimum limit required for either; merely 'enough.' Although the courts have ruled that it would be inappropriate for an immigrant family to have an income of less than the income support level for a British family of the same size. So Entry Clearance Officers tend to use that figure as a guide.

But; a proposal is currently under consideration by the government to introduce a minimum income level; but what this figure will be (various amounts have been bandied about) and when it will be introduced, if at all, no one knows.

[demus20]

thanks very much for your reply

that link is a great post, very much appreciated! now to begin reading and preparing....spectacles on!

[bobrussell]

It depends on what your plans are long-term. If you plan to live in the UK as a couple then you need a settlement visa. If it is a visit/holiday then it is a visit visa.

There will be a lot of advice on this forum once that is confirmed!

A visit visa problem could be reasons to return. Settlement visa, sufficient income to show your gf can be supported without recourse to public funds.

Things may get very messy in the near future if the government start to implement minimum income levels as I suspect this will be challenged in the courts.

A dependent child can get a settlement visa at the same time as the mother. This is not particularly difficult if mother and child live together and it is possible to show sole responsibility. Again, many of us have been there, done that and got the T-shirt and will be more than happy to give advice from experience.

The pinned topic suggested by 7x7 is absolutely the place to start!

[demus20]

thanks for your reply bob

we'll be applyoing for a settlement visa im pretty sure.

coming from a single parent family myself, theres no way im willing to let my child grow up without a father, so i really hope this can happen...by the sounds of it, with talk of new legislation, it would be better to apply sooner than later!