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Posted

Hi, guys / girls

I have met my Thai girlfriend a year ago now. We have kept in contact on Whatsapp (a chat program for mobile phones like SMS but free to send messages over your internet connection) and Skype and met each other again in January, where she travelled with me for 1 month while I was off work from Bangkok to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Koh Samui and finally back to Bangkok. I would like to get a visitor visa for her to come and visit me now in the UK, but I have a couple of questions first that I hope someone would be able to answer.

  • How long should you apply for on your first visa application (I would like her to stay 3 - 4 months)?
    • What happens if you tell them she will stay for 1 month, you get your 6 month visa and she stays for 4 months instead? It is within the visa time, but does it predjudice your next visa application because what you told them originally was false?
    • If you are successful on a visitors visa the first time, does it make it easier to be accepted for another visa, and is it easier to get a longer visa?

    [*]I live in rented accommodation and have good relations with my landlord who lets me sublet another room to whoever I chose (the other room is currently occupied). I have asked my flat mate if it is ok, but do I need to get written permission from my landlord before I apply?

    [*]Does my girlfriend have to stay at the address stated the whole time she is in the country? I plan to travel in the UK with her and stay in hotels and also for her to spend sometime at my parents home, does this break the rules of the visitor visa?

    [*]95% of our communications to each are through whatsapp. There are around 500 pages of chat, how much of this is needed to show a relationship between us, all of it, 1 message per day, 1 per week, 1 per month? There are some personal conversation that I wish to keep as such, is it ok to omit these?

    [*]Our trip to Taiwan required her to get a visa there, does that have any bearing of trust when applying for a UK visa?

    [*]I supported her for our trip in January, does that have any bearing on showing I can support her for her UK visa?

It is getting late now and I can't think of any more questions right now. I would appreciate any feedback. Does anyone know if the official UK visa staff will be able to answer any of these questions for me?

If you need anymore information about anything just ask.

Thanks for your help.

Grant

Posted

First of all, and not wishing to sound pernickety, you don't apply for a visa for your girlfriend to visit the UK, she does, she is the one that needs to convince the ECO that she is a genuine visitor, the trip is affordable and that, on the balance of probability she will leave the UK at the conclusion of her trip.

Yours is a long post so I will give a generic reply.

It looks like you are going to pay for her trip and thus be her sponsor, so you would need to prove that the trip is reasonable and affordable, evidence of your past travels will help but you will need to provide evidence of your continuing relationship as well as evidence that you can afford to pay for her visit.

One of the most important thing that your girlfriend needs to convince the ECO is that she has a reason to return home, for instance evidence of work, business, studies, property or other strong ties to her home country.

The ECO will want to be convinced that the visit is genuine, two or three weeks might be considered normal for a holiday, though for a one off trip a month or so away might be ok for a working lass, but she would need proof from her employers that they have approved her absence. You are right in your assumption that if she was granted a visa on the back of a proposed one month trip and then stayed it could well jeopardise any future application, and indeed the Immigration Officer at the UK Border could well deny her entry if her application and flight tickets didn't add up.

  • Like 1
Posted

Hi theoldgit,

Thanks for your reply. You are quite right it is her that needs to apply.

I will be her sponsor, how do I prove it is reasonable for her to visit for 3 months on her first visit? Is it possible? Proving it is affordable should not be a problem, I have a good job.

I am aware that I need to provide proof of the relationship, but that is something I wanted some guidance on. If you have a lot of chat logs, how much is enough?

She has a clothes shop in a shopping mall so I would assume that is a good reason to return home. Would that also make it easier for her to stay here longer because she *could* have temporary staff running her business until she returns?

I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Grant

If there is anyone else who can help me answer the specific questions in my first post I would be very grateful.

Posted (edited)

Grantcr ... couple of things.

First click the 'Follow this topic' where ever it appears on your page.

On my computer it appears at the top right of the screen.

Then you will get an email when someone replies to you.

Second, ask a Mod to insert the country why you are applying for in your subject headline and maybe you might get more responses.

Then ... maybe 7by7 was too modest to mention it, but he wrote a guide just recently and well worth a look ... uk-visit-visa-basics http://www.thaivisa....it-visa-basics/

Edited by David48
Posted

A standard visit visa is valid for 6 months from the date of issue. She should say in her application that she intends to remain in the UK for, whatever is the truth.

Peoples plans change and if she stays longer than originally stated she has not broken any rules, as long as she leaves the UK before the visa expires, but it may damage her credibility in any subsequent application unless she can satisfactorily explain why. Especially if she stated in her application that she could only be away from her business for a set period.


  • Although each application is treated on it's own merits, obviously the more often a person visits the UK and complies with the conditions of their visa, the more they have shown themselves to be trustworthy. If someone can show a valid reason for visiting the UK regularly then longer term visit visas are available; up to 10 years. Though a visitor is still only allowed to spend a maximum of 6 months in the UK on any one visit and, usually, no more than 6 months out of any twelve in the UK, no matter what the actual term of their visa.

  • Yes, I would obtain a letter from your landlord granting permission for her to stay there and confirming that there is room for her; sharing a bedroom with you is no problem.

  • Touring around is fine, but I would say that this is your plan in your sponsor's letter.
  • You do not need to provide a transcript of every conversation, simply show that the conversations have taken place.

  • That she has had a visa to another country previously and, one hopes, complied with it's conditions certainly wont hurt, and may help.
  • That you had the money to finance a trip to Taiwan in January does not mean you have the money to finance a trip to the UK now; provide up to date financial information.

  • I have edited the topic title to show 'UK.'

  • Like 1
Posted

Guys, David, 7by7, big thanks for your help and responses!

Is it possible for me to me to edit my original post (I can't see the edit button, I don't know if that is because I am newbie or not) and post and put in the answers that everyone has given me to make it easier for the next person asking these questions?

Thanks

Grant

Posted (edited)

The edit function lasts only 30 mins (from memory) in all posts.

Many times I read and rediscover my piss poor spelling and corrected it.

Sometimes, imbedded links or photos can be lost and the edit function works well in that respect.

It's sort of good that once you have made the original post, you can't go back in and change it because all the replies relate to what you originally wrote.

Not much of a problem here, but in the more robust areas of the various Forums it's good to know what was originally said and the replies to the OP (Original Poster)

EDIT:- Appears my grammar is not so flash either!

Edited by David48
Posted (edited)

In the originial post you asked this question ...

95% of our communications to each are through whatsapp. There are around 500 pages of chat, how much of this is needed to show a relationship between us, all of it, 1 message per day, 1 per week, 1 per month? There are some personal conversation that I wish to keep as such, is it ok to omit these?

And my experience is a little different to what 7by7 mentioned above.

With my girl's first application for a single entry 3 month Tourist Visa, it was never declined but closer to 'delayed' with the Embassy Official asking a few times for more information ... despite supplying all that they asked for in the first instance ... TiTs.

I don't know how 'whatsapp' works, but with the emails we simply showed 6 months of emails in a file with the date and headlines.

The official then asked to actually see the content of some of them. Like yourself I'm thinking that it's personal and none of your business, but relented and found some nice ones that were 'Family' related and the officer could see the original words and the subsequent replies ... much like this thread.

Proved to be what they (Australian Embassy) wanted and assumed to be proof that it wasn't a 'sham' relationship ... which it's not!

Good Luck with everything

Edited by David48
Posted

With respect, David, each country has it's own visa rules, requirements and procedures and the UK's are different to Australia's. British ECOs are usually not interested in the contents of communications between sponsor and applicant merely, as I said, that communication has taken place.

Unless the content is pertinent to the application, such as a business visa.

From what I have read here and elsewhere, it does seem that a UK visa, of any type, is a lot simpler, and easier, to obtain than an Australian one.

You are correct that posts can only be edited up to 30 mins after they have been made, pretty much for the reasons you state.

Posted

Thanks guys, you have given me a lot of good information. I will let you know how the application goes once I have it all together.

Maybe I will be able to give some advice to others if I am successful.

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