Letter For Sponsoring My Thai Gf'S Visit Visa Uk

[wimtomlinson]

This is my first post, I have never had any dealings with Visa's before. I have read through many posts on this forum which I have found very helpful.

I have drafted my sponsorship letter, I hope some of you can tell me if it looks ok, where I can improve, should I add anything, have I added too much etc. You will see that I am well in advance of the application date but I do like to get everything sorted out and most importantly I want my girlfriend to get the Visa.

By the time I go to Thailand in January I would of already booked my next holiday to Thailand which is mentioned in the letter (I haven't booked it yet).

To Whom It May Concern.

Regarding the Application for a General Visitors Visa for XX, DOB XX, Passport Number: 99999

I am writing to confirm that I wish to invite XXX to visit me in the UK on the 4^th February 2013, this is the date I will return to the UK from this, my current holiday. XXX will then return to Thailand on 4^th June, this is the date of my next Holiday to Thailand. I will pay for all of her travel costs. I feel it is important that I travel both ways with XXX as she has never been out of Thailand before and she would not like, and I would not like her to travel by herself. Whilst XXX is in England I will take her on trips to see the sights in London, Alton Towers and maybe a seaside resort. As I work shifts with weeks off I will have many opportunities for us to explore the UK together.

XXX will not overstay, I earn sufficient money for XXX not to work in the UK. As I like travelling to Thailand twice a year there is no reason for her to overstay her Visa. We also understand the implications of overstaying. In the future XXX may want to visit the UK again so it is very important to us that the terms of her Visa are not broken.

XXX and I first met when I came to Thailand for a holiday in October 2011. We were constant companions during that time. When I returned to the UK on the 15^th November 2011 we kept in contact via phone calls and Skype video chat.

XXX currently works with her Mother selling food in a Market in Nakhon Ratchasima on a self employed basis. I often send her money to help out.

When I returned to Thailand on the 21^st May 2012, I rented an Apartment for myself and XXX and we stayed together until I returned to the UK on the 17^th June. During that time I had the pleasure to meet her daughter, mother and sister when we spent a few days at her family’s home in Nakhon Ratchasima to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Since my return to the UK we continue to talk everyday on the phone.

I work as a Train Driver for xxx on a full time permanent basis.

I live alone in my own house in England; it is a 3 bedroom semi detached property so I am able to accommodate XXX free of charge. I will pay for everything she needs whilst she is in the UK so her personal expenditure will be minimal.

Documents Enclosed to support the application:

· Title Deeds for my House

· Council Tax Bill

· Telephone statements (please note, I use iCard Mobile which is Pay as You Go so only internet generated statements are available).

· Bank Statements from my UK bank account

· Pass books from XXX and my Thai Bank accounts which we opened at the same time in XXX home town.

· Western Union money transfer documents

· Wage slips ( I am paid every 4 weeks )

· Letter from my Employer

· My Passport

· My current and future travel arrangements

· Photos from my October/November 2011 holiday to Thailand

· Photos that I took whilst chatting on Skype while I was in the UK

· Photos from my May/June 2012 holiday to Thailand

· Photos of my home in England

Thank you for considering this application. If there is any other information you need in order to make your decision please contact me.

Yours Faithfully,

[tw25rw]

Looks pretty good to me. Might have left out some of the personal details myself. Just need to make sure things tie up, ie that you are together in the pics, or at least have both of you in the same place and same time if you take pics of each other. And the the skype one has user ids visible and is not just a random looking pic.

I reckon you'll be alright if you are thorough and honest. Good luck!

[Satcommlee]

I'm by no means an expert, but in my opinion if you want it read in full, I would shorten it a bit. She will have to present the evidence of relationship not you I would have thought?

But I'm sure the real experts will contribute tomorrow.

They are not so much worried about your ability to finance her stay, but more concerned with her having a strong reason to return.

[David48]

The Sponsors letter was discussed recently here (clickable link) and reading this recent thread may give you some clues about your letter.

The letter was for a UK Visa.

.. just trying to help (for 7by7 ... )

[tw25rw]

I think the reason to return may well be strong enough.

[Satcommlee]

XXX currently works with her Mother selling food in a Market in Nakhon Ratchasima on a self employed basis. I often send her money to help out.

I think the reason to return may well be strong enough.

I'm not to sure about that, I would have hope some of the Visa experts would have chipped in by now..

Edited July 13, 2012 by Satcommlee

[Kadafi]

You met her in October/november on a holiday to thailand, do not see her for six months and then return to meet her family and child. Now you are applying for a 4 month visit to the UK, all abit fast considering the amount of time you have spent together..no wonder the UKBA need to tighten things up. I lived with my gf(now wife) for 2.5 years in Thailand before applying for her first UK visit visa.

[tw25rw]

XXX currently works with her Mother selling food in a Market in Nakhon Ratchasima on a self employed basis. I often send her money to help out.

I think the reason to return may well be strong enough.

I'm not to sure about that, I would have hope some of the Visa experts would have chipped in by now..

Based on my personal experience, I think the reason to return may well be strong enough.

XXX will not overstay, I earn sufficient money for XXX not to work in the UK. As I like travelling to Thailand twice a year there is no reason for her to overstay her Visa. We also understand the implications of overstaying. In the future XXX may want to visit the UK again so it is very important to us that the terms of her Visa are not broken.

Edited July 13, 2012 by tw25rw

[7by7]

The letter looks ok to me. You've covered the reason for the visit, the finances and accommodation and the reason to return. Despite what some may say there is no minimum time you need to have known someone before sponsoring a visit visa application for them.

You may find UK Visit Visa Basics helpful.

[wimtomlinson]

Thanks 7by7, I did look at the thread you mentioned, I found that helpful.

The reason for return was my main concern but a few of you have said that what I have wrote may be enough.

[tw25rw]

My theory is that if it was just someone wanting to visit, potentially wanting to go again probably wouldn't be enough reason. But being at least partly human, they understand the concept of a relationship. So proving the existence of an established relationship gives her a reason for the visit and a reason to return home..

[Satcommlee]

I'm surprised the visa agents havn't given their 2 cents worth yet, their input would be most valuable in my opinion..

I can only speak from the experience of friends (rejections and acceptances) that the reason to return is usually having a good job, property/land and cash in the bank. (when not married)

If you tell them you are sending her money to support her day to day existence, the entry clearance officer may be inclined to have some concerns.. I'm not saying for one minute that your girl would do this, but 1'000s of Thai's do overstay and work illegally in the UK and its his job to prevent this.

I think it could be worth using an agent to prepare this application, I don't think they charge too much.. You could very much regret saying the wrong thing in the first application if it gets refused, as you could never go back on it in a second application.

[somtampet]

I'm by no means an expert, but in my opinion if you want it read in full, I would shorten it a bit. She will have to present the evidence of relationship not you I would have thought?

But I'm sure the real experts will contribute tomorrow.

They are not so much worried about your ability to finance her stay, but more concerned with her having a strong reason to return.

1005 correct mate.

I would have some concerns regarding this letter,how much is she earning,any proof of that,and for how long,as it doesnt seem that u realy know each other.My partner and i did the form online,but everything weas done by her if u see what i mean,she had money,regular job and son was in a small private school,i didnt even have to go with her.

[tw25rw]

I'm surprised the visa agents havn't given their 2 cents worth yet, their input would be most valuable in my opinion..

I can only speak from the experience of friends (rejections and acceptances) that the reason to return is usually having a good job, property/land and cash in the bank. (when not married)

If you tell them you are sending her money to support her day to day existence, the entry clearance officer may be inclined to have some concerns.. I'm not saying for one minute that your girl would do this, but 1'000s of Thai's do overstay and work illegally in the UK and its his job to prevent this.

I think it could be worth using an agent to prepare this application, I don't think they charge too much.. You could very much regret saying the wrong thing in the first application if it gets refused, as you could never go back on it in a second application.

He has said that he will finance her stay. Her earnings aren't important.

Reading the letter again, I just realised that they only met less than a year ago. That is where my application differed in that I had known her 6 years when she arrived.

Edited July 14, 2012 by tw25rw

[tomcreeduk]

My experience is I'd only known my GF 5 months before she came on a visit visa even tho agency's said they wouldn't help me until we had a 9 month relationship. I decided myself to build the application. We had only spent 10 days together then I returned for 18 days and then again and on the 4th day together we then we submitted the application all within 5 months. I feel it's irrelevant what she earns or has in the bank as I clearly stated I'll be funding the whole trip in my letter of intension she may of had 200 pound in the bank, no children, land or motorbike. Just built a solid application which obviously was sufficient as visa was approved.. Just my experiance

Edited July 14, 2012 by tomcreeduk

[Satcommlee]

I don't think it would harm to get expert advice that's all I am saying, I'm just trying to put myself in the shoes of the guy that makes the decision, I would be sceptical..

You could have met a girl 5 years ago, but if you only come to Thailand 2 weeks a year then you've really only known her for 10 weeks so to speak.

If there's a massive age difference then this could ring alarm bells... anyone who's stayed in Thailand long enough knows the expression "love you long time", and the ECO knows this too.

I'm married to a Thai with a 2 year old (British nationality) son, and I even doubt that it would be straight forward to get my Thai wife back to UK for a holiday.

I've seen so much disappointment over the years and yet I've also seen girls granted visa's straight out of short time bars, it's hit and miss.

The letter is good, but it drags on.. These people only glance over such things, documents are much more important..

I must say I am disappointed that the so-called experts have not contributed to this thread, if they want to use the forum for self publicity then they should be prepared to do a little pro bono work too.. its only fair.

[tw25rw]

I'm married to a Thai with a 2 year old (British nationality) son, and I even doubt that it would be straight forward to get my Thai wife back to UK for a holiday.

Have you tried? In your case I can see that taking a son who is entitled to be there would complicate things regarding a reason to return, but the OP seems to have a simple enough application.

Most of these disappointed people would have made basic mistakes that they could learnfrom and try again.

[tw25rw]

You could have met a girl 5 years ago, but if you only come to Thailand 2 weeks a year then you've really only known her for 10 weeks so to speak.

If there's a massive age difference then this could ring alarm bells... anyone who's stayed in Thailand long enough knows the expression "love you long time", and the ECO knows this too.

That's why they seek evidence of an ongoing relationship: phone records, emails etc.

[wimtomlinson]

Thanks to everyone who has inputted, I obviously preferred reading the positive ones and the posts from people with experience in the process. But I have taken everything I have read on board. From reading this thread and other threads I think we have a good chance of getting the visa.

The amount of time we have known each other is obviously not a problem, it would be 14 months by the time we meet again.

As for land ownership, I think only a very small proportion of Young Thais own land. There parents do and they will inherit it when they (the parents) die.

As for jobs, I have often stayed in Korat and the surrounding areas and it seems like the majority of people do not have salaried jobs. I know my girlfriend and her mother cook food, take it to the market and sell it. They also cater for parties, I'm not sure, but I just assumed that they wouldn't be registered at the Thai equivalant of company house and I doubt they are VAT registered

Although I have no personal experience of Thais getting Visas, I have been to Thailand many times and I have a reasonable understanding of there customs and cultures.

As for the age difference, I'm in my early 30's and my girlfriend is in her early 20's so there is a bit of an age difference but I don't think it is a double take difference. On a side note, I have an Australian friend who's friend of 50 odd got a tourist visa for a 19 year old Thai girl, now that did make me smile.

What me and my girlfriend don't have is emails, she hasn't got a computer, she isn't good at writing in English and even though I can speak a bit of Thai, I can't read or write it. Plus, why email when we can talk on the phone, it's not logical. We do video chat on Skype which is better than phone calls, she uses her friends computer who lives about 10 minutes from her, my girlfriend doesn't have her own Skype account, it's her friends computer and it's her friends account. I use my iPad for the Skype chats and I can't see any way of getting the history printed out on paper, but like I have said, I have the odd photo that I have taken from my camera (normal handeld digital camera) of my iPad when i have been video chatting, so the pictures aren't just screenshots.

Our phone calls are regular, last week I was working late shifts so I would phone her at 6am Thai time while she was either already at the market or on the way to it, then I would phones her again at 7/8pm Thai time just before I started work and just before she went to bed. Next week will be different as all my weeks in work are.

If I could start the relationship again I would of opened an email account for her and sent emails for her to myself but that just seems ridiculous, emails now are like letters were in the last decade, who uses emails now to comunicate to there girlfriend?? technology has moved on and the cost of phone calls to Thailand are so cheap.

I'm hope the ECOs know that emails are pretty much obsolete for keeping in contact with a loved one.

I also think it would of been good to hear from an expert who works for an agency. I haven't ruled out using an agency.

A forum member who has recently been through the process successfully has pm'd me and offered to help me out which I am very grateful for.

My proposed application date is just under 6 months away so I have plenty of time to do more research and get advice.

Wish me luck.

A few people have said hat my draft letter is too long, any suggestions of what inperticular I could leave out. The letter itself does fit on to one page but the list of supporting documents would make it 2 pages.

[VisasPlus]

I must say I am disappointed that the so-called experts have not contributed to this thread, if they want to use the forum for self publicity then they should be prepared to do a little pro bono work too.. its only fair.

With respect, that's incredibly unfair. Check the forum threads to see how much "pro bono" work I have contributed, as has my colleague at Thai Visa Express.

I have not contributed as I have nothing really to add to the many comments already submitted. There are positive and negative comments, and this is only to be expected when considering the background ( including the sponsor's letter) to the application. Members have said that it is necessary to have a relationship of some substance. Others have said that the length of the relationship doesn't matter. Both are correct in their own way. I could rewrite the letter in my own words, but would that change the substance of the relationship ? Would it provide emails where there are none ? To be honest, I think the supporting letter could be a little stronger, and could do with some more positive ":evidence" of the applicant's reasons to return, but that does not mean that it is not sufficient to support the application. Unfortunately, I think that it will depend on the ECO who looks at the application. One might see it as good enough, another might not. But, as I'm sure you are aware, many applications depend on the whim of the ECO when it comes down to it.

[irlguy1]

For what it's worth mate I have been researching this for a long time and I am using an agent/solicitor and I believe you will find it extremely difficult to impossible to get a visa without traceable proof of a relationship. One of my mates was refused outright for that reason and my own agent has drummed it into me on every chat that I need to keep every bit of email and log possible.

From what I read of your posts I think you have got a mammoth task ahead and I would start collecting ASAP.

I hope your the exception to the rule but I doubt it.

Good luck to you

[meatboy]

6months away dont you now its first come first served,you might be bottom of the pile.

[wimtomlinson]

6months away dont you now its first come first served,you might be bottom of the pile.

I'm just preparing at the minute. I will submit the form when I go to Thailand in January.

[wimtomlinson]

A quick update.

I have just spoke to my girlfriend on Skype. I knew her Family owns the house and some land but I wasn't sure who's name it is in. My girlfriends father passed away a few years ago so I assumed it would all be in her mothers name and I was right, it is all in her mothers name.

So I asked her to see if it would be possible for her Mum to transfer the land (paddy field) into my girlfriends name. So that is where we are on that front now. There may well be costs involved. Would that be worth doing? How much better would it make the chances of getting the visa?

On the email front, I do have some but I never considered giving them as evidence. Like I have previously mentioned, I dont think emails are worth doing if you speak to a person everyday. The emails she sent were very short and it is obviously the work of Google translate.

As I have said before, I met my girlfriend in November 2011 and I came back to the UK on 15th November. The earliest email I have is dated the 17th November and the last email was from the 10th March 2012, there were 10 emails in total. from the 10th March my girlfriends friend was bought a Laptop so we used video chat on Skype.

[meatboy]

6months away dont you now its first come first served,you might be bottom of the pile.

I'm just preparing at the minute. I will submit the form when I go to Thailand in January.

[tw25rw]

A quick update.

I have just spoke to my girlfriend on Skype. I knew her Family owns the house and some land but I wasn't sure who's name it is in. My girlfriends father passed away a few years ago so I assumed it would all be in her mothers name and I was right, it is all in her mothers name.

So I asked her to see if it would be possible for her Mum to transfer the land (paddy field) into my girlfriends name. So that is where we are on that front now. There may well be costs involved. Would that be worth doing? How much better would it make the chances of getting the visa?

On the email front, I do have some but I never considered giving them as evidence. Like I have previously mentioned, I dont think emails are worth doing if you speak to a person everyday. The emails she sent were very short and it is obviously the work of Google translate.

As I have said before, I met my girlfriend in November 2011 and I came back to the UK on 15th November. The earliest email I have is dated the 17th November and the last email was from the 10th March 2012, there were 10 emails in total. from the 10th March my girlfriends friend was bought a Laptop so we used video chat on Skype.

I don't think you need to mess about transferring land ownership etc.

If you have the records of the skype conversations, print that out. And put in the letter why you don't do emails, eg she can't read and write English and doesn't have her own PC.

[Fatherfluffybottom]

When your misses submits her application form,,make sure she includes ALL emails and text messages and letters that has been sent between you both for as far back as possible.

I managed to bring my GF over to Australia for 3 months. Im an Irish citizen/resident and i only

had a working holiday visa for Australia.

The paper work for my application form was about 4 inches thick! Include everything from letters from your parents/family saying they are looking forward to meeting her etc. etc.

good luck!

[7by7]

I don't know about Australia or Ireland, but this is a topic on a UK application and the UK does not require the actual contents of messages and phone calls; just evidence that they have taken place.

A four inch thick file of evidence is, in my opinion, way over the top for a UK visit visa application. As I said elsewhere, the ECO is not going to wade through all that and so may easily miss something vital!

[David48]

Backing up what 7by7 wrote above.

OH, just quietly, the Australian Visa application which my gf got her 12 month multiple entry visa, including supporting documentation was under 20 pages all up ... maybe 3 or 4 mm thick!

Sometimes quality is appreciated more then quanity.

[irlguy1]

I don't know about Australia or Ireland, but this is a topic on a UK application and the UK does not require the actual contents of messages and phone calls; just evidence that they have taken place.

A four inch thick file of evidence is, in my opinion, way over the top for a UK visit visa application. As I said elsewhere, the ECO is not going to wade through all that and so may easily miss something vital!

And what would the evidence be if not the print outs ??

A word from his priest to say he saw them and it's all true ?555