Uk Family Visit Visa

[Ron Talbot]

Hello

My wife, who is aged 40 and Thai, has a UK settlement visa which expires in January (issued in Oct 2010 with 27 month validity). I am British.

She has not taken well to life in the UK, and in addition to that she has been unable to improve her English skills to be able to pass the Knowledge of Life in the UK test to apply for ILR, or even to pass the Speaking and Listenning test to apply for FLR (we both grew up in Hong Kong so we speak Cantonese at home). She suffers from a severe lack of self-confidence and is clinically depressed (and is on medication for that, prescribed in Thailand).

So we are resigned to her moving back to Thailand, and coming to the UK on a family visit visa once a year - we have 2 children aged 5 and 7 who go to school here.

To be frank, even if she had ILR or FLR, she would only spend 6 months a year here maximum - since she moved here 2 years ago she has been back to Thailand or Hong Kong 5 times for 1-2 months each time. Prior to her settlement visa, she came to the UK twice on a family visit visa, for 4 months each time (she didn't overstay).

So my questions are:

1. Is it possible to get a long-term multiple entry visa for family visits in our situation, or would she have to apply for a new visa each year ?

2. Is there a maxiumum stay for each visit ?

3. Are there any other visa issues we should consider ?

Aditional info:

She owns a house in Thailand and is part-owner of a family business, so I believe she can show that she a reason to return to Thailand, and she has about 2million baht in the bank there, so I believe she can show she has sufficient funds for visits.

I own my own 4 bed house in the UK where we live with the children, with no mortgage (so I believe accomodation for her visit is not a problem) and I don't have any debt. However, my salary is quite low - 15k per year as I only work part-time, since I am the main carer for the children. I also receive benefits (child tax credit and working tax credit) due to that, which is another concern I have: I was receiving these benefits prior to her arrival in the UK but after she arrived the HMRC told me she had to be included in the benefits claim. At the time, the HMRC told me they didn't think it would affect her visa conditions (no recourse to public funds) because the benefits themselves were completely unaltered before and after, though they also advised me to check with the Home Office for better clarification - sadly I did not do that, so I hope it will not be a problem for her future visa application ?

Thank you for your advice.

[7by7]

1) Visit visas can be valid for longer terms; up to 10 years. Be aware, though, that the longer the term applied for, the higher the fee. If the ECO decides to grant a shorter period than that asked for there will be no refund of the difference in fees. See VAT1.4 Visa validity - What period for a multiple entry visit visa?

2) No matter what term a visit visa is valid for, visitors, except student visitors and visitors for medical treatment, can only spend a maximum of 6 months in the UK per visit. Normally they can also only spend a maximum of 6 months out of any 12 in the UK.

3) Apart from remaining in the UK, obtaining ILR and then citizenship; none that I can think of.

My main concern about you plan is she may have difficulty convincing the ECO that she only wants to visit the UK; the country where her husband and children live, and is not using visit visas to bypass the settlement rules.

Also, as she is clinically depressed, will she cope with long separations from her children?

Maybe sticking with it, obtaining ILR and then British citizenship is the way to go. Once she has citizenship she can, of course, come and go from the UK as often and for as long as she wishes.

She may even be exempt from the language requirement Knowledge of language and life in the UK

Exemption because of disability

If you have a long-standing, permanent disability which prevents you from learning English, you may be exempt from the KOL requirement. To be exempt, you must:

• be suffering from a long-term illness or disability that severely restricts your mobility and ability to attend language classes; or
  
• have a mental impairment which means that you are unable to learn another language.
  

When you apply for settlement, you should send us evidence from a medical practitioner confirming your disability.

Tax credits have to be claimed jointly by husband and wife and the UKBA are well aware of this; wont be a problem.

[Waterloo]

Hi Ron

Further to advice by 7by7 who is clearly the expert here & well informed I would add the following comments as I also think you would be advised to at least persevere with trying to acheive ILR.

The last 6 years have seen a steady increase in cost & difficulty to acheive both ILR & citizenship & I don't think it is likley that the direction of travel is likley to change.

The last changes coming into affect on the 9th July 2012 ie income thresholds & an increase in the qualifying period.

My understanding is that anyone who started the process prior to the changes are not affected by them, but if your wife returns home she will definitely be subject to the new rules, so I can only see things getting harder.

Why don't you make an appointment with the Citizens advice Service they run a specialist imigration advisory service and it is free & in my experience pretty good.

They at the very least should be able to give you an idea of wether you have a case & put you in touch with a good local solicitor

[Ron Talbot]

Thank you very much 7by7. With regards the the problem of convincing the ECO that she would return to Thailand, can we not argue simply that she has held 3 previous visas ( 2 visit visas and 1 settlement visa) and returned when required to do so, and together with her family business ownership, and the fact that she has spent less than 5 months in the UK at any one time during the period of her settlement visa, there is no reason to think she would overstay in the future ? To be completely frank she copes quite well being apart from the children - it's never been a problem before, and with Skype/Facetime/Tango etc it seems very easy to stay in touch. In fact she has trouble coping /with/ the children for more than a day by herself: during school holidays I have to take time off from work to look after them. All that coupled with the fact that she dislikes the UK in general makes the idea that she would want to overstay quite absurd (I realise that much of this is heresay, of course).

As regards the possible exemption from the KOL test, do you know where I can get more information about that ? She has been an outpatient at Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Hospital (a psychiatric hospital) in Samut Prakan for about 6 years, but has never seen a doctor or psychiatrist in the UK. Do you know if the UKBA would accept a letter from a Thai psychiatrist with a certified English translation ?

There really is no hope she could pass the test - she was twice enrolled on a course here in the UK but only managed 2 days the first time and 1 day the 2nd time before it completely freaked her out. The training centre manager was aware of her situation and was very supportive. I thought perhaps about asking the manager for some kind of letter to say she had enrolled but was unable to cope with it ? Do you think that might be helpful ?

Thanks again

Ron

Edited October 18, 2012 by Ron Talbot

[Ron Talbot]

Hi Ron

Further to advice by 7by7 who is clearly the expert here & well informed I would add the following comments as I also think you would be advised to at least persevere with trying to acheive ILR.

The last 6 years have seen a steady increase in cost & difficulty to acheive both ILR & citizenship & I don't think it is likley that the direction of travel is likley to change.

The last changes coming into affect on the 9th July 2012 ie income thresholds & an increase in the qualifying period.

My understanding is that anyone who started the process prior to the changes are not affected by them, but if your wife returns home she will definitely be subject to the new rules, so I can only see things getting harder.

Why don't you make an appointment with the Citizens advice Service they run a specialist imigration advisory service and it is free & in my experience pretty good.

They at the very least should be able to give you an idea of wether you have a case & put you in touch with a good local solicitor

Thank you Waterloo.

Do you mean http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm ?

I do agree it would be ideal to get ILR, but as I mentioned in my reply to 7b7 there is no hope that she can pass the test !

[Waterloo]

yes thats the organisation, I personally contacted them by my local office who had there own inhouse accredited advisers.

I would contact your local office & ask them who there nearest accredit adviser is I suspect this will vary depending on your size of local population.

[7by7]

Each visa application is treated on it's own merits. Although adherence to the conditions of previous visit visas is a positive factor, she has since then applied for, and been granted, a settlement visa. She would need to show that her plans have changed and she no longer wishes to live in the UK even though her husband and children continue to do so.

My knowledge of the medical exemption for KOL is restricted to the information on the UKBA website I quoted above, I'm afraid.

However, I suspect that she would need to obtain evidence from a medical practitioner in the UK.

I suggest that you seek professional advice; either a solicitor who specialises in immigration or an OISC registered adviser.

[bobrussell]

Is there anyone near you that is qualified to teach her English, one to one? It sounds as if this is a confidence issue rather than an inability to learn the language. It may help to have an 'English only' evening once a week where everyone has to speak English.

The English test is not rocket science nor is the Life in the UK test (yet!).

Perhaps ask the college if they know someone to act as tutor and as confidence grows it may be possible to get her back on a course at a later stage.

Edited October 19, 2012 by bobrussell

[Ron Talbot]

Is there anyone near you that is qualified to teach her English, one to one? It sounds as if this is a confidence issue rather than an inability to learn the language. It may help to have an 'English only' evening once a week where everyone has to speak English.

The English test is not rocket science nor is the Life in the UK test (yet!).

Perhaps ask the college if they know someone to act as tutor and as confidence grows it may be possible to get her back on a course at a later stage.

Thanks for your comment. While lack of confidence certainly play a part, the medication she has been (as still is) taking for the last 7 years (daizepam + zanax daily, plus various anti-depressants from time to time) really make it difficult for her to remember things