Can A Thai Act As Sponsor For Another Thai Visiting The Uk?

[tlusername]

My sister and mother in-law want to come and see their niece (my daughter) and wife in the UK over Christmas. They have been to the UK before and did not breach the terms of stay and left under good terms within the stay period.

Recently my sister in-laws first application was refused. She was denied as she transferred in some money to her bank before submitting her bank statements as proof of income / reserves this led to the immigration officer seeing this as suspicious and so stamping a denied. A bit silly if you ask me as she is a senior project manager with a multi national and she has plenty of good reasons to return to Thailand. As said she has already shown previous adherence to UK visa terms. It is now not viable to appeal with the time remaining, so she is willing to kiss goodbye to the 80 pounds and re-apply.

Now she plans to have her fiancé sponsor her. They have been together for some time, plan to marry and have plenty of proof of relationship. He is also doing well for himself and runs a successful business, quite a few cars and a property. He also has a good amount of savings with proof. He is willing to provide a letter and proof that he can sponsor her whole trip and should any emergencies arise, he will cover.

What I wanted to ask was can he as a Thai national sponsor another Thai who will visit the UK.

I will be sponsoring the mother-inlaw, who also got refused as she did not submit her house deeds, even though she is ex government employed on a decent pension

Edited October 31, 2012 by tlusername

[7by7]

The sponsor is the person who is supporting the application; not the person paying for the visit.

The sponsor can be someone, they don't need to be British, in the UK whom the applicant wants to visit or a British national who lives outside the UK and will be traveling with the applicant. So as she will be visiting you and your wife; you'll be her sponsor.

Of course, there is no need for a visitor to have a sponsor at all; unless visiting friends or relatives most don't.

A third party can provide the finances for the visit and they do not need to be British or in the UK. But they must explain why they are doing so and show that they have the finances to do so.

But as you say your sister in law has the finances to pay for the visit herself, why doesn't she do so? From what you have said her only problem last time was a large unexplained deposit into her account shortly before applying. Explain this deposit, where it came from and why, and any others since, and I cannot see her having a problem.

[tlusername]

The sponsor is the person who is supporting the application; not the person paying for the visit.

The sponsor can be someone, they don't need to be British, in the UK whom the applicant wants to visit or a British national who lives outside the UK and will be traveling with the applicant. So as she will be visiting you and your wife; you'll be her sponsor.

Of course, there is no need for a visitor to have a sponsor at all; unless visiting friends or relatives most don't.

A third party can provide the finances for the visit and they do not need to be British or in the UK. But they must explain why they are doing so and show that they have the finances to do so.

But as you say your sister in law has the finances to pay for the visit herself, why doesn't she do so? From what you have said her only problem last time was a large unexplained deposit into her account shortly before applying. Explain this deposit, where it came from and why, and any others since, and I cannot see her having a problem.

SIncere thanks for the advice.

As I understand it, I cannot be a sponsor to two people (my mother & sister inlaw)?

So he would be the benefactor and I would be just the sponsor?

[7by7]

There is no reason why you cannot sponsor both.

So if her fiance pays for her visit then essentially yes, he would be the benefactor and you the sponsor; although she will presumably be staying with you.

I know it can be confusing as the word sponsor is usually taken to mean a person providing financial assistance; but not in a visa application. There the word means a person vouching for the applicant, though in fact any guarantees made by a visa sponsor would not be enforceable in law.