Taking The Wife To Uk For A Holiday, Least Hassle Way.

[Satcommlee]

I don't want the wife to settle in the UK, not looking for a way to stay indefinitely, I just want maybe a 3 week holiday in the UK summer and the easiest and most hassle free visa process. I'll list what I think is relevant below...

• I am British Citizen (late 30's)
  

• I work in Thailand with a work permit, earning a very good salary even by UK standards.
  

• Have 2 1/2 year old son with Thai Wife, (he has British nationality and registered at embassy, just need get his passport)
  

• Married at Amphur about 3 years ago.
  

• Been together and living in Thailand for 6 years.
  

• Wife is building a house on some land of hers up at Nakhorn Nowhere, 50% completed but not much else going on.
  

• Wife can show about 600'000 Baht going through her bank every year which is used to pay all our household bills, car finance and Buffalo veterinary care etc.
  

• Wife is supported by me and does not work.
  

• I do have parents in UK, but this is not necessarily the reason for going as they make annual trips here.
  

This should be a straight forward application, right?

Any idea's under what criteria I should consider applying under?

Reason to return strong enough do you think?

I am not paying an agent 900 quid to fill out some forms!

Grateful for any pointers from anyone who has done this themselves, in similar circumstances.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Satcommlee

[I Like Thai]

Wife can show about 600'000 Baht going through her bank every year which is used to pay all our household bills, car finance and Buffalo veterinary care etc.

Wife is supported by me and does not work.

I'd advise not to try and twist facts on the application, by not being totally truthful. The first statement doesn't gel well with the second one. Not a lie, but it is being a little shifty and may make the officials suspicious.

With all the information that you have posted, I don't think you will have any problem getting a visa, but which type I'll leave it up to the experts.

[Satcommlee]

Wife can show about 600'000 Baht going through her bank every year which is used to pay all our household bills, car finance and Buffalo veterinary care etc.

Wife is supported by me and does not work.

I'd advise not to try and twist facts on the application, by not being totally truthful. The first statement doesn't gel well with the second one. Not a lie, but it is being a little shifty and may make the officials suspicious.

With all the information that you have posted, I don't think you will have any problem getting a visa, but which type I'll leave it up to the experts.

Very good point, thanks.

Yes of course it is me that pops the money in there every month, and I agree 100% honesty is the right policy.

[theoldgit]

@Satcommlee

From what you describe your wife would have no problem in obtaining a family visit visa for you to visit the UK on holiday together.

You are married and have lived together in Thailand for a number of years, you are on a good salary, you want to visit the UK together, these in themselves provide a reason to return, evidence that the trip is affordable and a reason for the trip itself.

In addition to this your wife is building a house on, I assume, her land, this gives another reason to return.

You say that your wife has about 600,000 Baht going through her account annually to pay for all the bills and living expenses for the family unit, absolutely nothing wrong with this though you might actually want to add a line or two about it in your covering letters, it's actually further proof that you are a properly family unit.

I think that, in the circumstances you describe, your wife would have no problem whatsoever in being granted a family visit visa, most visas are approved.

That said, make sure your wife submits a robust application, ensure that everything is evidenced, take nothing for granted and hurry up and get your sons passport.

There is no need to use an agent, indeed I suspect that if you went to a reputable agent they would advise you to do it yourselves.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

I cannot see any complications with the application as the OP has presented it, and there is no reason why he should not do it himself. I do wonder, however, where these agents who charge 900 GBP are ? That is a lot of money for a straightforward visit visa pplication, and I wouldn't pay it either. Who is charging that amount ?

[KunMatt]

@Satcommlee

From what you describe your wife would have no problem in obtaining a family visit visa for you to visit the UK on holiday together.

You are married and have lived together in Thailand for a number of years, you are on a good salary, you want to visit the UK together, these in themselves provide a reason to return, evidence that the trip is affordable and a reason for the trip itself.

In addition to this your wife is building a house on, I assume, her land, this gives another reason to return.

You say that your wife has about 600,000 Baht going through her account annually to pay for all the bills and living expenses for the family unit, absolutely nothing wrong with this though you might actually want to add a line or two about it in your covering letters, it's actually further proof that you are a properly family unit.

I think that, in the circumstances you describe, your wife would have no problem whatsoever in being granted a family visit visa, most visas are approved.

That said, make sure your wife submits a robust application, ensure that everything is evidenced, take nothing for granted and hurry up and get your sons passport.

There is no need to use an agent, indeed I suspect that if you went to a reputable agent they would advise you to do it yourselves.

Why apply for a family visit visa and not just a simple 6 month tourist visa?

And for a 1st time application I would advise using a local visa agent just for them yo double check everything is in order. There's s whole boulevard of these shops in Ploen Chit and will cost approximately 7,000 Baht.

After the 1st successful application you just copy the paperwork and process for the next time on your own.

If you mess up the first application by a silly omission then you will have to explain it on all future applications.

[theoldgit]

Why apply for a family visit visa and not just a simple 6 month tourist visa?

Why not apply for a Family Visit Visa? The OP is describing a family visit, the requirements for a family visit are no more onorous than a standard visit visa and carries the right of appeal which a tourist visa doesn't

And for a 1st time application I would advise using a local visa agent just for them yo double check everything is in order. There's s whole boulevard of these shops in Ploen Chit and will cost approximately 7,000 Baht.

If the OP is going to use a local agent he should use an expert in the field not one of the miriad of shops that have sprung up near the application centre who will check the form for 7,000 Baht, and more, and offer no meaningful advice.

As Thai Visa Express, an acknowledged and experienced expert in the field says "there is no reason why he should not do it himself".

After the 1st successful application you just copy the paperwork and process for the next time on your own.

No applications are a case of just copying paperwork, things change and each applcation is considered on it's merits on the circumastances at the time of the application.

If you mess up the first application by a silly omission then you will have to explain it on all future applications.

I suspect the OP is savvy enough to get it right first time, most people do.

@Satcommlee, conflicting advice here, at the end of the day it's up to you but I see so reason why your wife couldn't prepare her application herself, feel free to come back if you have any questions.

[Satcommlee]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

With regards to the "900 quid", this was mentioned recently on another thread.. I think TVE was first to point out that it was extortionate.

I still can't make up my mind "Visit" or "Family visa"? What have others used? Both I and my Wife reside in Thailand.

I would use an agent for a reasonable fee and if it saved me considerable man-hours and/or trips to Bangkok.

[cornishcarlos]

My wife and I have been to the u.K several times, actually not since we have been married though.

Every time we ( I ) did the application myself, just a straight forward tourist visa.

Never had a problem !!

I just showed adequate funds, return flights booked and a valid reason for her to return to Thailand.

Be sure to book flights that allow for cancellation or date changes though.

Again, we weren't married at this point and had no children. Maybe that was a plus rather than a negative ?

Just do it yourself, do it slowly and methodically. Double check your supporting paperwork and cross those fingers

[DrChopper]

Sorry to hijack this thread. We are just putting together everything for my GFs application.

I believe she will have no problems, we have lots of supporting evidence for all the requirements.

The one thing we dont have yet is a flight booking, I was going to do that once we heard about the visa. That said time is tight (applying this weekend, want to fly in about 7/8 weeks) so I wouldn't mind booking a flight now for the app and also because we will probably save money.

I've never booked a flexible flight like mentioned above though. To have that ability to cancel do you have to book full fare? Or is there a way of doing this/a certain airline to use that I don't know about?

[rgs2001uk]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

With regards to the "900 quid", this was mentioned recently on another thread.. I think TVE was first to point out that it was extortionate.

I still can't make up my mind "Visit" or "Family visa"? What have others used? Both I and my Wife reside in Thailand.

I would use an agent for a reasonable fee and if it saved me considerable man-hours and/or trips to Bangkok.

I dont know about now.

The last time the mrs and I visited the UK I used the Brit Embassay, nothing more than a visitor visa, think duration was for 3 months

Cant remember the cost, it wasnt much, it certainly was nowhere near 900 quid, and it was nowhere near 9,000 baht.

I believe now I have to go to Kensington House, in the past it was a painless exercise to go to Brit House, submit application with supporting documents.

The mrs has been more than once, she was "interogated" by some "stuck up Thai", the mrs told her to refer to me, soon wound her neck in.

[Arkady]

You should be fine. Better ensure that she has a decent balance in the account when you apply - at least B200k.

Don't bother paying an agent. Your case is not borderline and they probably don't help those cases much anyway.

You should apply for a family visit visa. All else is the same as an ordinary visit visa with one exception that you have the right to appeal. A friend's non-working university graduate wife was rejected for no good reason by an ECO who got out of the wrong side of the bed but she won an appeal in the UK court several months later. The trip had to be re-scheduled but she went and had no further trouble with UK visas.

The dirty thing the UK does which no other farang country does is to charge a huge amount for longer term visas (like over GBP 600 for a 10 year visa) but reserves the right to issue a visa for a few weeks or months and keep the difference in price. So you apply for the minimum 6 month visa the first two times and then go for the 10 year visa, if she wants to go regularly.

Mrs Arkady has had UK visas valid for 3 weeks, 6 months, 2 years and finally a 10 year one. She was only interviewed for the first one.

The form seems to have got longer and longer and more irritating each time. Originally they were very specific that Thai documents didn't need to be translated. Now they say it's up to you to decide but advise you that not translating documents may affect your application. What type of wishy washy advice is that for a government to give? other embassies state clearly their requirements - either docs need to be translated or they don't. You should get a certified translation of your marriage certificate for sure but I wouldn't bother getting things like title deeds translated. They are not very interested in these but worth putting them in, or at the least just the main ones, if she has a sh*t load of land.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Arkady