Visa - Live And Learn

[translator]

Settlement the download way....by a proud first world country member !

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE

A wife is fully entitled to all the benefits of treatment under the NHS from her date of arrival in the UK. She needs to register with a local GP and this is normally the same as her husbands. She will then be sent a NHS number and medical card. This is not the same as a National Insurance number. Recently some surgeries are making it their policy not to register a wife with a GP until she has been in the UK for six months. You must check with your surgery on its policy.

A fiancée is not entitled to use the NHS until married but a GP will see her for a fee or she may register as a private patient.

Tourists and students from Thailand are not entitled to use the NHS and should arrange appropriate insurance as health care costs are high.

Dentists will accept anybody but most now charge for their services. If you are in receipt of some public funds the new arrival may be entitled to free treatment.

NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER

A NI number is not automatically issued it must be applied for at your local Department of Work and Pensions (formerly known as Department of Social Security.) An application form must be completed and the applicant will then be asked to attend an interview. Should the applicant be in employment a temporary or emergency NI number will be issued to be used until the permanent number is given. The issue of an NI number does not give the bearer the right to work if permission to do so has not been given by the Home Office (Immigration.)

However it is recommended that an NI number is applied for soon after arrival in the UK.

NOTE As from 1st August 2003 the issue, extension or change of any visa in the UK will no longer be free and will cost up to £250.00. This will affect all visas including those mentioned below. The rate in force at the time of application will be provided for you by the Home Office.

AFTER UK MARRIAGE

If you entered the UK as a fiancée and have married within the timescale granted by immigration you should contact the Home Office, see below, who will send you the appropriate form or you can download it from their site. They will then extend your visa by one year. Please note as from 1st April 2003 marriages performed after this date will have the probationary period of residence in the UK extended from 1 to 2 years.

As from 1st April 2003 a person who marries in the UK who does not hold a fiancee visa will have to return to their country of origin to apply for a marriage settlement visa and then serve the two year probationary period.

AFTER ONE YEAR IN THE UK (2 YEARS AS FROM APRIL 2003)

Married partners approaching one year of residency in the UK should contact the Home Office for a settlement form or download it from their website. The Home Office will then grant you indefinite leave to remain in the UK and to work or run your own business without any restrictions. Once this permission has been granted it cannot be rescinded even if the couple divorce or separate and the bearer can do as she likes in the UK with full rights as a British citizen.

AFTER THREE YEARS RESIDENCY

On completion of three years residency in the UK as a spouse the foreign national can apply for British Citizenship to the Home Office. Once this has been granted she may apply for a British Passport. Under current UK legislation it is perfectly legal to have dual nationality and two passports.

The Home Office website is: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk

The Immigration & Nationality Directorate website is: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk

To request forms from the Home Office you can download them from the website or telephone 08702410645. Enquiries can be dealt with by telephone on 08706067766.

Postal applications are accepted by the Home Office and IND and although slow to process may be preferable to wasting hours queuing as an applicant in person.

PASSPORT AND VISAS FOR MIXED RACE CHILDREN

A child born to married parents may hold both a Thai and a UK Passport quite legally. Thai passports may be obtained from the local passport office in Thailand or from the Royal Thai Embassy in London. If the child was born outside Thailand the birth must first be registered with the Thai Embassy.

If the parents are not married the child will take the nationality of the mother only. Should the parents later marry the child can then also take the nationality of the father.

When travelling on both passports you should use the UK one to exit and enter the UK and the Thai one to enter and exit Thailand.

Children travelling on a UK only passport to Thailand theoretically need a visa if staying over 30 days, however Thai law does not charge a child under 14 years of age with an overstay fine.

It is perfectly permissible for a child to enter Thailand with only a UK passport and to apply for a Thai passport whilst in Thailand.

PUBLIC FUNDS

Look at this lot.....money....money......money

It is normal that a newly arrived spouse and any children will have had their passports endorsed with the words No Recourse to Public Funds. What this actually means is that person cannot claim public funds in their own right. However if the husband is entitled to public funds he can claim for his wife and any children in his own right and receive the funding.

Public funds are:

Income Support

Jobseekers Allowance

Housing Benefit

Council Tax Benefit

Child Tax Credit

Child Benefit

Disability Allowance

Any Social Fund Payments.