Uk Settlement Pre Planing - Currently Living & Working In Thailand

[H555]

Hi There's a lot of great advise on here so thanks to all the people that have shared this!!

My wife & I have decided our family's future would be better in the UK, many reasons - work, education being 2 really big ones. We want to start planning our lives so we 'tick all the boxes' for UK settlement.

Our current situation is the following

Married for 2 1/2 years at the local amphur

youngest daughter 3 1/2 years old (Thai & UK passport)

my step daughter 8 1/2 years old (Thai passport, wife has full custody and natural father will not argue her living in the UK)

we have been together for over 5 years wife Surname is mine on all her documents

I am on a non 0 visa with extension because of marriage/child

I have been working in Bangkok for 12 months WP/Tax etc all correct (contract is about to be renewed for another 2 years) before that freelance in the UK for 18 months and previous to that 9 months working in Sattahip before that I had a Thai company for 2 years.so my recent financial history in the UK is pretty poor.

I have the support of my parents back in the UK who have a large house with plenty of spare room and a decent amount in the bank etc

My savings are pretty low and would get nowhere near the £22k plus needed for the settlement visa for my wife and step daughter, my parents could help boost this if needed with a 'gift'

Ideally I would like to finish work in Thailand and go with my family to the UK at the same time rather than go back and work in the UK for 6-12 months whilst they stay in Thailand and wait for us to tick all the boxes

My main worry is getting the financial & housing part of the requirements correct.

Would a contract and letter of employment from a UK company be enough to tick the box? My salary would be £36k or more I have a open end offer of work from a company I freelanced for in the UK before.

Living in my parents house for a few week s until rental accommodation can be secured.

Also does anyone have any positive results with any of the visa consultants in Bangkok - the only good reviews I can find are for Pattaya based consultants.

Thanks !!

[7by7]

Finance.

If using income from employment to meet the financial requirement then as you have been living and working outside the UK you basically have to meet two requirements.

1. You must have been in employment with the same employer in Thailand for at least 6 months prior to the application with an income of at least £22,400 pa (1 adult applicant plus 1 child applicant).
2. You must have a definite offer of employment in the UK with a salary of at least £22,400 pa starting within 3 months of your return.

You can combine income from employment with any unearned income or pension income you may have.

See section 5.2 of Annex FM Section FM 1.7.

The required income level can be reduced if you and/or your wife have cash savings above £16,000. If you have cash savings of at least £72,000 ((22,400 x 2.5) + 16,000) then the required income reduces to zero. See section 7 of the document.

Note that the figures above are current now, but are likely to be increased annually by the government.

Accommodation.

Living with your parents is not a problem; although third party financial support has been abolished the government still recognises that returning ex pats may need to stay with relatives or friends until they've sorted out their own housing!

Your parents should write a letter of invitation and briefly describe the property and who else lives there to show that there will be at least one room for your exclusive use plus adequate room for the children coming with you. They should also provide proof of ownership, such as a mortgage statement, copy of land registry entry etc., or, if they rent, a letter from their landlord granting you permission to live in the property.

If you have nor already read it, you may find UK Settlement Visa Basics and the links from there useful.

Sorry, I do not know of any reputable agents in Bangkok; doesn't mean there aren't any, though.

But if you are considering using an agent, I suggest that you read this first.

Edited May 4, 2013 by 7by7

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Why do you need an agent to be in Bangkok ? We can do everything for you from Pattaya.

A couple of points for you to think about. You say "My savings are pretty low and would get nowhere near the £22k plus needed for the settlement visa for my wife and step daughter, my parents could help boost this if needed with a 'gift' ". I think you might be confusing savings with income. The required income level is 22,400 GBP if you are sponsoring a wife and one child. If you are relying on savings and no income, then you will need 62,500 GBP.

If you want to show that you have a job to go to in the UK, then you must have a signed contract of employment, or a confirmed job offer, to start work within 3 months, plus you will have to have met the financial requirements from your employment in Thailand.

If we can help further, then contact Paul at the office ( contact details can be obtained from clicking on our avatar on the left).

[H555]

@ Thia visa express. I'm in Bangkok so its makes sense to me to use a Bangkok based consultant if I'm going to go down that road.