Hello,

Im after some freindly and helpful advice,this seems to be the right place

My wife has been trying for a settlement visa for over 2 years now but one thing is holding us back...........she entered the uk illegally before we met

She told me she was illegal not long after we met and as our relationship grew we realised that something had to be done.At the time all we could think of to do was contact the Thai Embassy and ask for advice,they promptly told her to return to Thailand and if she was lucky she could return legally.

Well,unfortunately it seems my wife isnt very lucky as after 3 interviews and enduring the entire appeals process she has been refused entry.Im not ranting here,she was wrong, end of,we just want to know if we would be wasting our time to keep trying or is there any hope at all,what do you think?

Thanks

Paul.

Hi Paul,

Unless the circumstances that led to the refusal alter, your wife will continue to find it difficult to get a visa.

I presume that the visa officer believes that your wife is using your marriage as a means to the end of getting back to the UK, and that you therefore have no intention of living together. If this is the case, the best way to proceed is to actually spend a prolonged period living together in Thailand. The visa officer can't justifiably then say you have no intention of living together when that is precisely what you will have been doing.

Cheers,

Scouse.

Alternatively, you might consider going to work in another EU country and having your wife join you there. Once established in that country, your wife could apply for an EEA family permit to join you in the UK. This would be free and the rules are less stringent. It is possible for a family permit to be refused on the grounds that the marriage is one of convenience, but, again, that you would have been living together in the EU/EEA country should manifest that the relationship is genuine.

Scouse.

So it's a process of elimination then Scouse, the bottom line for refusal always being previous illegal entry. Do you know of any successful cases regarding similar.

Previous behaviour can be a causal factor in a refusal, but I know of many subsequent applications that have been successful. However, it can be an uphill struggle and a lot can depend upon the severity of the individual's previous "offence" and how significantly different circumstances now are.

We don't know the ins and outs of jindalight's missus' application, but if, for example, she previously entered the UK as the spouse of a Brit and that relationship rapidly dissolved, it would be hardly surprising if the visa officer were to infer a certain fragility in a second marriage. However, if it were a question of her having entered as a visitor and having overstayed by a few weeks, then the decision would appear harsh.

Whether these points are clarified is, obviously, up to jintalight. If he decides to expand, can he also please explain how his wife entered the UK illegally as this might be relevant, too.

Scouse.

Do you know of any successful cases regarding similar.

I know of at least two via Thailand-UK. In both cases the Thai partner had been in the UK illegally for some time, and in both cases they manged to sort out the difficulties and get their spouse visas.

So it is possible.

Paul,

To be able to advise you further, we need to know a lot more detail. For example, what type of visa did she have before, how long did she overstay, and why, etc.? You say that the RTE (correctly) advised her to return to Thailand, but was this before or after she was discovered by the British authorities? What do the various refusal notices say?

in same spot with thia boyfriend in israel;

thai embassy says go home to thailand, get married, he can get in after; sounds too easy and i cant go with him and live as others have suggested due to children here etc.... so am afraid to go for that option yet

reality and knowlege of israeli min. of interior makes me believe it will be no go.... he was here on work visa and like many, just ran off from former employer and stayed....he was caught, jailed, re employed and then the same thing again...so now we have a problem ....

i have taken to photograph every single event we go to, every party, every shopping trip etc etc, to prove that we are 'together'... and attempting to pull out all my phone calls with him etc etc from when he was still employed w/visa....

at moment, he is not legal, and cannot therefore live with me, but since he is a male, there may be more chance then if he was female.... am considering getting a lawyer to deal but $$$ and not sure it would be any good....

i sympethize as we are always on look out for the 'visa police' etc wherever we go, etc... but if u dont have kids, the other options may be easier for you if it doesnt work out in UK...

best of luck,

bina