Which UK Visa - Settlement or Long Term Visitor ?

[oscarthesquirrel]

Hi all,

I'm a UK guy, living and working in Malaysia (10 year resident and employment visa) and married my long-term (over 5 years together) Thai girlfriend in the UK Nov 2013. She is now living with me in Malaysia and also has the same 10 year resident and employment visa as I do, being my wife).

We have no intention of wanting to return to the UK in the next 5 years, but longer term its probably something we may want to do.

So, which visa to apply for ? Ideally we'd like her to have a spouse visa, but is there such a thing ?? - all I can seem to find is a settlement visa or a long-term visitor visa.

She has already had 1x 1 year Tourist visa and 2x 2 year Tourist visas in the past 5 years. We travel back to the UK 2-4 times a year at the moment to see family/friends.

There simply doesn't seem to be a clear category for the married partner of a UK citizen who is living abroad to get a long term spouse visa - seems as if the long-term visitor visa category is the only potential option as we do not yet have any firm plans to settle in the UK.

Ideally we would want her to get Permanent Resident status in 10 - 15 years time of so when I've made my millions and can afford to stop working (in my dreams..hahah), we can return and live in the UK quietly and happily.

Appreciate any advice, since the cost of these things is bloody extortionate (and non-refundable if the buggers refuse to issue them).

Cheers

Oscar

[TCA]

A spouse visa is a settlement visa but if someone isn't settling in the UK, then it's not applicable and they are therefore just a visitor.

Citizenship or indefinite leave to remain is only available after 5 years of settlement.

[theoldgit]

Just bare in mind that a long term visitors visa doesn't normally allow the holder to stay in the UK for longer than six months out of twelve.

They are designed for visitors who can prove that they need to regularly travel to the UK without the need to constantly apply for a visa.

[bobrussell]

With a good visa history and clear residence outside the UK there should be little problem getting a longer term visitor visa. The risk is that you may pay a fortune for a ten year visa but only be granted a two year one! A matter of weighing up the risk of losing (a quite substantial!) amount of money against the benefits of not having to reapply for some years. Perhaps compromise and apply for a five year visit visa!

Settlement is clearly not appropriate yet as the UK needs to be the main country of residence.

I would have hoped your partner would be a perfect candidate for a ten year family visit visa but the length given is considered discretionary not a right!

[oscarthesquirrel]

Thanks to you all for replying with such sensible and concise answers.

The visitor visa seems the obvious way to go, but as has been pointed out there is no certainty that after spending hours filling in the byzantine forms, providing another episode of This is Your Life with emails, photos, phone records etc to establish the longevity of the relationship to-date, there is no bloody guarantee that they won't simply give another 2 year vs 5 or 10 year visa.

Why offer a potential 10 year visa if it isn't going to be granted ? Perhaps this is for couples who have been together for a significant (say 10 year) period already, and whose relationships are deemed to be solid and unlikely to fail.

Sad, but true - many relationships nowadays don't last 10 years and so I can understand UKBA looking at a couple who have known eachother 1-2 years before getting married, being of the opinion that 5 years may be OK, but 10 years...possibly they won't be together... For me, we've been together since 2007 and married recently, although we were living together permanently since 2011 after she finally quit her job in BKK and we accepted that she'd need to do a monthly visa run between KL-BKK to keep things above board until we married and she came onto my Malaysian visa.

And the financial cost is pretty large. If they had a sliding scale of cost and got a refund proportional to the longevity of the visa issued, then I'm sure everyone would apply for the 10, but at least be happy if a shorter duration was granted.

Anyway, my mum is 72 and not in the best of health...I know that will require an increasing number of trips back, although the idea of wanting to stay in the UK for 6 weeks, let alone 6 months is not in my wife's thinking at all...we're a married couple who want to be together...and since I have a good, well-paid job based in Malaysia, why the hell would I want to chuck that in ??

Anyway, seems like its a simple punt on a 10 year visa, with the realistic possibility that they may be dicks and only issue a 5. If they issued a 2 I'd appeal purely because I could...

Thanks again for the advice.

Oscar

[theoldgit]

Why offer a potential 10 year visa if it isn't going to be granted ? Perhaps this is for couples who have been together for a significant (say 10 year) period already, and whose relationships are deemed to be solid and unlikely to fail.

They do issue longer term visit visas, they are meant for people who can demonstrate they have a genuine and compelling reason to visit the UK over a prolonged period, business people are a prime example.

You are probably aware of the advice the UKVI offer on their website.

If you apply for a long-term visit visa, we consider:

• whether you can show a frequent and sustained need to come to the UK (such as family links or an established business connection);
• whether your personal circumstances are likely to change significantly while the visa is valid - so you should give us as much evidence as possible that your circumstances will remain the same;
• whether you have shown that you can support yourself in the UK without public funds, and that you intend to leave the UK at the end of each visit; and
• your previous travel history as shown in a current valid passport.

You should think carefully before applying for a long-term visit visa. We may refuse the visa or issue it for a shorter period than you have applied for (if, for example, the evidence that you provide does not support a long-term visit visa application, or does not meet the visa requirements). If we refuse the application or issue the visa for a shorter period, we will not refund your application fee.