Returning to the uk.

[banpunket]

Good afternoon,

Could somebody tell me the new requirments for returning to the uk.

I am british my wife is thai but has been naturalised and has a british passport.

My wife has two girls both thai.What do we have to do to bring her two children back to the uk with us.

We have been living in thai for 3 years.

I can not find the answer on the ukba website or on thai visa.

Thanks for any replies

[7by7]

As both you and your wife are British you can both, obviously, return to live in the UK at any time without any need for visas or any other restrictions.

If you are the girls' natural father then they are probably British and (see the first part of British citizenship basics) so you can obtain British passports for them.

If you are their step father and their natural father is not British then they will need visas to settle in the UK with you.

Have a read from 'Children' onwards in UK settlement visa basics and SET07 - Children; paying particular attention to SET7.8 What is sole responsibility?

Note that as your wife, their mother, has no time restriction on her stay in the UK then the children will, if successful, be issued with Indefinite Leave to Enter; which is the same as ILR except it's issued outside the UK, not in. Also you will not have to meet the minimum income requirement, but you will need to show that you and your family can be supported and accommodated in the UK without recourse to public funds.

Each child will have to make a separate application and you will have to pay the fee for each; but you can use the same supporting documents for both.

See Applying for a UK visa in Thailand for how to apply.

Anything you're not sure of, feel free to ask.

[banpunket]

Thankyou for the answer 7 by 7, i will check it out.I remember going through the hoops with my wife a long time ago.I suppose the hoops are smaller now !!!!!

[7by7]

Two thoughts have occurred to me since posting the above.

1) How old are the children? They must be under 18.

2) In most cases, in order to register a child as British the child needs to be living in the UK; but given your circumstances then if they are under 18 it may be possible to register them as British and obtain British passports for them; in which case they obviously wont need visas.

See Can I register a child aged under 18 as a British citizen? and Other cases where it is considered to be in the child's best interests to be granted British citizenship

However, any such application will be complicated and need careful preparation; so you should seek competent, professional advice from a specialist in British nationality law.

To be frank, it is unlikely that you will find such a person in Thailand.

[bobrussell]

Assuming you are the step-father:

If you have all been living as a family then it may not be that difficult as it should be fairly straight forward to indicate sole responsibility.

If the biological father takes an active part in their day to day life you are going to have a more difficult job to convince an ECO that there are not other options.

I would agree with 7by7 that these applications need very careful preparation as a 'wrong' comment at any stage may be enough to allow a refusal. Anything that creates doubt regarding sole-responsibility could be a disaster!

Without knowing a more detail it is difficult to advise anything but to take great care. Things cannot be unsaid or unwritten!

Some circumstances could be quite straight forward eg: no father on the scene, living as a family unit. Here there may be no other option available and it is clear cut that the children remain with the mother.

Most other scenarios could be extremely complicated as suggested above.

[7by7]

Actually, Bob, it was a possible application to register the girls as British I was calling complicated and requiring professional advice.

Although I agree with your points about sole responsibility and careful preparation of visa applications for the girls.

banpunket, if you do wish to use the services of an agent for their visa applications, then I recommend the sponsors of this forum; Thai Visa Express.

[bobrussell]

Someone posted that the Embassy had phoned the son (while at school) and decided his answers did not match those in the application. This was (from memory) related to contact with the biological father.

If it gets to application stage it is worth making sure the children (if old enough and armed with phones) are prepared for this possibility.

[banpunket]

Thanks for the info,

I will clarify a few points,the children are 11 and 13, and are my step-daughters,my wife's daughters.

The father has no contact with them at all and pays nothing.We all live together as a familly unit.

Our daughters do not have id cards or a thai passport.

I have a extension of stay in thai being married to a thai national,The girls are registered on the blue tabian i am registered on a yellow tabian at the same address.

I take a active roll in all their school functions etc etc,

We are keen on going your posted route,

please could you advise further.

Thanks again for the info.

[Thai at Heart]

Thanks for the info,

I will clarify a few points,the children are 11 and 13, and are my step-daughters,my wife's daughters.

The father has no contact with them at all and pays nothing.We all live together as a familly unit.

Our daughters do not have id cards or a thai passport.

I have a extension of stay in thai being married to a thai national,The girls are registered on the blue tabian i am registered on a yellow tabian at the same address.

I take a active roll in all their school functions etc etc,

We are keen on going your posted route,

please could you advise further.

Thanks again for the info.

Oh wow. You have a long way to go.

Pm me if you want any help.

[7by7]

Thanks for the info,

I will clarify a few points,the children are 11 and 13, and are my step-daughters,my wife's daughters.

The father has no contact with them at all and pays nothing.We all live together as a familly unit.

Our daughters do not have id cards or a thai passport.

I have a extension of stay in thai being married to a thai national,The girls are registered on the blue tabian i am registered on a yellow tabian at the same address.

I take a active roll in all their school functions etc etc,

We are keen on going your posted route,

please could you advise further.

Thanks again for the info.

Obviously, you need to get passports for them.

Then gather your evidence, especially of sole responsibility; see the links in post 2.

Not sure what you mean by "please could you advise further." Do you have specific questions?

BTW, if you are thinking of using an agent or paying someone to help, I suggest that you read this first.

Oh wow. You have a long way to go.

Pm me if you want any help.

Not really a long way to go; just needs careful preparation.

What help can you offer which can't be posted in the open forum for the benefit of all?

[banpunket]

Thanks 7by7 for the great info.

By passports do you mean thai passports.

What i meant about advise further is do i need to get them id cards etc etc.

Thanks again

banpunket

[7by7]

Yes, if applying for UK visas then they will need Thai passports, not just to put the visas in but also so they can travel internationally.

It is no longer possible for a child to travel on their parent's passport; they must have their own; even if an infant.

Having given it further thought, it's probably simpler and quicker if you put all thought of registering them as British aside until they are living in the UK.

It used to be that Thais didn't obtain ID cards until they were 15 (my step daughter obtained hers on a visit to Thailand as by the time she was 15 she had been living in the UK for 5 years).

However, this changed in 2011 and children aged 7 or above should now have one.

See ID Cards For Thai Children Issued From July 10.

So under Thai law, they should have ID cards as they are over 7.

I doubt that their not having them will effect their UK visa application; but it may make it difficult getting them Thai passports!

Edited February 18, 2014 by 7by7

[banpunket]

so you think we should go down the route of ile,that means i will have to meet all the financial requirment's etc etc

Thanks again for your reply.

[7by7]

Yes, I think that you, or rather they, should apply for visas to settle ion the UK with their mother.

They don't actually apply for ILE, they apply for settlement. As their mother already has no time restriction on her stay in the UK they should, if successful, be granted ILE.

Also, as they are applying to join their mother who has no time restriction on her stay in the UK you do not have to meet the financial requirement; you simply have to show that they can be adequately maintained and accommodated without recourse to public funds.

See immigration rules para 297

If you wish, instead, to look at the possibility of them obtaining British citizenship and hence British passports for them under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act, that is up to you. But as I said, on reflection I think that will be a long and complex process with no guarantee of success; until such time as they are actually living in the UK.

Edited February 18, 2014 by 7by7

[banpunket]

Thanks 7 by7

Is it the form setf which we have to apply,and do we have to apply in the embassy at bangkok.

just asking because on the forms it asks about being present and settled in the uk,Which is not the case we are in thai.

Thanks banpunket

[7by7]

All the SET forms are for use inside the UK.

Applications outside the UK use VAF forms.

They apply online using VAF4A; I haven't used it myself, but understand that the online system will guide you to the right form.

You will need to complete one application for each child and pay the fee for each child; though you can use the same set of supporting documents for them both.