Applying for UK visa

[phuket2013]

Hi,

My partner and I have recently had a baby, we want to go to the UK so my family can meet our son. My (Thai) partner will need a visa, so I have a few questions about the process that I am unsure of....

Firstly, say we were planning to travel around Christmas, when should we apply?

As we are visiting my family and friends, but are unmarried, should I apply for him to have a general visit visa or a family visit visa?

Also, on the registration form it asks for 'given/ forename', do we put his Thai nickname or his name as on his ID card, or both?

I've seen that you need evidence of travel plans but further along they tell you not to pay for anything until the visa is approved, how are you supposed to prove flights without payment? How have other people got around this?

With regards to finances, what is a good amount to have in his bank account to get the visa approved? He can get his employer to produce payslips for evidence of an income also.

I'll probably have a million more questions so thank you to anyone in advance who reads and responds to any of my queries

[theoldgit]

First of all congratulations on the birth of your son.

I'm not sure of the legalities of a UK Passport for your son, it depends where you were born I think. But the application for your partners visa should be in his proper name, as on his birth certificate and passport, his nickname is just that.

You can apply up to three months before departure and ask for the visa to be post dated to the proposed date of travel, make it very clear though as the ECO's sometimes miss it.

If you and your partner have been living in a relationship for two years or more then he can apply for a family visit. To be quite honest though since the rights of appeal were withdrawn from Family Visas there is no advantage. A general visit visa has the same level of evidential requirements and either one is fine.

You don't need to purchase, or even reserve, flight tickets prior to a visa being issued, in fact the UKVI specifically advise against doing so. They do ask that you provide an itinerary, if you have one, but these are no more than indicative travel plans.

There is no set figure that is required, you just need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds for the trip, so it really depends what your plans are.

[7by7]

Your partner should complete his visa application form using his full name as per his ID card and passport.

You may find UK visit visa basics helpful.

As long as you are British otherwise than by descent, that is born in the UK or a qualifying territory and at least one of your parents is British or was legally resident in the UK or qualifying territory where you were born at the time of your birth, then your child is British. For a fuller explanation of this see the first part of British citizenship basics.

To get a British passport for your son, see here. Note that you will need your long form British birth certificate.

It's not a legal requirement, and a certified translation of his Thai birth certificate is sufficient for all UK purposes, including applying for a passport; but you may wish to register his birth with the UK authorities as this will give him a British style birth certificate as well. See Register a birth abroad.

As you are not married to the boy's father, I'm not sure if he is Thai as well. I think that provided the father is named as such on the birth certificate then your son is Thai; but you should check.

Assuming he is Thai, don't forget to get him a Thai passport as well.

He then uses his Thai passport when leaving and entering Thailand and his British one when leaving and entering the UK.

Both Thailand and the UK allow dual nationality.

Edited March 31, 2014 by 7by7

[phuket2013]

Thanks for both of your replies theoldgit and 7by7, the information is useful and gives me a bit more of an idea of how to go about this process. Paperwork is not my forté and there sure is a lot to do now!

We are going to get my son and partner's Thai passports tomorrow, it looks like a much simpler process so I will report back after in case its of use to anyone else.

Cheers for the help guys!