Holiday Visa for Thai wife to visit UK

[jimbob333]

Ok here goes, I have lived and worked in Thailand for 6 months, I hold a UK passport, I have a non immigrant O visa(married to a Thai national) , My sister is getting married in September, I want to go back to the UK for a two week holiday and take my Thai wife with me, I work at a language school, My wife works for a telecoms company here in Bangkok, she has land, and she has about 500,000 baht in her bank account, We have no children, and neither does she, In the UK I don't own my own land, No pensions just my work here in Bangkok. What's the process and how easy/Difficult is it.

Cheers Jimbob

[The Fat Controller]

If you are married, you need to apply for a Family Visitor Visa.

https://www.gov.uk/family-visit-visa/overview

[ubonjoe]

Moved to visas for other countries forum.

[cornishcarlos]

No problem for the visa, you might struggle with the VFS office though. Apply as soon as possible, 3 months before travelling I think.

Good luck

[richard_smith237]

Given what you have written your Wife should have no difficulties getting a visa.

Just make sure that you have all the boxes ticked with regards to documentation etc - The VFS are fairly helpful if not a little bit direct in ensuring that your application has all that is required to ensure a successful application.

[7by7]

You may find UK visit visa basics helpful.

[jimbob333]

Cheers all

Sent from my D6503 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[theoldgit]

If you are married, you need to apply for a Family Visitor Visa.

You can apply for a Family Visitor Visa if your married but there's no requirement to do so. There used to be a right of appeal for Family Visit Visas but they were abolished some years ago, so your wife can apply for a General or Family Visit Visa.

[mikebell]

I've just been thro' it. You fill in an on-line form - you can do it over a time by saving each page. When complete you have to pay for it on line (Visa/CC.) You book an appointment which is a farce because whatever time you book, VFS ignore the appointment & you join a free-for-all: it took my wife 4 hours merely to hand in her papers! We are still awaiting the result.

Your papers should show reasons why your wife will return to Thailand: assets; close family ties; land; bank balance; place of abode; car/motor bike; email from a relative offering full accommodation; etc.

Presumably you will be travelling together & you can show you will be returning too (jobs) - should be a nailed on certainty.

I end my letter of support - 'I can see no good reason why this routine application should not be successful.'

[jimn]

If you are married, you need to apply for a Family Visitor Visa.

You can apply for a Family Visitor Visa if your married but there's no requirement to do so. There used to be a right of appeal for Family Visit Visas but they were abolished some years ago, so your wife can apply for a General or Family Visit Visa.

TOG interested in your comment above I shall be making my marriage official later this year after previously had a village wedding. Do immigration treat both types of application the same? IE if a married thai person applies for a general visit visa will the ECO reject the application and refer her to a family visa or are both types accepted and treated the same. Any thoughts on this appreciated

[Donutz]

How can the authorities accept an unofficial town wedding at all? It has no legal status fir the Thai authorities and most certainly not with any others such as the UK... If you have no official marriage paper you aren't married.

[jimn]

How can the authorities accept an unofficial town wedding at all? It has no legal status fir the Thai authorities and most certainly not with any others such as the UK... If you have no official marriage paper you aren't married.

Yes I know that but that's a bit off topic. To the Thai's that's the only wedding they know in many cases, that's why I shall be making it official later this year. The question relates to after that is done. So back to my question

[theoldgit]

If you are married, you need to apply for a Family Visitor Visa.

You can apply for a Family Visitor Visa if your married but there's no requirement to do so. There used to be a right of appeal for Family Visit Visas but they were abolished some years ago, so your wife can apply for a General or Family Visit Visa.

TOG interested in your comment above I shall be making my marriage official later this year after previously had a village wedding. Do immigration treat both types of application the same? IE if a married thai person applies for a general visit visa will the ECO reject the application and refer her to a family visa or are both types accepted and treated the same. Any thoughts on this appreciated

If you have only been through a village ceremony then you are not officially married, you are only legally married once you go to the Amphoe and get the marriage certificates, then your marriage is recognised anywhere in the world.

The UKVI process the applications the same way, there used to be the benefit of the right of appeal with a Family Visa, but that was done away with a couple of years ago.

If you're married and apply for a General Visit Visa it wont be rejected, likewise my partner has applied for Family Visit Visas and we're not married, but we have been living together for seven years.

[bert13]

hi guys

i have been with my thai partner for about 14 months now, we have a 3 month old little boy and have recently had a thai village wedding/blessing. i live and work in the uk and would like both my son and my partner to visit the uk for a holiday. at the moment although my name is on the birth certificate he still has her surname .would it be easier to get married legally before applying so both my son and my partner have my surname? my partner already has a passport although my son does not, i have not got him a passport yet as i am not sure what to do first. i am completely blind to all visas and documents etc...

all advise is welcome

thanks

[7by7]

For your wife to get a visit visa, she does not need to be officially married to you nor change her surname to yours.

(It's different for a settlement visa; to apply as your spouse you will need to register the marriage at an ampur; unless you can show that you have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for at least the last two years. In which case she can apply for settlement as your unmarried partner.)

Likewise your son, he does not need your surname; you being named on his birth certificate is enough to show that he is your son (provided his mother was not married to someone else at the time of the birth, that would, legally, complicate things!).

For your son, you should get him a British passport as technically, being British and so having the right to enter and stay in the UK without restriction, any UK visa application by him should be refused; see this topic.

To apply for his British passport, see this post/topic.

He is, of course, also Thai; so you should get him a Thai passport as well. That way he will be able to enter and live in both the UK and Thailand without restriction.

You may find UK visit visa basics helpful.

One major hurdle you will need to overcome is that you live and work in the UK, your wife and son live in Thailand. In any visit application by your wife you and she will need to satisfy the ECO that she will return to Thailand at the end of the visit and is not attempting to by pass the settlement rules by entering the UK using a visit visa and then overstaying.

Edited May 4, 2015 by 7by7

[teatree]

No problem for the visa, you might struggle with the VFS office though. Apply as soon as possible, 3 months before travelling I think.

Good luck

The Mrs recently got her visa 10 days after submiting the application.

[HollyT]

Jumping in to this thread to ask another question about UK visas as I'm also planning to visit the UK for 2 weeks later in the year with my Thai partner.

I know you have to wait until 3 months before the planned travel date to apply, does this also include the online application on Visa4UK? Unsure if I can just submit this now and book an appointment for in the 3 months before, or if I have to wait until we're in the 3 month countdown before I can click 'send'.

[7by7]

You can complete and save the online form, but I don't know how long for; the longest I've spent between starting on the form and the actual online submission is only 1 week.

Once you submit the online form you then make an appointment with VFS to submit the supporting documents and have biometrics taken. I am not sure how far ahead you can book, but anecdotal evidence suggests 2 weeks max. Most people, like us, want the appointment ASAP so book the earliest one which is both available and convenient.

UKVI say that most visit visa applications are processed within 5 working days, though at busy periods this may take longer.

Visa processing times.

It is extremely unlikely that a visit visa application would take 3 months or more to process, so if you delay applying until three months before the visit I cannot see you having any problems.

Note, though, that UK visas start from the day of issue; unless a specific request is made to post date the start. This request is sometimes missed, so if you do ask for it you should check the visa as soon as the passport is received back; mistakes cannot be rectified later.

But as the visa will be valid for 6 months and you only want to visit the UK for 2 weeks, that shouldn't be a problem for you.

[Thai Bairn]

This idea that you can only book two weeks ahead keeps being repeated, but as I mentioned on another thread:

Booked on 25th March for an appointment on 23rd April. I could also see dates for May and I think June too.