UK general visit visa for girlfriend issues.

[SpoonZie]

just sharing the problems i've had with getting my girlfriend a visa to visit the uk.

originally planned to go for 1 month to the UK with thai girlfriend to visit family, we submitted a general visit visa to the VFS office in the trendy building (more on this later)

the application:

the office is VERY busy and you should expect to wait most of the day. there is nobody around to offer you any assistance and they wouldnt let me go inside with my girlfriend, so i was sat outside for 4 hours unaware of how big the queue was or what was going on.

picking up the passport:

we went today to pick up the passport, we werent told whether visa had been granted or not, so basically been travelling all day from hua hin to bangkok , found out the visa had not been granted, and now it seems like we will have to submit another application , pay another fee, print all the documents (and more) again.

what documents i provided:

Girlfriends Birth certificate

letter from her employer

letter from my family stating accommodation would be given.

girlfriends family Tabian baan for accommodation.

bank statements for the previous 6 months

photocopy of girlfriends Thai ID card.

photocopy of my passport, my family's passports, and my previous visa's in thailand.

print out of the Plane ticket for her to come to the uk.

photocopy of girlfriends passport.

photo's of me and her together over the last 3 years.

a letter from me stating our relationship and our travel plans.

the outcome: no visa :<

from what i can understand the documents i was missing were those that would show i have an interest in returning to thailand (not my girlfriend ... me)

so i didnt attach rental contracts for myself, also i didnt provide any more information on my Job as the income was shown in the bank statements but apparently that wasnt good enough.

Edited June 6, 2014 by SpoonZie

[Upnotover]

I doubt they care about your intentions to return to Thailand or not - it is her they are interested in. You seem to have missed any evidence of your relationship in the paperwork, photo's, correspondence, etc. And as for her reason to return - what is it and how is it evidenced?

[SpoonZie]

i sent photo's but forgot to post them above, sorry.

to quote their reply:

You want to travel to the UK with your boyfriend to stay with his grandmother. i must assess the informaton you have provided about yourself seperately from your sponsor's part of your application. it is your responsibility to satisfy me that your circumstances in Tailand are such that if given leave to enter you will comply with all of the conditions attached to such leave and that you will leave the UK on completion of the proposed visit but for the following reasons you have not done that.

your boyfriend says you have been in a relationship for 3 years and that he has been living here with you. he has submitted no proof of any permission to reside here but i can see that he has spent time in thailand. He now appears to be returning to the UK after a considerable period abroad. You want to travel with him and say that you will stay for only 1 month. Whilst i acknowledge that you have a job here earning 15,000THB (277 gbp) your situation here does not satisfy me that it is such that you will leave the UK at the end of a visit.

There is no proof that your boyfriend has any income and no proof that he has any permission to continue to reside here-or that he intends to do so. These factors lead me to doubt that your intentions are as you state. i am not satisfied that you are a genuine visitor to the UK or that you intend to leave the UK at the end of a visit.

in bold ... what i dont understand is that my UK passport is proof of permission to reside in the UK no ?

and that the proof of income is on my bank statements ...

Edited June 6, 2014 by SpoonZie

[Upnotover]

I think "here" is Thailand.

[SpoonZie]

I doubt they care about your intentions to return to Thailand or not - it is her they are interested in. You seem to have missed any evidence of your relationship in the paperwork, photo's, correspondence, etc. And as for her reason to return - what is it and how is it evidenced?

Relationship photo's were included , also a letter from me stating relationship.

her reason to return was evidenced in a letter from employer stating that she was given 1 month paid holiday and had to be back by 1st July

i now need to reapply for visa i guess.. but not sure if it can be done with the same email on the new UK visa system.

Edited June 6, 2014 by SpoonZie

[Tony M]

i sent photo's but forgot to post them above, sorry.

to quote their reply:

You want to travel to the UK with your boyfriend to stay with his grandmother. i must assess the informaton you have provided about yourself seperately from your sponsor's part of your application. it is your responsibility to satisfy me that your circumstances in Tailand are such that if given leave to enter you will comply with all of the conditions attached to such leave and that you will leave the UK on completion of the proposed visit but for the following reasons you have not done that.

your boyfriend says you have been in a relationship for 3 years and that he has been living here with you. he has submitted no proof of any permission to reside here but i can see that he has spent time in thailand. He now appears to be returning to the UK after a considerable period abroad. You want to travel with him and say that you will stay for only 1 month. Whilst i acknowledge that you have a job here earning 15,000THB (277 gbp) your situation here does not satisfy me that it is such that you will leave the UK at the end of a visit.

There is no proof that your boyfriend has any income and no proof that he has any permission to continue to reside here-or that he intends to do so. These factors lead me to doubt that your intentions are as you state. i am not satisfied that you are a genuine visitor to the UK or that you intend to leave the UK at the end of a visit.

in bold ... what i dont understand is that my UK passport is proof of permission to reside in the UK no ?

and that the proof of income is on my bank statements ...

They are saying that you have not provided proof that you have permission to reside in Thailand. Along with that, if you are living in Thailand, you haven't provided any evidence of income.

[David48]

I think the bit you should have highlighted was ... "your situation here does not satisfy me that it is such that you (the applicant) will leave the UK at the end of a visit."

Indeed ... there does seem to be many holes in the application as highlighted by the refusal letter ... sorry to say.

.

[wooloomooloo]

I would be interested to know how robust your girlfriend's supporting letter was with regards reason to return. Showing valid documentation just doesn't cut it.

You are both going to have to start over again and address the reasons for refusal and come up with a convincing argument for reason to return.

Does your girlfriend have children, own land, own a car, have a credit line with the bank, responsibilities to her family, just for starters?

[SpoonZie]

thanks for the help so far, all constructive talk helps me alot with next application.

my girlfriend has a daughter, but like many other thai's her mother and father take care of her daughter.

no car, but we have 2 motorbikes in her name.

also thanks david, missed that part !

[7by7]

From your OP

we went today to pick up the passport, we werent told whether visa had been granted or not

This is standard procedure.

UKVI consider, rightly in my opinion, that the result of the application is confidential between them and the applicant. Therefore all passports are returned to VFS in sealed packets and VFS do not know the result.

It seems to me that the main problem is your status in Thailand.

It seems that the lack of evidence you gave of this led the ECO to believe that you were returning to live in the UK and that your girlfriend was attempting to use a visit visa to by pass the settlement rules and live there with you.

You need to address this in her next application.

You may find UK visit visa basics helpful in this

If living together in Thailand then provide evidence of this and the sponsor's passport to show their immigration status in Thailand.

[SpoonZie]

so far from what i've gathered the extra documents i should be looking for are :

my work status in thailand (letter from employer)

documents regarding girlfriends daughter

documents showing long term rental of property in thailand.

anything else i am missing ? is it worth mentioning the motorbikes ?

[David48]

From your OP

we went today to pick up the passport, we werent told whether visa had been granted or not

This is standard procedure.

UKVI consider, rightly in my opinion, that the result of the application is confidential between them and the applicant. Therefore all passports are returned to VFS in sealed packets and VFS do not know the result.

It seems to me that the main problem is your status in Thailand.

It seems that the lack of evidence you gave of this led the ECO to believe that you were returning to live in the UK and that your girlfriend was attempting to use a visit visa to by pass the settlement rules and live there with you.

You need to address this in her next application.

You may find UK visit visa basics helpful in this

If living together in Thailand then provide evidence of this and the sponsor's passport to show their immigration status in Thailand.

^^ Great stuff.

Also, put some real thought into the Applicant's reason to return to Thailand.

Two motorbikes is not a reason.

By your own admission, her daughter is cared for by the Child's Grandparents, so, a connection that is Family related may prove to be under question as a reason to return.

Plus, it may raise an eyebrow that an employee, in Thailand is given a full months paid leave.

My Partner worked for 11 years for the same International company. She got a weeks paid leave. Plus 4 days for Songkran Festivial. We combined those two and then stretched that to 2 weeks leave by requesting a few unpaid days.

So, in a letter I would cover that issue just how the applicant was able to receive a months holiday.

What job does your partner do?

[SpoonZie]

She works repairing the Kites at a Kitesurfing School in hua hin.

the wind is light between July to October so she is allowed to take time off, but in the busy season there is no time for breaks =/

[wooloomooloo]

what documents i provided:

...print out of the Plane ticket for her to come to the uk...

You didn't purchase flight tickets before receiving the visa decision did you, SpoonZie?

Let's work on the positives. The ECO acknowledges that your girlfriend has quite a well paid job. Re-draft the letter from her employer highlighting that they will allow a one month vacation at this time of year due to low season for kitesurfing and that her job is open for her on her return. Also, that she is a skilled, reliable and highly valued member of staff and also detailing how long she has been employed.

Obviously you will have to clarify your employment and immigration status and have stated that you are now in possession of a letter from your employer. Do you have all of your original payslips? If so, photocopy them and provide the originals and photocopies with the next application.

As an aside, are you certain that you have enough available funds to look after your girlfriend and yourself for a month in the UK after you have paid out your airfares? Forget about how much your girlfriend has in her bank account or that your grandmother could help out financially if necessary. The ECO will be interested in your available cashflow for this period as you are the sponsor.

Another positive is that the ECO doesn't appear to have questioned the veracity of your relationship.

What specific responsibilities does your girlfriend have towards her family and child? I know you state that your girlfriend's daughter is cared for by her mother and father but if your girlfriend is working full time then someone has to look after the child. This will need some work.

The supporting letter will also need to be top heavy, i.e. very detailed and well thought through, but not War and Peace mind you.

[7by7]

<snip>

As an aside, are you certain that you have enough available funds to look after your girlfriend and yourself for a month in the UK after you have paid out your airfares? Forget about how much your girlfriend has in her bank account or that your grandmother could help out financially if necessary. The ECO will be interested in your available cashflow for this period as you are the sponsor.

No.

Finance for the visit can come from the sponsor, the applicant, third party(ies) or any combination of these.

Obviously, anyone contributing towards the costs needs to provide evidence of their ability to do so.

What specific responsibilities does your girlfriend have towards her family and child? I know you state that your girlfriend's daughter is cared for by her mother and father but if your girlfriend is working full time then someone has to look after the child. This will need some work.

Why?

Many Thais travel away from home, often abroad, for work leaving children with family. Therefore children are not, by themselves, seen as a reason to return.

The child does need to be mentioned in the appropriate place on the form, otherwise this could cause problems in any future application for the child, and the applicant, and sponsor in the sponsor's letter, should say who is caring for her on a regular basis and who will be so doing while her mother is away.

That's it; not a lot of work!

The supporting letter will also need to be top heavy, i.e. very detailed and well thought through, but not War and Peace mind you.

K

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See the example in UK visit visa basics.