The TRUE cost of a UK spouse visa.

[angryparentz]

A UK spouse visa has mutiple steps required and each costs a lot.

I would like to hear what others think is the minimum cost.

Do not forget that from the initial visa till a right of residence should be the total cost.

My guess is that anybody who has been through the (minimum 5 year process) would have spent at least 5 to 20,000 GBP on satisfying the process.

Let me know if you have done it cheaper!

Edited August 29, 2014 by angryparentz

[durhamboy]

Just seen this topic. Ok here is my shot at it :-

1. Initial visa fee = c.£900 - I added a bit more to cover the exchange rate rip-off

2. English test/lessons etc = c.£500 - that's what it cost for my wife. Some people may not need lessons or be exempt.

3. TB exam = c.£70

4. Travel and hotel in Thailand to attend all of the above depends on where the applicant lives in Thailand. Assuming 3 trips to Bangkok with 1 night in hotel each time = c.£150

5. FLR = £601 - if standard application made

6. Language and KOLL tests + travel to test centres etc. + tuition fees and study materials = c.£400

7. ILR fee - assuming KOLL etc is passed = £1093

TOTAL = c.£3,714

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279536/Fees_Table_April_2014.pdf

To this could be added costs of airfares (Thailand to UK) and naturalisation (£906).

Also costs for applicant's spouse to travel and live in Thailand to assist applicant.

[7by7]

I think, durhamboy, that your figure, £3,714, is about right; based on current fees which are subject to change.

Of course, it would be an extra £400 each for the FLR and ILR applications if they were made in person; but unless one needs one's passport back urgently I don't see the need for doing that and as it is the applicant's choice whether or not to do so it can't, in all fairness, be included in the total.

I don't think airfares, sponsor's and applicant's, to and from Thailand can be included as these are not actually a cost involved in obtaining a UK visa and ultimately ILR.; the same for the sponsor's accommodation whilst in Thailand, assuming they weren't staying with the applicant.

Even if there were no visa or LTR fees to pay (some hope!) these travel costs would still have to be met.

But even if those were included, I don't see how the figure could be anywhere near £20,000; unless one travels first class all the time and stays in 5 star hotels!

Perhaps the OP would like to tell us how he arrived at his figures?

Edited August 29, 2014 by 7by7

[elvisp1977]

Maybe you can now add the £400 i paid to get my wife ( as have many others) through the prep course, bulats exam at Vantage Siam( plus hotel) to get her A1 English Certificate earlier this year which is now totally worthless....

Cheers...

Edited August 29, 2014 by elvisp1977

[Hels812]

For the initial settlement visa we spent LOADS on getting documents translated. As we were applying for the unmarried partner visa we had to get loads of docs translated to prove we'd lived together for 2 years. Adding to that a birth certificate and degree certificate (not actually needed for the visa I know but best to get translated before moving to the UK) and bank statements (used as part of the financial requirement) and a couple of letters from Thai friends and family verifying our relationship. I think we spent about 8,000 baht in total.

[7by7]

Even taking into account the costs in the above posts, it still comes in at under £5000, spread over 5 years remember.

Still under the lower estimate and nowhere near the upper estimate of £20,000 in the OP.

[MESmith]

What about the cost of having 65,000 quid sat in a bank account earning sweet fa, rather than being invested earning quite a lot more over those 5 years?

[7by7]

For a spouse, it's £62,500 for the initial visa and FLR, £46,500 for ILR.

I would hazard a reasonable guess that mist sponsors and applicants do not have that sort of money to invest and will be meeting the financial requirement through income or a combination of income and savings.

If using savings, though:

High interest accounts and other investments such as ISAs are acceptable.

As is any form of investment where the funds are immediately available; with or without loss of interest or other penalty.

If held in an unacceptable form of investment, such as stocks or shares, the income from that investment can be counted as unearned income and used to meet the financial requirement through income; either on it's own, if sufficient, or by adding it to income from other sources.

Alternatively, the investment can be transferred to an acceptable form of account 6 months prior to the application.

Cash savings can be combined with income, this reducing the amount required from both sources.

For FLR and ILR applications, the applicant's income, if any, can be combined with the sponsor's, thus making it more likely that the requirement can be met by income alone.

For more on cash savings,, see section 7 of Annex FM Section FM 1.7: Financial Requirement.

[MESmith]

High interest accounts and other investments such as ISAs are acceptable.

High interest accounts don't seem to exist any more

[stuartsko]

This was the cost of my wife's visa. In my case I only got married as this was the only way I could settle in the uk with my then partner..

Trip to Manchester for the day and A1 English test fee, including the course book and CD as I thought her myself £200

Flight to Roi Et for paperwork so we could marry inc car hire and hotels £450

Trip to Bangkok for my affirmation to marry back same day £80

Wedding around £5000

Flight back to Roi Et for name change on ID card and address book £450

TB test and travel to Bangkok £120

Fee to 1st visa agent £900

1st application fee £900

Visa application fails due to incompetent agent...

Trip to hull for 6m Thai tourist visa £100

Return flight to thailand business class £4500

2nd visa application fee £900

Payment to second visa agent (TVE) paid after successful application..

Flight home for wife 2 days later business class £1500...

Round trip taxi to heathrow £200

Total so far £16100.00

Not far off the 20k estimate from the OP

Take out the wedding and it's still £11500.00

Still to pay out, ILR & FLR made in person at sheffield, no traveling because I live in sheffield city centre.. Retaking language tests because trinity is no longer valid it will still be another 3k ish to pay out..

[7by7]

£11,500 after removing the cost of the wedding.

Take out all flights, hotels, car hire, taxis etc.You would have had to pay these even if the UK visa and LTR applications were free, so they cannot be included in the cost of same; especially as it was your choice to fly business class. Though I am leaving in travel to Bangkok for TB test and submission of application. Total £7100.

That reduces the figure to £4400; minus the £80 cost of obtaining the AFM, a Thai requirement, not a UK one, leaving £4329.

Minus the cost of the first application and agents fee. Not UKVI or the UK government's fault you chose an incompetent agent who mucked up the application. £4320 minus £1800 leaves £2520; and that includes TVE's fee, which, whilst I understand your using them to sort out the mess your first agent caused, was a choice by you not a requirement of the UK immigration rules. But I'll leave that in any way.

£3000 to retake her English test seems a bit steep to me, but I'll leave that in as she will need to take another test to achieve B1 for ILR, assuming she doesn't score this or better on her retake of the initial test for her ILR.

The extra £400 each to make her FLR and ILR applications in person is a choice, not a requirement; can't really include that.

But even if we do, that's, at current fee levels, £1001 for FLR then £1493 for ILR; total £2594.

So;

costs so far; £2500

estimated costs of English tests and LitUK test, including studying, £3000

FLR and ILR applications in person; £2594

Total £8000.

So, even with all the extra money you have already or will be paying out voluntarily, the cost, whilst higher than durhamboy's basic calculation, is still less than half the OP's upper estimate of £20,000.

Don't get me wrong; I am not defending visa and LTR fee levels. . Anyone who has read my many posts on the matter of UK visa and LTR fees will know that I consider most of them way to high and that they should be set at cost rather than levels which make a huge profit for UKVI and ultimately the government.

A policy introduced by Labour and, despite their vociferous objections at the time, continued by the present government.

[AngryParentXXX]

So, let me get this right 7by7, between post 3 and post 11 you have jumped from 3k to 8k in just one day!

Another couple of days of posting and you will reach BINGO!

No, I have not been banned and yes it is me!

Edited August 31, 2014 by AngryParentXXX

[stuartsko]

When the OP says the TRUE cost is between 5 and 20 k it's obvious he isn't just talking about the visa fees... This was the total cost TO ME, to be able to settle in the UK with my partner..

[stuartsko]

Also flying business class wasn't really a choice too. when booking a flight with just 2 or 3 days notice all economy seats are either gone or are only a few hundred pounds cheaper than business. So for the extra bit of money I thought why not..

Edited August 31, 2014 by stuartsko

[7by7]

The title of this topic, chosen by the OP, is "The TRUE cost of a UK spouse visa."

I assumed that the OP was asking about the UKVI fees and other necessary costs which all applicants have to pay because in the OP he says

My guess is that anybody who has been through the (minimum 5 year process) would have spent at least 5 to 20,000 GBP on satisfying the process

Satisfying the process; not courting one's spouse and travelling to and from Thailand.

These are not part of the visa process and how much you spend doing so is not set by UKVI nor the government!

Durhamboy in post 2 provided the actual cost of the fees for the visa and LTR applications, plus associated costs every applicant has to pay such as TB tests and English tests.

If others want to bump up the costs by employing agents, flying business class, paying extra for a same day decision; that is their choice.

BTW, once the visa is issued, the holder has three months in which to first enter the UK, there is no need to book tickets with just a few days notice.

If one is going to include all the costs of marrying a Thai, how far back do you go?

The flight which took you to Thailand before you met him/her?

The hotel bills you paid whilst on holiday there, whether he/her stayed with you or not?

The drinks and meals you may have paid for while courting him/her?

What about any gifts you may have bought him/her or his/her family?

The list goes on and on!

Please explain to me how any of these costs can be laid at the door of UKVI or the British government.

[durhamboy]

In a sense everyone is right! From what I can see all the costs itemised by everyone were incurred to get a Thai wife to the UK and stay for 5 years.

I put just the basic costs in my assessment as things like wedding costs at 5k, business class etc are the option of applicants. However they are real costs incurred as a direct result of marrying a Thai.

I think we can all agree that no matter how we calculate the costs it is bloody expensive and makes having a Thai wife something which many people simply can't afford and therefore people will look for ways around the problem e.g. permanent overstay (not something I would do) or the EU route.

[7by7]

I see what you are saying; marriage is bloody expensive; more so if you marry a foreigner and bring your spouse home.

But I thought the subject of this topic was the costs of obtaining the visa, FLR and ILR; not the costs of meeting and marrying someone!

Those costs will be similar whether one moves to one's spouse's county, follows the Surinder Singh route to bring them to the UK, follows the UK immigration rules route or anything else.

Bearing in mind the OP's history, in all of his now banned nom de plumes, I should have known better!

Edited August 31, 2014 by 7by7

[durhamboy]

I basically agree 7by7 and that's why I only did the basic costs up to and including ILR.

I'm not really sure about the costs of the EU route however, dare I say it, the costs of a permanent visit visa overstay are minute compared to going through all the hoops. Before you guys start flaming me - it is not something I ever considered and is fraught with many other problems - jail being one of them! However, because of all these onerous hoops and, in my opinion, utter shambles of an immigration system, this option may be attractive to some people.

[7by7]

Obviously, overstaying a visit visa is illegal and not something anyone on this site should be recommending.

However, if one were to be tempted, then obviously all the costs of travel, marriage etc. would be the same.

So all that would be saved is the difference in the settlement visa fee and the visit visa fee; £820, and the FLR and ILR fees and associated English tests.

But, if in the UK illegally the person

• would not be able to work;
• would not be able to access any NHS care except initial emergency care in an A&E department;
• would not be able to leave the UK, e.g. to visit family in Thailand, as even if the overstay were not discovered when leaving, as you know passports are not routinely checked when leaving the UK, they would not be able to get back in.

In addition, if they came to the attention of the authorities in any way, e.g. by visiting an A&E department or working illegally and their employer being raided by UKVI, their overstay could be discovered and so they would face deportation and a possible lifetime ban from the UK.

[7by7]

I'm not really sure about the costs of the EU route......

All visas etc. would be free; up to and including permanent residence; which is the EEA equivalent of ILR.

However, there would obviously be other costs involved which would not be the case if coming directly to the UK.

As I said here

For some, the EEA route is an attractive and viable one; especially if the British sponsor has been working in Thailand and is now returning home with their Thai family and can either easily find work in another EEA country or has sufficient savings or non employed income to live on whilst there. Plus, of course, the same for when they do return to the UK.

For others, especially where the sponsor is living and working in the UK already, the practicalities of the EEA route, such as giving up their job in the UK, moving to another EEA country, finding a job there, giving that job up, moving back to the UK and finding another job there plus the cost of doing all this, means it is neither practicable nor viable.

Whether these costs would be more or less than the cost of UK visa and LTR fees is open to question; I believe that in most cases they would be more.

[stuartsko]

So it's ok to include the other costs involved when taking the EEA route but not the UK visa route????

[7by7]

The EXTRA costs involved over and above those which would be required for one move directly to the UK for the Thai spouse.

That is the cost of the British spouse moving to another EEA country and then the cost of the couple moving back to the UK.

I haven't checked with airlines, removal companies etc., but I am sure that these costs would be more than the money saved in visa fees etc. if the Thai spouse moved directly to the UK.

If I am wrong, then no doubt you can show me what these costs are likely to be.

Obviously, the cost of the Thai spouse moving from Thailand to an EEA country other than the UK would be roughly the same as their moving directly to the UK from Thailand. As would wedding costs, costs of travel to Thailand by the British spouse etc. So I have not included those.

[beano2274]

I'm not really sure about the costs of the EU route......

All visas etc. would be free; up to and including permanent residence; which is the EEA equivalent of ILR.

However, there would obviously be other costs involved which would not be the case if coming directly to the UK.

As I said here

For some, the EEA route is an attractive and viable one; especially if the British sponsor has been working in Thailand and is now returning home with their Thai family and can either easily find work in another EEA country or has sufficient savings or non employed income to live on whilst there. Plus, of course, the same for when they do return to the UK.

For others, especially where the sponsor is living and working in the UK already, the practicalities of the EEA route, such as giving up their job in the UK, moving to another EEA country, finding a job there, giving that job up, moving back to the UK and finding another job there plus the cost of doing all this, means it is neither practicable nor viable.

Whether these costs would be more or less than the cost of UK visa and LTR fees is open to question; I believe that in most cases they would be more.

Just to add here the costs for me to get my wife to Germany, and have a permanent Residence Card, so that one day we can go the EEA route to the UK.

Visa in Thailand for travel to Schengen Country - Free

Registration at Einwohnermeldeamt - Free

Residence Card at Kreisverwaltungsamt Munich - under 30 Euros.

Looking at my total costs so far 30 Euros is nothing compared to what others might have to pay, am lucky that I can speak German and worked here years ago, so this was the route we chose.

Edited August 31, 2014 by beano2274

[7by7]

Beano, did you go to Germany specifically to use the Surinder Singh route into the UK, or did you go there because of your work or some other reason?

[beano2274]

Beano, did you go to Germany specifically to use the Surinder Singh route into the UK, or did you go there because of your work or some other reason?

Actually 7by7 I came to Germany for work, then brought my wife over after a few months of being here. Only after reading some posts on Thaivisa did I discover this route to the UK, but I had already got my wife the Visa. The Registration at the Einwohnermeldeamt is a must and should be done within 7 days of arrival in Germany. I knew I had to get her an "Aufenthaltskarte" and found out that I needed proof that I was exercising my rights of freedom of movement which was easily done.

[7by7]

Thanks, so your move was not specifically to enable your wife to use the Surinder Singh route into the UK.

Though you will be doing so when the time comes.

Any idea of the costs of moving your home etc. from Germany to the UK?

[beano2274]

I have a rented furnished apartment, so the costs will be minimal.

[AngryParent]

The title of this topic, chosen by the OP, is "The TRUE cost of a UK spouse visa."

I assumed that the OP was asking about the UKVI fees and other necessary costs which all applicants have to pay because in the OP he says

My guess is that anybody who has been through the (minimum 5 year process) would have spent at least 5 to 20,000 GBP on satisfying the process

Satisfying the process; not courting one's spouse and travelling to and from Thailand.

These are not part of the visa process and how much you spend doing so is not set by UKVI nor the government!

Durhamboy in post 2 provided the actual cost of the fees for the visa and LTR applications, plus associated costs every applicant has to pay such as TB tests and English tests.

If others want to bump up the costs by employing agents, flying business class, paying extra for a same day decision; that is their choice.

BTW, once the visa is issued, the holder has three months in which to first enter the UK, there is no need to book tickets with just a few days notice.

If one is going to include all the costs of marrying a Thai, how far back do you go?

The flight which took you to Thailand before you met him/her?

The hotel bills you paid whilst on holiday there, whether he/her stayed with you or not?

The drinks and meals you may have paid for while courting him/her?

What about any gifts you may have bought him/her or his/her family?

The list goes on and on!

Please explain to me how any of these costs can be laid at the door of UKVI or the British government.

In the old days I learnt by exceeding your knowledge base and this in the end got me home. Just like a knife needs to be sharpened against a blunt device, my family progressed by noticing flaws in your visa arguments.

Let me assist you with the TRUE cost.

For such, you need to look at the regulation differences between the 2 visas. We already have much evidence that the normal UK visas are very costly.

However, simple regulations can add a bundle.

Under the EU/EEA route my family can stay in the cheapest and smallest sized place that is affordable. Under the UK visa route we would be compelled to get a minimum of 2 bedrooms (as we have a son - even though the young son likes to sleep with us and has done for the last 5 years).

Before you speak, I am currently paying 1050 per month on rent (a lot more than you are having disposable income) - but that is up to me and a last minute muppet estate agent. But that is how it should be, not forced by the GOVT to pay in advance for such a property to satisfy a visa tick box.

The TRUE cost is the freedom from 1-10-permanent years of a GOVT dictating my every action. The EEA/EU route allows my family to live like any other free family in the UK, without having to modify my life to jump the hoops!

There is no compulsary requirement for UK families to have a certain sized house. But for visa applicants there is: if I was to do the UK visa with my UK citizen son I would need to pay 2-300 GBP per month extra for at least 5 years - that in itself = adds about 10-15k.

7by7, a few years back, when I was still in Thailand, I asked for knowledge and assistance. I did not get such and such made me find my own route and the data for such.

My wife can sit on the sofa and watch TV without fear, my son can be a friendly naughty kid without fear. I can go to work each day and not fear that there is a ticking time bomb!

When the EU was a concept and the ECHR Human Rights was an IDEAL, situtations such as mine were placed at the top of the queue and a sunny day was envisioned.

At one point I kindly asked for your assitance regarding judicial review and you took the high road.

NOW 7BY7, I have walked the road that many/most have not walked and I have disproved all of your armchair views.

[sustento]

It appears that Angryparent is still angry even though he appears to reached his goal.

[AngryParent]

It appears that Angryparent is still angry even though he appears to reached his goal.

Angry is my first name and under such you want to...?

Have you travelled the hard roads my family has travelled, have you lived in Thailand under extreme situations?

I have spent many years debating with 7by7 and a lot more... who are you???