Our sponsor letter for child settlement

[savii69]

Hi all and thanks in advance,

Below is our letter for child settlement.

Does it look ok. To much info not enough.....am i missing something.

Just that we can not think at the mo.......brain meltdown.

Many thanks peeps.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are writing this letter from both myself and my husband, whom has been in my children’s life from a very early age and consider him to be their father.

I have just recently got my residency (ILR) and it is now time to be bring my children to live with us in the United Kingdom. We have not attempted to do so before I got residency, because had we done so and was then refused ILR. I would have had to uproot the boys again and this would have been too unsettling at their ages. Hence this is the reason for doing it after I got my residency.

This is the main factor and what we have been planning all along. But there are also other factors to consider.

My mother who has been looking after them whilst I have been in the UK is now 78 years of age and has not been in the best of health the last couple of years. When we were here in Thailand January 2013 she was admitted to hospital for about 4 days and has been back in since also. So her age and health is a worry to us, without the added pressures of bringing up our children.

Late last year whilst my application for residency was in process our eldest son was tragically killed in a road traffic accident. This was and always will be our fear in being so far away. To say the least this absolutely devastated us and will always remain a worry with the state of safety on Thailand’s roads. I don’t know if I could handle going through something like that again.

I have been looking after my children solely since my divorce in 2006, well legally anyhow, but it has been many years before that in fact, as their biological father has not been on the seen for a long time. Only in 2006 did we divorce and I had all legal rights to the children (document included). So I have been bringing them up in all aspects, financially as well as all major decision making in their life (bank statements will show monies sent from the UK to Thailand via PayPal).

My husband (xxxxxxx) has been in our lives for 10 years this February. So my boys xxxxxxx (13) & xxxxxxx (15) have only really known him as dad.

He still currently has the same employer he has for a long time so is settled in his job. We also have a restaurant called xxxxxxx which I run in xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx for the last year. Therefore I am self-employed and all documents pertaining to and the business are included.

We have also just moved to a 3 bedroom flat in the same town so that we can accommodate our boys adequately (pictures are enclosed also). As stated it has 3 large bedrooms, large living room, large kitchen, bathroom, cloak room, dining room and stairs down to the front door that has a hall entrance and another space for storage.

My children can live with us in the UK with no recourse to public funds which is proven by all documentation.

Yours Faithfully

Many thanks and kind regards Clive

[7by7]

Looks good to me; you explain why the children have not come before and why they and you wish them to come now; you also explain who has been looking after them in the interim and why they are no longer able to do so.

I would, though, add a list of the supporting documents you are including, under sub headings for each category; e.g. contact, accommodation in UK, finances etc.

Finally, I am so very sorry to read about your son; my condolences to you and your family.

[savii69]

Thank you very much 7by7 for your input, always of great help......cheers.

Also thanks for your thoughts on our eldest.

Kind regards, Clive & Air

[ulike]

Hello

I think your letter is too much about feeling and wishes but is not focused on the immigration laws and regulations or your own clear and verified personal facts.

Very important situation and I think you should ask an immigration lawyer to draft a letter for you. Expensive but worth the money.

I and my husband wrote so many and got no where. When our barrister submitted it we had a visa days later and an instant reply in minutes!!!!

[7by7]

With respect, ulike, whilst you may have a valid point about there being too much about feelings in the letter, your situation was very different to that of the OP.

You were looking to obtain, and happily did obtain, UK residency for your niece, whom you were in the process of adopting; whereas the OP is applying for her natural children.

I would though, as always, value the opinion of Tony M or Paul of Thai Visa Express.

[Tony M]

The letter doesn't really cover the most difficult aspect of getting visas for children, and that is the matter of "sole responsibility". You have mentioned that money is provided for the children, but sole responsibility encompasses more than just financial support. You should include the number of times you have visited your children since you went to UK, and provide photos to confirm it, if you have them. Say how often you have visited them ( I know that information is in your passport, but still include it in the letter as it goes towards evidencing that you have contact with them).

You do mention that you make the major decisions in the childrens' lives, but you should expand on that, and say exactly what you do, and what decisions you have made. Provide evidence if you can.

You say that your mother is getting old, and has health problems. Provide evidence of that.

Say who the money from UK is sent to - is it in the childrens' name, or your mother's name. If it is sent to someone else, then you will need to explain that.

You must remember that just because you say something ( for instance that you make all major decisions) doesn't mean the ECO will just accept that as the truth. If you have evidence, then provide it.

Detail how you maintain contact with the children, and provide evidence of that contact - phone records, emails, Skype records, etc.

Have you ever applied for visas for your children to visit you in the UK ? If not, then explain why not.

Have a look at the attachment here. It describes some of the requirements for establishing sole responsibility.

children_annex_m.pdf

Edited November 12, 2014 by Tony M

[bobrussell]

On the face of it you have serious and compelling family or other reasons to support the granting of a visa based on the welfare of the children but as (expertly!) summarised above this has to be demonstrated.

An infirm 78yr old carer should be a good start but you need to make it clear that there are no other suitable options such as close family to continue their care.

The key thing is to provide evidence to support all the claims in the letter. Who chooses (and pays?) for the school for example? Where do school reports go? Simple things such as one off payments for dentists can be useful. They support active involvement in child care on a daily basis if not proving sole responsibility.

You do need to cover the question why the children did not come over with you at the time of initial settlement and the excuse that you were waiting for ILR seems a bit weak. Everything in the letter needs to be backed up with paper evidence!

Push the interests of the children as the key reason for settlement at this stage (my opinion only!) but as these can be tricky applications, I would get expert advice on putting the application together, even if it costs good money.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

On the face of it you have serious and compelling family or other reasons to support the granting of a visa based on the welfare of the children but as (expertly!) summarised above this has to be demonstrated.

An infirm 78yr old carer should be a good start but you need to make it clear that there are no other suitable options such as close family to continue their care.

The key thing is to provide evidence to support all the claims in the letter. Who chooses (and pays?) for the school for example? Where do school reports go? Simple things such as one off payments for dentists can be useful. They support active involvement in child care on a daily basis if not proving sole responsibility.

You do need to cover the question why the children did not come over with you at the time of initial settlement and the excuse that you were waiting for ILR seems a bit weak. Everything in the letter needs to be backed up with paper evidence!

Push the interests of the children as the key reason for settlement at this stage (my opinion only!) but as these can be tricky applications, I would get expert advice on putting the application together, even if it costs good money.

You are right, bobrussell, about pushing the interests of the children. There are appeal determinations that say that the primary consideration in child settlement applications must be the best interests of the children, and this is often ignored by ECO's when processing applications. One such appeal determination says the starting point in any child settlement application must be that the best interests of a child is be to be with a parent. If there is only one parent on the scene, then the ECO, in my opinion, should be looking towards issuing a visa for the child to be with that parent, not trying to find reasons to keep mother and child apart. Obviously, this cannot be a "one size fits all", and that is why the sole responsibility aspect of the application must be emphasised.

One other point, although there are many, in these applications, is that the children here are 13 and 15. They are old enough to have an opinion on who they want to live with, and where, and what they consider their best interests to be. You can suggest, in the supporting letter, that the ECO interviews the applicants, either in person or by phone. If the ECO doesn't do this, and still refuses the application, then you would probably have some reasonable grounds for appeal.

Tony M

[krisb]

It's fantastic having the folk from Thai Visa Express here with us.

We really appreciate the way they think.

Clive your letter sounds great to me. Best of luck to your family. Family needs to be together.

Drop back and let us know how it goes mate.

(Im in Aus but clicked this thread by mistake. Had a read anyway)

All the best.

[ulike]

Letter is not very good - no legal references just about your life. Take proper legal advice from a UK based solicitor/silk and have them write a letter.

[TCA]

Letter is not very good - no legal references just about your life. Take proper legal advice from a UK based solicitor/silk and have them write a letter.

So you've said already, about 4 months ago. This a letter from the sponsor, so there is no need to get solicitors or immigration lawyers involved as long as the points made by ThaiVisaExpress and Tony M are addressed. I suspect by this time the application will have been submitted and processed anyway.