Holiday Visa for my Thai wife (United Kingdom)

[jimbob333]

I guess this has been asked a million times,but want some advice so here goes....

We are looking at a holiday visa for a two week visit,this would be her first visit to England,to visit my elderly Mother and family

My wife and myself live in Thailand,we have been married for 1 year,I have known her for about 2,

She works as an account manager at a language school (earning about 17,000 baht a month)She has saving's of approx 500,000 baht,has 2 plots of land,and one year left on finance for a car.also she has a mother and father but no children.

I work at the same school,have about 200,000 in Bank,and regular work,my school would confirm I (we) have work to come back to,so my questions are?

1.How long does the process normally take?

2.How long does the visa last once issued?

3.What is the best procedure to follow?

4.What is the cost of the visa etc?

5.Is there a set procedure to follow.

and any other issues or help would be most appreciated by fellow forum members...

thanks in advance Jimbob

[theoldgit]

It's probably not been asked a million times, but not far short.

This useful pinned topic is a good place to start uk-visit-visa-basics also have a trawl through the various topics and I'm sure many of your questions will be answered.

1. The processing takes about two to three weeks from when it's submitted, it could vary according to workload.

2. Depending what visa the applicant applies for, six months from the date the visa is issued is about the norm for a first time applicant, that means the visa holder has to leave the UK on or before the visa expires.

3.There is only one procedure, the visa is applied for online, the applicant goes to the VFS and submits the hard copy of the app and supporting documents, and has the biometric details captured.http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/thailand/

4. Depends on the visa applied for, the fee is payable online in US$ https://visa-fees.homeoffice.gov.uk/y/thailand/usd/visit/general-visitors/all

5. See 3

[Mister Fixit]

You shouldn't apply for a 'holiday' visa which is in reality a tourist visa. The visa people tend to be more sticky with tourist visas.

You should apply for a 'visiting friends and family' visa, which is exactly what you are doing. As you are married, it is perfectly acceptable for you to take your wife to meet her mother in law and other UK relatives. They are much more lenient with this type of visa.

I've had two - one took only 5 working days and the last one 9 working days. I did a very thorough job on the application, indexing it and presenting it well. That must have helped for the visas to have been granted so quickly.

You'll need a sponsor letter from your mother or another relative, but they are dead simple. Best to use a relative with an income as your sponsor.

With your wife's income and assets I should think there will be no problem. The visa people are looking for Thais with a reason to return and as she has a good job and some decent assets, they will be happy.

What they try to stop are the idiots who meet a bar girl, fall in 'love' and try to take her back to the UK, where she will promptly do a runner (probably with as much of the chaps money as she can steal) and disappear into the black economy or get into prostitution in the UK where she can charge more than 20 quid a pop.

If you want any advice, PM me.

BTW, 2 weeks in the UK is really not enough time - you'll be rushed off your feet unless you are only going to stay in one place. I always go for a month, maybe a day or two short of that.

Gives you time to show your wife around a new country etc etc, and you aren't just stuck in one place That would be very boring for a first visit.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Mister Fixit

[theoldgit]

You shouldn't apply for a 'holiday' visa which is in reality a tourist visa. The visa people tend to be more sticky with tourist visas.

You should apply for a 'visiting friends and family' visa, which is exactly what you are doing. As you are married, it is perfectly acceptable for you to take your wife to meet her mother in law and other UK relatives. They are much more lenient with this type of visa.

There is no advantage in applying for a visa for a family visit over that for a general visit, the same burden of proof is required, they are certainly not "much more lenient" in the case of family visits. If the visit is genuine, affordable and it's likely that the applicant will leave the UK at the conclusion of the visit, then a visa will be granted, whatever category is applied for. The advantage in family over general used to be that family used to have the right of appeal in case of refusal, this is no longer the case.

You'll need a sponsor letter from your mother or another relative, but they are dead simple. Best to use a relative with an income as your sponsor.

With your wife's income and assets I should think there will be no problem. The visa people are looking for Thais with a reason to return and as she has a good job and some decent assets, they will be happy.

You wife wont need a letter of sponsorship from your mother, if you are financing the trip then you can provide sponsorship, if she is paying for everything herself, then no sponsorship is required. If you are staying with your mother then she should write a note offering accommodation, if you are staying in hotels then your mother doesn't need to put pen to paper.