I would be grateful if somebody can give advice on taking a Thai wife to countries other than Thailand or one's home country. My wife has a UK permanent residency visa in her Thai passport and lives with me in the UK for most of the year. Since we were married we have taken our holidays in, and made work-related trips to, Thailand. However, I sometimes also make trips to other countries, and have been considering tacking on a holiday with my wife. I will be travelling to Canada in a few months time and wondered what would be involved in gaining entry for my wife (with me and our son) for a 2 week period. It would also be worth knowing how much more complicated such a trip would be if I wanted to cross the border into the USA. In addition I would welcome information on EC countries. My son has a UK passport and is no problem.

I would be grateful if somebody can give advice on taking a Thai wife to countries other than Thailand or one's home country. My wife has a UK permanent residency visa in her Thai passport and lives with me in the UK for most of the year. Since we were married we have taken our holidays in, and made work-related trips to, Thailand. However, I sometimes also make trips to other countries, and have been considering tacking on a holiday with my wife. I will be travelling to Canada in a few months time and wondered what would be involved in gaining entry for my wife (with me and our son) for a 2 week period. It would also be worth knowing how much more complicated such a trip would be if I wanted to cross the border into the USA. In addition I would welcome information on EC countries. My son has a UK passport and is no problem.

UK is not a member of the shengan (not sure of spelling) agreement that allows free travel between member states so she will have to apply for a visa to travel to any european country.

Im not sure about Canada but she won't be allowed to enter with her UK entry visa.

She can go to Switzerland and get a visa on arrival.For other EU countries she will require a schengen visa

See also Qantas' IATA database. For example, visas are currently required for Canada, USA and Schengen countries. UK residents, with duration of six months or over, do not require Swiss visas.

Once your wife has been resident in the UK for 3 years she can apply for British citizenship. This will give her a British passport so she can travel freely in Europe and elsewhere, same as any other British passport holder.

See Advice about nationality.

Both the UK and Thailand allow dual nationality, so becoming a British citizen will not effect her Thai nationality nor her rights as a Thai citizen in any way.

Thanks for the useful information and links. It seems quite complicated. I was surprised to see that Switzerland is one of the most permissive European countries!

My wife had US residence and was able to travel to Switzerland without obtaining a visa in advance. She wanted to go to France on that trip so we had to get a visa which allowed her to go to any of the Schengen countries. She also traveled to Mexico before she had US residence, so she needed a visa for that trip.

If you want to come to the US from Canada, I bet she will need a US visa in advance. I don't know for certain, but I suggest you find out before to go.

If you want to come to the US from Canada, I bet she will need a US visa in advance. I don't know for certain, but I suggest you find out before to go.

I know for a fact that a couple of years ago you could only apply for a US visa in your country of residence. I can't see why that would have changed.

Can't offer any advice for Canada, but for europe this lik will provide all the info you need.

http://www.eurovisa.info/SchengenCountries.htm

Good luck

I would be grateful if somebody can give advice on taking a Thai wife to countries other than Thailand or one's home country. My wife has a UK permanent residency visa in her Thai passport and lives with me in the UK for most of the year. Since we were married we have taken our holidays in, and made work-related trips to, Thailand. However, I sometimes also make trips to other countries, and have been considering tacking on a holiday with my wife. I will be travelling to Canada in a few months time and wondered what would be involved in gaining entry for my wife (with me and our son) for a 2 week period. It would also be worth knowing how much more complicated such a trip would be if I wanted to cross the border into the USA. In addition I would welcome information on EC countries. My son has a UK passport and is no problem.

My wife is Thai with a valid Thai passport and Im British with valid British passport and we reside in Thailand all year round.

Last year we applied for a US visa for my wife here in Bangkok and you can download the application form from the US consulate in Bangkok website ... You will need to check whether your wife can apply at the US consulate in the UK as she holds a UK residency visa but do not be surprised if she is required to apply from Thailand.

The consulate will require many items from your wife but the more things you show the better .. you cant overkill this enough ... letters of invitation from friends/relatives in the US (and Canada for the Canada visa) .. I was fortunate to have a sister and brother in law temporarily working in the US who sent us invitation letters and copies of their valid passports and green cards but the more letters of invitation from your intended countries of visitation you can get the better.

Employment contract and current salary of your spouse will be required ... the longer she has had employment with a single company the better it looks.

I provided my bank balance as well as my employment details and Thai work permit details for good measure.

Your marriage certificate and of course your wifes Thai ID card/details and passport.

Copies of the provisional return flight ticket (just the printout) so return dates could be clearly seen.

Valid travel insurance for us both for the intended period of travel.

I would recommend putting all your forms together in a plastic binder with index as this looks very professional and means you are serious.

In Thailand there is a 4000Baht non refundable fee to pay and this must be paid in advance at any post office where you receive a voucher that must be presented with your application at the consulate .. you cannot purchase this at the consulate itself, it must be purchased in advance.

Once you have given your application there will be a waiting period for the interview and for us it was 6 weeks but this varies depending on the time of year ... give yourselves time.

The interview was conducted at the counter on the given day and we both attended and were given a choice .. a Thai or an English speaking interview .. as the Thai speaking interview waiting list was overwelming we opted for the English speaking interview and were chatting within 15 minutes.

The guy who interviewed my wife was very friendly and after asking my wifes name and scanning her thumb spent most of the time chatting to me .... take YOUR actual bank book, work permit, passport etc with you as well as I showed these (unprompted) at the interview on top of the original application paperwork that they already had ... it really looks like you mean business and they will like this.

After a very pleasant chat of about 10 minutes the interview was ended and my wife returned 2 days later to pick up her passport with a 10 year multi entry holiday visa in it ...

I would imagine that the Canadian holiday visa is very similar in application and advise anyone applying for visas the more that you can show the better .. go above and beyond the call of duty and present your application in a professional manner.

The more serious you and your wife are presented the easier the visa process.

I must stress that my experience is limted the the US consulate in Bangkok who were very helpful and I have no experience with the Canadian embassy.

I hope this info helps and good luck with your applications.....

I would be grateful if somebody can give advice on taking a Thai wife to countries other than Thailand or one's home country. My wife has a UK permanent residency visa in her Thai passport and lives with me in the UK for most of the year. Since we were married we have taken our holidays in, and made work-related trips to, Thailand. However, I sometimes also make trips to other countries, and have been considering tacking on a holiday with my wife. I will be travelling to Canada in a few months time and wondered what would be involved in gaining entry for my wife (with me and our son) for a 2 week period. It would also be worth knowing how much more complicated such a trip would be if I wanted to cross the border into the USA. In addition I would welcome information on EC countries. My son has a UK passport and is no problem.

My wife is Thai with a valid Thai passport and Im British with valid British passport and we reside in Thailand all year round.

Last year we applied for a US visa for my wife here in Bangkok and you can download the application form from the US consulate in Bangkok website ... You will need to check whether your wife can apply at the US consulate in the UK as she holds a UK residency visa but do not be surprised if she is required to apply from Thailand.

The consulate will require many items from your wife but the more things you show the better .. you cant overkill this enough ... letters of invitation from friends/relatives in the US (and Canada for the Canada visa) .. I was fortunate to have a sister and brother in law temporarily working in the US who sent us invitation letters and copies of their valid passports and green cards but the more letters of invitation from your intended countries of visitation you can get the better.

Employment contract and current salary of your spouse will be required ... the longer she has had employment with a single company the better it looks.

I provided my bank balance as well as my employment details and Thai work permit details for good measure.

Your marriage certificate and of course your wifes Thai ID card/details and passport.

Copies of the provisional return flight ticket (just the printout) so return dates could be clearly seen.

Valid travel insurance for us both for the intended period of travel.

I would recommend putting all your forms together in a plastic binder with index as this looks very professional and means you are serious.

In Thailand there is a 4000Baht non refundable fee to pay and this must be paid in advance at any post office where you receive a voucher that must be presented with your application at the consulate .. you cannot purchase this at the consulate itself, it must be purchased in advance.

Once you have given your application there will be a waiting period for the interview and for us it was 6 weeks but this varies depending on the time of year ... give yourselves time.

The interview was conducted at the counter on the given day and we both attended and were given a choice .. a Thai or an English speaking interview .. as the Thai speaking interview waiting list was overwelming we opted for the English speaking interview and were chatting within 15 minutes.

The guy who interviewed my wife was very friendly and after asking my wifes name and scanning her thumb spent most of the time chatting to me .... take YOUR actual bank book, work permit, passport etc with you as well as I showed these (unprompted) at the interview on top of the original application paperwork that they already had ... it really looks like you mean business and they will like this.

After a very pleasant chat of about 10 minutes the interview was ended and my wife returned 2 days later to pick up her passport with a 10 year multi entry holiday visa in it ...

I would imagine that the Canadian holiday visa is very similar in application and advise anyone applying for visas the more that you can show the better .. go above and beyond the call of duty and present your application in a professional manner.

The more serious you and your wife are presented the easier the visa process.

I must stress that my experience is limted the the US consulate in Bangkok who were very helpful and I have no experience with the Canadian embassy.

I hope this info helps and good luck with your applications.....

The above is very good advice about applying for US visa. As your wife has legal residency in the UK, she will be able to apply there. She will not be able to apply while visiting Canada. You will probably find the process much less painful in the UK then in Thailand. She will have to go to an interview (everyone does) I would be amazed if she is refused at a US consulate in the UK. They are only concerned that she return and that should be easy to prove. She will probably get a 10 year visa..

TH

Your wife will require a Visa from the Canada Embassy! She will be granted it quickly as she holds a british visa! Good luck Canada's Embassy can be tough

I would be grateful if somebody can give advice on taking a Thai wife to countries other than Thailand or one's home country. My wife has a UK permanent residency visa in her Thai passport and lives with me in the UK for most of the year. Since we were married we have taken our holidays in, and made work-related trips to, Thailand. However, I sometimes also make trips to other countries, and have been considering tacking on a holiday with my wife. I will be travelling to Canada in a few months time and wondered what would be involved in gaining entry for my wife (with me and our son) for a 2 week period. It would also be worth knowing how much more complicated such a trip would be if I wanted to cross the border into the USA. In addition I would welcome information on EC countries. My son has a UK passport and is no problem.