UK Visit Visa Easy or not?

[gaz2011]

I have been living married to my Thai wife for eight years, after our marriage she lived with me in England for 4 years on a Spousal Visa.

For the last four years we have been living in Thailand. She runs a small shop in our village which generates enough income to pay our bills but not a lot more.

We have a two year old daughter now that we would like to take to the UK for a 3-4 week family holiday. My daughter is entitled to a UK passport but my wife will need a Visit Visa. We don't have much in the way of savings and the only money I have in Thailand is 400,000 in a Thai bank baht for my 12 month Visa extension.

We plan to stay with family whilst in the UK.

My question is, will this be relatively easy process or a bit of a headache?

Thanks in advance

Gaz

[theoldgit]

She will need to satisfy the ECO that the visit is genuine, affordable and that at the conclusion of the visit she will return to Thailand.

I'm not saying that it will be easy, but if you can satisfy the ECO that you both have a life in Thailand, then it should be successful.

You need to demonstrate how the trip will be funded, providing evidence, what you will be doing in the UK and where you will staying, again providing evidence.

The most important thing is the reason to return, so evidence of your ties to Thailand, including her business, also mention who will be taking care of the business whilst you are on holiday.

Plenty of threads from potential visa applicants and you might find this pinned topic helpful http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/446602-uk-visit-visa-basics/

Do come back if you have any specific questions or need any clarification.

[NanLaew]

I think that she will still need to provide good evidence of her need to return to Thailand as the main criteria. The OP doesn't specify if his 12-month Thai visa extension is from marriage or retired status. Either way, if the OP indicates that he will be returning to Thailand as well, that may leverage things. If the daughter was older, her schooling in Thailand could also be reason for all to return. But if the evidence submitted indicates a strong, sustainable married, family life in Thailand with a commitment for all travelers to return there, I would think that the UK Visit visa application will be a success.

Good luck.

Edited May 1, 2015 by NanLaew

[gaz2011]

Hi, Thanks for the replies.

For your info, my 12 month Thai Visa is from marriage. My wife's family will be looking after the shop whilst we are away. For the duration of our stay in the UK we will be staying at my parents house.

I have had a house built in the village where we now live which is close to the shop.

The trip will be funded by myself for the flights and by my parents for accommodation.

Would you suggest that our chances of success will be higher once our daughter starts school?

Thanks again

[durhamboy]

I'm not sure if your daughter starting school in Thailand gives you a better chance. There are 2 ways the ECO may look at it. He/she may think it is a good reason to return or alternatively may think that you might stay permanently in the UK to try and get free schooling.

I agree with all the other posts here - the key question is showing a strong reason to return. It is easy for people to think that because they have been married for many years and have a stable family life then a tourist visa is easy to get. It should be but there are unfortunately many examples of refusal mainly for not showing a good enough reason to return. Not so long ago a guy in this forum wanted to take his Thai wife who was married to him for 17 years to UK for a family wedding. Visa refused!

[bobrussell]

Provide evidence that the trip has a purpose, is affordable and that there are good reasons for your wife to return and the visa should be easy IMO.

Property and employment are big pluses and combined with evidence that you both have a settled life in Thailand then an ECO should look favorably as your wife should be considered low risk for overstaying. The length of marriage is evidence of an ongoing relationship but does nothing for 'reasons to return' so may not be enough for an ECO on its own! Of course not all decisions are as logical as we would hope!

Just make sure this information is clearly set out in the application.

[Seekingasylum]

The biggest hurdle to be surmounted is satisfying the ECO that the application for a visit visa is not a means of gaining entry by circumventing the settlement rules, the requirements of which you may not be able to meet.

The application should therefore incorporate a well reasoned submission detailing the strength of your settlement in Thailand and dismissing any notion that your family may wish to return to the UK for settlement. Proving a negative is always a difficult proposition but the issue should be addressed nonetheless.

[MaprangHolmes]

What do you do in Thailand? are you working? as if you are working and have a work permit you can be your wife's reason to return to Thailand I would assume that the house is in your wife's name that will also help to so a reason to return. If your wife is running a shop that may help but as has been said your main hurdle is proving that you wife will return add a line like (My wife will return to Thailand at the end of our visit as she would not want to jeopardise any future family visit visa applications) applying for a visa to visit the UK is not very hard you just have to collect all of the evidence and put it all together and that is about it.

[Seekingasylum]

I think from his OP the chap is living in a village and not deriving any income. He may have savings in the UK but it is not clear whether these are significant. Frankly, if it is right that he is in fact merely subsisting in Thailand then I fear he is facing an uphill struggle. He needs some professional advice and I would think it prudent of him to at least have a consultation with a suitably qualified person before he embarks upon the application.

[gaz2011]

Reading all the advice given on this forum I think it's apparent that a Visit Visa for my wife will be almost impossible in my currant financial situation. I think I was a bit naïve thinking that her previous history of living in the UK would help. But it has become clear now that our chances of success will be greatly increased once I am retired and receiving my pension.

What a sad state of affairs that my wife of good character who lived and worked in the UK for four years paying tax and NI would almost have to beg and hope that the ECO was is a good mood to be allowed back into the UK to visit family with her husband and daughter. The saddest part of all this is that my parents who are too old to come to Thailand will miss out on spending time with their granddaughter.

Fingers crossed for early retirement.

[Seekingasylum]

In some respects it could be reasoned that it is precisely because your wife has already settled in the UK previously with you she would be all the more likely to do so again if the circumstances dictated.

The point is, the reason for your trip is simply to bond your child with the grandparents etc. This is quite natural of course but it does come with an expense that the ECO may conclude is disproportionate to your current financial standing.

The entire process is decided on the balance of probability i.e. that a proposition is more likely than not. The thing is, there is now no appeal( except HR?) available in which an adverse decision may be challenged and in practice this means that ECOs are now taking a more bullish stance on borderline cases and refusing them. There is an administrative review process of sorts but this is limited and scarcely worth the bother unless the decision was evidently founded upon a mistake.

However, I don't think you should take a completely pessimistic view without first getting some professional advice. The sponsor here, Thai Visa Express, has a sound chap who also posts here regularly, Tony M,,whose company could assist.

[Jip99]

Reading all the advice given on this forum I think it's apparent that a Visit Visa for my wife will be almost impossible in my currant financial situation. I think I was a bit naïve thinking that her previous history of living in the UK would help. But it has become clear now that our chances of success will be greatly increased once I am retired and receiving my pension.

What a sad state of affairs that my wife of good character who lived and worked in the UK for four years paying tax and NI would almost have to beg and hope that the ECO was is a good mood to be allowed back into the UK to visit family with her husband and daughter. The saddest part of all this is that my parents who are too old to come to Thailand will miss out on spending time with their granddaughter.

Fingers crossed for early retirement.

I don't think you are reading the answers.

Your daughters schooling situation is irrelevant.

Your financial situation is not that relevant if you can evidence the sponsorship from your parents. However, don't bleat about the system just because you don't have the wherewithal to fund this yourself.

The point is that there is nothing stopping your wife getting a visit visa. You have been told the areas that you must satisfy the authorities on (it is nothing to do with the mood of the ECO - they will grant the visa if they have justification to do so). Re-read the Old Gits posts and follow his advice and you should be OK.

[7by7]

I think from his OP the chap is living in a village and not deriving any income. He may have savings in the UK but it is not clear whether these are significant. Frankly, if it is right that he is in fact merely subsisting in Thailand then I fear he is facing an uphill struggle. He needs some professional advice and I would think it prudent of him to at least have a consultation with a suitably qualified person before he embarks upon the application.

With respect, it is not the OP who is applying; it is his wife. It is her circumstances which the ECO should assess.

She has a business, which indicates a reason to return.

His circumstances can help, if he is living legally in Thailand.

If neither of them had sufficient income in Thailand, then the ECO could easily suspect the intention is to settle in the UK; but, although he says the income from the business is not great, it is there and he does have some savings.

Gaz, in her application your wife needs to show:-

1. A genuine reason for her to visit; which she has, visiting your family.
2. That the costs of the visit will be met. You say you are paying for the flights, but what about day to day expenses whilst in the UK? Your parents can contribute toward these, but if so they need to confirm this in writing and provide evidence of their ability to so do.
3. That the three of you will have adequate accommodation during the visit. Your parents should also write to confirm the offer of accommodation and describe the property and who else lives there to show that there is room for the three of you.
4. That she will leave the UK when, or before, her visa expires. She has her business. Does she own any other property? You can help towards this by showing that you are legally resident in Thailand with a photocopy, certified as correct by you, of your passport.

I do agree, though, that she, or you in your sponsor's letter, should explain why you left the UK after she had obtained ILR and emphasise that this is a visit only and there is no intention to try and settle in the UK again.

If you do wish to seek the advice of a visa agent, be careful and read the pinned topic on visa agents first.

I know a few agents you should most definitely avoid, some of them run by Brits; but unfortunately the draconian Thai defamation laws and hence the forum rules prevent them from being named here.

There are, of course, many competent and professional visa agents in Thailand, but the only agency I know enough about to confidently recommend is, like Seekingasylum, Thai Visa Express.