Group of farang friends were discussing the other evening, is it possible for a Thai wife to apply for a settlement visa from a third party country? We all agreed that the Thai spouse could apply from the Home Country (Thailand) and from within the UK (if the spouse had the correct type of visa to start with, not a standard/tourist visa?). But, let's say the Thai wife and UK citizen hubbie are in, for example, the USA for an extended holiday and decide they want to go direct to UK via the Settlement Visa (which they would qualify for on paper) - can the Thai wife apply via the British Embassy in USA or does she have to go back to Thailand to apply?

None of us could figure out the answer no matter how many beers we drank. An internet search the next day did not give up the answer either.

Anyone on ThaiVisa know the answer?

Moved to Visas to other countries forum.

I think you can apply from a 3rd party country but you may have to live there rather than just be there on holiday.

My previous wife was Filipino and we successfully applied from Hong Kong because we both lived there. This was some years ago now (nearly 20) so the rules may have changed but I think people still do this.

If it is possible to apply from, say, the US when you are on holiday I think there would be a lot of practical problems e.g. having all the paperwork with you to satisfy all the criteria. And if you did have all the paperwork then the ECO might get suspicious that you took it all on holiday with you!

This is from the official guidance :

Applications for other types of entry clearance (except for Tier 5) should be made in your country of residence. ‘Country of residence’ might not be your country of origin and refers to wherever you have permission to live, for example for work or study purposes. Many countries issue overseas nationals with residency cards in these circumstances. If you have permission to stay in a country as a visitor for 6 months, for example, you are not a resident.

This is for visas other than 'Visit" and "EEA Family Permits", so it does include settlement visas.

Tony M

Mrs GH applied for a UK visa while we were living in Singapore - to fo so she needed to meet two conditions:

1. Hold a Singapore residence permit

2. Have lived in Singapore for more than one year.

So official residence + a time of residence rewuirement.

You should check the SPECIFIC requirements with the UK embassy in whichever country the application is made BEFORE you apply.

If you do not meet the tequirements the application shall be rejected and YOU DO NOT get the pplication fee back.

I don't think a holiday visa to another country will allow you to apply.

However some countries such as a Panama and Montenegro are quite relaxed handing out citizenship and passports.

Hence our friend Mr T and his loyalty to the latter.