Hi Guys,

I need a bit of help and where better to look to than Thailand's expat community.

I've been trawling the forums and as helpful as it all is, I can't quite find a specific answer to my queries. Here's the background...

- One month ago my self and my Thai wife got married at the Bang Rak office in Bangkok

- I then returned to London to study and work cash in hand part time which is where I am now

- My wife is still in Bangkok, earns 40,000 baht a month working as a translator/marketing for an American based health product company

- She lives in our studio room in Bangkok and all the bills are in her name.

- She also owns a piece of land and a motorcycle

- I want to get her to London, UK for a short time, maybe 1-3 months

Should she just apply for a bog standard tourist visa?

If so, should she mention she is married to a British national? Her name on ID card and in her passport have not been changed.

She needs to produce bank statements? How much money needs to be in her account do you think?

If she doesn't mention me at all then is that massively risky? How can they know if she is married if she doesn't mention it?

Could she just potentially just say she is going as a tourist?

Any real life experiences at approaching my issue would be good to hear.

Any advice at all is well appreciated and any feedback any of you can give would really be helping us both a lot.

Thanks in advance, guys.

She should apply for a General Visit Visa.

She needs to satisfy the Entry Clearance Officer that her visit is genuine, affordable and that, on the balance of probability, she will return to Thailand at the conclusion of her visit.

Going through your specific points, she's in employment, how long has she worked there? you say she wants to go on a short holiday to the UK for 1-3 months, hardly a short holiday, what's the purpose of the visit, how long has she worked for the company and are they content to put in writing that the leave of absence is acceptable?

You live in a condo, how long has she been there and is it in her name? a long term lease may help satisfy the ECO that she's a genuine visitor who is likely to return to her home.

Mention and provide evidence of the land and the motorbike, neither are really a pull but might help provide evidence of stability.

Who is paying for the trip? if she's paying for the trip herself then she needs to satisfy the ECO that it's affordable. Yes she needs to provide bank statements and/or a book and evidence of her salary.

If you're paying then you need to satisfy the ECO that it's reasonable for you to do so, and provide evidence of its affordability.

I'm afraid that there's no set sum of the funds she needs available, there are far to many variables, what will she be doing in the UK and where will she be staying.

If she's married then she should say so, don't leave out material facts, outline your plans for the future in a supporting letter, if you intend returning to Thailand, then give a time scale.

The biggest hurdle I think she is going to face is satisfying the ECO that the length of her trip is reasonable, given that she is holding down a job.

You might find the pinned topic helpful http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/446602-uk-visit-visa-basics/ whilst some of the procedures are a little out of date, I'm currently updating it, the basics are all there.

It can be a minefield, if you have not done the UK visa thing before, first time we did this for my wife..... then girlfriend, was to do it all though an agent, OK, not the cheapest, but they where very good and all went smooth, cost around 6K to the agent. After that we now do ourselves.

It's not that hard, you just have to gather a lot of paperwork and info for them to give you a visa....

Good luck.

As well as the pinned topic linked to by theoldgit, see also:

Standard Visitor visa

Visitor: supporting documents guide

One thing I would add to theoldgit's advice is that the letter from her employer should be on company headed paper and can be written in Thai or English.

The ECO may want to telephone the signatory to confirm the contents, especially as she will be having such a long holiday (many Thai employees only get two weeks).

If the letter is written in English then the ECO will expect to speak to the signatory in English and will doubt the letter's authenticity if they are unable to do so.

If the letter is written in Thai they will be happy to speak to the signatory in Thai; but it will help if your wife provides an English translation of the letter as well.

Personally I definitely think you/she should mention that you are married. Could be a game changer if the ECO finds this out subsequent to the application e.g. if he/she telephones your wife or her employers.

Also you may in future want to apply for a spouse settlement visa and there may be problems establishing credibility.

As mentioned above, the key element in a successful visit visa application is demonstrating a good reason to return which you seem to have with your wife's job, lease and assets.

- One month ago my self and my Thai wife got married at the Bang Rak office in Bangkok

- I then returned to London to study and work cash in hand part time which is where I am now

- My wife is still in Bangkok, earns 40,000 baht a month working as a translator/marketing for an American based health product company

- She lives in our studio room in Bangkok and all the bills are in her name.

- She also owns a piece of land and a motorcycle

- I want to get her to London, UK for a short time, maybe 1-3 months

All entirely relevant and something you both want to convey, honestly, in your wife's application.

If so, should she mention she is married to a British national? Her name on ID card and in her passport have not been changed.

If she doesn't mention me at all then is that massively risky? How can they know if she is married if she doesn't mention it?

Could she just potentially just say she is going as a tourist?

Do you both like living dangerously? Are you both willing to risk a longterm immigration ban for your wife, possibly a lifetime ban, though you might not know it now, all for the sake of avoidance?

I've been trawling the forums and as helpful as it all is, I can't quite find a specific answer to my queries.

Here's hoping you've finally found the answer to your specific query and leave suitably informed by the responses.

Not sure the authorities would appreciate being told that you are going to be working 'cash in hand' either. Does not smack of reliability! Unless you can show sufficient income to support her when she is in the UK then she has to demonstrate she can afford to pay for the whole trip.

Under no circumstances lie on any application! It clearly asks on the form about marital status, not something that is easy to make a mistake answering.