living in UK - Wife wants Thai son to visit next year

[silentnine]

Hi All.

living in UK with Thai wife.

she is on the resident visa path and is currently on her 1st 2.5yr option with work permission etc.

we have 1 child (ours) who lives with us , UK passport holder aged 7.

MY wife has a 12 year old son (thai) who lives with the grandparents in Thailand.

we'd like him to come and visit the UK next year for his holidays for 6 weeks or however long the holidays are around the songran break.

my question is what do we need to do. am i missing anything and is there a good chance of the application being approved do you think as theres going to be quite a cost jsut getting the ball rolling.

For his visa application does his mother need to fly back to Thailand from the UK to Thailand to assist with the application and be at the appointment at VFS. i will assume she probably will unless told otherwise .. therefore she will have to book time off work here in the UK and go ..

the plan seems to be as we cannot think of any other way to do it . dates are hypothetical

we prepare visa application online and gather documents.

27th march (Saturday) wife fly's back to Thailand weekend before VFS appointment .. and we will try and get a Monday appointment at VFS to maximize time for processing.

29th March (Monday) VFS appointment

<my wife will now need to wait in Thailand for application as she needs to fly back with her son as we don't want not think it practical for him to fly alone at 12 years old>

is 2 weeks enough ? long is a problem with work ? does she need to be there to apply ?

12th April .. wife and her son fly to UK.

12th June .. I fly to Thailand with her son to escort him back

all sounds nice and easy ..

we have 3 return tickets that need to be booked .. wife to collect him.. him to get here and back . and myself to take him back.

documents i assume we need

wifes passport and her UK biometric card

our 7 year olds UK and Thai passports to support that her thai son is coming to see his brother also

proof of residence

her bank statements and mine also

proof of employment for her .. I'm self employed so are accounts needed ?

his air ticker with dates ? do we have to buy before they approve visa .. as ideal ticket will be day after they approve visa which would mean we can;t get it till they approve it .and if we buy one for 2 weeks after application will it be enough time ?

letter of invitation from me ?

letter from wide saying what ?

letter from thai school confirming student status and dates of school holidays ?

anything i'm not thinking of ?

[silentnine]

one more thing

does the childs Thai farther whom no one has seen or heard of in over 10 years have to found to approve a tourist visa application ?

[7by7]

The most important thing is to make it clear that the boy is only visiting and will return to Thailand at the end of the visit. I suggest in your sponsor's letter that you explain why he is not currently applying to settle in the UK with his mother.

[ChangMaiSausage]

I don't know about the legalities for the child to travel without his fathers consent (if awol). I had to arrange a consent letter for my wife's daughter to travel with me, he had to sign agree etc...

Children travelling alone can be arranged through the airline carrier (most provide this service) the child is taken care of once passing through immigration and escorted to the plane where handover to a steward(ess) will take place, the same then applies at the other end on arrival.

[7by7]

The most important thing is to make it clear that the boy is only visiting and will return to Thailand at the end of the visit. I suggest in your sponsor's letter that you explain why he is not currently applying to settle in the UK with his mother.

Something happened; I typed a lot more than just the above!

Let's try again.

Your wife does not need to travel to Thailand, unless she wants to. His current carer can take him to VFS to submit the hard copy of the application and supporting documents and have his biometrics taken.

As CMS says above, you can arrange for him to be met and escorted at both ends of the flight by airline staff if he is travelling alone.

As his father has not been involved for over 10 years then no input is needed from him; though if your wife has sole custody then the relevant document confirming this may help both with his visa application and with Thai immigration when he leaves Thailand. If not, can her family arrange a Por Kor 14 from their local ampur?

As for the application itself, have a read of:

• UK visit visa basics (some of that is now out of date, but the essentials are the same),
• Standard visitor visa, especially 4. If you're under 18 and
• Visitor: supporting documents guide

[Liquorice]

My mates wife is Chinese living in the UK.

Over the last few years various family members have received Family Visitor Visas, including several for her daughter.

Average is 10 working days for the application to be processed and Visa issued.

However recently they have taken nearer to 3 weeks.

I'd allow 3 weeks and don't book flights that times, dates can't be changed for a small fee.

[7by7]

Family visit visas no longer exist. They, and other categories, have now been combined into the Standard visitor visa.

UKVI recommend allowing three weeks for a visit visa application to be processed; but actual processing times vary according to demand, the busier a post is, the longer each individual application will take to process. My sister in laws first application took 24 hours, her second, at a busier period, took nearly two weeks; both were in Bangkok.

You can apply up to three months in advance; but make sure that you emphasise the date you want the visa to start.

Processing times in China are no indication of those in Thailand.

UKVI recommend not purchasing tickets until after the visa has been issued. Up to you whether you do so or not, but doing so will have no effect on the ECO's decision.

[nongsangcity]

i tried to get my step son a tourist visa for a 4 week holiday about 3 years ago.....we were living in the UK both working full time ( myself and his thai mother my wife)....we had reams of info etc.......the bottom line was.....we realise family ties are important but due to the fact that we were both working who would be taking care of my step son whilst his was in England,,even though i had stated we would be taking our holidays to come and pick him up and his time during his holiday and we would bring him back...but they said they wernt happy with the arrangments and they FEARED FOR HIS SAFTY WHILST IN ENGLAND...so he was refused a tourist visa.....so good luck

[hawksway]

The Boy's age of 12 years may be significant. I believe that Children of Immigrants are not easily accepted for settlement in the UK once they reach the age of 13 and it would seem that perhaps you will be making such an application once he arrives here on a visitors visa.

You may also be interested to know that British Airways is internationally known for its care of young travellers from check-In through to collection at the destination by the Parent's authorised representatives. If such an application has been made to the British Embassy in Bangkok, this could prejudice any visitors visa that you may make.

If all you are doing is a straight forward visitors visa then there should not be any difficulty provided you give the usual undertakings that the young man will return to Thailand; your stated circumstances as you say have changed.

[Basil B]

AFAIK he would have to return to Thailand to make a application for settlement... the main stumbling block will be convincing the ECO that hew will return at the end of his visit.

Also AFAIK most, if not all airlines cater for "Unaccompanied Minors", normally costs more than a standard ticket for a child but could save a lot on the round trips.

[7by7]

The Boy's age of 12 years may be significant. I believe that Children of Immigrants are not easily accepted for settlement in the UK once they reach the age of 13 and it would seem that perhaps you will be making such an application once he arrives here on a visitors visa.

You believe wrongly.

Provided all the criteria are met, the main ones being sole responsibility, financial and accommodation, then there is no reason why any child should not be granted a settlement visa to join their parent(s) in the UK.

The biggest difficulty is not the child's age, but how long child and parent(s) have been separated; the longer this separation the harder it can be to show sole responsibility.

Of course, once someone reaches 18 then in UK law they are an adult and so no longer eligible for settlement as a child and would have to qualify for settlement in their own right or as an adult dependent.

I see nothing in the OP to suggest that silentnine and his wife intend to apply for settlement for the boy once he is in the UK; and as Basil B says above they cannot do so anyway! Standard visit visas cannot be converted to settlement inside the UK. If they do decide that they want the boy to live in the UK with them then he would have to return to Thailand to submit any settlement application.

Of course, the boy could remain illegally after his visit visa has expired; but that would cause all sorts of problems. No access to a school, no access to the NHS, no work when he's old enough and possible refusal of his mother's ILR application (or cancellation of her ILR if his overstay isn't discovered until after she's been granted it) due to her contriving significantly to frustrate the immigration rules on behalf of her son, followed by deportation of them both.

But I'm sure silentnine and his wife's intentions are completely honourable and a visit is all they wish at this stage.

[silentnine]

many thanks for the replies

there is definitely 100% no intent of it being more than a short visit .. no plan on future settlement for him either .. well not at this stage, nor in the foreseeable future. .. once he finishes university in 10 years time or whenever it might be an option , but then he would be applying in his own right.