Applying For Our Fourth Visitor Visa

[UKJASE]

Hi Guys, my wife and i have been married for 4 years now. We have visited the UK together every year for 3 or 4 weeks, on a visitor visa. We have always stuck to all the rules about departure etc.

We are about to apply for another visitor visa. I have kept notes on our previous applications, and we have always provided loads of documents concerning proof of relationship, finances, reasons for my wife to return etc etc.

Do you think we should provide all these again (it takes a good while to compile everything) or as she has been to the UK a few times before, can we provide a bare minimum of documents, and save ourselves some time putting it all together?

Last year we supplied much of the following, but i still remember worrying that we had not supplied enough....

We gave them:-

1 proof that we have been together for some time - married certificate, photographs, itemised telephone bills, emails, texts etc
2 proof that she has pressing reasons to return to thailand - details of savings, house ownership, job, car ownership, ailing parents to look after.....basically anything that ties her to Thailand.
3 Proof of english language course
4 A letter of invitation written by me, addressed to the UK embassy. Proof of enough funds to support her eg 6 months payslips, my bank statements as proof of any savings and my proof of home ownership etc.
5 Reasons for visiting UK

6 etc etc

Is this now overkill for our situation you think? What do married regular visitors now supply, upon application?

Would married certificate, her passport, application fee and a pretty smile be enough?

[rasg]

Would married certificate, her passport, application fee and a pretty smile be enough?

Sadly no. Surely you have all the info from before? Just update the bank statements and other paperwork. At least you've had some practice and know exactly what is required. Why not apply for a five year or even ten year visit visa?

Edited July 22, 2016 by rasg

[theoldgit]

I think you are going for overkill, your wife needs to satisfy the ECO that her proposed visit is genuine and affordable and that she's likely to return to your home in Thailand. It's not clear if you live in Thailand, though the fact that you visit the UK together, I'm assuming you do.

In response to your suggestions, my thoughts are:

1. Marriage certificate yes, the rest no, the UKVI specifically say not to include photos, so the rest add nothing.

2 Bank accounts, house ownership and job, yes; ailing parent, maybe; car, no, again the UKVI specifically advise against providing details of car ownership.

3 Not necessary at all, adds and proves nothing.

4 If you have a property in the UK and you intend staying there, then of course include it in your covering letter, also include details of your finances.

5 Yes, in a covering letter.

6 If you're living in Thailand provide details of your life here, extension of stay etc. I might say something about your property, if you're not living there, who does?

[brewsterbudgen]

If you visit the UK so regularly, why not apply for a longer visa (5 years) so as to avoid having to apply for each visit separately?

[UKJASE]

If you visit the UK so regularly, why not apply for a longer visa (5 years) so as to avoid having to apply for each visit separately?

Is applying for a 5 year visa just the same as a 6 month one? are we likely to be accepted just as easily as when applying for the 6 month visa?

[rasg]

Is applying for a 5 year visa just the same as a 6 month one? are we likely to be accepted just as easily as when applying for the 6 month visa?W

With your visit visa record I don't think you'd have a problem at all. My, then GF , managed to get a three year visit visa after a single trip to the UK despite us only knowing one another for a matter of months.

[bobrussell]

There is no particular reason why a longer visa should be a problem especially if you can demonstrate you live in Thailand. The only risk is the cost of the longer term visa is significantly higher than a six month one so if refused, you have lost more!

Always treat each application as seriously as previous ones. Without all the right documents a visa is likely to be refused as it would for anyone else.

[UKJASE]

ok guys - thanks for advice. I have just looked up the cost for a 5 year visa and it is 800 dollars!! I think we will just go for the standard 6 month one, at 117 dollars, as we only visit once a year.

With that in mind, i have reduced our list of documents, to what i think is satisfactory, and will ensure we get the visa.

Do you think, providing this will be enough?

Wife's Passport / Previous Visas
Wife's ID Card
Marriage Certificate
My Finances' Statement
My Sponsorship Letter
Copy of my Passport/visa/entry stamp
Pictures / Chanoot of our house together, in her name (including family on doorstep)
Birth certificates of her two teenage daughters
Completed Application Form / Proof of payment of visa application fee / Passport Photo

That should do us fine wont it? not too much, not too little, just fine......... would you agree?

[theoldgit]

As I said previously the UKVI specifically advise against including photos, the ones you've suggested add nothing to the application.

Likewise the birth certificates of your wife's daughters add nothing.

No need to include the proof of paying for the application, you cannot get to this stage until the fee has been paid.

I understand that the passport photo is no longer required, there have been a number of posts confirming this.

[UKJASE]

As I said previously the UKVI specifically advise against including photos, the ones you've suggested add nothing to the application.

Likewise the birth certificates of your wife's daughters add nothing.

No need to include the proof of paying for the application, you cannot get to this stage until the fee has been paid.

I understand that the passport photo is no longer required, there have been a number of posts confirming this.

Thanks OldGit..... i thought maybe the photo of the house and family, plus birth certificates, plus the chanote, would constitute "reason to return".

Thanks for info re the passport photo, plus application receipt proof. I will discount them.

Have i forgotten anything you can think of please mate?

[theoldgit]

The chanote is fine but not the photos.

The birth certificates prove nothing other than your wife has two teenaged children, and whilst it probably doesn't apply to you, the ECO's will be aware that it's far from unusual for a mother to leave her children with relatives whilst she goes away to make a better life..

The ECO has a very short time to make a decision so don't want, or need, to be overwhelmed with unnecessary evidence, your job is to make the task easier for them.

[rasg]

ok guys - thanks for advice. I have just looked up the cost for a 5 year visa and it is 800 dollars!! I think we will just go for the standard 6 month one, at 117 dollars, as we only visit once a year.

I don't understand your logic. Getting a visit visa and schlepping to and from Bangkok every year is a real pain in the rear. Even if you live next to VFS, gathering the info together and updating it every year it will save loads of time. A ten year VV is 1008 dollars and works out at 100 dollars a year...

I see they have removed the three year option that was there when we applied back in October. That was the same price as two years.

Edited July 23, 2016 by rasg

[theoldgit]

^^^^^^^^^^ And of course a twelve month visa will almost certainly increase in cost every year.

[bobrussell]

I assume you have included bank statements and or other evidence that the visit is affordable. Information in a letter will not be enough.

The main things to include (as a minimum):

Reason for visit, affordability (if staying with family/friends this includes suitability of accommodation) and reasons to return.

We had friends that came to stay and we included brief details of the accommodation availability (which included the kids staying in a caravan in the garden).

If you include photographs perhaps put them in an appendix at the back of the application so they can be ignored by the ECO. In the past they were considered important to demonstrate a relationship but I suspect they became a pain as people documented their entire lives! Treat every application as if it is the first. The ECO will!

Edited July 23, 2016 by bobrussell

[rasg]

Part of the application form means you need to tell them about your previous VV history but it will do no harm to emphasise it in the sponsor letter. Especially if you apply for a longer visa.

[7by7]

ok guys - thanks for advice. I have just looked up the cost for a 5 year visa and it is 800 dollars!! I think we will just go for the standard 6 month one, at 117 dollars, as we only visit once a year.

The current fees set by Parliament are:

• 6 months; £87
• 2 years; £330
• 5 years; £600
• 10 years; £752.

(For reasons never adequately explained by the Home Office, these fees are, as you know, charged in USD at an exchange rate extremely beneficial to the Home Office. When I asked the then Immigration Minister why the Home Office simply offered feeble excuses; the main one being that the company they use to process payments, WorldPay, insisted on it. WorldPay are a British company and have confirmed that they will process payments in most currencies, including, of course, Sterling; the customer chooses which currency they wish to use. But I digress.)

So, as can be seen, a two year visa is definitely not worth the extra fee, and it appears that a 5 year one isn't either.

But, UK visa fees are increased each year, so the 5 year one may work out cheaper in the long run; especially when you include the cost of making the application; travel to Bangkok, getting paperwork together etc..

The 10 year one, though, is definitely worth considering. Not only does it work out cheaper than 10 x 6 month ones, it also gives you, or rather your wife, the flexibility to travel to the UK more often and at short notice without the need to make another application; for example in a family emergency.

See "Long term visit visas (multiple entry)" in Visit visa guidance to ECOs.

Be aware, though, that if for some reason the ECO decides to issue a shorter term than that asked for, there will be no refund of the difference in fees.

But in the circumstances you describe, lives in Thailand with British husband, purpose of application is so she can make annual visits to UK to visit husband's family, previous compliance with three 6 months UK visit visas, then I don't see a problem.

Edited July 23, 2016 by 7by7

[rasg]

I think it's worth £33 a year extra for a five year visa (on an annual basis) as it saves so much money going to and fro from Bangkok and also the hassle of applying each year. Even if I lived in Bangkok I would still think the same. Ten years is of course better value!

Last year I pointed out in my sponsor letter that we applied for a three year visa , rather than two because they were the same price.