Hi all.

My Thai bf of 10 years is asking me about the possibility of getting UK residency (I'm a Brit). Anyone been through the process recently? Got any advice on how to do it, how long it takes, etc.?

Thanks, Rods

Do you live in the UK or Thailand? I think unless you live in the UK, it's not gonna be easy.

A general process is you and your bf first need to register a civil partnership. I believe this can be arranged at the Birtish embassy in Bangkok. Having this certificate, he can apply for an entry clearance to come to the UK and stay for 2 years. After two years, he can further apply for indefinite leave to remain (or permanent residency). So, unless you and your bf plan to settle in the Uk, he is unlikely to get this far.

You're better off asking this question in the visa forum. I'll move it there for you.

If you have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for 2 years or more, and can prove it, then he can apply for an unmarried partners visa. This grants him residency for 2 years and at the end of this period he applies to the Home Office for Indefinite Leave to Remain. However, if you can show that you have been living together for more than 4 years instead of granting him an unmarried partners visa they may grant him Indefinite Leave to Remain instead. This effectively is the same as ILR.

If you have not been living together for at least two years then he can apply for a visa as your prospective civil partner. This visa lasts for 6 months and during that time the two of you need to register your civil partnership. Once you have done so he applies for Further Leave to Remain which lasts for 2 years and then ILR.

See:-

Guidance - Husbands, wives and partners

Diplomatic Service Procedures - Entry clearance Volume 1 - General instructions CHAPTER 13 - SETTLEMENT : FIANCÉ(E)S, PROPOSED CIVIL PARTNERS, SPOUSES, CIVIL PARTNERS, UNMARRIED AND SAME-SEX PARTNERS

DSPs Chapter 9 – The maintenance and accommodation requirements

Tuberculosis Testing

For how to apply etc., see UK Visa Application Centre.

If you have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for 2 years or more, and can prove it, then he can apply for an unmarried partners visa. This grants him residency for 2 years and at the end of this period he applies to the Home Office for Indefinite Leave to Remain. However, if you can show that you have been living together for more than 4 years instead of granting him an unmarried partners visa they may grant him Indefinite Leave to Remain instead. This effectively is the same as ILR.

If you have not been living together for at least two years then he can apply for a visa as your prospective civil partner. This visa lasts for 6 months and during that time the two of you need to register your civil partnership. Once you have done so he applies for Further Leave to Remain which lasts for 2 years and then ILR.

See:-

Guidance - Husbands, wives and partners

Diplomatic Service Procedures - Entry clearance Volume 1 - General instructions CHAPTER 13 - SETTLEMENT : FIANCÉ(E)S, PROPOSED CIVIL PARTNERS, SPOUSES, CIVIL PARTNERS, UNMARRIED AND SAME-SEX PARTNERS

DSPs Chapter 9 – The maintenance and accommodation requirements

Tuberculosis Testing

For how to apply etc., see UK Visa Application Centre.

Thanks loads, GU22. Just to clarify, if you would, please: Do we need to spend 2 years together in UK after obtaining unmarried partners visa and before applying to the Home Office, or can we do it all while in Thailand and through the British Embassy here? We've always lived in Thailand, till now, and the mere thought of spending 2 winters in UK leaves me cold!

Cheers, Rods

The 2-year settlement visa is issued on the basis that the holder will live principally in the UK and indefinite leave will only be granted if the holder can demonstrate that the UK is essentially their home. Having said that, your boyfriend would be free to travel in and out of the UK as many times as he wishes within the currency of his 2-year visa, although any large absences may count against him at the residency stage.

Scouse.

Residency visas are for residents, not frequent visitors. If you and he want him to have the right to reside in the UK then he has to be a resident. Whilst one is allowed to leave and reenter the UK as often as one wishes during the 2 year qualifying period, if he were to spend more time outside the UK than in then it is probable that the ILR application would be refused. Also once he has ILR if he spent a continuous period of 2 years or more outside the UK then the ILR would lapse.

Of course, if you and he were to come to the UK, register your civil partnership and then stay for 3 years, apart from holidays up to a total maximum of 270 days with no more than 90 days in the final year, he could apply for naturalisation as a British citizen. He could then come and go as often and as long for he pleased; the same as any other Brit.

If it is your intention to reside in Thailand and merely visit the UK occasionally/regularly then it is a visit visa that you want. The first application would almost certainly be a basic 6 month one. But once he has built up a positive immigration history it would be possible for him to apply for a longer period, although the British embassy in Bangkok is not issuing 10 year ones at present due to the introduction of biometric passports.

A long term visit visa, 2 or 5 years, doesn't mean that he can stay in the UK for that period, but he can visit as often as he likes provided he spends no more than 6 months in the UK per visit. He may also find that entry was refused if he were to attempt to spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in the UK, unless he could show a genuine reason for doing so.

See:-

Chapter 10 - Visit entry requirements

Guidance for Visitors Visa Applications

If you have been in a relationship for 10 years and have been living together in Thailand, and can prove it, then a visit visa for him should be relatively straightforward.