UK Settlement Visa for Thai Wife

[Vice]

Hello,

 

I am in the process of applying for a settlement visa for my Thai wife and I would just like to check if I have all the right documents. We are married and we have a Thai/British daughter. My wife will be applying based on my salary alone (salaried employment category A). We currently all live in Thailand & I have confirmation I will continue to be employed by the UK company with the same salary when we move to the UK. I was paid GBP whilst living in Thailand. I have looked through various other posts on this forum about the required documents but just wanted to get confirmation/advice on some points. Here is my checklist of documents:

 

• Visa application form
• Appendix 2 - Financial Requirement Form

 

Applicants Evidence

• Copy of Passport & current visit visa (Original will be taken)
• Copy of previous passport & visit visas (Original will be taken)
• Copy of Thai ID card
• Copy of TB Test Certificate (Original will be taken)
• Copy of English Language Certificate IELTS A1 (Original will be taken)
• Copy of Marriage Certificate/registration & translation (Originals will be taken) - Are both the certificate and registration required?
• Copy of birth certificate (Original will be taken)
• Copy of name change (both forename and surname) (Originals will be taken) - Are these required for settlement visa?
• 6 months bank statements - I have read elsewhere that these are not required as only the sponsors salary is taken into account?

 

Sponsors Evidence

• Letter from Sponsor
• Copy of Passport (Original will be taken)
• 6 months bank statements - orginals
• 6 months payslips
• Letter from employer confirming relocation
• Copy of contract - Is this required?

 

Supporting Evidence

• Letter from sponsor's parents confirming accommodation
• Utility bill from property
• Council tax bill from property
• Daughter's UK passport (original will be taken) - Is this required?
• Daughter's birth certificate & translation (original will be taken) - Are these required?
• Letter from translation company

 

If you could give advice on the points I've noted in blue or anything else that would be great. She has already completed the English test and TB test, so just going through the required documents before we submit the application & pay!

Thanks in advance

[7by7]

When you say " original will be taken" do you mean she will take the original away with her and leave the copy? If so this is wrong. She needs to present original documents, except for your passport where a self certified copy is fine as the ECOs are well aware that you are supposed to have the original on your person at all times in Thailand.

 

You can also supply copies of documents if you wish for the visa section to keep; although they should take copies themselves of anything they wish to keep and return the originals with the decision; although not needed for her passport as this will definitely be returned.

 

Applicants Evidence

• Copy of Passport & current visit visa. Not needed as they will have the original and will definitely return the original.
• Copy of previous passport & visit visas Again, she needs to supply the original, not a copy.
• Copy of Thai ID card Not needed, her passport will identify her. Although VFS may want to see the original when she submits her application as confirmation of her ID.
• Copy of TB Test Certificate. They will want the original, though she can submit a copy if she wishes as well.
• Copy of English Language Certificate IELTS A1. Again, she must submit the original.
• Copy of Marriage Certificate/registration & translation (Originals will be taken) - Are both the certificate and registration required? Again; original marriage certificate plus a certified translation if not in English. Forgive my ignorance; what is the difference between the certificate and the registration?

• Copy of birth certificate.  Again, original; plus a certified translation, which will be useful to have once in the UK as well.

• Copy of name change (both forename and surname) (Originals will be taken) - Are these required for settlement visa? Yes, this is required to show whey the name on her passport is different to the name on her birth certificate. Translation also required.
• 6 months bank statements - I have read elsewhere that these are not required as only the sponsors salary is taken into account? It depends on how the financial requirement is being met. If meeting it through income, only the sponsor's (your) income can be used. so her bank details and statements are not required. If using her cash savings for all or part of it then her savings can be used, in which case her bank statements are required.

 

Sponsors Evidence

• Letter from Sponsor.Yes.
• Copy of Passport Yes
• 6 months bank statements - orginals    
• 6 months payslips
• Letter from employer confirming relocation
• Copy of contract - Is this required?

The evidence required to show the financial requirement is met depends on how you are meeting it. See the relevant to you parts of the financial requirement appendix and the immigration rules Appendix FM-SE: family members specified evidence.

 

Check what is required and make sure you supply it. ECOs have little, if any, discretion on this matter and if a document is missing they often have no choice other than to refuse. See 3.4. Evidential flexibility in the financial requirement appendix.

 

Supporting Evidence

• Letter from sponsor's parents confirming accommodation. Yes, describing the property and who else lives there to show there is at least one room for the exclusive use of you and your wife and another for your daughter; unless she is an infant in which case she can share with you.
• Utility bill from property Not essential as you have the letter from your parents.
• Council tax bill from property Not essential as you have the letter from your parents.
• Daughter's UK passport (original will be taken) - Is this required? Not required.
• Daughter's birth certificate & translation (original will be taken) - Are these required? Not required. But the translation will probably be required at some stage in the UK, so keep it.
• Letter from translation company. Saying what?   Each translated document must contain:  
• confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document  
• the date of the translation  
• the translator's full name and signature  
• the translator's contact details

You may find the Guide to supporting documents- settlement useful. But remember, many of the items there, such as evidence of accommodation, are suggestions; others depend upon the applicant and sponsor's circumstances: you don't need them all.

[Vice]

Hi 7by7,

 

Many thanks for your advice. That has cleared a few things up. I just wanted to make sure everything was in order before we go to Trendy. When I said 'original will be taken' I did mean that my wife will hand over the original document and will be included in the application.

 

A few more comments below:

15 hours ago, 7by7 said:

Copy of Marriage Certificate/registration & translation (Originals will be taken) - Are both the certificate and registration required? Again; original marriage certificate plus a certified translation if not in English. Forgive my ignorance; what is the difference between the certificate and the registration?

 The certificate is one page showing our names, date of marriage & place. The registration is 3 pages & includes same information along with passport numbers, witnesses, signature of registrar. Its called the Khor Ror 2 (translated)

 

15 hours ago, 7by7 said:

6 months bank statements - I have read elsewhere that these are not required as only the sponsors salary is taken into account? It depends on how the financial requirement is being met. If meeting it through income, only the sponsor's (your) income can be used. so her bank details and statements are not required. If using her cash savings for all or part of it then her savings can be used, in which case her bank statements are required.

We have selected to use my income only so her bank statements wont be required. However on the Appendix 2, section 1.25 I have shown we have a joint account for the shared financial responsibilities. I suppose the joint account statements wont be required.

 

15 hours ago, 7by7 said:

• Utility bill from property Not essential as you have the letter from your parents.
• Council tax bill from property Not essential as you have the letter from your parents.

I will include these just in case.

 

15 hours ago, 7by7 said:

• Daughter's UK passport (original will be taken) - Is this required? Not required.
• Daughter's birth certificate & translation (original will be taken) - Are these required? Not required. But the translation will probably be required at some stage in the UK, so keep it.

I will remove these, but I will keep the original translations for use in the UK

 

15 hours ago, 7by7 said:

Letter from translation company. Saying what? 

The letter contains a list of all the translated documents, confirmation of accurate translation & contact details

 

The appointment is next week and I will note exactly what documents she submits and which will be returned. I will be traveling with her to Bangkok & obviously waiting outside Trendy until it's complete.

[7by7]

6 hours ago, Vice said:

The certificate is one page showing our names, date of marriage & place. The registration is 3 pages & includes same information along with passport numbers, witnesses, signature of registrar. Its called the Khor Ror 2 (translated)

If memory serves (it was 17 years ago) we just submitted the actual (blue?) certificate; but it wont hurt to submit the Khor Ror 2 as well.

 

6 hours ago, Vice said:

We have selected to use my income only so her bank statements wont be required. However on the Appendix 2, section 1.25 I have shown we have a joint account for the shared financial responsibilities. I suppose the joint account statements wont be required.

Under the old, pre July 2012, system both income and outgoings were taken into account when assessing if the applicant and sponsor met what was called the adequate maintenance requirement. But one of the ridiculous aspects of the current financial requirement is that financial responsibilities are completely ignored. You could be living well beyond your means and getting deeper and deeper into debt, but as long as you have a gross income of £18,600 p.a. or more you'll meet the requirement!

 

Appendix FM-SE: family members specified evidence includes

Quote

2. In respect of salaried employment in the UK (except where paragraph 9 applies), all of the following evidence must be provided:

 

( c ) Personal bank statements corresponding to the same period(s) as the payslips at paragraph 2( a ), showing that the salary has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

 

3. In respect of salaried employment outside of the UK, evidence should be a reasonable equivalent to that set out in paragraph 2............

So, unless your salary is paid into this account, you don't need it for the financial requirement.

 

However, as it is a joint account, I'd include it as it is further evidence of your relationship.

[Tony M]

See my new topic link "

 

Perhaps you can inform us of how the new process works (or not, as the case may be ) ?

 

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by Tony M

[Vice]

18 hours ago, 7by7 said:

However, as it is a joint account, I'd include it as it is further evidence of your relationship.

I shall include this into our application. Many Thanks

[Vice]

After submitting the application and paying the IHS surcharge and application fee there is another item on the list on the visa4uk website - Register at Commercial Partner. This directs you to the VFS global website, after selecting Thailand it tells you about the new document scanning procedure. There are two important pdf's on this page which I have attached. They are located at this website http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/Thailand/ as Tony M has mentioned in his thread.

 

The scanning process docs includes barcode separators which the applicant has to print out & place on top of each document. This must be done before arriving at the application centre.

scanning-process-docs.pdf

settlement-visa.pdf

[Tony M]

1 hour ago, Vice said:

After submitting the application and paying the IHS surcharge and application fee there is another item on the list on the visa4uk website - Register at Commercial Partner. This directs you to the VFS global website, after selecting Thailand it tells you about the new document scanning procedure. There are two important pdf's on this page which I have attached. They are located at this website http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/Thailand/ as Tony M has mentioned in his thread.

 

The scanning process docs includes barcode separators which the applicant has to print out & place on top of each document. This must be done before arriving at the application centre.

scanning-process-docs.pdf

settlement-visa.pdf

 

It looks like the bar-coding system is only for Points Based System applications. That does not apply for spouse settlement visas.  You don't need to do it.

[Vice]

3 hours ago, Tony M said:

It looks like the bar-coding system is only for Points Based System applications. That does not apply for spouse settlement visas.  You don't need to do it.

Thanks for the clarification Tony.

[Vice]

An update on our application:

 

My wife had the appointment last week and we submitted all the documents & copies as mentioned before. VFS are now using the scanned documents process and they have held onto all the original documents until a decision is made.

My wife paid for the courier and SMS fee and altogether took nearly 2 hours (must be because of all the scanning & settlement visa as well).

Now the waiting game - VFS said it could take 4 months but UKIV say within 60 days. Fingers crossed now

[nontabury]

On April 20, 2017 at 4:34 PM, 7by7 said:

If memory serves (it was 17 years ago) we just submitted the actual (blue?) certificate; but it wont hurt to submit the Khor Ror 2 as well.

 

Under the old, pre July 2012, system both income and outgoings were taken into account when assessing if the applicant and sponsor met what was called the adequate maintenance requirement. But one of the ridiculous aspects of the current financial requirement is that financial responsibilities are completely ignored. You could be living well beyond your means and getting deeper and deeper into debt, but as long as you have a gross income of £18,600 p.a. or more you'll meet the requirement!

 

Appendix FM-SE: family members specified evidence includes

So, unless your salary is paid into this account, you don't need it for the financial requirement.

 

However, as it is a joint account, I'd include it as it is further evidence of your relationship.

Perhaps I'm reading this wrong. In the Family  migration part 8 annex F d/d August 2015 Adequate Maintenace and Accommodation page 8.  They do say that dedt,loans credit cards should not be taken into account, while stating that  housing cost will be deducted from the weekly net income. As you say that's ridiculous.

[7by7]

22 hours ago, nontabury said:

Perhaps I'm reading this wrong. In the Family  migration part 8 annex F d/d August 2015 Adequate Maintenace and Accommodation page 8.  They do say that dedt,loans credit cards should not be taken into account, while stating that  housing cost will be deducted from the weekly net income. As you say that's ridiculous.

When my wife and step daughter applied I had to not only supply evidence of my income and housing costs, but also evidence of all my other fixed, regular outgoings using pay slips and bank statements.. That was in 2000, maybe this changed between then and 2015 when the above IDI was published, maybe the ECOs in Bangkok were being stricter than they needed to be or perhaps my memory fails me!

 

Immigration Directorate Instruction: Family Migration Part 8 Annex F: Adequate Maintenance & Accommodation  does not apply to most applicants.

 

 From the introduction

Quote

Some categories of applicant under Appendix FM are not required to meet the minimum income threshold – partners and dependent children whose sponsor is in receipt of a specified benefit (on the 5-year route to settlement as a partner); parents of child in the UK (on the 5-year route to settlement as a parent); and adult dependent relatives – and have instead to meet a requirement for ‘adequate’ maintenance.
Most applicants applying under Part 8 of the Immigration Rules are also not required to meet the minimum income threshold and have instead to meet a requirement for ‘adequate’ maintenance. These categories are set out in Section 2.1., below

 

In addition, anyone who is on the two year route to settlement because they made their initial visa application prior to 9th July 2012 but, for some reason, has not yet been granted ILR and so is making FLR applications every 2 years still comes under the pre 9th July 2012 rules and so has to show adequate maintenance in those FLR applications.

 

Everyone else following the family route has the meet the Appendix FM section 1.7 financial requirement in one way or another.

 

You will notice that when assessing an applicant using  adequate maintenance that it is the sponsor's (and applicant's if appropriate) net income which is used. But under Appendix FM section 1.7 it's the gross! 

 

Ridiculous; it should be net, after deducting all fixed, regular outgoings, for both.

 

I also believe that the minimum net income required should be the same for both; i.e. the income support level for a British family of the same size.

Edited May 17, 2017 by 7by7

[nontabury]

1 hour ago, 7by7 said:

When my wife and step daughter applied I had to not only supply evidence of my income and housing costs, but also evidence of all my other fixed, regular outgoings using pay slips and bank statements.. That was in 2000, maybe this changed between then and 2015 when the above IDI was published, maybe the ECOs in Bangkok were being stricter than they needed to be or perhaps my memory fails me!

 

Immigration Directorate Instruction: Family Migration Part 8 Annex F: Adequate Maintenance & Accommodation  does not apply to most applicants.

 

 From the introduction

 

In addition, anyone who is on the two year route to settlement because they made their initial visa application prior to 9th July 2012 but, for some reason, has not yet been granted ILR and so is making FLR applications every 2 years still comes under the pre 9th July 2012 rules and so has to show adequate maintenance in those FLR applications.

 

Everyone else following the family route has the meet the Appendix FM section 1.7 financial requirement in one way or another.

 

You will notice that when assessing an applicant using  adequate maintenance that it is the sponsor's (and applicant's if appropriate) net income which is used. But under Appendix FM section 1.7 it's the gross! 

 

Ridiculous; it should be net, after deducting all fixed, regular outgoings, for both.

 

I also believe that the minimum net income required should be the same for both; i.e. the income support level for a British family of the same size.

Thanks for putting me right. It just goes to show how difficult it can be,if your not used to reading official jargon. 

As a matter of interest, I've been trying for a couple of days to register an account with      visa4UK.    Unfortunately without success,although it does say that they are testing a new visa application website, they then direct you to another site, which repeats the testing message. I do not know if this is only effecting Thailand or the rest of the world.

[dhw]

Excellent info, thanks all!

It now being mid 2018, concerning the translated documents needed for a visa,

can anyone confirm that this is all that is needed from the translator??
" Letter from translation company. Saying what?   Each translated document must contain:  
confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document  
the date of the translation  
the translator's full name and signature  
the translator's contact details
"

Can any translator be used, or is there a list of UK gov approved translators in Thailand that must be used?

Thanks!

[timbothaivisa]

On 5/3/2017 at 11:13 AM, Vice said:

Now the waiting game - VFS said it could take 4 months but UKIV say within 60 days. Fingers crossed now

Sorry to raise this thread from the dead, but how long did the visa take to be approved in the end?

[NightSky]

On 10/17/2020 at 12:53 AM, timbothaivisa said:

Sorry to raise this thread from the dead, but how long did the visa take to be approved in the end?

 

@timbothaivisaMy wife received her UK family visa recently taking exactly 27 days in total.

 

Someone else posted exactly the same lead time about a month ago (theirs also took exactly 27 working days excluding weekends).

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by NightSky