uk visit visa refusal letter

[simoh1490]

On 20/07/2017 at 8:28 PM, Denim said:

Would that it was. However a 65 year old man trying to take a 22 year old girlfriend with absolutely no financial assets it Thailand will attract the attention of the officer making the decision. Not many young women are seriously physically attracted to a man 40 years their senior. It makes them look like an opportunist gold digger.

This is not my viewpoint but I'm afraid it is a deciding factor, like it or not.

3

Deleted

Edited January 3, 2018 by simoh1490

[rasg]

4 hours ago, darren1971 said:

My gf has been in the UK for 3 months now, we have both enjoyed the time here but she has decided she does not want to live in the UK. So if anyone like me was considering going direct to the settlement route because a visit visa was refused then I suggest you should at least try a second application. As wonderful as we may or may not think it is in the UK it is not for everyone, her main reasons for not wanting to live here are the cold and the food. I'm happy with how things have worked out because we were seriously considering going direct to the settlement route.

Sorry to hear that. She didn't really pick the best time of year for the good weather though. My wife loves the snow!

 

We rarely eat out as her cooking is so good and we have no trouble finding all of the Thai ingredients. My wife likes Brit food too and wants to cook a roast dinner back in her village in Thailand when we go back later this year. She;s been taking lessons from my sister.

[darren1971]

8 hours ago, rasg said:

Sorry to hear that. She didn't really pick the best time of year for the good weather though. My wife loves the snow!

 

We rarely eat out as her cooking is so good and we have no trouble finding all of the Thai ingredients. My wife likes Brit food too and wants to cook a roast dinner back in her village in Thailand when we go back later this year. She;s been taking lessons from my sister.

I imagine there are other reasons but those are the two that are most obvious to me. We can get most Thai foods here but I think it's the culture of food and eating she misses, I do too. On a deeper level I think the whole visa process for a visit and then settlement makes her feel unwelcome here, when I stay in Thailand I actually enjoy feeling like the outsider but again that is not for everyone. I'm grateful for your help because this visit has cleared up a lot of unanswered questions and we could have ended up going through the whole settlement process only for her to be unhappy living here.

[simoh1490]

A couple of things that may interest:

 

Ten years ago I took my female partner to the UK on a visitor visa, she was 27 and I was 55, no problems getting the visa issued despite her not having a penny to her name. What you said about age and money is untrue, UK Immigration looks at financial assets almost exclusively.

 

Two years later we applied for a settlement visa and it was granted and issued, oddly we then changed our mind and decided to stay here in Thailand where we've remained ever since. We've subsequently made trips outside of Thailand to different countries and my partner always takes her old passport with her, the one containing the UK settlement visa, immigration in different countries never ask any questions after they see it. So there's a benefit to having the settlement visa and it certainly expedites tourist visa issuance. 

[brewsterbudgen]

A couple of things that may interest:
 
Ten years ago I took my female partner to the UK on a visitor visa, she was 27 and I was 55, no problems getting the visa issued despite her not having a penny to her name. What you said about age and money is untrue, UK Immigration looks at financial assets almost exclusively.
 
Two years later we applied for a settlement visa and it was granted and issued, oddly we then changed our mind and decided to stay here in Thailand where we've remained ever since. We've subsequently made trips outside of Thailand to different countries and my partner always takes her old passport with her, the one containing the UK settlement visa, immigration in different countries never ask any questions after they see it. So there's a benefit to having the settlement visa and it certainly expedites tourist visa issuance. 

Presumably you cannot use the old visa for travel to the UK?

Sent from my SM-A500F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[simoh1490]

5 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Presumably you cannot use the old visa for travel to the UK?

Sent from my SM-A500F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Correct, the settlement visa has to be used within three months of its issue date, otherwise, it expires.

[paulsingle]

On ‎04‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 1:32 AM, rasg said:

Sorry to hear that. She didn't really pick the best time of year for the good weather though. My wife loves the snow!

 

We rarely eat out as her cooking is so good and we have no trouble finding all of the Thai ingredients. My wife likes Brit food too and wants to cook a roast dinner back in her village in Thailand when we go back later this year. She;s been taking lessons from my sister.

My (now) wife is similar to rasg's wife. She likes the cold, the food and the culture here. We got her visa for 6 month visit - marriage and she arrived in September. Married in October and we're off back to Thailand in Feb. Once there I intend to start the process of applying for a settlement visa and hopefully we'll both come back here together in the summer.

[rasg]

On 1/4/2018 at 9:55 AM, darren1971 said:

I imagine there are other reasons but those are the two that are most obvious to me. We can get most Thai foods here but I think it's the culture of food and eating she misses, I do too. On a deeper level I think the whole visa process for a visit and then settlement makes her feel unwelcome here, when I stay in Thailand I actually enjoy feeling like the outsider but again that is not for everyone. I'm grateful for your help because this visit has cleared up a lot of unanswered questions and we could have ended up going through the whole settlement process only for her to be unhappy living here.

I really think you might be jumping the gun on this. Your GF has been here in the UK for a matter of weeks, she's been here in the worst of the weather and as far as I know you have only been together in a holiday environment. It makes a big difference I think.

 

My wife came here first for 18 weeks and then for eight weeks in Christmas 2016. My family love getting together to eat and it helps that most of them love her and her food. Their eyes light up when I suggest that we meet up and we will have Thai food. One of my sisters adds some English food too and we spend an evening together eating and chatting. My niece's daughters adore her and the feeling is reciprocated. Three big kids together and we go out together quite regularly throughout the year.

 

She never had a visa refused so quite lucky in that sense and has never been made to feel unwelcome apart from her first immigration officer with her first visit visa the day she arrived for the first time...

 

Just my thoughts after almost three years together. I asked her last week if she would like to go back to her family for a few weeks as work is slow and she doesn't want to go without me. Skype and Facebook have helped hugely and she speaks to one or two of her family most days and even helps her nieces with their homework. It works for us.

[phetpeter]

For my wife we applied for a fiance visa which gave her 6 months if we didn't get married within 6 months she had to return, if we married , which we did, she was given a one year extension and then right to abode indefinably, we gave the reason for the visa to see if she and I would be happy together in the UK and the different lifestyle and cultural.I also showed I would support her for the whole trip and flight tickets including a return ticket (flexible) for 6 months. Maybe changed 'cause it was 14 years ago! But I would assume the same rulings, Plenty of emails showing regular contact, and stamps showing my trips over. No Money transactions was shown, as it shows that money is playing a big part in the relationship. ( that was advice from an agent we spoke to for advice) Emails showing contact every day for several months. She was stamp out in one day with interviews for her, she answered everything correctly, knew everything about me and remembered my name in full, and where and what I did for a living and my address she would be living, and that within six months if she wasn't still happy or in love which was the reason for going that she would return!

[7by7]

7 hours ago, phetpeter said:

For my wife we applied for a fiance visa which gave her 6 months

I would not recommend a fiance visa as some sort of 'try it and see' visa nor as a way of by passing the reason to return requirement of a visit visa. It is a type of settlement visa and should only be applied for if the intention is to definitely marry and then settle in the UK after the marriage.

 

The requirements for a fiance visa are essentially the same as for a spouse visa; the main difference being that for a fiance visa the applicant and sponsor have to show that they will marry in the UK within 6 months of receiving the visa whereas for a spouse visa they have to show that they are already married. The fee is also the same, £1464; considerably more than that for a visit visa, £89.

 

7 hours ago, phetpeter said:

Maybe changed 'cause it was 14 years ago!

Definitely changed; as you can see the fees have increased considerably for a start!

 

Also, a fiance visa is still valid for 6 months, during which time the couple must marry. If they haven't then the foreign partner must leave the UK. After the marriage, the foreign partner applies for the extension you mention, called Further Leave to remain. This is now valid for 30 months, at the end of which they apply for another FLR, also valid for 30 months. At the end of this second FLR, 5 years after their marriage, they can apply to remain indefinitely.

 

Of course, for each application the necessary requirements must be met, including the financial one, and the required fee paid.

 

As a fiance visa has an extra application stage, the FLR after marriage, I would not recommend it unless it were impossible for the marriage to take place in the applicant's home country so they could then apply as a spouse. As far as Thailand is concerned, the cost of the British partner flying to Thailand to marry the Thai partner is not much more than the FLR fee (£993 by post or £1583 in person) and can easily be less!

 

However, same sex marriage is illegal in Thailand, so a same sex couple would have to follow the fiance, or proposed civil partner which is basically the same, route to live together in the UK.

 

N.B. The fees quoted are current at the time of writing. As in past years they will probably increase in April at rates in excess of inflation. Note too that fees paid in Thailand are variable because they must, for reasons the Home Office refuse to explain, be paid in US Dollars at a variable exchange rate very favourable to the Home Office.

Edited February 17, 2018 by 7by7
Addendum