U.K visas for thais ?

[nidnoyham 30]

:-/ Will be taking my student daughtere to LOS in November, where she will meet my Thai lady friend. I know they will get on fine, and I know my daughter will ask when my friend will come to England, so we can return her hosptality- she is giving us a tour Pattay/Pitchet/Changmai etc, my kids can't understand why she will have such a problem getting a visa for the U.K. But I know from people I work with that it can be an expensive caper, and not easy. Anyone done it ? All I want is for her to visit for a while. Oh yes I am not able to marry her, even if I wanted to, just a bit of time together in old Blighty.  Cheers

[Guest]

nidnoyham,

 

She should pick up the application forms at the embassy which list the documentation she will require.

 

Basically, her work record and confirmation that her job is being kept for her in LOS counts for everything.  Without this her application is going to be a drawn out affair.  

 

I wouldn't particularly recommend using any of the agencies - none of them can guarantee success.

 

The UK immigration laws are being changed anyway so that girls cannot convert from a tourist visa to leave to remain in UK indefinitely if they get married whilst here.  They will have to return to LOS and apply for residency from there.

 

Regards,

 

Tom

[nidnoyham 30]

Thanks for the info Tom, not sure that she has a lot going for her in the employment department, it sort of varies from working her parents farm and the bar in Pattya, which she has given up this year because of illness - slarosis of the liver. too many Baileys and ice.The problem is, my teenage kids think I just cant be bothered, but that is not tue, I would love to give her a look at dear old England, she is also of course a lovely person, or I Wouldnt be asking these questions. cheers anyway.

[Garno 0]

You can always Sponsor her,  She will need this from You

 

A sponsorship letter

 

Explaining her relationship to you (e.g. friend or relative);

 

Confirming that you are willing to sponsor her and in what way (e.g. travel to and from the UK, all her expenses in the UK, an offer of free accommodation in the UK etc.);

 

Providing evidence such as payslips and bank statements to show that you are in a position to support her

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

Anyone no the price of a passport ?

I know that a Visa costs around £35

[andyagain 0]

basically there are 2 types of visa - one to allow the person to settle permanently, with this visa allowing it's holder either 6 months or a year in the UK within which time the holder  would have to marry their UK partner, or the other, which you seem to be looking at, which is a tourist visa, allowing the holder access into the UK and to stay for x months ( sorry, not too good on the exact numbers of months without checking back ). My girlfriend has just flown back to bkk having spent a little time in the UK with me on a tourist visa.

 

It's not easy to get a tourist visa - yes a letter of sponsorship helps, but what the embassy seemed to be most concerned about was the financial and employment status of the applicant, seemingly wanting to ascertain for starters that the applicant would not do a runner in the UK , the proof being that they were financially solvent in Thailand and had a "proper" or "professional" job to go back to . My girlfriend is finance manager in a large multinational, demonstrated to them ownership of her own condo and car in Thailand and provided written proof of her employment - and they phoned her employer when she was in the embassy to check that she was telling the truth. They also asked a number of personal questions about our relationship , again to attempt to check on its authenticity. A friend of a friend had problems obtaining such a visa and eventually had to hire a lawyer to get it done. Somebody else suggested to me that the easiest way to overcome the visa issue is to get the person in question to sign up for some sort of group tour/visit to the UK.

I think the website for info on visas is www.fco.gov.uk

[nidnoyham 30]

Thanks Andy & Garno for your input, seams a bit bleak for my friend. I can understand the thinking of these immigration people worried about a Thai doing a runner in the U.K. But having said that I do like a challenge, what makes it all seem so ridiculous is that in my local high street on a Saturday, 1 conversation in 5 is in English, my borough has over a 130 languages spoken in it, so naturally I take it as a wee bit of an offence that a friend of mine will be refused a short stay in my country as my guest, the law is an ass, as Oscar Wild would say. Anyway, I will give it a go,if all else fails, there is always the channel tunnel under a frieght train. Oh yes Garno a passport is 1500 baht. Is there anyone who has failed to get a visa ? can you tell me why?

cheers to you all.