British citizen - I want to marry my Thai girlfriend in UK

[Smokielad]

Im a uk citizen. Born in England with British heratige, I'm Caucasian, 28 and have my own source of money.

I'm currently living in Thailand as I met a girl out here and totally fell in love with her. We are very happy together, we have travelled into the country many times to stay with her mother and I am very much welcomed by her whole family.

The issue were facing is this... I want to return to the UK for a few months and then come back to Thailand at our own leisure. We went to see about a UK holiday visa for my girlfriend and the stuff you have to do is pathetic. Seriously, the volume of paperwork the want is staggering and the hoops you have to jump through are a joke.

I don't want to have to do this every time I want to return home to England with my girlfriend. So... Here is my plan. Once we get her holiday visa, we're going to go to England and get married on British soil.

My question is this... If we are married on British soil, does this mean she will get a settlement visa easily? I assume that since she is my wife and she is in England, that she will be entitled to a UK passport?

Is my logic right?

Also, what possible problems do I expect to encounter? I'm I doing anything illegal by marrying my girlfriend when she is on a holiday visa?

Any advise is appreciated, I don't want this to blow up in my face. It's costing me 600 GBP to get her holiday visa sorted out, I don't want to have do do this 4 times a year just to visit my family.

Thanks in advance

[Greenie]

One of the conditions of applying for a general visitor visa is that you do not intend on marrying during the visit, if you intend on marrying you should apply for a marriage visit visa (this does not allow her to remain in the UK to settle, it is just a one off visa issued usually for 6 months, like other visit visas.

I don't understand why the visa is costing you so much money? Visit visas do not cost £600. What paperwork do you think you need to provide?

Your'logic' is not right with regard to marrying and then her being entitled to a British passport. First she would need to apply for a spouse visa with a view to settlement. If you do not intend on living in the UK then you would not qualify for this. If you did intend on living in the UK then she would first need to complete a 'probationary period' in the Uk as your spouse, which until 9th July 2012 is 2 years, after which she can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. From 9th July 2012 this 'probationary period' will increase to 5 years. She would have to acquire ILR first before being able to apply for citizenship as well as meeting other residence requirements.

[MPH80]

Hi,

Point 1: Just because you marry a foreign woman doesn't automatically entitle her to a british passport. She would need to go through 5 years (as of July 9th) of probation, followed by 1 year of indefinite leave to remain (currently) before she'd be entitled to apply for british citizenship.

That entire period would require you to be living in the UK.

Point 2: A holiday visa costs £78 to apply for - why is it costing you £600?

I'm not sure what your end goal is - do you wish to live together in the UK or Thailand?

If the UK - you're better off marrying in Thailand, getting a spouse visa (£860 odd), followed by the further leave after 30 months (£560), followed by the indefinite leave (£991) and then citizenship (£851). All fees are current and liable to go up in the intervening time.

If you intend to arrive in the UK and marry and leave again - then she *should* apply for a marriage visitor visa (same cost as a normal visitor visa). If she arrives at the border and declares her intention to marry - she may get turned back if on a normal visitor visa. However, in practicality, that's unlikely if she just says she's here for a holiday.

Edit: Just seen that Greenie got there first.

[Smokielad]

The visa is costing 600 quid because we're using a middleman company, they say that they can pull all the strings they need to make sure she gets the visa. As far as I'm concerned, it's worth paying just to be certain that it does not fall through.

So your advice is what?

Should we just get married in Thailand and apply for a spouse visa? That way we will at least get a 2 year visa to travel back and forth to Thailand.

Thanks for your reply.

[MPH80]

Let's be clear - where do you intend to reside?

Oh - and your middleman company 'pulling strings' can't happen. They fill out the form and submit it just like anyone else - then it goes into the central pile to get approved/declined.

You can do the work yourself.

[Greenie]

£600 to spend on a 'middleman' for a visit visa is a complete waste of money.

The spouse visa is a visa for someone who intends to settle in the UK. If it is used to visit then the holder can be refused entry.

If your intention is to visit, then apply for a visit visa. there is no need to a middleman as long as you can show she has sufficient ties in her home country, sufficient resources to fund the trip and intends to return home at the end of the visit. If your plan is to remain living in Thaliand for the timebeing then the settlement visa is not for you. If you wish she could apply for a longer term visit visa (e.g. 1/2/5/10 years) which allows her to visit the UK for 6 months in a 12 month period and means she doesn't have to keep applying everytime, but it is not advisable to apply for this in the first instance if she doesn't have a history of visiting the UK.

[Smokielad]

We intend to live in England, but my girlfriend has a heavy dependency on her family, they are very close. I want to be able to just book a flight to Thailand at the drop of a hat should she feel lonely. I got plenty of cash and love to travel, so 4-5 trips to Thailand each year is something I don't mind doing.

[MPH80]

Then you have 3 options:

1) Get a marriage visitor visa. This will require to show intention to marry in the UK within 6 months. She will be unable to work during this time. She would then have to return to Thailand and you would have to apply for a spouse visa. Once she returned to the UK - she can work. Cost within 6 months: £906 + flights back and forth (at least 3 flights for her)

2) Get a fiancee visa. This will require to show intention to marry in the UK within 6 months. She will be unable to work during this time. Once you have got married, you can convert this in the UK to a spouse visa using form FLR(M). After this - she can work. Cost within 6 months: £1387 + flights to the UK (just one flight for her) - but remember she doesn't have to go back.

3) Marry in Thailand and get a spouse visa. Cost within 6 months: £826 + flights to the UK (just one for her).

The cheapest (and probably simplest) option is number 3 - but that depends on the requirements to get married in Thailand.

On top of all those options will be a necessary extension to remain after 30 months - currently that would cost a further £560 for a postal application and then an indefinite leave extension after a further 30 months - £991.

Keep in mind with all these options she will have to meet the English Language requirement and you will have to meet the minimum income requirements (assuming you don't get your application in before July 9th).

Also keep in mind that we don't know precisely what the rules will say about the amount of time you'll have to spend in the UK - but it does make clear that they expect the sponsor to be in the UK more than not. So too many long trips to Thailand to see family could hurt that.

Final note: keep in mind that the UK has no family reunion concept - so her family will have to qualify for visas in their own right to come to the UK to see her or to live here.

[Mintcake]

I am no expert but I live Thailand and have a Thai girlfriend. She has never been to the UK however we are flying there tomorrow. I am puzzled by the original posting and the replies from two gurus.

Firstltly, obtaining a Visit Visa was a straightforward matter - my girlfied did the donkey work which simply involved a trip to the British Embassy in Bangkok. All I had to do was compose a covering note confirming that we were travelling there and back together and that we both live permanently in Thailand. There was no middeman invoved because it was unnessesary.

In fact the process involved was simpler than when I renew my retirement visa at the Jomtien immigration office.

Possibly what simplified the process is that she could prove ownership of a house and farm in Utai Thani. Also, she can be very persuasive.

Secondly, she was indeed charged B30,000 ( =~ £600)

It is a Type C multiple entry visa

[vinny]

The fee is dependent on the period for a multiple entry visit visa requested. Did she apply for a five-year or ten-year visitor visa?

[Mintcake]

It is a 6 month visa but that is beside the point. The fact is I owe everybody an apology. My girfiend (R) and myself (T) had a brief converstion after I posted the last note. It went something like this...

R: What you do on laptop that take so long?

T: I was posting a note on the internet about your visa application.

R: Why?

T: Because I disagreed with the other posts. One post said it was difficult and cost £600, others said it should not have cost that much. I know you said it was easy but it cost B30,000

R. It was easy after I see man in office. Next time it not cost me B30,000.

T: What man, what office? Why will it not cost you B30,000 next time?

R: Man who did forms for me in office on Pattaya Klang. Now I can do myself

T: Oh ******* hell. What have I done.