Need some advice about getting my wife a visa to the UK

[Justice96]

Hi there,

I am having a nightmare trying to get even a tourist visa arranged for my wife, here are some of the details:

We are married
We have 1 child together 1 years old who has a UK passport already
She is Thai 21 years old
I am British 30 years old
My job is a poker professional which is a problem as I cant prove my income
She is a housewife looking after the baby whilst I work
I dont own a house and dont have any savings

The problem I am having is, up until a few months ago I was living in Thailand but we decided it would be better if we lived in England, having the help of my parents with the baby and living in their house so we can save to buy our own place would be idea.

My parents are retired and my dads pension is around 19,000 a year. The house is paid for. They have a small amount of savings, around £7000 and their bank is like most peoples in the UK in and out of the overdraft each month until the wages come in.

As I didnt really know I was going to come to live in the UK I didnt save, we just liked to enjoy ourselves, pay the bills for the month then buy nice things for our baby and ourselves.

My income for the year so far from poker is $75,000, obviously I have spent all of this being young and stupid and not saved so my bank account is just slightly out of the overdraft.

For a settlement visa I need to be working with 6 months payslips in a 18,500 or more per year job or have savings of 60,000. Being a young couple this is almost impossible for the savings and my job makes a lot more than this but as its poker I cannot prove it.

I am working on a tourist visa at the moment, I am really trying to get them here to the UK before xmas. I left 2 weeks ago to bring the dog back to the UK and I will go back to get them as soon as the visa is ready. She is staying in her mums house at the moment spending some time together before moving over here.

Would my dads accounts allow him to offer 3rd party support for the tourist visa?

Also it looks pretty impossible to get a settlement visa with my circumstances, I have been told I could go to another country such as france then obtain a residence visa and then I could go to the UK with her having this visa, is this true?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am currently dealing with a visa agency in Thailand for the application process but I would like to know if anyone else has any suggestions or comments about this?

Thanks

Al

[vinny]

Also it looks pretty impossible to get a settlement visa with my circumstances, I have been told I could go to another country such as france then obtain a residence visa and then I could go to the UK with her having this visa, is this true?

Yes. You would have to work in an EEA country other than the UK for a few months. Your wife would also have to stay with you there.

[Justice96]

Also it looks pretty impossible to get a settlement visa with my circumstances, I have been told I could go to another country such as france then obtain a residence visa and then I could go to the UK with her having this visa, is this true?

Yes. You would have to work in an EEA country other than the UK for a few months. Your wife would also have to stay with you there.

If I stay in an EEA country, open a bank account have my money from poker going in there so they could see I can live reasonably well without help from the state would they grant her a residence visa? Once she has this visa could she come to the UK with me using this?

[vinny]

Click and follow the links in "Yes". You need to prove that you are a worker or self-employed in the EEA country.

[Justice96]

That is the problem I had, I was excited reading that thread until I seen self sufficient is not good enough. My job is a poker professional, as its classed as gambling I cannot prove it as income therefore I cannot be self employed or employed through poker.

We have a 1 year old son so I dont want my wife to go off working and leave me with the child and therefore I cannot work myself as my work pays for everything.

Also is it possible for us to go to Ireland, I didnt think Ireland was part of the Schengen zone so I thought I wouldnt be able to stay there with my wife.

[Obie]

Ireland should be fine. It is an EEA state within the meaning of the UK regulations.

She may have qualified under Regulation 15A (7), had it not been that you are around.