Visa required for a Colombian to live in the UK?

Hi, my girlfriend lives in Colombia with our son now but we want to live together in the UK. I am a British citizen and I am in the process of getting my son a British Passport. We are having trouble getting a visa for my girlfriend. We have applied for a visitors visa once before but it got refused because she couldn't prove she had the funds to support herself in Colombia. Now we are planning on living in the UK permanently and I am not sure on the best way to do this. I have looked at the UK border agency website and it seems like there are a few options so I have some questions.

If our son is living in the UK with me does she have any right to a visa through him?
Would it be easier for her to get a visa if we are married?
Would she be able to get a visa to come to the UK to get married?
Do I have to be earning a certain amount in any of these cases to show I can support her?

I am thinking about hiring an immigration solicitor to help with the application process, do you think it is worth it?

Any help or advice will be appreciated, this is all very confusing and we want to get I right this time.

Thank you.

No - because you'd be supporting him and looking after him
Yes - marriage visas are generally easier than unmarried partner ones. Un-married partner visas require cohabitation for 2 years immediately prior to the application
Yes - it's called a fiancee visa
Yes - £18,600

If you're struggling to understand the information on the website then it may well be sensible for you to engage a solicitor.

Thank you for your help. I am not earning that much money at the moment so these options will not be possible right now.

From what I understand it will be almost impossible to get a visa for my girlfriend to stay in the UK permanently. Is it good idea for her to try and get a visitors visa again? She now has a bank account with money going in and out, hopefully this will show she can support herself in Colombia. Also the last time she applied she made a joint application with our son, this time she is applying by herself because he has a British passport. Will this make any difference? What else is required for this visa?

Thanks

For a visitor visa she needs to show she'll return to Colombia primarily.

With a UK based boyfriend and a kid with a British passport - what reason does she have to return? (other than 'of course she will')

So she'll need to show a job ... family ... property ... finances ... etc - all showing that she has reason to come back and not just stay in the UK.

You will also need to explicitly deal with the reasons for the previous refusal as they can, and will, look it up.

I struggle to see it'll be successful given the information you've provided.

I would, personally, suggest you look at two options:

1) Find yourself a second job, third job etc whatever necessary to get over the earning threshold
2) Moving to Colombia

There is option 3 - but this has become significantly harder to do - which is to move to an EU country, move the centre of your life there (job/family/property) and then bring her as your wife to that EU country. After a certain period of time (which is currently undefined but thought to be 6-12 months) you would be able to return to the UK without having to go through the UK law.

M.

Hopefully I will be getting a new job soon where I will be earning enough so I will try again for a visa then.

The third option you gave sounds interesting, Do you know what EU countries it is easy for Colombians to get visas for? also can you tell me where I can get more information about this?

Thank you

Hola mira yo soy Colombiana. Yo pase por todo esto y ya estoy en Inglaterra. te escribo en español para que tu novia entienda mas. todo esto es para ti no tu novia. Lo mejor es que tu empieces a ahorrar y tener un buen dinero en tu cuenta , debes hacerlo por el mínimo de tres meses. tienes que hacer movimiento bancario sacar dinero y meter el mismo o mas dinero después de un semana esto lo haces por tres meses para que haya un movimiento bancario. Tienes que tener un trabajo estable, por que al momento que pidas por tu novia inmigración va a mirar cuanto tiempo tienes trabajando en la misma compania. No se si tienes casa propia o rentas donde vives. También tienes que demostrar que has pagado bien tu renta o tu casa propia. La mejor decisión y fácil es pedir a tu novia para casarte con ella. tu tienes que presentar todos los ducumentos. Ella no tiene que hacer mucho, solo presentarse en la embajada con todos los documentos que necesita presentar y el costo de la visa. Le darán una visa por seis meses para ir a Inglaterra, para que planean la boda se casan y ella podrá estarse en el Pais. Pero si no se casan ella estaría sin papeles de nuevo para residir en este país. No te lo recomiendo!! se puede aplicar por el internet y tu novia tendrá que presentarse en el día que escojan en Bogota. Tu hijo no tiene nada que ver en esto por que el ya es ingles. Te recomiendo que hagas esto de otra manera será muy dificil. Colombia pide muchos transmites para que una persona salga del país y perderían mucho dinero. Esfuérzate por ahorrar y mantener una buena cuenta bancaria esto es solo un sacrifico por un corto tiempo. Espero lo mejor para los dos. Loren