Can anyone help with visa
Jul 17th 2018, 9:39 pm
#1
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 1
Can anyone help with visa
Hi all , i need a little advice on a visa i need to apply for. My thai girlfriend came to the uk over christmas and newyear 2017 for a couple of months on a standard visit visa, we would now like to make it a more permanentl stay. Ive looked at some websites and i think we need to apply for a fiance visa , which is for 6 months in this time we need to marry then apply to extend for further 2 years . Is this the only visa option ? Also what do we do at end of this 2.5 year period ,do we apply to extend again. Oh and is it true that on this visa or actually any visa she is not allowed to work , is this only when she has citizenship . Any help would be much appreciated
Jul 18th 2018, 12:25 am
#2
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,194
Re: Can anyone help with visa
If you are not married and have been living separately, then yes, a fiancée visa is likely to be one of your two main options. This would allow your fiancée to travel to the UK, marry you and then apply to stay in the UK. The other option would be to marry outside the UK and then for your wife to apply for a spouse visa from Thailand or for her to travel to the UK on a marriage visitor visa, marry and then return to Thailand to apply for her spouse visa. You will likely find it the most cost effective and time efficient to marry in Thailand but it's really a personal choice.
The initial spouse visa is valid for 30 months after which she will need to apply for Further Leave to Remain for an additional 30 months. At the end of five years she will then meet the residence requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Once granted, as the spouse of a British citizen, she can apply immediately to naturalise as a British citizen. This would normally lead to a loss of Thai citizenship under Thai nationality law. She can choose to remain in the UK on ILR but should she leave the UK for more than two years then her ILR would expire. Also without British citizenship she would need to continue to travel on a Thai passport and apply for visas to visit the EU, Canada, the US, Australia, etc..
Your fiancée would not be entitled to work whilst in the UK on a fiancée visa but she can work as soon as she is granted a spouse visa. She does not need to be a British citizen.
The initial spouse visa is valid for 30 months after which she will need to apply for Further Leave to Remain for an additional 30 months. At the end of five years she will then meet the residence requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Once granted, as the spouse of a British citizen, she can apply immediately to naturalise as a British citizen. This would normally lead to a loss of Thai citizenship under Thai nationality law. She can choose to remain in the UK on ILR but should she leave the UK for more than two years then her ILR would expire. Also without British citizenship she would need to continue to travel on a Thai passport and apply for visas to visit the EU, Canada, the US, Australia, etc..
Your fiancée would not be entitled to work whilst in the UK on a fiancée visa but she can work as soon as she is granted a spouse visa. She does not need to be a British citizen.
