Obtaining a UK Fiance Visa For Your Thai Fiance

Settling in the UK with your Thai fiance proves to be your best option if your bread and butter in the UK is keeping you from permanently relocating to Thailand. A UK settlement visa in the form of a fiance visa is your key to bringing your Thai fiance to stay with you in the UK for good. This is true for those couples contemplating of getting married in the UK then proceed in adjusting their fiance's immigration status after marriage.

UK Fiancee Visa Requirements

Applying a UK fiancee visa for your Thai fiance necessitates meeting two important requirements: your relationship with your Thai fiancee and your financial status in the UK. Establishing a believable and an on-going relationship between you and your fiancee requires your having known each other and being together for a period of time not less than 6 months. This should be seen as a logical requirement after all you are sponsoring someone to the UK who will hopefully become your long time partner in life. The longer you have known each other, the better. Apart from this, you also need to show tangible proofs of your genuine existing relationship in the forms of email exchanges, photos together in various places, money transfer receipts, telephone bills, boarding passes to Thailand and any other pieces of evidence that could validate your existing relationship. You would also need to provide proof of your freedom to marry certificate and if you have been married before a divorce certificate or spousal death certificate should be provided to attest the dissolution of your previous marriage.

Finally, you would need to write a letter detailing the milestones of your relationship, how it started and developed to become what it is now. This in turn becomes a literature for all the pieces of relationship evidence you have so far collected. Just recently the British embassy also started requiring a letter of intent to marry from a registrar in the UK for the visa applicant and the British fiance. This, however, would require the presence of the foreign fiancee in the UK at the registrar's office before this letter is issued. Contacting the municipal registrar in your area on how to go with this is the best thing to do to be able to address this requirement. Your fiancee also needs to undergo a medical check up to check her health status. They are particularly concerned with checking if she has Tuberculosis. You would need to call the IOM center in Bangkok to schedule her check-up and anticipate corresponding medical check up fee. She would also need to secure a police record to prove her being a good citizen. This needs to be obtained at the Royal Thai police which can take up to 2 weeks to have it finally issued. Your financial position in the UK is the next crucial requirement in question. The rational behind this is that the UK government wants to make sure that you would be able to support your future wife's stay in the country without any recourse to public funds. To show them your financial capability, you would need to provide your last 6 months bank statements; at least 3 recent pay slips, employment letter, House Title deed or Mortgage Agreement and photos of your house. This is aside from the sponsorship letter which confirms your desire to sponsor her stay in the UK. Speaking of the sponsorship letter, it's advised to include in it your sincere intention of marrying your fiancee once she gets there and supporting her financially and morally and purchasing her airfare ticket and travel insurance after she has obtained her visa successfully.

Process

The UK fiance visa application follows a simple process. Nonetheless, it is advised to take it seriously as remedying a refused visa application proves to be a more difficult ordeal. A good way to start the process would be to familiarize yourselves with the details of the whole procedure i.e. expected time frame, costs, required documents among others. It would be good to list down all the required documents from both ends and start collecting them the soonest possible. In filling out the visa application forms it would be prudent to start with a draft and if there are questions unclear to you, it's always good to ask UK visa professionals. You can also call the British embassy to clarify confusing items in the visa application forms. As for your fiancé's important documents in Thai i.e. Birth certificate and Single Certificate, they would need to be translated into English and legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Once the aforementioned required documents are collected and fully prepared, you can proceed with submitting your visa application at VFS in Bangkok which will turn over to the UK consular Section. It would take approximately 3 months to process the visa application before the result of the visa application gets issued. If interview is required, the processing time would expectedly take longer. Your Thai fiancé is initially allowed to stay in the UK for 6 months if she gets the visa. After marriage in the UK, her immigration status can be adjusted accordingly that she may be able to stay and work there for good. Costs Aside from the service fee of the visa agent, you would also need to anticipate other fees like embassy fees, medical check-up fee and translation fees.

Summary The UK fiancee visa application demands a thorough preparation of the required documents. It is therefore advised to enlist the service of UK visa specialists to guide you and your Thai fiancee with the visa application process. UK visa professionals who speak both Thai and English and have broad experience in assisting UK visa in Thailand are recommended to carry out the task for you.

George M. Londob works as a Business Correspondent for Siam Legal International, Thailand's largest legal service network with offices in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Samui. The firm has international locations in London and Los Angeles. Siam Legal is a full-service international law firm and provides a wide range of legal and visa services. Reach Siam Legal at +(66) 2-253-8100, or info@siam-legal.com.

Australian Fiance Visa For a Thai Fiance

If your bread and butter in Australia is keeping you from moving to Thailand to live with your Thai fiance, you can always take the other way around it to fix this relationship impediment. Why don't bring your fiance to Australia and live with you there instead? But, of course the challenge is how to make this grand plan come true.

If you are eying for your Thai fiance to come to Australia to live with you there permanently after your marriage, a prospective marriage visa aka Subclass 300 is the appropriate visa to obtain. This visa provides your Thai fiance a 9-month stay in Australia coupled with privileges. However, within this allowed stay, you have to marry her so that you maybe able to adjust her immigration status accordingly.

Eligibility of the Sponsor. To be able to sponsor your Thai fiancée to Australia, you need to be

1. an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.


2. you need to be 18 years or older


3. you should have met your fiancée in person and should have known her personally


4. you should be free to marry

Eligibility of the Applicant. Your Thai fiancée on the other hand needs to meet the following qualifications:

1. she must be 18 years old or older


2. she must be free to marry


3. has a good background or has no criminal records


4. in good health


5. should have known you personally and met you in person

Benefits. Once granted the visa, your Thai fiancée can enter Australia even before she marries you. The visa allows her a multiple entry to Australia within the allowed 9-months period of her stay. She can work in Australia with this visa. She can apply for a spouse visa after your marriage. She can study though will not be entitled to government funding. However, she'll be entitled to Australia's medical expenses and hospital care assistance scheme.

Requirements. It's necessary to show proof of genuine and on-going relationship and to show the sincere intention of both sponsor and the applicant to get married. You are therefore advised to keep every piece of evidence you have to establish your relationship. These can be in the forms of photos together, email or correspondence exchanges, money transfer receipts, air tickets and others. As the sponsor, you should be able to show proof of your financial capability to support your fiancée once she gets to Australia. If you are incapable, you can have an Australian resident to act as the sponsor of your fiancée. Your Thai fiancée has to lodge the appropriate application forms, together with all necessary supporting documentation and application charges, in person at the VFS Bangkok who in turn will submit it to Australian embassy for the processing and evaluation. The evaluation process can take up to 3 to 4 months to complete.

Post Application Process. There are things that you and your fiancée need to be aware of once a fiancée visa is granted:

1. She has to enter Australia on the fiancée visa before she marries you. Getting married before entering Australia may cancel the fiancée visa.


2. She needs to enter Australia on the specific initial entry date.


3. You need to marry her within the allowed 9-month period. You can marry her outside Australia provided that she has already entered Australia on a fiancée visa at least once before the marriage takes place.


4. You have to adjust her fiancée visa to spouse visa before the former visa expires so that she maybe able to remain permanently in Australia.


5. Inform the office handling your application if you change address, your fiancée has given birth to your child and if your relationship ends after marriage.

If visa is refused, the Australian embassy will provide you an explanation letter concerning the reasons for the refusal and the things that you can do to remedy the problem with your application.

Summary. It's a comforting thought to have your Thai fiancée by your side taking care of you as you go on with your daily toilsome existence. While you maybe able to do your part in the visa application just fine, your Thai fiancée may find the process difficult and frustrating due to language barrier and unfamiliarity with the procedure. In this regard, it's advised that you consult with a professional visa agent who can guide you and your fiancée through the Australia fiancee visa application process. It might cost you an extra penny but it should be worth it.

George M. Londob works as a Business Correspondent for Siam Legal International, Thailand's largest legal service network with offices in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Samui. The firm has international locations in London and Los Angeles. Siam Legal is a full-service law firm and provides a wide range of legal and visa services. Reach Siam Legal at +(66) 2-253-8100, or info@siam-legal.com.