If you and your Thai wife are considering moving back to the UK then she will need to apply for a UK Spouse Visa. Here is our quick guide to everything that you need to know regarding submitting a UK spouse visa in Thailand.
What is the UK Spouse Visa?
Firstly, it is important to understand what the UK Spouse Visa is. The Spouse Visa allows your Thai wife to come and live with you in the UK (assuming you are a British citizen) as long as you meet all the criterion such as the financial requirements.
The visa is valid for two and a half years and can be extended to five years if you still meet the entire criterion. If your Thai wife lives in the UK for the full five years towards the end of that period she can apply to settle under the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) rules.
Your Thai wife will be able to legally work in the UK if she has a UK Spouse Visa.
What is the criterion that must be met?
As we have already mentioned, there are certain financial criteria that must be met but there are other points as well. These include:
- Both you and your Thai wife must be over the age of 18 at the time of application
- You must be LEGALLY married (a Thai village wedding is not sufficient)
- You must intend to live together from the outset
- You must be in a genuine relationship and proof may be required
How to apply from Thailand
Assuming that you will be acting as the sponsor for your Thai wife you will need to assist your Thai wife with the application but also remember that the application is for HER and not you. If you are not in Thailand, you will need to supply all the correct documentation from the UK. This is certainly when using a professional visa company is advisable as it is easy to forget some documents which will inevitably lead to the application being rejected.
The actual process
- You must be eligible and this means meeting the entire criterion outlined above. If you don’t, you will fall at the first hurdle.
- Ensure that you have all the documents that are required for a UK Spouse Visa including the necessary translations.
- For both paper and online applications, you need to ensure that you have completed to forms correctly and not omitted any information.
- You will need to meet the financial requirements of Appendix FM of the immigration rules
- You must pay the required fees – just as you would if the application was made in the UK.
- You must pay the immigration health surcharge
- Complete the correct appendix forms
- Your Thai wife needs to make an appointment with the visa center to have biometrics taken.
- You will now need to wait approximately 1-4 months for a decision on whether the visa has been approved or not. This can be a stressful time for both you and your Thai wife.
- Once the visa application has been accepted your Thai wife will be free to travel to the UK.
Is this always a smooth process?
Sadly, the answer to this is ‘no’. This is why we recommend that you use the services of a professional visa company. Here at Thai Visa Express, we can have several years’ experience in dealing with such applications. You can call us on: +66 (0)80 102 2328, +66 (0) 38 420 313 or +44 (0) 20 8133 8059, email us on: info@thaivisaexpress.com or alternatively contact us via our website.