How to Obtain a Settlement Visa for the UK (Revised July 2012)

[colin244]

Congrats on the visa Mr & Mrs Surin

colin 244

[BitterBlue]

Frogster - This is a superb post - Many Thanks

I just want to say thanks to Frogster for this post, me and my wife got our visa and this thread by frogster played a big part in me prepping my application and i really cant thank you enough m8

I have just registered on this forum just to say a big thanks to Frogster for posting such a helpful guide for comparative novices like myself.

I have been with my lady for three years and we are at the point where we will be getting married in Thailand this year so gaining a detailed understanding of the process and the issues we will need to deal with is fantastic.

I will be using this post as a reference point for the marriage & settlement visa application process so thanks again Frogster for detailing the procedure, it really is a big help.

I just thought of one question.......I am a self employed company director and in order to manage my personal tax liability i only show a very small salary with the remainder paid by way of dividends.

The question i have is that whilst i take home well in excess of the £18k required to demonstrate financial capacity for the settlement application are there different rules for self employed when it comes to financial disclosure or qualification and do dividends count??

If anyone can point me in the direction of self employed company director rules or guidance it would be much appreciated.

A big thanks to Frogster for taking the time and trouble to post such a comprensive guide which certainly helps people like me a great deal.

Thanks

Blue

[DorsetNick]

A very useful post. As is stated. The visa is a right not a lottery. Given that statement, if we are married, can prove all the requirements for a visa, is there any reason for a refusal? Also, what sort of timescales can we expect from application to granting of visa?

[Tony M]

I just thought of one question.......I am a self employed company director and in order to manage my personal tax liability i only show a very small salary with the remainder paid by way of dividends.

The question i have is that whilst i take home well in excess of the £18k required to demonstrate financial capacity for the settlement application are there different rules for self employed when it comes to financial disclosure or qualification and do dividends count??

If anyone can point me in the direction of self employed company director rules or guidance it would be much appreciated.

Blue

The basic answer is, yes, you can use dividends to demonstrate meeting the financial requirements. And, yes, the requirements for self - employed sponsors are very different from those for salaried employees.

Regarding dividends, the requirements say this :

To evidence dividends or other income from investments, stocks, shares, bonds or trust funds:


(i) A certificate showing proof of ownership and the amount(s) of any investment(s).
(ii) A portfolio report (for a financial institution regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK).
(iii) Personal bank statements for the 12-month period prior to the date of application showing that the income relied upon was paid into an account in the name of the person or of the person and their partner jointly.

[Alan2502]

Having followed your advice . I was married in Bangkok, and 12 weeks after my wife submitted her application for a spouse visa, it was approved, A few additional points of intrest that may help future readers i will mention below.
1) we were married at the Ratchathewi District Ampur, which is a 2 min walk from the Sukosol Hotel and the Phaya Thai BTS station. There was no cue, and the marriage to 5 min, There is one point to take into account, unless both parties can speak Thai a interpreter and translater must be present, We were very fortunate as one of the head of departments and a member of her staff volinteered to take both these posts, and am intresting thing was that they informed us that they will be making a post available for a full time interpreter and translater as they are very keen to have forigners have the ceremony performed within there district. The second point which i should have mentioned first is, having your freedon to marry documents translated and verified by the Thai authorities, After leaving the Brithish consulate , we were immediatly approched by touts offering ther services and asking for silly money, the answer to this was to go left on leaving the consulate, walk to the traffic lights, cross to the left, go up on the bridge and cross the road, when you come down go left and walk 50 meters untill you see a lane on the right hand side, On the left of the lane is a translation approved by the british consulate. We decided to let the firm do all the translations and for an extra THB2000 they would take the documents to the Thai home afffairs and have them certified, As far as we were concerned THB2000 was well worth the money, No traveling to the other side of the city, form ques ect.
Well handed in our papers at 14:00 on the Monday and 09:00 on Wed morning they called us to say everything was ready to collect, We also went back there to have our marriage cert translated . Apparently no the Consulate rule is , It will take 12 to 24 weeks for visa spouse applications, 95% being completed in 12 weeks and the remaining 5% taking up to 24 weeks. As a matter if intrest the visa was date from 31st Jan 2013 untill Oct 2015, Once again thanks for a very helpful post.

[leshemp]

I would like to thank Frogster on the guide, has been very useful in applying for visitor visa`s as well. In the guide it talks about 2 folders , 1 being copies for the retention by the embassy and is the 1 with the originals for the visa centre to check and hand back.

[Bubbles]

I'm about to start the journey, thanks to this amazing thread & work, it seems a lot easier now.

To clarify two points,
do the marriage certificates from Thailand need to be translated to English and/or certified by the MFA?
and are both versions required (mine & hers) and do they have to be originals?

Thanks

[toddmeister]

do the marriage certificates from Thailand need to be translated to English

Yes, along with any other "important" documents which are in Thai

and/or certified by the MFA?

Not required for the visa application (we didn't have our translated marriage certs authenticated at the MFA). But is useful for other purposes in the future such as shengen visa applications etc.

and are both versions required (mine & hers) and do they have to be originals?

One is just an addidtional copy, so only need to submit one. Yes supply the original certificate

[Bubbles]

Thanks for this toddmeister, I'm preparing my half of the file, payslips, p60's, yada yada, but I'm in the UK so would like to send it to the missus direct (ring folder, emails, photocopies), I was thinking DHL, Fedex, etc for doing it, would anyone recommend it? I'm not concerned by cost, I'm just more concerned with it getting there so thats standard royalmail out, customs should stop a ring folder with paper in should they?

sorry for the questions

[mandlebrot]

Hi Guys,

My Thai GF is currently with me in the UK on a Visit Visa. We plan to fly back to Thailand and have a village ceremony marriage in early November. This will be followed by the legal side of an Amphora marriage in Bangkok and all the associated legal stuff to apply for the right of a wife to enter/remain in the UK which will give us a 30 month visa if successful.

Now to my question. Can all the legal stuff (she will already have the language A1) like Affirmation to marry, translations, Amphora marriage and TB test etc. be completed within two days if we pre-book the TB test in order to log the Visa application or is this unrealistic?

Also is it absolutely necessary to book the appointment at the VFS or is it possible to just turn up and wait to be seen? I ask this last bit because I believe you now have to pay for the Visa apps at the time of booking the appointment and of course given this is Thailand it is possible that something might go wrong with the other parts and this would cause a delay in being able to log the application and thus losing a lot of money because she will be logging 2 visa applications (1 for her son).

I know that this post might be a bit vague but I think I do understand all the requirements to get married in Thailand and the requirements of the Visa application but just don't know if 2 days in Bangkok is enough.

[colin244]

Probably not looking at past posts on this but I will leave those who married in LOS to answer your question as we married in the UK on a f/v. Good luck though.

colin 244

[MattM85]

I would say that two days is not enough to get all that done...

[toddmeister]

Can all the legal stuff (she will already have the language A1) like Affirmation to marry, translations, Amphora marriage and TB test etc. be completed within two days if we pre-book the TB test in order to log the Visa application or is this unrealistic?

Agree with Matt, probably doable if you're very lucky and every thing goes smoothly. Unrealistic....yes. I guess given the time frame your new wife won't be taking your name, new ID card etc?

Also is it absolutely necessary to book the appointment at the VFS or is it possible to just turn up and wait to be seen? I ask this last bit because I believe you now have to pay for the Visa apps at the time of booking the appointment

All visa applications must be made online and an appointment is needed to submit supporting docs etc. So no, it's not possible to just turn up.
Unless things have changed, you pay at VFS when submitting the documents not when booking the appointment stage

[charles5555]

Thanks for this post toddmeister, a massive help to me as I put together the info for my wife to be.

Can I just check one point with the forum re the language qualification requirement.

My understanding is that for the initial spouse entry visa am I right in thinking that the requirement will remain A1, while for settlement / ILR its now B1 with the life in the uk test?

thanks again Charles

- - - - - - - u p d a t e d - - - - - - -

Apologies to the original author Frogster, I also meant to thank you for the main post which is a god send. I think the stress is kicking in as I am due to head off on Friday...

If I can check my point with the forum re the language qualification requirement.

My understanding is that for the initial spouse entry visa am I right in thinking that the requirement will remain A1, while for settlement / ILR its now B1 with the life in the uk test?

thanks again Charles

[Tobias]

... My understanding is that for the initial spouse entry visa am I right in thinking that the requirement will remain A1, while for settlement / ILR its now B1 with the life in the uk test?

Yes, that is correct.


Posted from an iPhone so what you read may not necessarily be what I typed!