The Question of Translation from Thai to English for Spouse Visa.

[SingerSongwriter]

Hi all.

Ok, now at quite an advanced stage in building our folder to submit for a Spouse Visa. Just one area i'm definitely confused about - the issue of which submitted documents HAVE to be translated from Thai to English ?

The ones i know about, are : Marriage Certificate; Passport main page; and if it's included, Thai birth certificate (though i believe that is not a necessary inclusion.)

The type of documents that are worrying me, is the pile of ordinary docs such as Rental Contracts (which are long and complex small print); Car insurance in both names to prove relationship; 'True' internet invoices, same reason; House book/s; Car log-book; and anything in Thai that we include as vital proof of long-term relationship (7.5 yrs)

This pile of documents would be a hefty translating job with an equally hefty price-ticket. Anyone gone through this particular task ? How far do we need to go with this specific translating aspect of the application ?

Thanks for any comments or advice.

[rasg]

The only information that we had translated for two Visit Visas and a Settlement visa were the GF's divorce papers. In your case you would need the marriage certificate translated. You don't need her birth certificate and you don't need her passport or ID card translated. They are both in Thai and English already. The only items we used for proof of relationship were photos and a few flight bookings/boarding cards and hotel bookings. The house here in the UK was a mortgage statement, a photo of the outside and a council tax bill.

Just my experience but it sounds as if you may be living in Thailand although you didn’t say so? If so you need to check on house and insurance info.

[SingerSongwriter]

Thanks rasg. Yep, in LoS still. So a lot more paperwork in Thai. This is one of those annoying 'grey areas' in the rules - well, in the Rules it is not grey at all. The UK gvt websites say quite clearly : All submitted documents in Thai must be translated to English. But in reality i know that applicants don't obey this 100%. I was hoping for personal reports of what people have actually done about translations with successful visa applications. (But i'm not holding my breath).

[Barnet]

I'm in the same boat. You can try contacting a reputable Translation service in BKK. As they have experience they'll probably know in advance.

[SingerSongwriter]

Lets hope we get some reports of actual successful submissions involving significant amount of translation. One problem i see is that the type of rental contracts we've had are those really long-winded old style contracts - just hoping that as you imply the translators have seen it all before.

[Gary & Nok]

SingerSongwriter, are the sort of documents that you appear to be submitting and looking to translate (Thai items where both you and your wife are named) really the sort of things that the ECO will be looking for?

Normally people who are applying for Settlement would be sending photos of visits to LOS, e-mail, Skype or some form of conversation records to prove contact and mostly these are successful in their application. Do you not have this sort of thing? without having to resort to

... the pile of ordinary docs such as Rental Contracts (which are long and complex small print); Car insurance in both names to prove relationship; 'True' internet invoices, same reason; House book/s; Car log-book; and anything in Thai that we include as vital proof of long-term relationship

To me it seems that you are over egging the pudding just to show that you have a longer ongoing relationship than most others that would be applying.

Obviously these are just my thoughts and you can tell me to mind my own if you think my comments are out of order.

[rasg]

If the only items we used for proof of relationship that only goes back to January last year were photos and a few flight bookings/boarding cards and hotel bookings surely you can be very selective in what you supply?

[SingerSongwriter]

From FROGSTER1953 'Sticky' -

"This is a list of all the 50 items we provided in our folder and how we divided it into sections:-

Full Index and Contents Page


Section 1: Application Form and Letters of Support

1. Copy of the Visa Application Form (New form from 9th July 2012)
2. Letter of Support from Sponsor
3. Letter of support from Applicant

Section 2: Personal Details of Mrs XXXXX

1. Passport of Mrs XXXXX
2. Birth Certificate of Mrs XXXXX
3. Copy of Thai I.D. card for Mrs XXXXX
4. TB Certificate issued by IMO for Mrs XXXXX
5. A1 English Language Test Certification Mrs XXXXX
6. Copy of All Passport Pages Mrs XXXXX
7. Original Marriage Certificate & Translation for Mr ZZZZZZ & Mrs XXXXX
8. 2 x Passport type Photographs of Mrs XXXXX (signed as true likeness)

Section 3: Personal Details of Mr ZZZZZZ

1. Passport Identification Page of Mr ZZZZZZ
2. Birth Certificate of Mr ZZZZZZ
3. Self Certified Copy of All Passport Pages Mr ZZZZZZ
4. Divorce Certificate of Mr ZZZZZZ
5. Certified Affirmation to Marry Mr ZZZZZZ

Section 4: Accommodation

1. Photographs of House of Mr ZZZZZZ
2. Floor Plan of House of Mr ZZZZZZ
3. Mortgage Agreement / Letter of support from Landlord / Change Tenancy Agreement
4. Council Confirmation of Register of Electors 2011
5. Council Tax Bill 2011
6. Electricity & Gas Statements - 12 month Statement of Account
7. T V licence 2011
8. Utilities Water Statement 2011
9. House Contents Insurance 2011

Section 5: Employment, Finance & Financial Support
(New Financial requirement as of 09th July 2012)

1. Certified Copy of Contract of Employment (Terms & Conditions of Employment / Service Agreement)
2. Confirmation from Employer of Current & Continual Employment
3. Last 12 Months Pay Slips
4. P60 End Of Year Certificate for 2011
5. 12 months Bank Statements (Current Account)
6. 12 month Statement of Interest (Savings Account)
7. Copy Kassicorn Bank Book (Thailand) Savings Account 2011
8. Most Recent Credit Card Statements
9. Bank Confirmations of Transfer of Funds to Mrs XXXXX Bank

Section 6: Proof of Relationship and Contact

1. Flight Confirmations and Boarding Passes for all previous trips
2. Receipts for Hotels (in joint names)
3. Receipts for gifts, flowers, presents, etc
4. Photographs of Holidays together
5. Photographs at wife’s home village
6. Photographs Holidays with Family
7. Photographs of Wedding
8. Photographs of Honeymoon
9. Photographs with Family
10. Records of letters / gifts sent by post (last 1 year)
11. Records of all SMS to / from Mr ZZZZZZ & Mrs XXXXX (last 1 year)
12. Phone Record / Skype Receipt page for pre paid calling plan “Unlimited World” (last 1 year)
13. Phone Record / Skype mobile calls to Mrs XXXXX using Skype mobile. (last 1 year)
14. Skype Video Call Log. (last 1 year)
15. Examples of screen shots of original Skype records. (last 1 year)
16. Other Telephone records etc (last 1 year)

• All items, wherever possible, were original documents.
• Each Section had a Section Index with detailed explanations where required.
• Every item was marked in the top right hand corner with the item number, in case one or two pages were dislodged from the folder.
• Where required, items were cross referenced to other sections.
• A full photocopy of the folder was added for retention by the UKBA."

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

Okay, back from the dreaded washing-up. RASG - to my mind there's a chance you were just lucky. With such a small amount of evidence of a genuine relationship, many people have been refused. Gary - my post was really more about the issue of what people had felt they needed to have translated Thai -> English rather than about what to put in. The current state of play with refusals for minor things has changed the whole game in my opinion. I can read your approach one day - about not 'over-egging' it - and the next day i can read 'experts' saying we should include everything but the kitchen sink. It's a pretty confusing set of messages these days.

Refusals - one applicant refused because although the sponsor had included all the required wage-slips and bank-statements for 6 months, he hadn't included a Letter from his Employer. REFUSED.
Second, a sponsor who had included the usual offer-of-a-room in a friend's house letter, and some identifying documents such as the estate agent's leaflet when they bought the house and the utility/council tax bills etc...but had not included a Tenancy Agreement or Property Report from the local council. REFUSED.

I won't go on, but this is my opinion : This is Politics. At this time, when the UKBA is under greater pressure than ever before to control immigration, i think that ECOs will jump on ANY little weakness - even invent one - to stamp REFUSED on an application. Of course i could be wrong - it's a guess - but it's what the visa business now looks like from a swift survey of the reasons-for-refusal that are being used.

Whatever, i would not take the 'Minimalist' approach at this time, no way jose.

Still no advice about what needs translating, but as i said, official gvt advice is -

"If you submit a document that is not in English or Welsh, it must be accompanied by a full translation that can be
independently verified by the UK Border Agency. Each translated document must contain:

 confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document;
 the date of the translation;
 the translator's full name and signature; and
 the translator's contact details. " From -
https://uk.tlscontact.com/cyn/ECN/re...cial_Guide.pdf

So i'll try to follow that even though it is a right royal pain-in-the-xxx !

[rasg]

Okay, back from the dreaded washing-up. RASG - to my mind there's a chance you were just lucky. With such a small amount of evidence of a genuine relationship, many people have been refused. Gary - my post was really more about the issue of what people had felt they needed to have translated Thai -> English rather than about what to put in. The current state of play with refusals for minor things has changed the whole game in my opinion. I can read your approach one day - about not 'over-egging' it - and the next day i can read 'experts' saying we should include everything but the kitchen sink. It's a pretty confusing set of messages these days.

Three successful visas in a period of six or seven months I don't consider lucky. The second VV was for two years and we had only been together for 8 months. From what I have been told on here, and elsewhere that is pretty unusual.

I threw the kitchen sink at the first two and the truth is we didn’t have much physical "evidence" of proof of relationship because we only met very late in January last year apart from flight and hotel bookings but many, many photos of us all over Thailand, the UK and with both our families. Skype logs and Whatsapp logs went on forever and I mentioned that in my sponsor's letter.

I am not an expert. I am merely relating our experiences that worked for us. Having spent almost £30 on a translation of the GF's birth certificate and then finding we didn’t need it made me be very choosy on what we included. It is a shame that the UKVI only give guidelines, rather than a definitive list of what they require.

[SingerSongwriter]

" It is a shame that the UKVI only give guidelines, rather than a definitive list of what they require." I COULD NOT AGREE MORE !!!

[Peejay1959]

" It is a shame that the UKVI only give guidelines, rather than a definitive list of what they require." I COULD NOT AGREE MORE !!!

That would make it too easy lol

Pete and Tia