Your Thai girlfriend will be able to travel to the UK on either one of two visas.

• UK Tourist Visa
• UK Fiancee Visa

Each visa will allow your Thai girlfriend to remain in the UK as a tourist for a period of upto 6 months. The application has to be made in Bangkok. You as the British boyfriend do not have to be in Thailand when the visa application is made. If you girlfriend is called for an interview, you will not be able to attend the interview.

Applying for a UK Tourist visa can be broken down into different sections.

Applying for a UK Tourist visa can be broken down into different sections.

• Firstly you need to prove a real long term relationship
• Your girlfriend has to demonstrate intention of returning to Thailand
• You have to prove your girlfriend will be safe while in the UK
• Your girlfriend will have to prove that she will not become a burden to the state will in the UK
• Your girlfriend has to give her biometric information

Up until May 2010, we always advised to arrange for a UK tourist visa for your thai girlfriend first. Then after she has spent time with you in the UK, on returning to Thailand apply for a UK Fiance visa.

The UK government have made changes to the amount people entering the UK. This makes it all the more difficult to obtain a UK tourist visa. Thai citizens in new relationships with British men will be affected by the recent changes.

As of May 2010 your Thai girlfriend should apply for a UK Fiancee visa instead of a UK tourist visa.

As of May 2010 your Thai girlfriend should apply for a UK Fiancee visa. The benefits of applying for a UK finacee visa

• You do not have to prove your Thai girlfriend will return to Thailand at the end of the trip
• You can get married while in the UK
• The visa will allow your Thai girlfriend to stay in the UK for six months, though if you get married, your Thai wife will be able to stay in the UK for another 2 years and 3 months, within that time your Thai wife will be able to work.

A tourist visa is still an option and will be able to advise you on which visa is best suited for your relationship

UK Tourist visa before a UK Marriage Visa

The advice on many occasions sadly falls upon deaf ears and the results are extreme disappointment and then the inevitable five steps of acceptance of being separated from their Thai partner.

But why should your Thai girlfriend apply for a UK Tourist visa.

Most relationships between a Thai girlfriend and UK boyfriend happen as a result of a holiday romance. The British man finds a Thai companion while on a two week holiday in Thailand.

After he has had three two week holidays in Thailand and within that time visited the Thai village, Thai family and Thai grandparent the British boyfriend feels he is ready to move forward and get married to his Thai girlfriend.

The British embassy looks at this situation very differently. From an outsider looking in what they can see is, the couple has known each other in person for less than six weeks in real terms, and the rest of the relationship was a series of long distance telephone calls.

The embassy will have no doubt that the Thai girlfriend (wife) has great intention of going to the UK. But is it for love or financial reasons. After all, how can the Thai girlfriend be certain after 6 weeks that she really intends to spend the rest of her life with a man she hardly knows? Even what she does know about him is slightly tangled truth. A man on holiday is a different animal to a man that has to get up for work 5 days a week in grey old blighty.

Get your Thai girlfriend a UK tourist visa first and when you are finally ready to apply for a UK Fiancee visa or UK marriage visa the message to the UK border clearing officer will be

“I met my thai girlfriend many months ago, in that time I visited Thailand and got to know her and her family. We fell in love and my girlfriend decided she wanted to visit me in the UK. While she was in the UK our relationship grew, my Thai girlfriend got to meet my friends and family. She enjoyed her time in England and loved the culture. When she returned to Thailand I realized that I couldn’t live without her so we have decided to get married and she would like to live with me in the UK”

Obviously the above is a very quick description of what the embassy would be reading, but I am sure you understand the point that I am making, now lets give another message to the embassy, this time we are applying for a marriage visa first

“I met my thai girlfriend many months ago, in that time I visited Thailand and got to know her and her family. We fell in love and my girlfriend decided she wants to live with me in the UK. Really we don’t know each other that well and she has no knowledge about life in the UK.”

UK Tourist visa before a UK Marriage Visa

Getting your Thai girlfriend a UK visa is not about putting pen to an application form, but about good preparation and understanding what the embassy are happy granting.

How long can my Thai girlfriend come to the UK for the first time? On her first time to the UK, we want to find out if she likes the UK. She does plan on going back to Thailand.

How long can my Thai girlfriend come to the UK for the first time Answer

Do not presume that your Thai wife will have an automatic right to come to the UK because that is not the case. Even when you are married you will have to prove how long you have known each other and provide ways in which you keep in contact, like telephone bill, emails, skype, money transfers.

Your Thai wife or Thai girlfriend can come to the UK for the first time for up to six months

Your Thai wife or Thai girlfriend can come to the UK for the first time for up to six months. The UK visitors visa is issued with a six month deadline. When the visa is granted the six months starts from the date. If your wife travels to the UK 2 months after getting the visa she will only be able to stay for 4 months.

Make sure your wife returns within the time given on the visa because if she over stays she may be refused any more UK visas. The worse case she could be banned from the UK for 10 years and trust me this does happen.

Firstly you cannot apply for a visa for your Thai girlfriend. It is your Thai girlfriend that is applying for the visa and not you the sponsor. Secondly the visa has to be applied for and issued in Bangkok, so it cannot be applied for in the UK.

You or your Thai girlfriend do not have to attend the British embassy, she may be called for an interview, but you will not be asked to attend the embassy at any time of the visa application.

Not understanding what the British embassy will expect will leave the British boyfriend confused and believing that getting a visa is complicated and difficult.

There are 5 main areas to look at to understand what the British embassy expect to see before even considering issuing a visa

• The British Sponsor and Thai girlfriend are in a real relationship
• The British sponsor is in good standing and has the provable finance to assist his girlfriend while in she is in the UK
• The Thai girlfriend will be safe from any danger while in the UK
• The Thai girlfriend will not become a burden on the British State
• The Thai girlfriend will return to Thailand at the end of the visa application

The embassy will be looking through the application and all of the evidence that you have provided. If they feel that you meet the 5 criteria above then they will issue a UK visa for your Thai girlfriend.

How we are able to guarantee your Thai girlfriend a UK Visa

We give you a list of documents that will be needed at the time of the application. We also instruct your Thai girlfriend what will be needed. As you get the documents back to us, we begin to build a visa file and application that the visa officer will find easy to follow and understand. Done correctly a visa will be issued every time.

My name is David and I would like to know if you could offer me some advice.

My Thai girlfriend (Nock) was recently refused a UK visitors visa to come and visit with me in the UK We really want to reapply for a UK visitor’s visa but we are not very confident after being denied first time.
I am a registered nurse working full time. Have a home and money in the bank
She was denied the visa because:
1. They could not be convinced that Nock would return to Thailand when the time was up.
2. She has a very limited travel history she has been around Thailand and parts of Laos but that is it.
3. We had asked for up to six months for length of stay – do you think we should change that to 4-6 weeks?

Reason for UK Visitor Visa

We stated that her reason to visit was to meet my family and friends and see what British culture is like. Her current employment situation is such that she has a degree in Mass Communication – worked for firms as a secretary and about 2 years ago stopped working for Tesco Lotus for whom she worked in management. She speaks good English and is very personable. She was able to purchase a new car and an empty lot in Korat, Nakhon

She also owns a business in Chiang Rai (a watch and clock store). She also sells Giffarine cosmetic products. Nock has an apartment in Bangkok and had showed that she would sublet the apartment to her close friend Jimmy from Chiang Rai – she is also a business owner and goes to Bangkok periodically for business.

Since quitting working at Tesco Lotus Nock has been able to maintain her lifestyle with apartment, car and has also been able to go home for periods of time and help her mother with the family store in Prathai Prathai (about 70 mins from Korat).

When Nock is tending the store her mom, and sisters can work on the farm. Nock is very close to her family, we both have plans if it all works out to live part time in Canada and part time in Thailand. I am hoping to go to Thailand in October and take a scuba diving course that lasts 7 months – I believe that this would be a productive and yet fun way to be able to be with my girlfriend. I was hoping that when I am finished the course in May that I would be able to bring back Nock with me to the UK where I would return to work as a nurse at the Hospital here in Liverpool and go back to Thailand in October 2010 to work as a scuba diving instructor.

I must say that I really don’t understand the Embassy saying no to her application for visitor’s visa. It makes me wonder if all of the file was read. The interviewer had asked Nock what she planned to do in Canada. Nock told her that she would like to visit my family and friends and see where I work and my culture. The interviewer told Nock to wait until her boyfriend comes from the UK and visits you for 6 months. This news was heartbreaking!

We have talked on the phone almost daily. We text each other almost daily. We think about each other all the time. She is NOT a bar girl, we don’t go to bars at all. We are both very traditional and respectful of each other. We are considering spending the rest of our lives together. This letter is very personal and I am writing to a stranger (I am desperate), I really hope that there is something that can be done to allow my girlfriend to come to Canada. I appreciate your assistance in this matter. If you have any good ideas I would love to know them.
Should she get her mother and aunt to write a letter?
What could we do? My Best Regards.
David

Reason for Refused UK Visitors Visa

The mistake David has made is unfortunately made every day by people when applying for a visa to the UK. HE doesn’t fully understand what is needed to obtain a UK visa and therefore is shooting in the dark.

He wants help and only free help, which I understand, but all the help he has had up to now has ensured that his girlfriend remains in Thailand and now has a black mark against her passport.

As of writing this, I did not see the official Visa refusal form but from Davids comments, believe that the area the visa needs the most help is with his Thai girlfriend Nock. The embassy is not confident that she will return to Thailand at the end of the visa even though Nock
Has a business
Owns a car
Has an apartment in Bangkok
Works with her family

The fact that Nock was called to the embassy for an interview suggests to me that the application was weak and the visa officer was unsure as to issue the visa or not, but the interview ended with a denial anyway.

I feel confident that we can obtain a UK visitor visa for Nock to travel to the UK, A visitor visa will allow for her to spend upto six months with David. We will need the visa refusal form given by the embassy and the original visa application file.

The purpose of the interview is for the clearing officer to get a better understanding of the Thai national, their circumstances and reasons for applying for a visa to travel to the UK.
Most Thai girls would never have been interviewed in this capacity before and will find the whole situation very frightening. Some questions they may not understand what is being asked or even the full meaning of the question.

The answers given during this UK immigration interview will determine whether the visa will be granted or refused. It will be easy for a Thai girl to get confused because of the language barrier and then come across as if they do not know much at all about the UK sponsor. This would then bring the visa officer to the conclusion that there is not a real relationship between the Thai national and UK sponsor. This happens all of the time.

The UK Visa interview

When a Thai girl is called for an interview and as a result is refused the UK visa, many of the UK boyfriends contact the embassy to express that they are not happy with the outcome and ask why they were not interviewed as well as the girlfriend. They feel that they have been hard done by as they did not get an opportunity to talk to the visa officer.

The simple fact of this situation is, the visa officer will only interview the person applying for the visa, as the visa is for them to travel and enter the UK. The UK boyfriend is a sponsor and has no reason to be called to interview.

The best situation is to avoid an interview and this can be achieved by making a solid application that is laid out in a way that the visa officer understands. Get the application right and there will be no reason for a UK Visa interview.

The financial crisis of 2009 has effect the world over. The effects have rippled through to every part of the world. This can be well demonstrated by the visa application to the UK from Thailand. People in the UK are concerned about their job, not knowing if the job that they have worked in for 10 years is safe. Many people are too concerned about maintaining their income that holidays are now on permanent hold.

Between the world’s financial crisis and Thailand’s political situation British tourist numbers to Thailand are way down on previous years. Men that would visit Pattaya 2 or 3 times a year are no longer visiting, or visiting less.

The result on visa application at the British embassy is outstanding. Tourist – Visitor visa applications are down while UK settlement visas have increased.

We have concluded that as the UK men are finding money tight, they are no longer in a position to fly in their Thai girlfriend for a month’s holiday. The men that are married to Thai ladies, not having the money to travel to Thailand as of 2009 are now applying for the Thai wife to come and settle in the UK. As there are less British single men tourists visiting Pattaya there will be decline in the amount of new relationships and therefore a decline in the amount of tourist – visitor visas required.

There is not a day goes by were we do not here clients having problems with Thailand visa companies that start with a very low price “normally 5,000 to 10,000 Thai baht” to obtain a UK tourist visa for your Thai wife/ Thai girlfriend. After you pay the money they then increase their price as the application progresses to a staggering amount of money. The amount of money is always higher than what you could have paid a professional visa company that is not in the habit of telling lies and gives you the true cost at the start of the process. The expenses incurred during an application for a UK tourist visa if done properly should equate to much more that 10,000 Thai baht so this should explain why to be careful.

Unfortunately we see this scam happening to a clients Thai wife/ Thai girlfriend when applying for a UK tourist visa because they tend to go for the lowest price because they are careful with money and they do not take in to consideration the professionalism of the company it seems that the lower the price the better the deal which is normally the Asian way of doing business. When the foreigner leaves it to his Thai wife/ Thai girlfriend to obtain the UK tourist visa this is when the problems start and the nightmare for the UK sponsor begins.

UK sponsor is in the hands of a Thai Visa company

In most cases the UK sponsor is in the hands of a Thai Visa company that speaks very little broken English and he does not have a clue how to proceed or what is going on with the paperwork and why this company keeps asking for extra money for things that don’t need doing!!! In most cases we see the UK sponsor just goes with the flow because he does not know there is a different way to apply for a UK tourist visa. After a length of time the application will be submitted and then it is a game of Russian roulette if the visa is awarded or not and at this stage you may have paid expenses of approx 40,000 Thai baht and no visa has been awarded yet “but they started cheap”.

If the visa is finally awarded then you may find that this is when the extra expenses will be asked for because they feel that now success has been achieved you should pay for their services and we have seen cases were in the end the visa has cost anything in the region of 60,000 to 120,000 Thai baht for a visa that started at 10,000 Thai baht and please rest assured they are not interested if you never go back to them to use their services again or you give them bad reports you are wasting your time.

in the end the visa has cost anything in the region of 60,000 to 120,000 Thai baht

Normally if the visa is refused then you will probably always get a response saying “it is not our fault” and they will ask you for money again to re-apply for the visa and because you are so deep in with them and they have all your documentation the UK sponsor tends to say reluctantly “yes” and the whole process starts again with different reasons this time for needing money. We also see on numerous occasions that they refuse to give you back your documentation so you have to use their services again.

In any business nobody works for nothing and every business person does expect to earn a living but there is a correct way of doing business and our feeling has always been why would you dream of paying money up front in full or a deposit if the job has not been finished or definitely if the job has not been started.

In the UK if you were having a new engine installed in your car you would agree the price first and you would not pay a penny until the engine was running and you was happy with the performance!! So why would you pay money to a foreign company you don’t know and have had no dealings with and in most cases never walked in their office!! In most cases the UK sponsor tends to love his Thai wife/Thai girlfriend and as a result lets love cloud his judgment which is only natural and we understand. No company can guarantee a visa because the British Embassy make the final decision so paying them money up front is like betting money on a 3 legged horse and should never be done.

You should pay for a visa and all expenses when the UK tourist visa is in your Thai wife/ Thai girlfriends passport and not before. If the company states a 100% guarantee then let them stand behind this guarantee by only asking for money when the visa is awarded and paying all expenses incurred until success is achieved as we have always done at Key Visa Company we never ask for money up front or a deposit and would not accept if you offered this is our guarantee to you as our client that we stand behind our promises.

Never pay money up front to A Thailand Visa Company

Never pay money up front to A Thailand Visa Company not even a deposit because you will lose it!! Always agree a price first and have it in writing via a fax or an e-mail before you start the process as we always do with our clients so you know where you stand.

The above statement is written as guidance to future clients and is not written to offend. There are numerous good companies but we feel that if we write to teach then it is only the bad companies that have to be concerned.