Ripped off by a Thailand Visa Company

This is a real situation that happens to guys from the UK trying to get a visa for their Thai girlfriend.





When dealing with a visa consultant in Bangkok or Pattaya, do not give them any money. Some of the visa companies offer a no visa - no fee, however they require that you pay money upfront that they will return to your if the visa is refused. Why do they need money upfront, if they are going to give the money back, why do they need it first. Certain visa companies make the application and hope that the Thai lady will be called for an interview. Then if the visa is refused they will say they cannot give you the money back as it was not their doing the visa was refused but was something that the Thai girlfriend had said while in the interview.

If a UK visa application is made correctly the simple fact is that an interview will not be required. Only a shaky visa application will result in an interview.

Then after you have been refused, not only will your money not be return as promised, but also you could be required to pay extra money for the return of your documents. For any guy living in the UK he is to far away to control any of this situation and Thai people naturally do not like confrontation.

Getting ripped off by a Thailand Visa Company.

Take some simple advice and you will not get ripped off by a Thailand Visa company. Do not part with any money without a visa. Do not give any money upfront. Ask for a printed or email explaining the total and final costs.

Do not part with any money without a visa

If the visa company cannot give an exact price for obtaining a visa, you can be sure the price will increase, do not use the services of a company that cannot give you a fixed one off price.

If a Thailand Visa company tells you that you must marry to get a UK visa, they are lying. In fact a settlement visa is much more difficult to obtain than a simple Tourist Visa. The reason the company tries to get you to apply for a Settlement or Fiancee visa is because there fees are higher for this visa.

What Is The Easiest Visa To Get For Thai To UK

Ask different people the question and each will give you a different answer. Obviously it is impossible to give one answer that would be best for all Thai nationals. Visa consultants in Thailand will often tell you that a fiancée visa is the easiest visa to get for a Thai. If you are married the same visa consultant will tell you that a settlement visa is the easiest.

This is so wrong. Firstly the cost of either a settlement visa or fiancée visa is much higher than a tourist visa. While a tourist visa takes 3-4 weeks for a response from the British embassy a settlement of fiancée visa takes 3 months to get a response. The evidence that needs to be provided to the embassy for them to issue a settlement of fiancée visa is much greater than the evidence needed for a tourist visa.

A UK tourist visa is the easiest visa to get for a Thai

A UK tourist visa is the easiest visa to get for a Thai on the first application. If the Thai national has not visited the UK before and is married to you, we would still strongly advise that you apply for a tourist visa first.

When the UK immigration department issues a Settlement visa, the Thai has the right to remain in the UK for two years, is able to work, is able to get treated on the national health. Why would it be easier to be issued a visa that costs the UK more?

The easiest visa to get for a Thai is a UK tourist visa.

The chances of obtaining any visa other than a tourist visa on the first application is not likely and that is why we say the easiest visa to get for a Thai is a UK tourist visa.

The tourist visa is valid for upto 6 months.
When in the UK the Thai national will not be able to work
They will have to return to the UK prior to the end of the six month period.
When applying for a tourist visa, even though they can be issued for 6 months, never apply for this amount of time as you are more than likely to be refused, after all how many people can really say they are a tourist of the UK for six months.

Thai child UK settlement visa

Thai child settlement visa

It is very common that when a Thai wife has received a settlement visa and has lived with her British Husband in the UK for a period of time they will make in roads and enquiries with regards to obtaining a settlement visa for there son/daughter to live with you as a family in the UK and like any mother you can imagine she will be worrying and missing her Thai child immensely but your Thai wife will definitely wish to make sure that everything is prepared for there Thai child before applying for a visa.

With an application for a Thai child if you are not careful it can get messy with regards to who has the full custody of the Thai child be it the mother or father etc. To the British Embassy the custody issue is very important to them to confirm and ascertain who is the guardian for the child because they don't want to be issuing visas to Thai children when the mother does not have sole custody this can cause major problems that the British Embassy does not want to be involved with.

The first step with an application for a Thai child is to ascertain who is the legal guardian and sometimes with the language barrier it can be difficult to explain the details to your Thai wife and make them understand the legalities of the situation.

If your Thai wife was not legally married to her previous Thai husband/boyfriend when the baby was born and the baby has your wife's previous maiden name then you can apply for a settlement visa confidently knowing that your Thai wife is the sole custodian of the Thai child. In this case it is always better for your Thai wife to go to her local Amphur "Town Hall" in the village were she is from and they will give her a confirmation letter stating that she takes care of the child alone with no input from the father.

If your Thai wife was married legally to her previous Thai husband/boyfriend and then divorced you have to check who was given custody of the Thai child and if it was the father then your Thai wife has to apply through the Thai judicial courts for sole custody of the child and this has to be signed and agreed by the father of the child. If this is the case then it can take anything up to 3 months and can be very frustrating.

If your Thai wife was legally married and she was widowed and you have a copy of her previous husbands death certificate then your Thai wife has automatic custody of the Thai child in question.

When you are applying for a settlement visa for a Thai child you have to remember that when the British Embassy officer is looking at the visa application they will always have in the back of there mind that your Thai wife did leave her child behind when she came to reside with you in the UK so for the Thai child to be issued with a settlement visa you have to show firm and genuine reasons why the Thai child would have a better life in the UK and why when the Thai child has lived in Thailand without the mother for a period of time normally with a family member are you applying for a visa now.

A Thai common law wife cannot live in the UK

In the UK, if you have lived with a partner with several years, (ie you are a man and they are a lady) you will referred to as common law man and wife. A common law wife, even though is not married to the man has certain rights. If the relationship was to break, then the common law wife would have a lawful claim to assets within relationship, ie home, car, money etc.

When you are in a long term relationship with a Thai national, if they are looking to move to the UK to live, the UK immigration department will not take into account how long you have been together. So being in a common law wife relationship with a Thai national will not help in any way for them to be able to move and live in the UK.

A Thai common law wife cannot live in the UK

Showing the visa officer that you share a house in Thailand, have lived together for 5 years will not get you a visa to allow your Thai common law life to live in the UK.
This is the case even when you have children. The UK immigration department will only give a settlement visa to a Thai lady when she is legally married to the UK man.
There are two ways to get married in Thailand, one is recognized by law and the other will not help you obtain a settlement visa.

Getting your Thai girlfriend into the UK

I am sure you already know that your Thai girlfriend will need a visa to be able to travel to the UK and within this web site – blog there are many pages and posts about this. However to confirm, a Thai girlfriend best option of a visa to the UK is a tourist visa.

Getting your Thai girlfriend into the UK

Getting your Thai girlfriend into the UK, as obvious as they all sound, I will give you a check list of what is required or what is needed.

• Thai passport
• UK Tourist Visa
• Airline ticket return

Ok the list above is real obvious, but what about these suggestions

• Travel insurance
• Warm clothing,
  
• coats, jumpers, socks, warm shoes.
  

One of the biggest problems Thai people face while in the UK is the cold, even in the summer Thai people will be cold, very cold. A warm day in the UK lacks humidity and Thai people have lived a life time with the heat and humidity.

Thai Wife Renewing UK Tourist Visa

Thai Wife Renewing UK Tourist Visa

If you are married then you are able to apply for a UK settlement visa which for a married couple is more beneficial than a tourist visa. A tourist visa is issued for 6 months, at which time your Thai wife would have to return to Thailand
Any Thai person travelling to the UK on a tourist visa, when returning to the Thailand will not be able to apply for another tourist visa for 6 months. The visa has to be applied and issued at the British embassy in Bangkok. So your Thai wife is in the UK and the tourist visa is running out, she will not be able to renew or extend the visa, she would have to return to Thailand and wait 6 months before making a new visa application. The British embassy will not issue two tourist visas in one year as they view it that you are abusing the immigration rules.

UK tourist visa cannot be extended or renewed

The UK tourist visa cannot be extended or renewed. When it expires you would need to make a new visa application, a Thai citizen would need to apply in Bangkok.

If you are married to a Thai lady, the best visa is a settlement visa, they take longer to get issued, and at the time of writing this the average time to get a reply from the embassy is 90 days.

How Much Should You Send A Thai Girlfriend

How Much Should You Send A Thai Girlfriend

How much money should you send a Thai girlfriend? this is a very difficult question to answer as every persons situation and relationship is different.

How much money should you send a thai girlfriend. You should not send money that you cannot afford. If you need to send an amount of money that will then leave you short of money, send less. It is no good sending your Thai girlfriend money every month just so you have to sit in every night while you are in the UK.

how much money your Thai girlfriend will want

There is a balance between how much money your Thai girlfriend will want you to send and how much you can afford and how much money you should send.

If you Thai girlfriend is living in Pattaya, she will need a slightly higher amount of money than if she was to return back to the village, though it is not fair to ask your Thai girlfriend to return to the village just to save money, after all who would like to return to a quiet sleepy rice town after spending a few months in the action of Pattaya. Men from the UK arrive in Pattaya for two weeks and don’t like going home to a city, never mind a village.

Your Thai girlfriend will need a certain amount of money

Your Thai girlfriend will need a certain amount of money to pay for her daily costs, these costs will include a room, electric, water, food, entertainment money and then money to send home to the parents.

How much money should you send a Thai girlfriend? If you can afford 15,000 Baht, in my opinion this is the starting point of how much money to send her. Start adding up her living costs, after her parents have received some money and she has paid the rent and electric, she will only have about 2000 Baht a week to eat, drink and entertain herself.

Find out how to send money to Thai girlfriend