Monday, April 20, 2009

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.

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