Thai wife UK state pension

Thai wife UK state pension

The world often isn’t fair and sometimes deals the toughest cards to the people with the least in society. As unfair as it may seem any man on a UK state pension with no other income will not be able to get his Thai wife back to the UK to live on either a spouse or settlement visa. This means that even if he is married his wife will not be able to obtain a visa to live in the UK

Age discrimination UK
In December 2003 the UK committed to legislating against age discrimination under the EC Directive on equal treatment. Refusing to allow a Thai wife to live in the UK with a British husband that only receives a state pension has been found not to
break the age discrimination rules.

Obviously men over the age of 65 that cannot get their Thai wife back to the UK to live feel that it is only about age. On occasions the men get their wife to apply for a UK marriage visa in Bangkok and when it is refused then get a solicitor in the UK to appeal against the decision listing age discrimination as the reason for appealing the visa refusal. None of these appeals have been successful.

Let’s look at the reasons why.

Thai wife UK state pension

We were promised a pension for every man or woman that works in the UK. Every week we pay a small amount of money as a national insurance payment. With the promise of continued free health care and a State pension from the age of 65 (for men).

We do however have the chance to privately save for our golden years. The truth is that people living on a state pension are living on the poverty line with very little money to spare. For many decades we have been advised to take out private pensions or make investments that will not be means tested at the time of retirement. So throughout our lives we all received the same information. Some people managed to get a private pension or make investments while others sadly for many reasons were not able to.

Part of the requirements that the visa officer looks at while deciding the outcome of a visa application is - will the Thai wife become a burden on the British state? If the British husband only has a state pension then the Thai wife will be using some of that money to live on therefore she will be a burden on the British state.
The only option available to a British pensioner with a Thai wife and a state pension is to apply for a UK tourist visa. This will at least let you spend 6 months together at a time in the UK.