Taking your Thai child to live in the UK on a settlement visa
This is one of the most difficult visas to obtain for our clients and it is littered with pitfalls and reasons why the British Embassy could refuse the visa. A UK child settlement visa should only be attempted by an experienced visa consultancy company or you can risk losing your money.
We take care of all online and paper application forms and associated letters and are completely hands-on from start to finish whilst constantly communicating to update local and overseas customers on the application progress so you can relax and leave it to us
An English owned and managed company with bilingual English / Thai staff who will help your Thai partner through the entire process with no hassle and full support from the beginning of the process right up until you receive your visa
We are a well respected company and affiliated with the Pattaya Expats club. Our team go above and beyond to offer simply the best visa service in Thailand with additional benefits not offered by any other company such as an airport concierge for solo travellers.
You are asking yourself why can it be so difficult. What is the problem?
A child settlement visa should not be thought of as a normal visa, it is more like a reason for the British Embassy clearing officer to allow the Thai child to travel and live in the UK with access to medical care and also free schooling at a higher level and also have the chance to experience a better standard of living with more prospects.
So you have to give them a reason why they should allow you to take the child out of Thailand and start a new life in the UK and they will not issue a visa unless they feel the child may be at risk or the standard of living is at a poor level or deteriorated. Also if maybe the guardian of the child has become too sick to make sure that the Thai child is going to school or take care of them properly.
Childs UK Settlement Visa First Rules
- Child applicants have to be Under 18 years old
- Child settlement visa fees are the same as adult fees
- Immigration health charge must now be paid
- TB x-ray is needed for most applicants.
- Parents must meet the new financial requirements for mother and additional children.
- Prove that you have sole custody of the child.
Remember, the Visa officer could contact you at any time.
When a Child visa application is submitted you can normally guarantee that the guardian of the child and the Thai mother will be interviewed to a high level by an Embassy clearing officer.
One mistake can mean that the Thai child will probably never get a visa to live in the UK which is why using Key Visa is so important as we prepare you and help you through the process as a family and try to make sure that all bases are covered.
There are normally two scenarios with a child visa application
Thai mother lives in the UK
When a Thai spouse has resided in the UK for a period of time they normally wish for their Thai child or children to then go and accompany them in the UK to live and have a higher standard of education and the common logic is well if the mother has a visa the child should get one also and this is the biggest mistake we see clients make. There are various circumstances you must consider before applying for a child UK settlement visa.
These are 9 circumstances out of approximately 25 you must observe before contemplating the visa application for the Thai child and we must stress this application is about giving the officer no choice but to award the visa. It is completely different to applying for a Thai spouse.
- How long has the mother lived without her child-children?
- Who takes care of them in Thailand?
- Do they go to school? Have access to electricity, drinking water?
- Is their standard of living at a level where the child is not in danger?
- Who took care of the child whilst you were both starting your relationship?
- Who has sole custody of the child? Mother or the father?
- Are the custody documents correct?
- Does the Thai mother contact the child and how?
- Does the Thai mother financially help support the child?
Thai mother lives in Thailand with the children
Visa consultants are now of the opinion that applying for the Thai child and the motherwhilst both are still residing in Thailand together is a safer way of applying for the child and gives the officer less room to find reasons to refuse the visa, reasons,
- The mother currently lives with the child
- The child cannot stay in Thailand alone without the mother
- The Thai mother is sole custodian and has not left the child in Thailand with a guardian for long lengths of time
- They are moving to the UK together as a family unit.
- The bond between the mother and child is being shown with a joint application for settlement
- Also has the UK sponsor met the child and can prove it
- Who has been financially supporting mother and child
- This is just a few reasons why applying at the same time as the Thai spouse could save heart ache in the future,
- We are not implying that applying after the Thai spouse is in the UK can be impossible it is just made more difficult with more hurdles to overcome.
- Whatever the scenario you should allow Key Visa to process the application.
- We have a very high success rate with UK Settlement visas for children.
Key Visa Company’s role in this visa application is to help you and your Thai wife through the process of obtaining the child’s visa. When you decide to accept our assistance, you will be glad that you did. All we have done for you will be apparent when you talk to others who have tried to go it alone and made small, costly mistakes with the necessary documents and using in experienced visa agents can be a disaster.
Tuberculosis x-ray
This x-ray must be completed by all applicants including children under the age of 12 years old but there is no need to worry as part of our service the trained Key Visa staff will book the appointment and prepare the associated documents and take your Thai partner to Bangkok to undergo the x-ray and if the applicant passes which is normal then a certificate will be issued on the same day by the IOM.
Financial criteria set out of the FM Appendix
To obtain a UK Settlement visa for a Thai child there is a financial threshold which we have detailed on another section. These rules were introduced in July 2012 and are designed to prove to the British government that you can provide for your wife and her children financially. This includes being employed, or self employed, or living on pensions or savings – but it mainly comes down to being able to prove that you are earning 18,600
UK pounds before taxes for your wife and 22,400 UK pounds if including one child, which is the income threshold set by the British Government. The income threshold is the biggest burden most people face with relation to this particular visa which is why professional help from Key Visa Company is paramount. You must be aware that even though your Thai spouse is resident in the UK on a settlement visa you will have to show the financial requirement for your Thai spouse and her child.
UK Child Visa Settlement Process
- We first start by advising the UK sponsor and the Thai parent of the documentsrequired on the telephone or by e-mail or fax making sure that both parties fully understand all the requirements.
- Darren McGarry is the English speaking staff to deal with the sponsor and wehave Thai staff to deal with the child’s mother or guardian, which is important to make sure that document supplied to us are correct and complete.
- When the documents are received we collate and do the translations that are needed for the visa application.
- We book the child’s tuberculosis x-ray appointment and then take the child for the x-ray.
- We accurately prepare the online application and organize the visa application fee.
- We set up the NHS portal account for the Thai child so the new NHS surcharge can be paid.
- We write all associated letters for you to get the necessary wording.We book the appointment to submit the visa application with your Thai partner’s child or guardian in Bangkok.
- We make sure that whoever submits the visa application they say the correctinformation to the officers, which is important when submitting the visa application, as they submit a report.
- We then get an application tracking number and check the status of the application every day until the decision has been made.
- We ensure that the Thai mother and guardian are aware of possible interviewquestions that may be asked.
- When the decision has been made we collect the application, passport and UKvisa from the UK visa application center in Bangkok (VFS Global).
- We advise you when the visa has been issued and the start date so you can prepare flights for your child.
When the visa has been awarded the documents and passport can be collected from our
office, or we can post them if you so wish. This will prevent any unwanted travel to
Pattaya.
We have 18 years experience in obtaining UK settlement visas with faultless accuracy and priceless experience so why go elsewhere?
For a UK Settlement visa and all associated costs at very competitive rates and no hidden agenda can you please contact us at [email protected] or call our office in Thailand on 038 422 131
18 years of visa experience, honesty and integrity for both our Thai national and expat clients.
Nationwide service across Thailand, no matter where you live in the country we can solve your visa problems
We make visa applications seamless, keeping you informed every step of the way.
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