UK Visa options

Here's the deal. I normally live here in Thailand but need to visit my parents a bit more than I do. The problem is my work jetting all over the world at short notice. What I would like to do is come home and grab the Mrs and fly to UK for a few weeks, the only problem is all the bullshit about getting a visa, I just don't have the time to get my latest 6 months paperwork sent from the UK to start the procedure before I have to go back to work again. We have visited once but had a lot of time to plan. We really don't want to live in UK so I guess ILR and all that jazz is out of the question, it's a real pain in the hole. Has anyone got experience of the longer term visas or the success rate in applying for them, i.e. 5 or 10 years? Any help gratefully appreciated, my Mum is going to disown me soon.

Don't have any experience but has she been granted a shorter stay visa before? If so I would have thought getting the longer validity visa would be pretty straightforward, particularly if you can demonstrate you spend most of your time here. I've just got the Mrs her first UK visa (we're off in three weeks for a three week stay - can't wait) but when we get back I'm seriously considering trying to get her a 5 or 10 year one.

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Originally Posted by lingmau

Don't have any experience but has she been granted a shorter stay visa before? If so I would have thought getting the longer validity visa would be pretty straightforward, particularly if you can demonstrate you spend most of your time here. I've just got the Mrs her first UK visa (we're off in three weeks for a three week stay - can't wait) but when we get back I'm seriously considering trying to get her a 5 or 10 year one.

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Enjoy your trip mate, my Mrs loved it, we had a great time. Lets hope we can both get long term visas in the future. When I spent the best part of 20 years serving Queen and country I never thought I would have to jump through so many hoops just to have a few weeks holiday with my own damn wife. Aint it just precious?

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Originally Posted by TexasRanger

We have visited once but had a lot of time to plan

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As I understand it, if she got a visa before, and adhered to its terms then the second one is much easier. Unfortunatley there is no way around the paperwork, being "busy" is not an excuse the uk immigration jobsworths are likely to entertain:)

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Originally Posted by TexasRanger

Aint it just precious?

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100%

Yeah, four and a half weeks to get the Uk visa, just got her a French one in about 3 days, pathetic really

^Enjoy the trip.

Cheers mate

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Originally Posted by Spin

As I understand it, if she got a visa before, and adhered to its terms then the second one is much easier. Unfortunatley there is no way around the paperwork, being "busy" is not an excuse the uk immigration jobsworths are likely to entertain

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might have changed now with all the new biometrics involved, out flr m took longer to get than her fiance one!

There used to be a multi entry ten year visa available. Not sure if it still is.

Used to be a tourist visa. There may well be a family visa equivalent of it now.

Yeah there is still a five year and ten year multi entry visa (tourist/family visit). Would be very useful for family emergencies (God forbid) especially given the 4-6 week processing time currently

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Originally Posted by lingmau

Yeah, four and a half weeks to get the Uk visa, just got her a French one in about 3 days, pathetic really

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Shit...this is bad. Took the gf to the U.K. for 3 weeks last year and the waiting time was only a week !? Looks like things are slipping back to the ' bad old days ' when the visa applications had to be made at the British Embassy. Wonder what the excuse is now ?

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Originally Posted by lingmau

Yeah, four and a half weeks to get the Uk visa, just got her a French one in about 3 days, pathetic really

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Don't know but if you have a French visa can you then travel within the EU.? Seem to recall that a friend with a wife from Ivory Coast got her a French Visa and she went to UK from France.
Was a few years ago but might be another angle on it :)

French visa allows you to travel in much of the EU - the companies that have signed the SCHENGEN agreement - but unfortunately the UK isn't one of them. My Mrs was told that the current timeframe for UK visas is because there are approximately 250 Amway reps applying every day - for the part month and the next three - God knows what that's all about?

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Originally Posted by TexasRanger

Here's the deal. I normally live here in Thailand but need to visit my parents a bit more than I do. The problem is my work jetting all over the world at short notice. What I would like to do is come home and grab the Mrs and fly to UK for a few weeks, the only problem is all the bullshit about getting a visa, I just don't have the time to get my latest 6 months paperwork sent from the UK to start the procedure before I have to go back to work again. We have visited once but had a lot of time to plan. We really don't want to live in UK so I guess ILR and all that jazz is out of the question, it's a real pain in the hole. Has anyone got experience of the longer term visas or the success rate in applying for them, i.e. 5 or 10 years? Any help gratefully appreciated, my Mum is going to disown me soon.

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you could get an initial 2 year settlement visa, and she could do it herself without you being present - she will need some of your documents though

just a tourist visa would be enough though, and should be granted if she has been before