Visa help please

[Roofa]

Hi, long story short, the wife’s friend got married in Thailand to a English guy, came to the uk to live happy ever after. However, once she is here, she finds her husband shagging another girl. She hysterically calls my Mrs, who tells me to go and get her mate and bring her back to our house. Stayed for a week and then decides she wants to go back to Thailand. So off we go to the airport and she’s back home now. She wants nothing more from her husband, but would like to come back to the uk at some point as she has a 2 year visa. So the question is, can her husband stop her in any way? Don’t want her to get to Heathrow only to be turned away.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks..  Tom

[worldpunter]

When she stayed for a week with you , ... Did you.  ? 

[regyai]

She sets foot in blighty could prove a lifetime of expense for hubby

[Roofa]

2 hours ago, worldpunter said:

When she stayed for a week with you , ... Did you.  ? 

I’d like to say yes, but unfortunately not.

[Roofa]

2 hours ago, regyai said:

She sets foot in blighty could prove a lifetime of expense for hubby

She’s not here at the moment, don’t think she wants anything from him , she wants to know if he can cancel her visa or make it difficult for her to return.

[bungee]

This is my understanding. I'm not an immigration lawyer.

Sounds like she has a settlement visa? They are usually for 2.5 years on the 5 year path - a second 2.5 year visa after 2.5 years. A visitor visa is usually only for 6 months although you can get longer. Settlement visas are based on an ongoing relationship. The husband could write to the Home Office and say that the relationship has broken down in which case the visa would end. If he had written a letter and if the home office had it's act together then she might be stopped at the airport with the flight to the UK where passports and visa are checked but more likely when she arrived in the UK and they checked her passport there.

If he has not written a letter (which seems most probable unless he is clued up on these things and highly motivated to piss her off) then there is nothing to stop her coming back. Once she is in the country I don't think the home office would proactively kick her out if the husband subsequently wrote to them and said it was over*. Obviously at the end of 2 years she would need to do something to renew her visa if she wanted to stay. There are several immigration forums that could probably advise on what she should do now to get her visa renewed in the future. Don't leave it until 2 years when she has met someone new to find out as there could be simple things, but things which require documentation or take time to do. I don't know to what extent she did the visa application and she could do the renewal herself? To renew a settlement visa she would need to get an A2(?) english qualification and pay again. * technically if he has not then she should write to the home office to say the relationship is over but I'm sure there are ways and means of making things go smoothly which is why if she comes back you should ask in one of the immigration forums what she should do for the best outcome. For instance what happens if in 6 months or 1 year if her husband decides he wants to marry this person she found him fucking and speaks to a lawyer about getting a divorce and the lawyer tells him to write to the home office to end the visa. It would be better if she had a reply to the home office already in mind to tick all of thier boxes. I believe the health service charge is refundable if the visa ends early.

Does her husband know she has gone back to thailand? Will he know she is back in the UK? Is he wanting to end things or fix things (even if she understandably does not want to fix things).

She should not leave it too long to come back as the visa is based on an ongoing relationship and intention to reside in the UK. It would not be expected for someone to stay for an extended time abroad unless there was a good explanation (parent / family dying in hospital etc).

She should also have a mind to how she is going to get divorced especially if he were to be difficult. Uncontested divorce is simple in Thailand with no delays if both people agree. In the UK you have to go to mediation etc and wait a year or more. I don't know how long you have to wait in Thailand if your partner is not cooperative in getting a divorce. Maybe many years. Since she has only been married a short time I don't think she will have much of claim on her husbands assets but if he has any then some lawyers may well take the case on the basis they can get their fees from the husband. She should get the papers for a uncontested divorce in thailand prepared and the necessary translations etc so she can get him to sign then at some point even if they are not filed quickly. I don't know if they can be postdated? Until divorce there is always the claim that she hoped for reconsiliation as a reason for staying in the UK and obviously not wilfully breaking the visa conditions.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/immigration/stay-in-uk/visas-after-a-divorce/

 

[Roofa]

Bungee, thank you very much for taking the time  and effort in explaining this. They keep asking me questions about this matter, but to be honest I haven’t got a clue, I did my Mrs visa 20 odd years ago and things have drastically changed in that time. Thanks again, Tom

[talung66]

Ask darren at key visa or at least see him in the expats breakfast of fridays 

might need to explain what visa she exactly has as well to get the right answers you never added that.