# Tourist visa for a Chinese wife



## kreisler1730

I was wondering if anybody had experienced any particular problems with acquiring a UK tourist visa for their Chinese wife? We have lived together in China for almost ten years, but now I want to take her to visit my sister in Essex, England to get a feel for the country before we make any hard decisions about where to live after retirement.
Any suggestions will be greatly received on this matter.

Thanks


----------



## USAGary

In the USA the process is the same as any visitor.


----------



## fjols

For my, now, wife it was no problem getting a Schengen visa even before we got married.
Apply and give all the papers. Then she was called in for an interview, where they asked some questions about me (to make sure we really knew each other).
2 days later she got the visa.
After that getting the visas has been really easy.

I assume the process for the UK is similar.


----------



## Jw02

Kreisler,
Forget about what the system is in the US and Europe. Two very different systems! Firstly go online and check out the British Embassy website and get all the information from there. There are links to the UKBA and all the forms you will need. You will of course need to show proof of marriage as well as proof you are still li paving together. Financial documents will need to be produced as well as wife's hukou. You will also need work contracts for here in China to prove you are due / plan to come back after our trip. Anything in Chinese will also need to be translated. Don't get the Embassy to translate anything as they will charge you stupid prices and not return anything they translate. Do it yourself if you can and find someone to stamp that it is a good translation. I know you asked about a tourist visa but why not get a Family Visa. This , depending on the length you apply for, will allow your wife to come and go as many times as you want, so if you planning on going over several times in the next few years mint make economic sense. This visa is given on the basis that she is going to visit members of your family, close rellies accepted being parents and siblings. This is the type I got for my spouse and we have a full two year visa. You should also supply letters from your family inviting your wife over to visit them. The trick with the British Embassy is to supply as much information as you can so that the process is not delayed. There will be a lot of paperwork and it can get frustrating especially if they ( the embassy) start calling and asking for more information or more proof of your marriage ( which they said was 'too old' in my case. -- stupid!). Also don't expect any favours from them as they are not their to help you, but to process you, and due to the amount of applications will put you at the bottom of the pile if you haven't prepared well! I doubt there will be an interview also, but she will have to submit biometrics at our nearest VAC. I'll leave it there, good luck!


----------



## kreisler1730

*Got Stuffed!*

Dear all,

Thanks for your replies, all were pretty useful, but sadly we got stuffed when we applied for a family visa, and for the most flimsy of reasons. This is what L Harrison(Entry Clearance Officer) wrote verbatim:


You state that it is your intention to visit your sister-in-law Christine Stripling for a period of 4 or 5 weeks in the UK. You state that you will be travelling with your husband Paul Robert Hann for the duration of this visit. I note that this is your first trip to the UK since your marriage in China on 22/04/2004 and that your husband's visa for China expires on 10/06/2013. These factors coupled with your statement that your husband is "nearing retirement" indicates an intention other than a short visit to the UK. I am therefore not satisfies that you are genuinely seeking entry to the United Kingdom as a visitor for a limited period or that you intend to leave the UK at the end of the period stated by you. With reference to paragraph 41 (i) and (ii) of the Immigration Rules.
You state on your visa application form that whilst you are in the UK you intend on a marraige ceremony. You were contacted by this office on 29/04/2013 where both you and your husabnd confirmed this statement. In light of this information I am satisfied that you intend to marry in the UK and therefore do not meet the requirements of paragraph 41 (x) of the Immigartion Rules.

I have therefore refused your application because I am not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that you meet all of the requirements of the above paragraph(s) of the Immigration Rules.

THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS THE UK GOVERNMENT DOING ITS LEVEL BEST TO KEEP MY WIFE A GENUINE CASE OUT OF BLITEY, AND THIS OUR ONE AND ONLY EVER APPLICATION. WE ARE ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF APPEALING AND WITH SOME HELP FROM ME MY WIFE HAS WRITTEN THIS LETTER TO SUPPORT HER CASE:

L Harrison (Entry Clearnace Officer) has it all wrong and has an overactive imagination that lacks logic. He/She indicates that because I have been (1) married to my English husband since 22/04/2004, (2) this is our first trip to the UK together, (3) my husbands' Chinese visa run out on the 10/06/2013, (4) and that he is nearing retirement, that I wife will run away when I get to the UK! This is complete and absolute rubbish! My husband has worked in China for almost ten years as a teacher of English, and we have been married for more than nine years, so why have I waited until now to run away? Also my husband has a current employment contract with a local school until January, 2014, so for this reason his visa will need to be renewed before departure to the UK. Furthermore I have thirty years experience as a Chinese teacher working in government schools and am now looking forward to five year time when I can retire and enjoy my well earned pension. If I run away I will be throwing this away, not to mention the fact that I have a modern home in China purchased by my husband and I in 2005 which is currently worth 1,000,000RMB. In five years time who knows how much it will be worth! Also I have my house saving which is deducted at source from my salary for me to help with my home when I retire and is already worth 50,000rmb. So L Harrison thinks that my husband and I can survive just on love in the UK, leaving behind a small fortune in China, how very amusing!! Just imagine my pension alone. If I run away I will never see one penny of this money and if I were to live for say thirty years after retirement at 55, and this is possible because my family enjoy long life, I will be giving up on 1,380,000RMB, at today’s exchange rate this is more than 138,000 pounds, and don't forget the 100,000 pounds (today’s value) for my apartment and my house money of 5,000 pounds. So L Harrison thinks that my husband and I will just walk away from more than a quarter of a million pounds. O dear think again L Harrison.
Also the other interesting area of rejection is our Christian marriage ceremony which had been booked for 14th August, 2013 at 2pm at the Trinity Methodist Church in Clacton-on-Sea. Now as we know my husband and I married on 22/04/2004, and Chinese marriage is acknowledged and recognised by the British government so it stands to reason that this cannot be used as an excuse to reject my application for a family visitor visa. In the last year I converted to the Christian faith and as such wish to have a Christian wedding ceremony performed. C.S.Lewis once said that a marriage should be a declaration before God , not some government official, and of course he was completely right, so why should I be denied this with my English husband. Incidentally the reason we stay in China is because here my husband is a valuable asset to education, in the UK he would be unemployed even though he is a very clever man with electronic engineering qualifications. Here his earnings are very good, in the UK he would just receive job seeker allowance, and he would not be allowed to get this for too long. Also as previously pointed out I am a professional Chinese teacher and enjoy a good salary. Do I really want to go and work in some sweaty, hot Chinese takeaway or restaurant? NO!
Also I want you to consider something else, my husband met me in 2003 in Zhanjiang and decided he wanted me to be his wife, and he could easily have taken me to the UK then as he had a very good job working for the NHS, but because we did not want to abandon my government pension we decided to stay in China together until after my retirement.
Our reasoning at that time was that my husband could easily find employment in Zhanjiang as a teacher of English as well as giving private tuition giving him a very good salary.
I am a good person, I am not a criminal, I want to be treated fairly and I don’t think this decision was fair or based on the actual facts supplied.


WHAT DO YOU THINK?


----------



## murchie

This is crazy, I don't see how they can refuse the two of you. Especially since you are married... makes no sense.


----------

