Bringing Chinese girlfriend to UK in January

[joshuawbb]

Before I start, just to say that I've read through the other 2008 thread about someone bringing his girlfriend to visit the UK, and have a relatively full picture of the documents required for my girlfriend to apply for a UK tourist visa, though I still have some confusion. I've only been able to find that other thread here so far - the search function and I haven't been getting on well for some reason, and it rejects "UK" combined with anything from my search for the word being too short.

Anyway, the short story is that a good opportunity to bring my now long-term girlfriend to visit the UK has come up, for next January, and she's over the moon to have the opportunity. I've been Googling the visitor visa procedure and have come across just a few useful sites - again, I might just be useless at searching, but whenever I search for what I think is relevant, I mostly just get sites about applying for Chinese tourist visas, agencies, etc whenever "Chinese" goes into the search bar.

Not everything has been finalised yet about the decision, but if everything goes forward, it's pretty certain that the two of us will be supported by my parents (we'll be visiting my family and staying in the family home), will be staying for 2 weeks, and will generally have a good time. My girlfriend will probably bring about £400 with her, since I presume accommodation will be in the family home, etc. I should add that I am 19, am a university student and not working in China and my parents support me financially here. My girlfriend graduated last year, has had a good and stable job since last September and the company is willing to give her the leave and of course guarantee her position still when she returns.

As I said, the trip isn't 100% certain yet, but basically I infer my parents and will be my girlfriend's sponsors for accommodation and finances, which we will declare in the visa application, as neither my girlfriend nor I can sufficiently act as the financial sponsors. We all know what documents to use in the application, but if it's okay I have some questions. Firstly, I'd like to ask, does anyone here have any good links to pages - from forums or any sites - which are very detailed and thorough with the UK visitor visa procedure for a Chinese visitor? I'm asking because I'm certainly not here just to leech everyone's advice, and because I've only found a few good ones so far.

Secondly, can anyone help me with the following questions:

-I'm clear on the full list of documents needed. Should I provide original copies, photocopies, or both? How much of each document should I provide?

-With the documents provided by my parents, should they all be bundled and sent to me in China, to then be sent in the application? Again, should they send real paper versions, or printable ones which can be emailed?

-Am I right in saying that the proof of my parent's property and financial capability to host my girlfriend is enough? My money in China is sent by my parents, and my girlfriend cannot sufficiently sponsor herself either. To confirm though, with my parents we will all be financially perfectly fine during the UK visit.

-Some people have different opinions on whether it's good, bad, or of no consequence to show the relationship between my girlfriend and I. Am I right in saying it's fine to mention that she is my girlfriend, or should I avoid this? It would be a bit unusual to avoid it, since she is travelling with me to my home. I'd have thought hiding it would make consular staff suspicious.

-Following on from that, and lastly, what sort of material should I use to show the relationship between myself and her, and furthermore my parents? This isn't a fiancee visa or anything, but I'm just thinking of everything, and heard this mentioned on the 2008 thread. With photos being one idea, would personal letters and emails be good?

Sorry to be a burden on the board, I clearly have quite a few questions. The process for getting a visa for my girlfriend is pretty daunting, and I'm nervous about getting it absolutely right. I've heard stories explaining that the process is relatively straightforward and likely to succeed, and others emphasising bad experiences and little slip-ups resulting in rejection. Just to confirm, my girlfriend shares a very friendly relationship with my parents - in fact, all my family and our family friends too, despite the fact that they have not met face-to-face. They have talked on the phone, occasionally though email, Facebook, etc.

Many, many thanks

[Yang Rui]

Documents - they will want originals of things like bank statements. It's a good idea to make a copy for your own records, or just in case they ask for a copy. For things like your parents' passport (either your mum's or your dad's should be enough), they'll accept a copy because it would be impractical to give them the original.

Your parents should write a letter outlining their relationship to you, and your relationship to the applicant, and stating that they are willing and able to provide full financial support and accommodation for the entire duration of the stay, including paying for the plane ticket. They'll need to enclose banks statements and proof of address to show this. You should also write a letter explaining the purpose of the trip. I don't see why it would be a problem to disclose your relationship. Otherwise, why would this random Chinese girl be going to stay with you and your parents?

I don't think there is a particularly heavy burden on proving your relationship if she's just visiting. Photos and letters/emails etc would help support your case and the overall rationale behind the visit though.

You asked for sites that are thorough on entry requirements for a Chinese visitor - essentially they are the same as for any non-EU visitor. Here is a link to the guidance that visa officers have to follow on Visit visas:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/visitandtransit/

and in particular

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/visitandtransit/visitorgeneral

You have to satisfy them of the following - and it is mostly based on your girlfriend's intentions. It will help future applications if she actually does what she tells the visa officer she's going to do eg. it wouldn't look very good if she said she was going to stay for two weeks as a visitor, but then enrolls at a language school and you get married.

The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a general visitor are that he:

(i) is genuinely seeking entry as a general visitor for a limited period as stated by him, not exceeding 6 months or not exceeding 12 months in the case of a person seeking entry to accompany an academic visitor, provided in the latter case the visitor accompanying the academic visitor has entry clearance; and

(ii) intends to leave the United Kingdom at the end of the period of the visit as stated by him; and

(iii) does not intend to take employment in the United Kingdom; and

(iv) does not intend to produce goods or provide services within the United Kingdom, including the selling of goods or services direct to members of the public; and

(v) does not intend to undertake a course of study; and

(vi) will maintain and accommodate himself and any dependants adequately out of resources available to him without recourse to public funds or taking employment; or will, with any dependants, be maintained and accommodated adequately by relatives or friends; and

(vii) can meet the cost of the return or onward journey.; and

(viii) is not a child under the age of 18.

(ix) does not intend to do any of the activities provided for in paragraphs 46G (iii), 46M (iii) or 46S (iii);

and

(x) does not, during his visit, intend to marry or form a civil partnership, or to give notice of marriage or civil partnership; and

(xi) does not intend to receive private medical treatment during his visit; and

(xii) is not in transit to a country outside the common travel area.

It shouldn't be a problem unless there is a major hole in your documents, and they would probably ask for more information before refusing her outright. Just be honest, and stick to what you said you would do in the application.

[jbradfor]

I don't see why it would be a problem to disclose your relationship. Otherwise, why would this random Chinese girl be going to stay with you and your parents?

Some consider it an issue because since the Chinese citizen has an "attachment" to the UK (well, to someone in the UK), the UK is concerned that the Chinese citizen will overstay their visa and try to stay indefinitely illegally.

But as you say, it's pretty obvious given the circumstances.... Don't think they'll be ignorant enough to believe it is a "cultural exchange" -- well, you know what I mean....

Emphasize the fact that you are currently living in China, and you yourself plan to return to China as well after this visit.

the search function and I haven't been getting on well for some reason,

The search function here hates everyone.

You can try using google instead, and add "+site:chinese-forums.com"

[joshuawbb]

Many thanks for all your help, I think I'm getting the hang of this process better now. Hopefully my parents won't mind sending original copies through the post - I'll get them to send copies too.

As has been said, it's pretty obvious that we're a couple so I'm certainly not going to hide that, though I did read elsewhere too that some people think it can hurt your chances with her having an "attachment" - though to be honest I don't think it would be hugely significant in my case, hopefully. I think it helps a bit that I'm 19 and a university student, so without financial independence yet I hope they can infer too that something like marriage simply couldn't happen. I think any consular officer would chuckle and reject it if I told them it was a cultural exchange, haha.

Thanks for the site links too and picking out the most important list - they go through in detail indeed and are very helpful. Pretty silly of me that I didn't take enough time before to go and find the site before, since it's a government site. Just another quick question - is it necessary or better to book the plane tickets before going through the visa process, or to do so afterwards? Our initial thoughts were to book them before despite the visa being unfinished, as I think I read somewhere that the consulate needs the tickets. Is this true? It should be fine either way.

My original intentions here in China were to do a full BA degree here after language study, so I'm pretty sure I can reassure them I'm staying. I might be going over the top, but do you think that providing something like my HSK certificate (level 4 at the moment, hopefully will rise in the next exams) is helpful to make them confident I'm returning as well? I guess this is obvious, but they'll surely want to see my own passport too with my residence permit.

Lastly, do you think this basic presentation is appropriate - I was thinking of sorting the documents into a thin paper document file or a similar sort of thing, with a cover sheet before each group of documents explaining which documents they were, etc. I figured it sounded better than sending a pile of documents and expecting them to sort them out.

Many thanks again! Sorry to be a pain. Oh, and thanks for the search tip, I'll keep that in mind.