What are the costs and processing times for a UK spouse visa for my Thai wife, and is it worth using an agent?

I was in England for one month last June and it was my worst trip alive. Before covid and Brexit, SOHO in London was fun and filled with people. The small towns had its charm and everyone had a great spirit. But last year, England was awful. The vibe is gone and the prices have gone up too much. I would never take a Thai girl to England, she would get bored after 2 days.

£1900 for spouse visa + £3600 for NHS surcharge , A1 test , tb test need to be done 1st before submitting application these vary in price depending where you book the appointments , biometrics are included in the visa fees but some places also charge for this , we submitted my wife’s in January & got her passport back with travel visa at the end of march ,it should only be a 3 month turnaround.

If visa unsuccessful you don’t get any of the fees back and when you go to apply again you have to re pay everything

My mate just got the 2 year uk spouse visa for his wife it cost him £6,500

I am going back to 2009, I bought my Thai wife to the UK first I had to get her a visa for spouse, she had to put in a lot of effort, English life in the UK and so on, all added up, next permanent say in the UK visa then I got her UK passport now 2010 /11 total cost then £3500 so I’m sure it will cost a tidy chunk now, luckily she never failed or I would have lost the money and paid again and did all myself, but she will need to put in the effort as well, good luck

Obviously things have changed when I applied for my wife just before COVID. With chest x-ray and further medical tests and the biometrics we applied in December and had the visa 1st week January. We had to pay the NHS Supplement as well. We downloaded all the information and forms we completed, then took everything to vso.

It did when I applied for my wife non refundable if unsuccessful. Don’t forget about the NHS surcharge as well that’s a lot of money

We use solicitor in Bangkok. Cost baht

You pay priority service £500 and they will do in 30 days

14 months ?

Yes 14 months is a good estimate

A friend of mine recently obtained a 10-yr Uk visa for his Thai wife.. allowing unlimited entries of up to 6 months stay each time.. and he told me he paid around £1,000 for it.. and it didn't take anything like 12+ months to process the application.. if all the correct documentation is prepared and ready to submit it should take several weeks rather than several months.. but of course, every situation is different and will have it's own peculiarities.. so timescales will potentially differ between applicants.. I'm considering doing something similar shortly.. no immediate plans to travel back to the Uk, but I'd rather have it in place ready for when it's needed 😉

There is also a NHS surcharge of £1035 a year.

You have to pay again if you reaply

I don't think UK visa fees are ever refunded. A spouse visa is relatively straightforward, as long as you meet the financial requirements. Your wife will need to pass the English language test at a minimum of A1 level.

Suggest go on UK goverment website they have all the info and its quote clear. Havent looked at it lately