Getting a UK visitor visa for your wife's parents

[Horizondave]

Not thinking about it right now but maybe in a year or so I might try to get Porn's mother (and possibly father) over for a long holiday.  Reasons really are to have her mother over for a holiday but also to help look after the little one so Porn and I can go away for a few days in school term or for me to go away in school term.

With costs rediculous for school holiday traffic there are a few places I would love to visit solo or with the wife but we are a bit restricted to school holidays and will be for the foreseeable future.

Just wondering if anybody has gone through this process and based on the fact that we would have to sponsor the total costs of her parent (s) is it basically similar to the process for getting my wife across.  Is it easier or more difficult to get a parent across, just looking for real life experiences. Cheers

[farangme]

Interesting post. Has anyone done this?

[Thai Spice]

Done it in France 2 or 3 times. Wasn't a major problem. 60 or 90 d visa.  

UK seems to be more difficult? 

[tommy dee]

if they are home owners then it should be relatively easy.. same process as someone taking their gf over for a visit.  same app and procedure.  worth a try.  you make it easy as you have a home there, so a place for them to stay.  key issue is always to show that they have a reason to go back home  and not overstay.. thats the main reason for rejection, as u will know

[Aqualung]

A friend of mine has done this for his mother in law. No problems as far as I know regarding the visa application but he did have to make a round trip to Heathrow to collect her and take her back. No direct flights to Manchester which is his nearest airport. 

I think a layover in another country for most Thai in-laws would be a struggle. 

[Horizondave]

4 minutes ago, Aqualung said:

A friend of mine has done this for his mother in law. No problems as far as I know regarding the visa application but he did have to make a round trip to Heathrow to collect her and take her back. No direct flights to Manchester which is his nearest airport. 

I think a layover in another country for most Thai in-laws would be a struggle. 

If I did organise this I expect I or my wife would travel with the parent(s).

[KhunDon]

I’ve done it several times over the years via the UK government’s online visa service.

First time was for the wife’s parents and their grandchild and was for 6 weeks I think. Making sure the child had written permission from her mother to travel. 
I filled in the applications online with all the information required then printed them off and sent to her parents via post. They signed them and included bank statements etc, then they sent them to BKK embassy. Then I arranged the embassy interview slots online for them. 
All went according to plan and they got their visas. 
Did that for their second visit as well. 
Third time I decided to apply for 6 months visas for all the immediate family (6 in number) cost a lot more but worth it. 
Main problems were collating all the information for all applicants and making sure it was correct. The other problem was getting the interviews at the embassy all for the same day, as the online group booking system didn’t seem to want to allow it!

As has been mentioned on a previous post, if the applicant has property in Thailand, money in the bank and enough to bring with you to last for your stay, a job to go back to etc, then applications seem to go through easily.