These are rather strange 'limbo' days.

And this is a RANT

Well everyone does it why not me??????

I think we both thought we had pretty much worked out that we would move to Chiang Mai and buy a house, send the girl to school..and then..maybe..in a few..ie 10 years come to Europe.

Then, when the child was injured, and as it looked as though she needed more immediate care, we thought we would come to Europe more quickly.

Now we are not so sure. We are both very suspicious of early surgery. She is so little..still only 6.5 kilos..that we both worry about her ability to survive a major operation.

Better alive with a colostomy than dead.

And

The whole visa problem winds me up.

Sure There must be a few people each year who conduct unlikely marriages in order to try and get to the UK. I particularly like the injunction that says: 'if you have more than one wife, only one wife will be allowed to apply for UK residence.' !! Says it all.....All the forms are written on the basis that you are trying to cheat/lie. Questions like: when did you last meet your sponsor...ie husband/wife... sponsor????? Oh when we got up and he went to work...oh he is standing beside me...oh about 10 years ago in a brothel in Djibouti...what!?

And to come to the UK and then go to France!! Alors!

Must spend six months of the first year in the UK to apply for residence. Not automatic, of course. Probably have to join a queue in Croydon for a week and then answer some more questions about your husband's favourite toothpaste.

If you have a Schengen visa you can go to France for 90 days, but cannot apply for another Schengen visa until another 90 days have passed. All visas must be applied for in Thailand, unless you have resided in the UK for a year.

A French visa de long sejour requires a medical report. The report must be carried out within three months of arrival in France. Therefore application for visa de long sejour cannot be made six months in advance. And of course if it is three months in advance it must be made in Thailand...........etc.

Why do we want to go to the UK..Well we are beginning to think this is a very good question.......

Last time we arrived at Heathrow a 'colored' immigration officer, with a far from perfect grasp of English, tried to suggest, with no evidence, that K and I had met on the plane. When I suggested that she might like to look at our documents from Bangkok, she snapped: "I am far too busy to ask for papers. You should have showed them to me already" Oh welcome to London.
Of course, unlike Ladprao General Hospital, Her Majesty's Immigration Service has not been able to acquire ISO9002.

Actually we do not want to go, given the prevailing attitudes...but ..well for the child....Where is the evidence that the child is ill? Would you like to inspect her colostomy? No. Where is the evidence? So we have that.

Where will you live. OK.
Next

You are not allowed to go to the UK on a tourist visa and then get married. Oh? Really? Who says? If that is true, how come we were able to do it? Oh, the Registrars cannot be expected to know that you are acting illegally. Oh, where does it say this? It does not. It says you should apply for a fiancee/marriage visa. Why? Oh then we can charge you a lot more money. Is the marriage valid? Oh of course. We cannot invalidate a properly conducted marriage......................

And we are rich, white, well educated..................

How did one get to be so ANGRY?????!!