My Story and looking for advice.

[UKguy351]

Hi,
This is my story and if anyone has good advice i would appreciate it.

I have been a frequent visitor for many years to Thailand, back in 2009 i met a lovely person who i spent lots of time with, Stayed at her home and each visit then after spent holidays together. We have planned on marriage but not financially secure just yet for me to move there or for her to move here and for us to support her family as she is the only bread winner there and does this.
Then while working in the salon she worked a woman ask her if she wanted to work UK ? The job would en-tale working in a Thai restaurant and accommodation would be provided, And would receive every other weekend off, Sounded to good to be true but she seen it as a way we could be together more and accepted the offer.

All travel was been provided and all she had to do was turn up with her bags.
This is when i told her to get out of where she was, She met some English guy who said she would need to remember certain things if asked ? then took a flight to singapore where a ticket bought for Brazil was purchased all the time traveling with this english guy. Landing in London for connecting flight the day after to Brazil.
Once given a 24hr Visa no bags as they were still checked in to go Brazil left Airport and was met by another Thai National and basically handed over.
This is where it goes all wrong.!!!
The woman she was handed over to took her to some apartment in London where she was told customers would be turning up and she had to please them sexually and if refusing would be beaten also any attempt to escape would be beaten. She was beaten many times and was told until her fee for coming was paid off she would remain doing this work. The fee was £40,000.00 UK Pounds.
She befriended a girl that was already there and through a "customer managed to get a message to me, but begged me ot to go to police because she would be beaten and as these people knew where she lived back in Thailand her mother & father would be responsible for the debt if she escaped and they also would be ""killed ""
2 months on, Not sure how but place was raided by police and she was detained due to no visa, she told her story but they only see her as a overstayer. Then after 3 days in a police cell was handed over to immigration who have now been holding her in a removal center.
I have been to see her many times and requested the help from a solicitor who has applied for Asylum, leave to stay and bail, all paid privately by myself but were still unsure what will happen ? Solicitor says we have to wait on immigration, immigration refuse to discuss her case with me even tho she gives consent and we are just waiting, ive spent what savings i had on Solicitor and now have to return to work before i lose my job which means less visits to see her and she just wants to get out of the removal center and be with me as planned from day one. The woman behind all this has not been caught yet and as far as i know her parents have not been approach for any money yet.

Does any one know of how or what we need to do to first get her out, 2nd sort out a visa so she can stay ?

Thanks.

[vinny]

See also
AZ (Trafficked women) Thailand CG [2010] UKUT 118 (IAC) (23 April 2010) and
Convictions of trafficking victims quashed, new guidance given and
Atamewan, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 2727 (Admin) (06 September 2013).

[Mr Rusty]

During my time as an Immigration Officer I dealt with a number of Thai illegals/overstayers, usually women arrested in circumstances similar to the lady featured here. They were invariably removed back to Thailand.

The only motive for this woman to come to the UK was to be with the OP, who was complicit in the deception that she was merely travelling in transit through the UK, so the blame for her plight lies squarely with him and any notion that she can make a credible asylum claim is farcical. He should stop wasting his money pursuing this, and the kindest thing he can do for her is to advise her to sign a disclaimer so that she can be discharged from detention and put on a plane as soon as possible.

She is extremely unlikely to be prosecuted by the UK authorities, and the Thai authorities don't make any fuss when such people are returned, even if the document on which UKBA removes them (in the absence of a missing passport) does not reflect their true identity.

It is four years since I retired, so I can not claim up-to-date knowledge, but Thailand (where I now live) has never been regarded as a country whose citizens are at serious risk of persecution or human rights abuses. It ain't perfect, but relative to most of the world it's a pretty civilized place in which to live. By his actions the OP has destroyed for many years to come any chance of a life together in the UK with this lady.

[UKguy351]

I and she had no knowledge of how this was planned out, She really did believe the job and accommodation was a legit offer, And only when she was handed to the Thai national was then worried and the rest of the story is in first post.

[Wanderer]

I and she had no knowledge of how this was planned out, She really did believe the job and accommodation was a legit offer, And only when she was handed to the Thai national was then worried and the rest of the story is in first post.

Ignorance of the law is no defence, I'm afraid, you must have been aware that legal work permits don't fall off trees. And if you weren't didn't you try and find out?

[UKguy351]

I and she had no knowledge of how this was planned out, She really did believe the job and accommodation was a legit offer, And only when she was handed to the Thai national was then worried and the rest of the story is in first post.

Ignorance of the law is no defence, I'm afraid, you must have been aware that legal work permits don't fall off trees. And if you weren't didn't you try and find out?

There was no ignorance, Like stated in My story, we were saving to be together and when she was ask about a job opportunity she seen it as golden break and we could at least be in the same country and meet when it was possible. She was told all travel and visa's were included. She did not buy any tickets and until actually traveling was unaware of anything at the time.

I had no reasons to not believe her and on many occasions asked if this all done properly and if she was unsure about anything to seek help.

[Casa]

She may find it difficult to prove her innocence in the plan with this statement from your post;
'then took a flight to singapore where a ticket bought for Brazil was purchased all the time traveling with this english guy. Landing in London for connecting flight the day after to Brazil.'

I'm guessing that your girlfriend's travelling companion schooled her before they left Thailand in the deception that they were on route for Brazil and not the UK if questioned.

[UKguy351]

She may find it difficult to prove her innocence in the plan with this statement from your post;
'then took a flight to singapore where a ticket bought for Brazil was purchased all the time traveling with this english guy. Landing in London for connecting flight the day after to Brazil.'

I'm guessing that your girlfriend's travelling companion schooled her before they left Thailand in the deception that they were on route for Brazil and not the UK if questioned.

i'm unsure because she just said was to scared to say do anything because they have moma address. She is a little thing and dotes on her family and is so scared that any harm come to them.

[Wanderer]

Did you not warn her it's not possible to gain entry to UK on work visa so easily?

Did you do any research at all?

[UKguy351]

Did you not warn her it's not possible to gain entry to UK on work visa so easily?

Did you do any research at all?

I asked her once she told me about the job offer, And yes i did say to make sure all was ok, We know how hard it is to get a visa as we have looked into it, but she believed the woman who asked her if she wanted the job and assumed all was above board, the next i heard was when she called me to say she was coming UK to start job !! and was done all so quickly.
She started to think i didnt want her to come because of all the questions i was asking and only now Knows why i was asking and now hates herself but is scared and locked up.

I would just like to know if i can get her out and stay with me until immigration have decided whats the next step etc.

[Wanderer]

Did you not warn her it's not possible to gain entry to UK on work visa so easily?

Did you do any research at all?

I asked her once she told me about the job offer, And yes i did say to make sure all was ok, We know how hard it is to get a visa as we have looked into it, but she believed the woman who asked her if she wanted the job and assumed all was above board, the next i heard was when she called me to say she was coming UK to start job !! and was done all so quickly.
She started to think i didnt want her to come because of all the questions i was asking and only now Knows why i was asking and now hates herself but is scared and locked up.

I would just like to know if i can get her out and stay with me until immigration have decided whats the next step etc.

Well to be honest mate read Vinny's links, she might well be able to extricate herself but at same time she can forget any chance of any future UK visas...

Check the Surinder Singh route via the EU, hard work but as we all know, the EU route is easier, or consider living in Thailand, the food is certainly better!

There are always ways!

[UKguy351]

Did you not warn her it's not possible to gain entry to UK on work visa so easily?

Did you do any research at all?

I asked her once she told me about the job offer, And yes i did say to make sure all was ok, We know how hard it is to get a visa as we have looked into it, but she believed the woman who asked her if she wanted the job and assumed all was above board, the next i heard was when she called me to say she was coming UK to start job !! and was done all so quickly.
She started to think i didnt want her to come because of all the questions i was asking and only now Knows why i was asking and now hates herself but is scared and locked up.

I would just like to know if i can get her out and stay with me until immigration have decided whats the next step etc.

Well to be honest mate read Vinny's links, she might well be able to extricate herself but at same time she can forget any chance of any future UK visas...

Check the Surinder Singh route via the EU, hard work but as we all know, the EU route is easier, or consider living in Thailand, the food is certainly better!

There are always ways!

I hear you loud and clear.
End of the day I still see it as she was duped and is a victim of human trafficking and she is locked up when escaping the bastards that brought her here. We would comply to any rules given by immigration, just want her out of the place as its making her ill as each day passes

[Casa]

As Wanderer has advised...check Vinny's links as a starting point.

[UKguy351]

Im prob going to get slated here and be told each case is different, But can anyone give me a time it takes for immigration make there decision ?
She been in reomval center nearly 3 weeks now ?

[Mr Rusty]

End of the day I still see it as she was duped and is a victim of human trafficking and she is locked up when escaping the bastards that brought her here. We would comply to any rules given by immigration, just want her out of the place as its making her ill as each day passes

I'm sorry for your distress, and don't wish to put you down, but you need to understand what's going on. You say you've both been duped, but sadly there are countless stories going back years which indicate that Thai ladies are a lot less naïve than the Western chaps they get involved with, and your original post fits the profile pretty well.

As regards her detention, you don't say how long she has been detained. [Edit - just seen your latest post] Almost the only reason these days that people can be held in Immigration detention for any length of time is because there is a realistic prospect of their removal in the foreseeable future. One of the documents she will have been served with is a form specifying the reasons for her detention, and I bet one of those is that her case is one that can be decided quickly. Any asylum/human rights claim she has made will probably be fast-tracked, and quite possibly certified so that her appeal rights are restricted. Has she been interviewed or had a decision on her asylum application yet?

I would also suspect that UKBA will argue that as someone who exercised deception to gain entry to the country, overstayed and was then caught working in a brothel she is not a reliable prospect for bail or temporary release. Your own credibility as a sponsor might also be called in question.

It's all very well recommending you to look up legal arguments linked by Vinny, but you paid a solicitor for legal representation. If he didn't explain to you at the outset that an asylum/human rights application from a Thai has only the slimmest chance of success, he has taken your money under false pretences.

Thinking back to the cases I dealt with, who were all "trafficked" in one way or another, the most common reaction on being informed that they were liable to removal was "how soon can I go?" or "want to go home, see my mum". I find myself wondering whether your lady is enduring detention because you gave her an unrealistic expectation of some other outcome - maybe you should ask yourself the same question. She can secure her release easily and quickly by signing a disclaimer and getting on the plane to Bangkok.

I'm sorry, this is not the advice you were looking for, but encouraging you to pursue endless applications and appeals would not be honest, IMHO.

[UKguy351]

In the nearly 3 weeks of been in removal center each time i visit she brings all paper work, Only paper i see is a sceening ? and signed paperwork of her instructing solicitor. To which when i phone him he doesnt seem to have any answers ???

[Mr Rusty]

In the nearly 3 weeks of been in removal center each time i visit she brings all paper work, Only paper i see is a sceening ? and signed paperwork of her instructing solicitor. To which when i phone him he doesnt seem to have any answers ???

Dear me. The "screening interview" is as the name suggests, just an initial interview to record the details of someone's identity, how they came to be in the UK and stuff like that, not the substantive interview examining the applicant's reasons for seeking asylum. In my day the screening had to be done in the police station before the detainee could be considered for transfer to an Immigration Detention Centre. If they've had her there for 3 weeks and not yet got round to interviewing her, it does strengthen her case for being granted bail.

I'd better not express my opinion of immigration solicitors, so can't help you there.

[UKguy351]

In the nearly 3 weeks of been in removal center each time i visit she brings all paper work, Only paper i see is a sceening ? and signed paperwork of her instructing solicitor. To which when i phone him he doesnt seem to have any answers ???

Dear me. The "screening interview" is as the name suggests, just an initial interview to record the details of someone's identity, how they came to be in the UK and stuff like that, not the substantive interview examining the applicant's reasons for seeking asylum. In my day the screening had to be done in the police station before the detainee could be considered for transfer to an Immigration Detention Centre. If they've had her there for 3 weeks and not yet got round to interviewing her, it does strengthen her case for being granted bail.

I'd better not express my opinion of immigration solicitors, so can't help you there.

You could pm me with those opinion's also give direction to a worthy Solicitor as one ive paid a lot to now seems to have paid his golfing fees as can never get hold of him !