Bad Debt and Immigration process to UK

Engine001

Hello everyone,

I am orginally from Thailand and lived in UK as a student during 2001-2006. In 2003, i was offered a loan of 6000quid by Lloyds TSB, which due to bad financial situation i had to go for and used it for my studies. Though unfortunately, my financial situation didnt turn out right after that either and i couldnt pay anything back and left uk in 2006.

Now, ive recently gotten married and my spouse is a british citizen and we are planning to move back to uk. To do so, ill have to apply for marriage visa which shall lead to permanent resident status. I just wanna find out if this bad debt that ive had could affect my immigration/visa process? And ive never answered and calls/letters from the crediters, would the dept be expired after 6 years?

I would be really grateful for any sincere and honest suggestions/comments.

Regards,

Mali

dmg24

I take it you have rang the bank this morning to offer to repay what you owe?

Engine001

no no.. i wouldnt make such a mistake... i havnt done anything like that just thinking that may re-establish some sort of "chasing me up" thing

dmg24

Engine001 wrote: »

no no.. i wouldnt make such a mistake... i havnt done anything like that just thinking that may re-establish some sort of "chasing me up" thing

Are you saying that you do not intend to pay back the money that you owe? If not, why not?

BigDave81

Bit of a harsh way to treat a new arrival at MSE. He's hardly the first person on the board who hasn't paid debts back.

Mali, I doubt having a previous debt will stop you from being allowed to enter the country or establish full residency as long as the rest of the necessary criteria is all ok.

However as soon as you get registered on the books so to speak, employment, address, electoral roll etc then it's possible the debt agencies will find you and resume contact. If the debt is over 6 years old though which is possible given the dates then it should become statute barred from my understanding which means that they may not contact you at all.

This will also not affect your credit rating if written off from over the 6 year period although you will probably still have trouble getting decent credit as a new arrival to our lovely shores which would be normal

Engine001

BigDave: Thanks for the detailed response. I dont really have an issue with the agencies contacting me once im on a work permit in uk as im hoping to find a decent job with the work permit (couldnt get one as i was on student visa earlier), thus would surely be willing to pay it off as quick as possible. The only thing im concerned about is, if the immigration/home office will check the credit rating while i file my visa/residence application.

Gmg: I am planning on paying the loan back as soon as i can. Never wanted to even prolong it, and wouldve paid it back only if i could find a job or had a work permit.

Many Thanks

[Deleted User]

BigDave81 wrote: »

Bit of a harsh way to treat a new arrival at MSE. He's hardly the first person on the board who hasn't paid debts back.

But surely the point here is that the OP was quite cavalier in the way they just left the country without even considering paying their debt back?

I mean, come on. I'm all for helping people who find themselves falling in hard times, but for someone to take out a loan, then when they realise they couldn't afford it they just decide to leave the UK - and now, when they want to come back, are concerned their original loan will come back to bite them...well, surely it serves them right.

You take the loan, you pay it back.

BigDave81

I agree with what you have written but that's not grounds to not offer some advice with the criticism.

I have always paid my debts but doesn't really give me the right to judge other people. I would advise to repay the original debt if possible but who would bother if it's written off.

Also if it was a student visa it's possible he wouldn't have had an option to stay when it expired so he would have to have left the UK, not his choice etc.

Just my tuppence

[Deleted User]

BigDave81 wrote: »

I agree with what you have written but that's not grounds to not offer some advice with the criticism.

Of course

The advice would be:

Contact your lender (now) and speak to them.

Tell them you intend to make repayments and discuss what options are available.

Find out (from them, or perhaps a CRA) what the situation is regarding a credit report for a foreign national. Do they retain a record for you - and (assuming they do), obtain a copy and see what it looks like.

Discuss with the lender how repayments will work and what effect disappearing has placed on your credit reporting.

Work out a budget and start making repayments.

[Deleted User]

BigDave81 wrote: »

Also if it was a student visa it's possible he wouldn't have had an option to stay when it expired so he would have to have left the UK, not his choice etc.

p.s. this is an interesting one - I would have thought that banks would be more careful in checking residency requirements of students?

irn_bru

And it serves the bank right for lending a significant amount of money to a foreign student on a temporary visa. What do they expect when they do this sort of thing? Typical of the attitudes of the banks over the last 10 years