kunash

I am not an 'expert', but if he wanted his wife to settle permanantly with him in the UK, it could be a settlement visa

but how many weeks was it since he applied for this new visa and it being granted???? settlement visas can take anything from 2-3 months to be granted. so if it was only a week or two since applying it could be a visitor visa ( lasts a potential 6 months )

i was at the IOM today with my wife, and an Englishman came up to me and we started talking. He was living in the UK with his wife and son, and that morning he had applied for a uk settlement visa for his wife's daughter to join them. The daughter is living in thailand, with her aunt for the last year. the man was fuming at the embassy, saying they are a bunch of idiots. From what i can tell, VFS said he needed a TB certificate for the daughter, and proof of contact. he could not provide any details of payments sent or phonecalls made. he had not checked online for what he needed, and just submiited an application. i find it hard to believe that some people are so unprepared.

I have just submitted my wife's application, and it can only give me the option to say that she will only be submitting 1 application for that appointment. when in fact 3 applications will be submitted ( her 2 children as well ).

do her children need to attend the appointment? aged 7 and 9

Also, i was not given the option to save the application to my computer. i can still access the application tto print it ( if i had a computer ) but as i do not, how can i print it? i cannot send it as an attachment or save it and download to my usb stick. can i just copy and paste it? then put it on a word doc. i guess that will do?

would like to know if my wife's children need to attend ( for their biometrics ) thanks

I better be more careful from now on. In all my years of travelling, holidays and stays in various hotels, I must have been extremely lucky that no hotel employee had ever "assumed" my cash left in the hotel room to be tips!!! I say extremely lucky because quite a few posters here say (and have experienced) that cash left in room in plain sight is widely interpreted as tips, just how this practice developed is unclear to me. I had previously thought (wrongly?) that my cash left in my room is MINE unless I expressly hand it over as tips.

Amazing, this thread has been an absolute eye opener for me. For almost 20 years, i have been travelling all over the world on company business, about 15 trips a year to various corners of the world. Always stay in hotels, either 3 or 4 star types. Have stayed in at least a hundred different hotels in Thailand itself. About 4-6 months in a year spent in hotels. Have ALWAYS left loose change out in the open on the table. Never EVER have lost a dime. And never ever did i ever know or hear from other travelling colleagues that small change left in the open is taken as tips by chambermaids. In fact, I did not know that chamber maids are tipped in this manner!!!!

I've worked in a few hotels around the world as well as stayed at many and this has never happened to me or have I heard it being done by hotel guests. It's absurd to think that money left lying in a room is a tip for the housekeeping. A tip is given from person to person.

Sorry but dont believe you.. If you have travelled you will know this happens when you leave your coins there.. ok not all maids take it and ive then give it to them by hand but lots do

i am with Doggie on this one - the chambermaid knows never to touch a hotel's customers money, even if it left out on a table. and this has been confirmed in this thread by someone who has actually worked in a higher end hotel. if i want to leave the change from my pockets on the table, then i must be able to without the risk of it being (mistakingly) taken.

life in the uk test is a one day test, and you should know the answer that day. you need level 3 english language ability or higher.

esol english language course with citizenship, is a 3-6 month course, and is taken at a local college, and is a few hours a week. your thai partner's english language ability will be assessed and she will need an english language level of 1-2. during the course she will need to gain 1 level in english language.

is her english language ability very good?

you can google these courses and see what standards are needed.

for the life in the uk test there are thai / english books for sale on ebay

Iwho would steal that small amount of money and risk their job, I would guess she thought it was a tip

A THB100 might be considered a small amount of money for you, but if the maid is making THB 300 a day, it would be a significant amount to the maid, and if they a ripping off THB 50 - THB 100 a room a day, then it would add up to a sizable amount of cash over a month....

I do not agree, that maid concerned thought is was a tip...in decent hotels, staff are told specifically not to touch any money left around in rooms, if the OP had give it to here in her hand as a tip, that is one thing.....this was a simple case of "playing the game" and lifting the the money.... 9 times out of 10 somebody would not notice, in this case the OP questioned it and the money "re-appeared" but note nobody came to apologise, so obviously not a mis-understanding...

i agree. the reason i leave a good tip for the chambermaid is that i know they earn lousy salaries. any money i leave in the room after i have checked out, would be considered a tip.

If you leave small change about in any hotel room, the staff will automatically assume it's a tip. I would think that applies in most countries, not only Thailand.

well, in the last year i have spent over 3 months in hotels, and never has this happened before, and never during any hotel stay during my life. so, from my experience i do not agree with your statement

Do you know if it was actually 'your' money that re-materialised or just 100 Baht?

when i talked to the reception lady i was not specific about an amount. i said some money had gone missing, maybe about 70, 80, 100, 120 baht - i told her i am not sure. but i knew how much was there, and the correct amount was returned

oh and yes, i use the safe for my valuables and money ( notes )

and i will still leave a tip

I am staying in a hotel in bangkok at the moment while my wife sorts out her new passport. i wont give the name but it is a high end hotel. ( not that it really matters )

at the end of each night i usually empty my pockets of change and leave it by the tv - and at the end of my stay this will be the chambermaid's tip.

i returned to my room on the second day, in the afternoon, and the room had been cleaned.

i noticed that the pile of coins had gone. i know i had not touched it, neither had my wife. my wife knows i always leave the coins there, and what they ar for

so, what would you do?

Later that day i went to the club lounge for happy hour and i talked to the reception girl there about my reservation. i also mentioned that some money had gone missing from my room, and maybe the chambermaid had moved it, but i could not find it. i asked if the chambermain could please find my money and put it back. i did not accuse anyone of stealing or go in all guns blazing. i was very polite and just asked for it to be returned.

after happy hour we went out, and returned later that night. my money had been returned, and was next to the tv.

but how would you feel? not bothered that someone had taken your money? would you have asked to see the manager? for me, it is the principal of the matter, dont touch what isnt yours.

is your thai gf travelling to the uk on a tourist visa? if so, she will need medical insurance.

been posted before

i married my thai girlfriend yesterday.

i too would go for a factual letter.

and in the letter, if you are referring the ECO to your documents folder, to see a photocopy of a passport, foor example, i would write a reference in the letter so they can easily find it. for example

I have included a copy of my passport with relevant visa stamps (see section ??)

it makes it so much easier for the eco to find it

and provide all the information you can about the rented accomodation you have lined up. photos if you can ( also photos of your parents house ), and a description of each house.

it does not ask on the settlement application ( under sponsor part ) if the sponsor has sponsored before. but i am sure they can look on their records

it does ask on the application if you have children? and that you pay a monthly contribution to them?

but that is all.

i would not think it would go against you. marriages sometimes dont work out, they understand that

you will probably wish to do the appeal yourself, but this sounds complicated and you may be better off using a visa agent ( due to the 4 year timescale ).

is the father still around?

you will need to go to the courts i think. the ampur cannot help you here (they can only issue a 3 - 6 month por kor 14). you will need to obtain a '''por kor 14'' paper which shows you have, under thai law, responsibility for the child (the courts can issue a longer term por kor. the father can countersign this. if he is not willing to, there are ways around this. was custody of the child awarded to your wife at divorce? the main problem is trying to explain away these 4 years. that is why i think an agent can help you better. having a por kor 14 does not guarantee you will get the visa, but it will help.

can you post the exact words of the refusal?

hi, i would maybe describe the house you will be living in. - the rooms and layout. i presume you have included a copy of the rental agreement (and there is no restriction on allowing your wife to stay in the house?) and photos of the house. maybe put your contact details on the letter. have you supplied an index so the ECO can easily find your supporting papers? have you included your skype chat records? and included plane tickets, photos of you and her and her family, hotel receipts etc? have you got a letter from your employer?

the settlement letter is a very important letter. you can only really talk about, your relationship, and future together, your work, income and savings, and accomodation. you do not want to write too much but i would aim for 3 or 4 sides of an A4 page ( though it is completly up to you how much you write ). Maybe go into a little bit more detail on each of the topics i have mentioned.

my gf will be applying next week for settlement.

Good luck with your application

Round 1, ding ding

thanks for replies. the land area is 4 rai, so small scale. the 1 bag of large rice sounds right, or about 900b. nothing to get excited about, and not much of a return, but I guess land is a good investment (for the thai) as the land price will / should double in the next 5/10 years.

my gf might even let her father plant vegtebales on it. would keep him busy

how much does a farmer have to pay the land owner per rai of land each year? the crop is rice

thanks

does anyone have any opinions on what the most profitable crop would be for least effort. ?

i went to FC today for lunch. i had an egg sandwich and a tuna mayo sandwich with chips. was very nice. my gf had a thai meal, not sure what, and she liked it. i normally have a breakfast there but will have sandwiches from now on.

i think they sell a large heineken too cheaply. i was charged 70b. i can buy in big c for about 68b. i would be happy to pay 100b.

also, is it possible to have real bacon on the menu ( for breakfast or sandwich ). if you buy a breakfast or a sandwich with bacon, it is thick ham - not bacon. i would love to see proper bacon on the menu

does anyone know if there is a way to watch this online? I would be happy to pay. I dont have any cable or satelite tv at home, just an internet connection, really, really wanna see this fight too

I'm in the same boat, only have terrestrial TV at home. I'm planning to watch it via the Internet on sopcast. I hope that will work. It's a live streaming program that you download, problem is, to get a good stream you might have to watch it with non-English commentary.

google ''haye vs klitschko, free streaming''

http://oliver.narcheatan.over-blog.com/article-boxing-haye-vs-klitschko-press-conference-video-free-streaming-76423273.html

once you submit the application you cannot amend it. you will be given the option to choose an appointment date which is 1 week from the submission date.

Congratualations

if you are paying for the trip, you would write something like ''Nothing - my boyfriend is paying for the trip''

what money is available to you for the trip? i put ''whatever is needed my boyfriend will pay for''

in your sponsor letter you should put a brief breakdown of the costs, like, flight, day's out, food, spending money, etc