simmsc

Finally ... got the visa! Submitted 16th March, notfied 18th May, received in post 23rd May 2012. Thanks everyone!

Quick question - so that I am prepared when I call the VFS - do I quote this ref when I call them? APET/160415/224715/1

Or is there another ref / number I need to quote for them to locate our application file?

I have changed a few numbers in the ref given above ... you never know who is reading lol

It seems that something may have gone awry with the system in your case, chogiekim.

All I can suggest is contacting them on Monday to see if they do have her passport or not, and if they do when can she collect/will it be sent.

My situation is quite similar. But we don't have the option of collecting as my fiancee lives near Udon and I am in the UK. We've had no other notifications (apart from the embassy email) either. We just have to sit back and wait for the visa to arrive. But I guess we could make a call tomorrow just to find out if a) they are holding the docs or they have already been sent. I would assume that after the embassy has made a decision they send the docs back to the VFS and then they do the SMS notification and take care of the dispatch side of things. If this is the case it looks to me like there is an overload of applications sitting at the VFS which they are struggling to handle. A few days of waiting (after a 2 month+ wait) doesn't bother me too much, but it does mean that my fiancee can't leave the house until it arrives as she needs to sign for it. So it would help to find out if it has been sent or not. I'll make the call tomorrow (Monday) when I wake up UK time.

I got an email Wednesday to say the decision has been made on the visa. But can't tell me the answer until i get the passport. They said i should be able to collect my passport from the VFS in a few days. (I subscribed for the sms and courier service) . Friday i called the VFS they still had not received my passport,but later on did get an email from them saying decision has been made and wait for the sms. It all seems very strange!

For me these are all signs that the embassy/VFS are currently overloaded with applications. When I made my application 2 years ago the notifications were all coming in on time (sms and email). We also paid for courier and sms servive this time, and have only had the email, no sms. And the tracker is still not updated too. We still get this message: "your application has been forwarded ..... ". This does beg the question as to when the docs will be (or have been) actually sent. Obviously I will leave a post here as soon as we get them.

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

who and under what circumstances would i give that code that you just posted above? sorry not following.

AECIP/83/03 is the reference number of the memo/instruction sent to all entry clearance sections some time ago reminding them that a couple cannot book a wedding in the UK unless both are physically present and so the ECO must not demand to see evidence of a booking or refuse if such evidence is not present.

I think TVE means that if there are problems with your fiance's application due to you not having a booking that you should remind them of this.

If it is refused simply because you don't have this booking then you must immediately write to the Entry Clearance Manager reminding him/her of this instruction and asking that the refusal be overturned.

However, this is unlikely to happen nowadays as ECOs are now well aware of the instruction; although it did frequently happen some years ago which is why the instruction was sent out.

Thanks a lot to both of you for your valuable comments regarding this issue. This information could be "lifesaver" should the worst happen (refusal). However, I am still quietly confident about our application. I have already printed this post off should I ever need it. Thanks again.

hi everyone,

i mentioned earlier about the embassy calling my fiancee and asking for additional information. i kept quiet about the details as because they were making the decision at the time, I didn't want to post anything on here (in case they read boards) which could have jeopardised the application if a comment of mine was misunderstood. it wasn't worth the risk.

I would like to disclose what happened and why now (as the decision appears to have been made) in order to help others in the future. so here goes ...

i applied for a fiance visa 2 years ago through an agent. this got approved, but the relationship failed and we parted for genuine reasons. this time i didn't go through an agent because i had a good idea of what documents were required (plus english test results) and i wanted to save myself a few quid.

in the past, when you applied for a fiancee visa (ie to get married in the UK), you had to show evidence that you were planning on getting married by supplying evidence of the provisional wedding booking with the registrar in the UK.

i did contact an agent to double check about this (because I the guidance on this was conficting and confusing), and they told me that for the fiance visa you don't need to supply a provisional booking with the registrar anymore because a lot of registrars in the UK will no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties (her and me) are not in the UK at the time of doing so. this wasnt the case before. lucky i didnt pay the bugger - (because he may have now jeopardised my application).

I double checked with my local registrar in the UK (to make sure my agent had advised me correctly) and they confirmed that they no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties are not in the UK.but they didn't advise me on what to include in the visa application (why would they, it is not their job to do so).

so i just included a comment in the application cover letter stating that i had tried to book a provisional booking, but couldn't do so due to the above mentioned reasons (ie me and her not being in the same country).

what i should have done (i did read this on another website after i submitted the application) is ask for the registrar to send me a letter confirming (to prove) that I TRIED to make the provisional booking with the registrar.

well ... i didn't do that ... i just made a phone call to the registrar to try to make the provisional booking and assumed that if i mentioned that in the letter that they would accept that.

so, after this long wait (just over 2 months) the embassy called my fiancee in thailand and asked her about 40 questions in 30 minutes. name of my buisness, name of my dad and mum (including correct spelling), what my busienss does, where my family live, etc etc ..... trust me, there were a lot of them. they even asked her why my business trades online (as opposed to having a bricks and mortar shop) and they also questioned her what the products that we sell are being used for. I'm sure you will all agree - these are not easy questions for a Thai fiancee who has never seen my business (or my family in the UK) to answer. well, she told me all the questions (and what answers she gave) and they were spot on and honest.

they mentioned to her on the phone that the reason for the them checking this information was because a) no evidence of the provisional wedding booking and no evidence that i TRIED to book it was supplied... so they wanted additional information to make sure that the relationship was genuine and that we were genuinly wanting to get married in the UK. i kind of get that, but the embassy should know by now that some registrars in the UK dont accept provisional booking anymore and that some genuine people (like myself) will just mention in the letter that they tried to book it. no everyone will automatically realise that they need to prove that they tried to book it.

lesson learnt: a) if you can book a provional with the registrar supply the infos. if you aren't able to book a provisional with the registrar get proof that you tried to do it.

sorry about the long post, but i genuinly want to help others applying in the future. this forum has helped me - so i want to give something back.

The UK/BA are more than aware you cannot book a wedding until the foreign national arrives in the UK. If you have any problems just quote AECIP/83/03 registrars cannot normally take a booking.

who and under what circumstances would i give that code that you just posted above? sorry not following.

Thank you - you will have noticed that it even failed on the second attempt when I capitalised the letter b and added an apostraphy and added inverted commas lol I tried really hard. I've got a few completely off-topic things to ask you when all this has gone through (ie once we have had our results through) but I will do that through PM to keep things on-topic here.

my "'s" keep getting converted to smiely faces - quite funny

Thanks for clarifying and I agree with you. I'm feeling quite confident as a) the rest of our application is strong (proof of relationship, my ablity to support my fiancee, etc) and she answered the questions both correctly and honestly.

Thanks moderator. I would like to applogise if I went a bit off-topic with my long post on the page before. After I read your post (the one I am replying to) I realised that I went a bit off-topic. But I did feel a strong urge to share my experience with the people who I am waiting with. I will make sure that my comments stay on topic going foward.

got one question ... can anyone tell me how long it took from the moment you were told that a decision was made until you physically had the visa in your hands. ie how many days did it take to come through in the post.

we're obviouly both a bit nervous now after the interview questions ... there is quite a bit of pressure on her now. the rest of our application is as solid as a rock ... its just the questions now.

Mine went by courier to the agent am. Agent reckons to get it Saturday am. We have one or two gremlins same as you so we are both on tenterhooks

Thank you. Good luck to us both then - hope we the desired result.

I think you will get it Monday mate!

Thank you ... can anyone that has actually had it through back that up?

got one question ... can anyone tell me how long it took from the moment you were told that a decision was made until you physically had the visa in your hands. ie how many days did it take to come through in the post.

we're obviouly both a bit nervous now after the interview questions ... there is quite a bit of pressure on her now. the rest of our application is as solid as a rock ... its just the questions now.

hi everyone,

i mentioned earlier about the embassy calling my fiancee and asking for additional information. i kept quiet about the details as because they were making the decision at the time, I didn't want to post anything on here (in case they read boards) which could have jeopardised the application if a comment of mine was misunderstood. it wasn't worth the risk.

I would like to disclose what happened and why now (as the decision appears to have been made) in order to help others in the future. so here goes ...

i applied for a fiance visa 2 years ago through an agent. this got approved, but the relationship failed and we parted for genuine reasons. this time i didn't go through an agent because i had a good idea of what documents were required (plus english test results) and i wanted to save myself a few quid.

in the past, when you applied for a fiancee visa (ie to get married in the UK), you had to show evidence that you were planning on getting married by supplying evidence of the provisional wedding booking with the registrar in the UK.

i did contact an agent to double check about this (because I the guidance on this was conficting and confusing), and they told me that for the fiance visa you don't need to supply a provisional booking with the registrar anymore because a lot of registrars in the UK will no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties (her and me) are not in the UK at the time of doing so. this wasnt the case before. lucky i didnt pay the bugger - (because he may have now jeopardised my application).

I double checked with my local registrar in the UK (to make sure my agent had advised me correctly) and they confirmed that they no longer accept provisional bookings if both parties are not in the UK.but they didn't advise me on what to include in the visa application (why would they, it is not their job to do so).

so i just included a comment in the application cover letter stating that i had tried to book a provisional booking, but couldn't do so due to the above mentioned reasons (ie me and her not being in the same country).

what i should have done (i did read this on another website after i submitted the application) is ask for the registrar to send me a letter confirming (to prove) that I TRIED to make the provisional booking with the registrar.

well ... i didn't do that ... i just made a phone call to the registrar to try to make the provisional booking and assumed that if i mentioned that in the letter that they would accept that.

so, after this long wait (just over 2 months) the embassy called my fiancee in thailand and asked her about 40 questions in 30 minutes. name of my buisness, name of my dad and mum (including correct spelling), what my busienss does, where my family live, etc etc ..... trust me, there were a lot of them. they even asked her why my business trades online (as opposed to having a bricks and mortar shop) and they also questioned her what the products that we sell are being used for. I'm sure you will all agree - these are not easy questions for a Thai fiancee who has never seen my business (or my family in the UK) to answer. well, she told me all the questions (and what answers she gave) and they were spot on and honest.

they mentioned to her on the phone that the reason for the them checking this information was because a) no evidence of the provisional wedding booking and no evidence that i TRIED to book it was supplied... so they wanted additional information to make sure that the relationship was genuine and that we were genuinly wanting to get married in the UK. i kind of get that, but the embassy should know by now that some registrars in the UK dont accept provisional booking anymore and that some genuine people (like myself) will just mention in the letter that they tried to book it. no everyone will automatically realise that they need to prove that they tried to book it.

lesson learnt: a) if you can book a provional with the registrar supply the infos. if you aren't able to book a provisional with the registrar get proof that you tried to do it.

sorry about the long post, but i genuinly want to help others applying in the future. this forum has helped me - so i want to give something back.

hi guys the wait is over ... applied 16th March 2012 - decision made today, 18th May 2012.

i will point out that the online tracking site is still saying "your visa application has beeen forwarded to British Embassy 16th Mar 2012" ... so that side of things has not been updated.

however, we have had an email this morning at ca 11am telling us this:

UNCLASSIFIED: The UK Border Agency in Bangkok has made a decision on your visa application: AUTOMATED EMAIL PLEASE DO NOT REPLY

So keep an eye on your emails - that (for us) was updated first. No SMS, even though we did subscribe to this service.

I was surprised to see that they contacted Simmsc's fiance for more details. From previous posts I understood that they only worked on info before them. I guess it shows that these people have some compassion and aren't just robots

spot on ... the lady was very friendly, curtious and understanding - they are indeed normal people trying to do their jobs. thumbs up for the embassy (but give me a positive result please). I'm fed up with 8 hours of skype every day. no exaggeration there ... it's probably more. she even watches me work, bless her. i love her dearly but I'm looking forward to seeing her in the flesh, as opposed to on cam.

3 applicants collecting passports on 18th May, all submitted 16th March.

Sod it! Where's ours?

It's coming dude, my fiancee had a call today (verifying some infos) - decision, she was told will be made VERY soon, imminently. remember, we and you applied on the same date. You're up soon!

I don't know about you, but it's driving me absolutely crazy

I've got to say ... i dont feel like i'm being driven crazy anymore as I am about to be put out of my misery (waiting, fear of unknown, etc) soon. hopefully the news will be good, But I'm not feeling as confident as before though (since getting the call asking questions) as the embassy would not have called if they were sure about our application. but ... my fiancee gave honest answers, so we should get a positive result.

3 applicants collecting passports on 18th May, all submitted 16th March.

Sod it! Where's ours?

It's coming dude, my fiancee had a call today (verifying some infos) - decision, she was told will be made VERY soon, imminently. remember, we and you applied on the same date. You're up soon!

Others' experience in this is not an accurate guide

It seems to be at the moment, 44, 43, 42 working days.

I agree, my fiancee was contacted today by the embassy (verifying some information) and they informed her that a decision will be made shortly.

hi tom,

we submitted our application on 16th March 2012 and I put 10th April 2012 as my fiancees travel date.

it is now 12th May 2012 ... and we've had no response.

they don't pay any attention to this date unless you have compassionate reasons (and they have to be strong ones) to travel early.

you can put any date you like - it won't make any difference.

for me "jingjingna" is the benchmark now ... once he gets his we will know what the current processing times / delays are ... and quite a few of us should get results shortly after him.

come on "jingjingna" - bring us some good news!

hi guys, i've been following your posts with great interest and laughter (your jokes).

i would suspect that the ukba have decided not to update the sites with processing times to avoid any panic situations (in conjunction with the Olympic games).

however, by doing so, they probably don't realise that they are causing major disruption to our lives.

if they could give us good news (ie fast processing times) i am sure they would happily do so.

lets give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are doing this for the right reasons (albeit, the right reasons for themselves, and maybe not for us).

for those of us that are expecting visa results soon, i don't think we will have to wait for much longer ... famous last words.

not had any news today re the visa :-( tomorrow is another day.

Hi all , i am a new here . And unlikely here i am the wife ( well i have seen so far that all the posters are male and posting about their wives' visa ) . I have submited mine on 26th march in hanoi which was forwarded to bangkok . Apart from someone called my husband 2 weeks ago confirmming my husband's personal details then i have not heard anything from the embassy regarding my visa ( they never interviewed me ) .

We were hoping to get the settlement subject to KOL test since we have been married more than four years and we both living outside the Uk . We wonder if that lower our visa processing time ?? The worse part is i cant be able to use online tracking service because its not work if i applied from vietnam ...

Welcome Jessica, i don't think that will speed up your application as they still need to do all the other checks. Don't shoot the messenger.

I personally wished I had found this thread (or the ones before) before ... because if I had known it was going to take approximately 2 months I would have planned my second trip to Thailand (to spend time with my fiancee) at a slightly later stage ... to break up the long wait.

Oh well ...

Back hander probably then? I'm beginning to think i should of gone with a visa agency,maybe you have to pay a fee for their services but you might get put at the front of the line!

I doubt very much that even if the poster had offered a bribe that anyone at the embassy would have accepted it.

You are reminded that the defamation laws in Thailand are strict and rigorously enforced. You are also reminded of the forum rules, which you agreed to abide by when you joined. Rule 6) being relevant here

Not to post comments that could be reasonably construed as defamation or libel.Defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm. Libel involves the making of defamatory statements in a printed or fixed medium, such as a magazine or newspaper.

As I said above, no agent has any influence whatsoever over the processing time, result or any other aspect of the way the entry clearance section deals with a visa application. Any agent who says that they do is a liar.

Glad that your wife has a degree; but this will not have any effect on her application. A tertiary education is not a prerequisite for a UK visa, and hopefully never will be.

I agree - I'm told our government is already in trouble and possibly being taken to court for demanding that people have to take exams before coming here (which some people argue is a form of discrimination) ... so i would be surprised if they were to add more demands to the list.