robio7

Hi Guys,

Looking for you help again.

My Girlfriend and I want to get married in Thailand in January.

She's Thai and I'm Irish.

Neither of us have been married before but I believe we need to get some sort of paper to prove we are not currently married.

What is required from me and from her in order for us to be married in January?

Do we need to visit Irish embassy in BKK and where can we get married?

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Pat,

The 11/11/11 is the last day she can enter Ireland. If she entered Ireland on the 10/11/11 she will not have to leave the country on the 11th

These dates are for when your gf can enter the country. same with the start date, she cannot enter before 9/8/11.

When she arrives in Dublin airport the immigration officer will stamp her passport and will stamp the visa with the date in which she has to leave the country (max 90 days from date of arrival

Also to make everything a hell of a lot easier, travel with her if you can and dont travel through the UK where you have to enter immigration, then Dublin immigration for a second time.

When me and my gf arrived at the airport i went to the non eu passport queue with my gf and presented both passports. The immigration office just asked me when we intend to leave again and we showed him our flight itinerary. Our return flight was on the 29th of July and thats what he stamped on her passport, that was 88 days after we arrived.

If we didnt have that info, in theory, he could stamp a date saying she has to leave the following week..... unlikely tho.

I saw some girls travelling alone and they were quizzed alot and a friend of mine said his gf was asked loads of questions and then the immigration officer called him to verify. so easier to travel with her like i did.

Gald to hear you got the visa, best of luck with your tee rak

Hi Rob,

1. Did you give any information regarding your accommodation in Ireland? ( Home owner, Renting, Other, )

2. 6 Months Bank Statments did you give originals or will internet downloads do?

3. What about questions like Married, Seperated, Divorced?

Pat

1. Did you give any information regarding your accommodation in Ireland? ( Home owner, Renting, Other, )

• Yes gave information on accommodation. I dont own the house my parents do so I just got them to write a brief letter stating that i live there and that my gf can stay there free of charge.
• I mentioned in my letter that there it was a 3 bed house etc and that there was plently of room to cater for the arrival of my gf, i gave my full address etc

2. 6 Months Bank Statments did you give originals or will internet downloads do?

• I actually requested originals from the bank. They gave me a stamped copy of one or two months that i had already received (I obviously threw them out so got them to copy original bank copy)
• Then they provided the months that i hadn't yet received.
• My gf also went to the bank and got original statements (+ translated to English)
• Just on the internet downloads, I had to do that for my phone call history (Skype) and what i actually did was got them to do it for me. They provided me with an email + attachment stating that the documents were genuine and could be verified if required. I'm sure your bank will do that for you.
• All they want to do is see that there has been money in your bank for a period of time. I think 3 months is the requirement but i just provided 6 months. some of those months showed my balance going very low

3. What about questions like Married, Seperated, Divorced?

• I mentioned that we were bf and gf and that we had been involved in our relationship for 2 years
• I also mentioned that i had never been married before and my gf said in her letter that she had never been married and has no children
• (if ur gf does have children and they are staying in Thailand while she is here I would mention that as a reason to return to Thailand...)

To Robio7

Congratulations to you both, thanks for letting us know, and for your checklist. I hope you enjoy your time together in Ireland

Did you e mail the consultant in Ireland and Bkk.?

Did she get a letter from her boss saying that they would give her 3 months holidays?

How long was she working for that company? will she return to work for same company?

Is this the first time you both applied for her visa?

Where did you buy the medical/travel insurance, and how much did that cost?

Thanks in advance

Kindest Regards

Pat

Cheers Pat

• Did you e mail the consultant in Ireland and Bkk.?

I emailed the consulate in BKK with any question we [email protected]

• Did she get a letter from her boss saying that they would give her 3 months holidays?

Yes her Boss wrote in the letter that confirmed her employment that she was allowed to take holidays for 3 months (same 3 months we requested for visa)

• How long was she working for that company? will she return to work for same company?

She's working there 3 years now and yes she will return to this job when she goes back to Thailand, her boss also mentioned that in the work letter

• Is this the first time you both applied for her visa?

Yes. First visa for both of us

Where did you buy the medical/travel insurance, and how much did that cost?W bought it from Thaivivat. World Travel insurance. think it was a silver or gold package (the european package is only for shengan countries so dont buy that one)My girlfriend went into a travel agent and bought this.

http://www.thaivivat.co.th/en/products_ptravel.php?mn_subpeople=8I cant remember exactly how much it cost but was expensive enough. think it might have been about 4000 baht / 100eurobut that insurance seems to cover everything and you don't have to pay hospital etc up front then claim the money back when u return to Thailand. (i think thats how bupa.co.th works) Thaivivat pay upfront for u

Well done robio and thanks for adding your check list which is a great resource for anybody doing same. How much time did ye ask for ?

We asked for just under 90 days.

Well it looks like we got our visa approved. this is our first application and my GF's first visa (she's never been out of Thailand before!)Took about 9 weeks, still waiting for them to officially call my GF to confirm but I've already heard from immigration here that it's approved.The visa department in Dublin seems to be very busy now so allow more time than 9 weeks.The staff in both the Consulate in BKK and in Dublin's visa office were very helpful and friendly. I spoke to a guy on Monday in the visa dept of INIS and he was very friendly and helpful.They confirmed all my details etc...I have to say the staff in the Consulate were just amazing, always replied to every email i sent and when we were in the consulate in BKK they were also friendly and helpful.

Here's what we handed in:

• Application form (fill in online, takes about 10 minutes and then print it out)
• Letter of Invitation from Me (1page)
• Letter from me confirming financial support and how i can do it (1 page)
• Letter of out relationship from me (1 paragraph per visit, how and when we met etc and why we want this visit visa)
• Cover letter from GF including reason to return to thailand ** this is very important, if she has no reason to return to thailand she wont get visa.
• Letter by GF about our relationship (we are together 2 years and wrote a paragraph on each visit to Thailand, also spoke about how we contact each other i.e. phone call)
• Pictures of us together spread out over the two years (we originally had about 30 or 40 but the consulate told us just to pick out about 10)
• Phone call history from my phone
• My utility bill to prove address
• Letter from my job confirming my position and permanent employment
• My payslips (6 months)
• My P60 (tax form - latest available)
• My GF's letter from her employee, confirming she can take holiday and will return to work (+ translation to English by notarized translator - recommended by consulate)
• My GF's paylips + englidh translation
• My past itineraries from flights I made when visiting her in Thailand
• Copies of hotel receipts and flights with both our names on them
• Photocopy of my passport + every page stamped form my visits to Thailand
• Gf's passport sized photos
• Her passport
• My 6 month bank statement - i had a few grand saved in it. (any lump sums should be explained as they wont except them otherwise)
• My GF 6 month bank statement + translation to english
• Printed itinerary we will buy for this visit provided visa is approved (in her name)
• Written undertakings to obey rules of visa (x2 - one for me, one for her)
• World medical/travel insurance (we bought this before application) (+ translation to english)
• Her rent agreement for the apartment + english translation
• any receipts from gifts and western union etc
• Every Thai household has a registration book, it contains all family members and their birthcerts. translated this to english and provided original (original was given back to us in consulate) (its a small book they need to get their passport, ID card etc)

My approach to this was don't write too much in the letters, I'm sure the last thing a visa officer wants is to read another long and boring letter. At the same time provide as much evidence as possible, regardless if you thinks its irrelevant. especially when it comes to reasons to return to Thailand.Also everything we wrote was true, i think if you make up something the visa officer will find out and will just reject the visa (which is only fair). Dont forget they probably go through 100s of these a day.Just remember to photocopy everything you are about to hand in. I was recommended by immigration here to do that and bring with us for when we arrive in Dublin airport.

For guidelines on how to write the letters, check out this post - http://www.thaivisa....on-preparation/Its for a UK visa but its a great guideline

Just a last thank you to everyone who provided info on the forum here. Every bit of info helps so hopefully people continue to post their tips and post about their experiences.

hi pat. i will tell you what i did to get my wife a visa.no as i said my its my wife so might be a bit different to gf.

i filled in the form online myself in Ireland and faxed the completed form you print out to her in bkk. so no need to worry about your gf having to do.

then she goes with her documentation to the consulate in bkk.no need to wait for them to contact you.

it doesnt matter what contact documentation you have had with her since you have known her, put it in,emails.skype messages.western union receipts.copies of phone records.scans of phone cards you may have used.picture of were she will say.it doesn't matter what the emails say,don't be shy as the more strange they are the more real they will think the relationship is.i faxed nearly 60 pages to bkk with all sorts of stuff.like bank accounts,payslips,facebook messages,it didn't matter if it was a little puppy love,put it in

now she only had 30000 in her bank but i stated in my letter of invitation that i would look after her in wealth and health,ie if she got sick i would cover the cost.

state how long you know her and how you met her

copies of your passport with all your stamps to thailand

and also the ladies in the consulate are amazing.my wife couldn't believe how nice they were.even giving her info on what to do when she got here.and i have had plenty of contact with them so i will back that up.

drop them a email if you have any questions

My GF's Visa application sounds very like this so hopefully we get the the same great result as irishken.@Irishken - how long did you have to wait to hear back from immigration or the consulate when it was approved? Our visa has been in Dublin for at least 4 weeks now and still no word. My gf handed the application into the consulate in bkk on January 24th (it will be 8 weeks on Monday)Did immigration call you or anything? or call her boss to verify her employment and that she would return to work after visa. I thought this would have been done for us by now. maybe they are swamped with visa requests at the moment

I also agree with the statement about the staff in BKK Consulate. Very helpful and friendly. they couldn't do more for you.

Anyone got an Irish holiday visa recently.

Just wondering how long it took?

The inis website says up to 8 weeks, we're into our 8th week now and have had no contact at all.

Just wondering whats the normal waiting time is, should i expect to hear from them to verify my letter of invitation etc?

her boss hasn't been even contacted yet to verify work etc.

To go to Ireland. Does a airline ticket need to br booked first?

No Airline ticket should not be bought. Your girlfriend just has to go to a travel agent and get an itinerary in her name. Its usually free.

Also there is a Consulate in Phuket, its in Rawai.

They seem very helpful there. I contacted them by email

The Irish Consulate in Phuket

Tamarind Valley

Moo 4, Soi Suksan

Viset Rd, Muang Rawai

Phuket 83100, Thailand

[email protected], Tel./Fax: (Local) 076-281273, (International) +66-076-281273

Well I think you answered your own question. Since they dont require it to get the visa no sense buying it until after the visa is issued. You can check out travel insurance prices at: www.bupa.co.th

Thanks

Pat my GF and I bought world travel insurance from Thaivivat. They have a website but ur GF can but from a travel agent.BTW i haven't forgotten about your other post, we're still waiting to hear the result of our visa application. 7 weeks since we applied so should hear soon.Have you applied again?

Hi Rob,

Can you tell me about applying for the Tourist Visa on-line, do you fill out the form and send on to Immgration with all the documents or do you get time to send the documents later. Pat

Hi Pat,

When you do the application form you fill it in online and when you are finished it displays a summary sheet which a declaration for your girlfriend to sign.

She should fill in the application in Thailand herself as I believe they can track where the IP address of the machine. We setup a remote assistance session when she was doing it so I could see what she was filling in and that way if she didnt understand a question I could tell her what it mean. Some of the wording I find wouldnt be understandable to a person who doesnt naturally speak English.

Once you have filled in the application you have 30days to bring it to the Consulate in BKK. You physically hand it in with all of your supporting documents. After the 30 days the application expires and you will have to do a new visa application form if that happens. I ha a question to see if that counts as a refused visa but I wouldn't imagine it does. maybe someone can clarify that.

When I spoke to the Consulate in BKK she told us to fill it in about 2 weeks before we go to the consulate. You could in theory fill it in the same day as you intend to go to the consulate.

At anytime within the 30, you can access the application form to print it out but you cannot change it.

Its really easy to fill in, it just asks for the applicants details, address, passport details, work/study details, details about reference, details about accommodation, travel dates, details if she is or was previously married, if she has children etc. It also asks if she had previous visa/visa refusal and asks for the details of this. then the rest is just yes/no questions like has she been to Ireland before, has she been deported from somewhere etc. Use internet explorer, I was trying to access my GFs application form to print it out using google chrome and it wouldnt work, when i tried IE8 it worked fine.

Hi Rob,

I just downloaded this I thought you might be interested

A large bank balance will not get your Thai girlfriend a visa, hers or yours. Depending on the visa required and the length of time she plans on visiting you. An amount of money will be required in her bank account, but it isn't large amounts.

You do not have to buy your Thai girlfriend land or a house to get a visa, there are many ways to demonstrate to the embassy that your Thai girlfriend intends on returning to Thailand.

Giving money to your Thai girlfriend is part of demonstrating that you are in a relationship, after all you wouldn't send money to a random person.

I think I have the information you require regarding lists, I will send direct to you.

Pat

Thanks for that info Pat. I'm not sure if you attached something there, i cant see it. Maybe you downloaded it and just pointed out the above.

It might be worth posting that list for people who come looking for advise in the future. It's quite helpful.

Just out of a matter of interest how many pages is your relationship history. I've wrote about our relationship but didnt go into major detail about every visit.

I just feel too much will just look like waffle.

Maybe someone who was successful, even with UK or schengan can answer that and tell me I should put in more detail. I Just did a paragraph on each visit and then wrote about what we do when I'm here and she is over there.

Oh and did your GF have to do an interview?

Pat,

It is a pity that you do not have all the information submitted as the embassy will have, as the embassy will probably refer to the previously submitted documents looking for inconsistencies.

Freebird,

Sorry to here your problem, I think the 2 months may have been pushing it a bit, the fact that her boss wrote a letter saying he wanted her back need not necessarily mean she wanted to return, they want convincing evidence.

Robio,

As I have posted before IMHO putting money in a GF's bank account is trying to deceive, they know a Thai lady who dose not earn mega bucks will spend every baht within minutes of getting paid and saves nothing, better going with the "Referee" (sponsor) route which is honest and more convincing.

Thanks for the advise, Yes I agree with you and we are going with the "Referee (sponsor) route". The savings in her bank will be just used as a reason to return to Thailand. At no point do we mention why this money is there or how it got there and we never mention that it will be used for fund the trip of finance the visit. Its just savings in her bank account. We are not trying to deceive and sure we wont even touch her bank savings at all. I just heard its good to have 100,000bt in the bank.

I kinda agree with your other statement that a thai girl will spend money straight away, pitty you cant reference all her shoes as assets in Thailand :) In fairness tho my gf had been saving money over the last few months by her self. Even before we were talking about the visa application.

Oh and I forgot to ask... we've done the online application a few days ago and therefore we have to bring all the evidence and support docs to the consulate within 30days. My question is what happens if you are sent to get some more documentation or say you realise you forget something so you dont submit the visa within that 30 days. Does that go down as a visa refusal???? might be a dumb question but thought i should ask just in case.

Anyone got a list of everything they submitted to the embassy?

Working less than than a year and employer will keep job open for 3 months? I think that will take some convincing.

There are a lot of people who have successfully applied for visitor visa to Ireland so hopefully some with similar situation to yours can pass on some advice.

Thanks B I would have thought so, but not much luck so far. Pat

I would like to know how much money should be in my girlfriends bank account

and if it would be ok for me to top up her account each month

A lad in my thai language class who successfully got his thai gf here a few times said 100,000 baht in her bank account and a couple of grand in your account also.

He didnt have problems about his reasons to return to thailand so was really lucky, he said he mentioned she had to go back to work and her family live there. That was about all he said about obligations to return. I guess he got lucky with the visa officer.

not finished reading through the topic yet so I may have more answers or questions myself

Pat do you have a list of all the documents the Thai agency asked you to supply them with?

ok double post seems to be gone now.

I did already search the forum but could find what i was looking for and you cant search for tv as its less than 3 characters

Do anyone have any links so we can watch Thai TV online?

music, movies, tv shows etc......

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on Travel insurance for my thai gf when she comes to Ireland.

I've looked at Bupa.co.th and it looks like you have to pay all money up front if something happens, then claim the money back when she returns home?????

She went to a travel agent and they gave her a quote from Thaivivat, does anyone know about these or had any experience with them?

She was quoted 4300 baht for 90 days which apparently covers everywhere in Europe but when i go online to check this it allows me to select worldwide or schengan (Europe) and Ireland are not apart of Schengan.

When you click into Schengan it does say Europe but doesnt list the countries it covers. The girl in the travel shop said it would cover Ireland but i'm not sure.

anyway, your thoughts and help would be appreciated

Thanks,

Rob

Strangely, the main question is '' Will she traveling on her own, or with you''??

On her own, I would suggest she avoid London ---- the Gulf and then Dublin would be better.

Traveling with you via London, should be ok.

Yes she will be travelling with me, I dont want her to fly here alone.

Has anyone here done this recently?

Thanks Everybody for the quick and useful responses. Every piece of information helps.

For a Thai, the only real difference between transiting Abu Dhabi and London is that (as shown at the bottom of the link provided by the O.G.) the passenger will pass through Immigration in London, thereby entering the Common Travel Area of UK, Ireland and the Channel and other Islands. Providing that she holds a ticket for onward travel within 24 hours and a visa for Ireland, her passport will be stamped and she is unlikely to see an IO on arrival in Dublin. She doesn't need a UK visa.

Sorry I'm a little confused, Thailand is in the list that requires a "transit visa" but am I right to think that because she is travelling to Ireland (common travel area) she doesn't need a transit visa?

So as she will have onward ticket, visa for Ireland and passport with her, UK immigration stamp her passport for Ireland in London rather than immigration in Ireland? Is UK IO more likely to give better results than Irish IO

I had some Thai friends visit us last year and when they got to immigration in Dublin I received a quick call to confirm where they were staying, for how long, their names and how they would sustain themselves here. So be ready for that. Have your phone juiced up.

I'll have my phone at hand but I'm also planning to make the journey with her so I'll be hopefully standing beside her when they ask those questions.

Might be better off booking Etihad and passing through Abu Dhabi rather than BA or Qantas via London

Hi Guys,

Hoping someone with experience can help me with some quick questions.

I'm an Irish citizen, born and living in Ireland and I'm looking to bring my thai grirfriend here for a holiday.

I have a lot of the information already but any tips and advice you have would be great.

One question I have is:

We will be travelling to Ireland from bangkok either via London or Abu Dhabi.

Is there anything she needs to do to be able to changes flights etc or will it be just the same as me when i change flights in london. I remember going through customs again in London when i change terminal. In abu dhabi I didnt.

Thanks.

Hi Leon,

I'm going through the process at the moment and came across your thread when I was looking for advise.

A good start is to contact the Consulate in BKK, I emailed them and they send me some info about the required documents you and your girlfriend will need.

I'll attached them here.

Its a long process, We're hoping for my girlfriend to come in May so we are already working on the letters of invitation, gathering evidence of our relationship and I'm going there in January to bring her to the Consulate.

Not sure where your girlfriend lives but there is also a consulate in Phuket. The application and required documents get sent to the embassy in Malaysia and this takes about a month to process, if they need to send to Dublin then add on another month or so...

The Consulates seem to be helpful with any questions you have but I'm looking for help writing the letters of invitation etc. What to write etc

Basically the more evidence that you have a genuine relationship the better. Photos, phone bills etc are required. You also need to show you are working and can provide for her if she doesnt have a lot of money, which the majoruty of thais dont.

Is there anyone who has recently gone through the process, successfully or unsuccessfully? You help would be much appreciated.

Attached file for visa inquiry.doc

Documents Required- Thai-visitHoliday.doc

Visit holiday visa.doc