chronos

Hi All...all your input much appreciated; I have now got it sorted with Lek Central who have been able to fulfill my requirements - they will deliver & pickup at Khon Kaen airport, supply the vehicle I want, all inclusive Insurance and all at a very reasonable cost. Communication with 'Danny' was first class - fast, efficient and no bulls**t, payment method via paypal or c card....simple & stress free experience! lets hope it will continue when we arrive!....I'm sure it will do...again thx to Robert24 & jigagee for the recommendation.

@ Robert24 & Jigajee..thx for the link..lek looks interesting, have emailed them to see if they will do a delivery/return pick up from KK

Hi Guys,

Looking to hire a car, preferably a 4 door pick up truck type from KK in December this year, for approx' 20 days, return it to KK. Can anyone recommend a reliable supplier with recent models?

Cheers

Hi guys,

Looking for some input as to how I could get air conditioning into 3 seperate rooms - 2 rooms are approx' 30 cu mtes - the other maybe 70 cubic meters. What capacity BTU would I need for each? What brand recommendations? Invertor or non-invertor types? wall mounted or free standing? House is single story and situated near Khuchinarai - anybody know of a reputable supplier in this area (Kalasin).

I have read the various threads here on AC, needless to say I am even more confused...I'm looking for something that is economical in both initial costs and running costs...relatively easy to install and a reliable brand.

Cheers...looking forward to receiving the wisdom of those that know!

I'm looking to buy a new reasonably priced laptop and would appreciate any recommendations for shops in the Kalasin area. thanks

Kunash....The new version is based on what the Government believes to be more current and appropriate matter/subjects...more up to date in modern UK. Which probably makes sense.

There is only ONE book available from the TSO at the moment and thats the Guide for New Residents 3rd edition..@ £12.99....the other TWO books...the Official Practice Questions & the Official Study guide both @ £7.99 will be available after the 26th March.

Try this site for a little 'taster' on the questions...http://ukcitizenshipsupport.com/chapter-test/chapter-testfeq/

have fun!

Garuda Publications (the ppl who produce the book) have not yet decided if they will update to the new version. http://www.garudapublications.com/

TSO in the Uk will have the Guide & the test questions (books) available in print after the 26th March.....mines been on order since January!...when they get here I'm gonna have to post them to LOS cos' missus is going on holiday and she'll need to study them in time for her test on her return!

Congrats to both Kunash and Markie....now your life starts lol....the wife has been here now 2 weeks...she's having great fun buying ' winter clothes' !

I've been doing some more research into this as,hopefully, my wife will have a visit visa in the next few weeks.

EVA air, if the card holder is not flying, you need to go to the Eva Air office (London) with the card and some ID and sigen a form, within 48 hours of the departure time.

Depends how far away from London you are, for me it's quite easy. Give them a call and see if there are some other options if you live further away.

Their prices look quite good. 37,000 inc. taxes return. This varies with availability of course!

I might go with Jet or KIngfisher, if I can get transit in Dehli rather than Mumbai, I did both on my last trip, Dehli was painless, Mumbai was the usual nonsense!

I looked at Eva yesterday..their online price of 28390b (including tax) looked attractive but decided against it because of the travel to London to sign their Indemnity form and decided on BA through EBookers for 28800b and no credit card issues!...and still saved money because the cost of travel and aggro' getting their far exceeds the price

difference...wifey gets here in 10 days time!!....where's me marigolds..place is a mess!

"In response to the first point, I can confirm where an application was received prior to 17/7/2011, BULATS were acceptable, but only where the tests were taken in the UK"

I know of two for certain and heard of others where the BULATS taken through Vantage Siam (NOT in the UK) prior to this date have been accepted by the Embassy. I know this for certain because I met another English guy at Vantage Siam whilst I was there with my wife in May. His wife submitted her application in June and two days ago I received a text from him saying that she had been issued with her visa. Heard similar on another forum too.

The Embassies statement above also does not make sense because Vantage Siam WERE DEFO on the previous list on the VFS website. In March I emailed the contact on the list for centers based in Thailand on the VFS list. Under BULATS it listed Corporate English Consulting as the BULATS agent. I emailed them and recieved a response from Kevin @ Vantage explaining that Vantage Siam was their new corporate name but nothing else had changed, they were still the authorised agents for BULATS in Thailand. Shortly after this, but well before the new list was produced, Kevins details and Vantage Siams address was amended and included on the VFS Thailand list of test providers. Why would they be on the VFS Thailand list if only tests taken in the UK were to be accepted?

As my wife did her BULATS in May,but will not be submitting her application until next month, I also became concerned after reading Phomchobs refusal notice. I emailed the VFS helpline and asked them to confirm whether as my wife took her test in May, and that Vantage Siam were on both the previous AND new list would be accepted. I had a response which basically said something like "I can confirm that BULATS is acceptable from the new list"....doesn't really answer the question!

This is another example of where conflicting info is coming from all angles. To sum up I am aware of three, including Chronos where a BULATS taken through Vantage Siam in Thailand and submitted before 17/07/11 have been successful in obtaining visas. Only heard of one refusal which was Phomchob. All I can say for certain is that Vantage Siam were on defo on the previous list of test providers within Thailand as detailed on the VFS Thailand website. It appears to be the but only where tests were taken in the UK which needs clarification as I can't understand why Vantage would be on the VFS list of test providers if only tests taken in the UK were acceptable?

So is the statement in the Embassies email incorrect, or have ECO's that issued the visas mentioned above made a mistake on at least three seperate ocassions? Now I'm confued all over again.

As my wife did her test through Vantage Siam in May, but has not yet submitted her application, will her test be accepted by the Embassy? Who's answer do we follow, the embassy response above? the fact that visas have already been issued with the same test taken in May? the VFS websites previous list? Grrrrr!!!!

Regards

Valid questions, toddmeister. And exactly what I have asked the Embassy to clarify. I hope they will let me know quickly as we, and TV, have clients waiting for decisions, and clients also waiting to submit to submit applications, Part of the problem is that, as you know, it is virtually impossible to get to contact anyone in the Embassy. I recently ( just a couple of days ago) sent an email to their "old" address, which actually went to the section I wanted it to go to. Instead of dealing with it, or passing it to right person, they returned it to me with an instruction to re-send it to the correct address ! What a waste of their own time, as well as mine.

Should it transpire that the Embassy, although taking the stance that BULATS certificates taken before 17th July 2011 with Vantage-Siam in Bangkok are invalid, has actually issued to some applicants who have presented similar certificates, then I will be asking the Embassy to issue visas to all such applicants as an act of public faith. To do otherwise, ie not issue when they have already done so to some, would be a breach of public faith. It may be that I am reading the response from the Embassy completely wrongly, and if so, then I await confirmation of that from them. I will post anything that I receive.

I can understand the need for clarification..but...I just hope that by asking these questions of the Embassy that it does not prompt them to 're-visit' the recent successful visas because basically you are asking them 'have you made a mistake here?..and as you say issued 'invalid visas'...

I just hope to God that you have not 'stirred a hornets nest' resulting in cancelling the recent visas!....where did I put that Valium!

Chronos, don't worry. The Embassy cannot take away the visa they have already granted to your wife. To do so would be a breach of public faith, and they would be laying themselves open to judicial review - which they will not do because they would lose. If they made a mistake, then they suffer the consequence, not you.

PHEW!!!!...cheers...'throws Valium in bin!'

"In response to the first point, I can confirm where an application was received prior to 17/7/2011, BULATS were acceptable, but only where the tests were taken in the UK"

I know of two for certain and heard of others where the BULATS taken through Vantage Siam (NOT in the UK) prior to this date have been accepted by the Embassy. I know this for certain because I met another English guy at Vantage Siam whilst I was there with my wife in May. His wife submitted her application in June and two days ago I received a text from him saying that she had been issued with her visa. Heard similar on another forum too.

The Embassies statement above also does not make sense because Vantage Siam WERE DEFO on the previous list on the VFS website. In March I emailed the contact on the list for centers based in Thailand on the VFS list. Under BULATS it listed Corporate English Consulting as the BULATS agent. I emailed them and recieved a response from Kevin @ Vantage explaining that Vantage Siam was their new corporate name but nothing else had changed, they were still the authorised agents for BULATS in Thailand. Shortly after this, but well before the new list was produced, Kevins details and Vantage Siams address was amended and included on the VFS Thailand list of test providers. Why would they be on the VFS Thailand list if only tests taken in the UK were to be accepted?

As my wife did her BULATS in May,but will not be submitting her application until next month, I also became concerned after reading Phomchobs refusal notice. I emailed the VFS helpline and asked them to confirm whether as my wife took her test in May, and that Vantage Siam were on both the previous AND new list would be accepted. I had a response which basically said something like "I can confirm that BULATS is acceptable from the new list"....doesn't really answer the question!

This is another example of where conflicting info is coming from all angles. To sum up I am aware of three, including Chronos where a BULATS taken through Vantage Siam in Thailand and submitted before 17/07/11 have been successful in obtaining visas. Only heard of one refusal which was Phomchob. All I can say for certain is that Vantage Siam were on defo on the previous list of test providers within Thailand as detailed on the VFS Thailand website. It appears to be the but only where tests were taken in the UK which needs clarification as I can't understand why Vantage would be on the VFS list of test providers if only tests taken in the UK were acceptable?

So is the statement in the Embassies email incorrect, or have ECO's that issued the visas mentioned above made a mistake on at least three seperate ocassions? Now I'm confued all over again.

As my wife did her test through Vantage Siam in May, but has not yet submitted her application, will her test be accepted by the Embassy? Who's answer do we follow, the embassy response above? the fact that visas have already been issued with the same test taken in May? the VFS websites previous list? Grrrrr!!!!

Regards

Valid questions, toddmeister. And exactly what I have asked the Embassy to clarify. I hope they will let me know quickly as we, and TV, have clients waiting for decisions, and clients also waiting to submit to submit applications, Part of the problem is that, as you know, it is virtually impossible to get to contact anyone in the Embassy. I recently ( just a couple of days ago) sent an email to their "old" address, which actually went to the section I wanted it to go to. Instead of dealing with it, or passing it to right person, they returned it to me with an instruction to re-send it to the correct address ! What a waste of their own time, as well as mine.

Should it transpire that the Embassy, although taking the stance that BULATS certificates taken before 17th July 2011 with Vantage-Siam in Bangkok are invalid, has actually issued to some applicants who have presented similar certificates, then I will be asking the Embassy to issue visas to all such applicants as an act of public faith. To do otherwise, ie not issue when they have already done so to some, would be a breach of public faith. It may be that I am reading the response from the Embassy completely wrongly, and if so, then I await confirmation of that from them. I will post anything that I receive.

I can understand the need for clarification..but...I just hope that by asking these questions of the Embassy that it does not prompt them to 're-visit' the recent successful visas because basically you are asking them 'have you made a mistake here?..and as you say issued 'invalid visas'...

I just hope to God that you have not 'stirred a hornets nest' resulting in cancelling the recent visas!....where did I put that Valium!

Congrats to Brumdave & Housepainter...well done & good luck

Glanville

I'm going through the same thing at the moment, the test centre's on the ukba website were out of date and no longer provide the tests. However, Kunash posted a link the other other day to the local test centres here in Thailand (not the same link as posted above). Vantage Siam appears to be the only company responding to my e-mails last week. They test every week which the others do no appear to do. In fact, Pearson do not test again until november.....useless. I tried to call to see if this is truely the case, no answer; so vantage siam looks like our best bet.

If anybody has had their spouse take the test in the last month, please advise which test centre is operating and which tests are being taken, thanks.

We used Vantage in May, despite the cost, they were very professional and helpful. The test itself is really quite simple and comes in 4 parts - Listening, Speaking, reading and writing. Your wife will need some basic computer skills (use of mouse) to do one part of the test, this is an 'adaptive test'..

which means that if she gets the answer wrong the questions get easier, of course it works the other way around too! Minimum requirement for visa purposes is level A1...which is really the lowest level and easily achievable.

While we were there a young ladyboy minced out, flicking his hair and announcing..'I'm excellent..I got A1 !'...I didn't have the heart to tell him that was the lowest score possible!

The tests are held on a Friday, I booked mine via phone from the UK..pretty simple really..just turned up at 11am..all done in an hour...and got the result almost immediately...picked up the Certificate a week later. Be prepared to have your 'success' photograph taken at the time..but bear in mind that they post these on their facebook page.

The only difficult part was finding and getting to the bloody place!

Anyway the choice is yours..and good luck with your application.

Congrats Spider0064....now we need Brumdave for 3 in a row!

Hi Guys........got text from wife today at 11.10am...Agent just been to collect paperwork from VFS...she say....YEEEEESSSSSS!...dated 1st August.

Needless to say we are ecstatic,,overjoyed..over the moon at the news....phew...what a relief...I gotta admit I was beginning to have doubts..just paranoia setting in..but I am sure that this is something we all experience during that time in Limbo..just waiting...and waiting...and waiting...watching your finger nails get

shorter. smoking or drinking too much...studying the raw nerve ends..we all know this horrible empty can do nothing about it feeling we have in our nerve ravished bodies..honestly I think I would rather chew my own nuts!

Now all I have to worry about is getting the house clean, stocking up with Thai goodies...and organize the flight in about 2 weeks time!

I would like to thank all those in this forum, who through responses to others have helped and encouraged me through the reading of their posts...and good luck to all those who still have to undergo the waiting heartaches...Thanks Guys!

Hi Guys..well the good news is...if your wife has undertaken a recent BULATS test with Vantage and she attained a minimum A1 pass in listening and speaking (most of our wives got higher of course) then that is sufficient for visa purposes..and I have just cornfirmed that Vantage are an approved provider...

because we got our Visa today!!

Those that have BULATS certificates, double check that the test report form provides scores in all the skill areas: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Can you elaborte ? Why is a marking in all 4 areas necessary ? On the certificates I have seen it just shows "failed" for reading and writing. The requirement in law seems to be only that the pass must be in the two required areas - listening and speaking - so how can UKBA insist on "fail" markings in the other two areas. Surely that is a requirement that is outside the law ?

On the 'Pass' certificate my wife received, it stated - Overall score 32.....Listening score 43.....reading and language score 27 - Overall Band CEF/ALTE Level : A2/1. The reading and writing is a 'Adaptive' computer based test while the 'listening & speaking' is tested by a human. I can only assume that the 'Language' score incorporates 'Writing and speaking'.

It is possible that the 'fail' you speak of may indicate that the computer based test was not undertaken?

Those that have BULATS certificates, double check that the test report form provides scores in all the skill areas: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Why?...surely the minimum 'A1' requirement is Speaking & listening?...and sufficient for visa purposes?...or are you saying that if you undertake the BULATS test you have to score in all 4 elements to gain a pass that satisfies visa requirements?

@ toddmeister & Pomchob...

Thanks for the quick response guys...strange I have searched both the VFS and UKBA sites and cannot see any reference on the supplied pdf of current providers...I could of course be looking at something different!

I initially came across Vantage via my Agent (link on their site) and really had no qualms about using them following emails and phone calls to them, reinforced by the 2 visits to their office on the day of the test and when we picked up the pass certificate, it all appeared to be correct.

On the day we submitted the application, all the paperwork was double checked by the agent and it all appeared to be in order..including the BULATS certificate.....perhaps my paranoia is giving me the eebie jeebies!

Pomchob...my heart goes out to you..I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now and I hope to God that we do not experience the same emotional turmoil tomorrow when we pick up the result. I really do hope that you can get it sorted and wish you every best wish for your future.

Clarification needed......with reference to the BULATS A1 test provided by Vantage Siam....ARE you saying that Vantage ARE a recognized provider and WERE so on the 13th May 2011 when my wife took the test?...or am I just adding to my paranoia?

Hi All...quick update...got a txt from the missus this morning stating that she received sms from VFS at 10.50am (Thai time) that passport ready for collection. She then phoned our Agent in BKK who stated she would collect it at 4pm today...great news?...not really as we still do not know the result!..

ok..go back to sleep and worry for just that bit longer!

....and then....received another txt from Wifey at 4pm (thai time)...Agent cannot get to VFS until tomorrow!!..<deleted>!..Ok..now rant and rave time!...fortunately...the agent nor the wife were on the receiving end of my frustrations as it would serve no useful purpose and therefore restricted myself to screaming at the parrot and

kicking the dog! (actually..I didn't kick the dog..he just hid in the corner!).

The annoying thing is...the agent has had all day to organise the pick up of the passport, even if she cannot do it personally, there are other staff that can do it, but she waits until the VFS close at 4pm to send the wife the message that she cannot go!...and that is the bit that really pee'd me off!

So another day of worry!..Bugger!

Question:....When a visa is granted...do they put a 'travel date' on it? Both Jason and all4one got their visa's today..when can your loved ones travel?...and what dates did you put on the application? Same question to all recent successes.

The reason I ask is that when the ECO spoke to my wife on the phone..one of the questions asked was..'when do you want to travel?'...just trying to allay my nagging doubts!..Would they ask that question if they were going to refuse?

Cheers

PS....still no sign of the crates of beer or the Valium !

Congrats to both all4one and jason...well done guys and good luck in your new adventures!

We have not heard anything today and it is unlikely that we will as the VFS will be closed now...and it appears that the VFS tracking system is still down for maintenance..unless anyone can state to the contrary..so another weekend of worry!

It would be interesting to know..just to add to my paranoia...at what time (thai time) did both all4one and jason receive their sms from the VFS?...the timings of their 'success' news postings appear to be 'Thai time'..is that correct?

The waiting and uncertainty is really cracking us both up...it's worse than waiting for the hangman!..at least with that you know what time you are going to pop your clogs!

Words of encouragement, crates of beer and copious amount of Valium would be greatly appreciated!

Congrats to Stabbo-lad and Aland2012...your wait is over...next in line all4one and meself...the suspense is just tooo much!...fingernails have gone..run out of valium..if I smoked l'd be on WaccyBaccy!

@ 7by7...Many thanks for the input...your last comment makes a lot of sense!

From what the wifey has said..the questions posed by the ECO (female Thai ) appear to have be gleaned from the information that we submitted ie. what is his job?...his sports interests?...has he been married before?...why do you want to go to the Uk?..when did I ask you to get married?...

do we have intention to live in Thailand in the future (that one caused me some concern!)...what do l do in my leisure time?...Why do you love him?....All seemed pretty innocuous questions and the wife indicated that they were singing off the same hymn sheet (she could hear the shuffling of papers as they spoke).

If the wife has satisfied the ECO's doubt's, are you saying that a positive outcome would be the result?....and do you have any indication as to when the decision would be made after the 'phone interview'?

Still 'bricking it !'

Mike