rajyindee

After having been told by HMPO yesterday that my application was withdrawn on 24 May, I have just received an email from Trendy saying my passport is now available for collection from Bangkok. You couldn't make it up.

A progress report on my own saga .... done Trendy on 9 April and have received nothing. I spoke to the tracking/progress people on 2 and 6 June and both times I was told that Liverpool would contact me within 72 hours. Nothing. Spoke to them again 10 mins ago and the girl told me that my application had been withdrawn on 24 May - obviously not by me. So, yet another promise that Liverpool will contact me within 72 hours. I get the feeling that there's more chance of Man Utd contacting me.

What was that country that gave Thaksin a passport?

Sky has taken up the overseas angle ...

Thats great service, why do people go to Penang with such a fast turn around like that. ( Why did my one tourist visa take the same time as my non-O tho' ? )

Strange about the Samui visa runs, i spoke with some guys in KB, they applied for tourist visas on Monday morning and picked them up Tuesday morning, staying the night in one of the new hotels by tesco lotus.

I actually stayed two nights in KB at the Tune Hotel because I had read that it was a 24 hour service. I travelled down by train/bus on day 1, done the visa on day 2 and headed back to Sungai Golok on the morning of day 3. There isn't an awful lot to do in KB but, on the other hand, it doesn't have the stress that I associate with my one and only trip to Penang.

Its not only British expats in Thailand that cant get their passport renewal on time.

An accountant has been stranded in Sri Lanka for almost three months and is unable to get home because he does not have a passport due to the chaotic backlog of applications in Britain.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10887351/Accountant-stranded-in-Sri-Lanka-due-to-passport-backlog.html

Why doesn't he get an ETD?

Significant Change in UK Passport Renewal Service:

Looking at the latest 'guidance notes' from trendy there is a significant change for Third party applications.

· If you are submitting your current passport, you will need to carry the original and a coloured photocopy of the all the pages of your current passport including the blank pages. If you wish to submit only photopcies, you may do so, please note once you have submitted your application, you will not be able to travel on your current passport. You may retain it for identity purpose.

Note they write (I have highlighted it in in red) that you now don't need to show your passport at Trendy, just photocopies - so you don't have to give you passport to a third party..

So now the whole point of HMPO having us go to trendy to apply is gone, since trendy no longer appear to need to check the original passport against the photocopies.

If this is true wit the option of an on-line payment - good news indeed - but if so, why can we then not make an on-line application then just courier the copies ourselves direct to HMPO UK?

The first application visit to Trendy is now seems to completely without purpose.

However the caveat is that there is nothing about this on the HMPO website.........

I read that as a bit of a climbdown from the "under Thai law, you are required to be in possession of your passport" stance (and the reason why we can't apply online). Rather than acknowledge that was wrong, they are saying it's up to you whether to submit your passport with your application. In reality, you need to hang on to your original passport to do your 90 day reports as there's no guarantee they'll process your new one in that time period.

I get the impression that Trendy is being paid for something that they now realise is totally unnecessary - I wonder how long the contract is for.

Whilst applying/renewing your passport, the charges need to be paid online. Details are mentioned on gov.uk website. You are required to carry a printout of this transaction and submit it with your application at the Bangkok Centre ...

Please ensure that your application is complete and do remember to bring the completed application form, 2 colour photographs and proof of payment.

Anyone any idea about the paying online requirement?

"Maybe that accounts for our different perceptions. I'm down here experiencing things first hand, whilst you are searching Google in an effort, albeit not very successfully, to justify your prejudices. Nowt wrong with that - there appears to be a few of your ilk doing the rounds."

As I said. ^

Well, I just got back to Thailand after a quick trip to UK on my Emergency Travel Document. While I was in UK, I spoke to HMPO (again) and enquired as to exactly what they had done with my application since they received it some 50-odd days earlier (other than take cash from my bank account). The guy told me he would e-mail Liverpool and they would respond within 72 hours. I explained that the reason I was speaking to him was because one of his colleagues had given me exactly the same assurances five days earlier. I won't be holding my breath.

As an aside - and I apologise if this has been answered - if you are now able to get a third party to collect your new passport, do they have to be in possession of your old passport?

3 month non-O

2 years back, I applied for a tourist visa, which was the same, 24 hours.

The visa agents from Samui do a round trip which includes an overnight stay.

When did you get this one day service and for what visa ?

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Single-entry tourist visa last May. I didn't use any visa agents, simply caught the train from Hat Yai to Sungai Golok and then the bus to KB. Went to the Consulate first thing the following morning and picked up at 2 pm.

No it's not same day pickup .. its 24 hour pickup, which means if you get it to them before they close at 12.00, then you can pick it up at 9.00 am the next day.

That may be the case for whatever Visa you were seeking ... when i visited, I dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon.

"Calm down. Calm down."

No worries! I'm good at doing the "jai yen, mai pen rai" thing.

I had to laugh - I got put through to the Tracking Team (a girl/woman called Chloé) who put me on hold while she attempted to find out what was going on ... when she got back to me she said she'd had a look. So, quite naturally, I asked her what the score was. She replied that she couldn't tell me as it was "privileged information" and the folk at Liverpool would e-mail me. LOL. We'll see.

It all seems to be settling down now at just over 7 weeks - I suspect they will be at their 6 week target before too long.

I handed in my passport at Trendy on 9 April. I spoke to HMPO (again) 30 mins ago and my passport is still at the "We received your application on 15 April" stage. I don't know what they're up to - they just keep asking for info that's already contained in my application (email address, phone number, place of birth ...). They've promised (again) that someone from Liverpool will contact me.

Looks like she owes a lot to whitening cream and other "products".

Adobe Photoshop more like.

To tell the absolute 100% unequivocable truth, I think Vanessa Mae looks better

I suppose she'll have to play second fiddle to Miss Mae.

Why would he personally have benefited it from it? All England agreed to do was play in a friendly in return for his vote. It was all quite transparent.

Not according to Lord Triesman, who suggested otherwise - but only after they didn't get Makudi's vote.

Didn't England arrange to play Thailand in a friendly that would have made FIFA committee member, Worawi Makudi, a very happy man. And then pull the plug when they didn't get his vote. Amounts to the same thing as Qatar dishing out a couple of million quid - sheesh! , the amount involved (3 million quid?) wouldn't even buy you a dodgy Scottish goalkeeper.

Maybe I don't get out enough, but I don't know anyone holding one of those passports that is a Doctor, Accountant, Policeman, etc that is currently living near me in Thailand. Surely there can't be many of them about?

Quite possibly so. Plenty of "teachers and lecturers", "public house licensees", folk who are "members of professional bodies" and retired servicemen around though. Surely you must know at least one retired Jamaican postman. Here's the full list ...

Occupations

Countersignatories must work in (or be retired from) a recognised profession or be ‘a person of good standing in their community’, eg:

• accountant
• airline pilot
• articled clerk of a limited company
• assurance agent of recognised company
• bank/building society official
• barrister
• chairman/director of limited company
• chiropodist
• commissioner of oaths
• councillor - eg local or county
• civil servant (permanent), but not someone who works for Her Majesty’s Passport Office
• dentist
• director/manager of a VAT-registered charity
• director/manager/personnel officer of a VAT-registered company
• engineer - with professional qualifications
• financial services intermediary - eg a stockbroker or insurance broker
• fire service official
• funeral director
• insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company
• journalist
• Justice of the Peace
• legal secretary - fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs
• licensee of public house
• local government officer
• manager/personnel officer of a limited company
• member, associate or fellow of a professional body
• Member of Parliament
• Merchant Navy officer
• minister of a recognised religion - including Christian Science
• nurse - RGN or RMN
• officer of the armed services
• optician
• paralegal - certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals
• person with honours - eg an OBE or MBE
• pharmacist
• photographer - professional
• police officer
• Post Office official
• president/secretary of a recognised organisation
• Salvation Army officer
• social worker
• solicitor
• surveyor
• teacher, lecturer
• trade union officer
• travel agent - qualified
• valuer or auctioneer - fellows and associate members of the incorporated society
• Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

I'm just about to enter this cluster <deleted> of a procedure to apply for my sons second passport and I have a question.

How are you getting the counter signature? If I understand correctly, I need to find a professional with a British or EU passport that has known me for 2 years. No problem if I was in the UK, but someone currently in Thailand, er.....nope.

The counter signature can be British, Irish, other EU, US or Commonwealth. That's a pretty large choice.

Thanks for that. I'll reword my question then. What are other people being charged in courier fees?

I was charged 19.86 in courier fees (110.86 total). That figure is broken down as follows:

Return of passport - 9.70

Return of supporting documents - 10.16

I put 114.01 GBP on the payment form but my credit card was charged 110.86 GBP.

I have no supporting documents to return, there was only the passport copy and proof of address.

I assume the "supporting documents" would be couriered to your home address - hence the separate cost. I assume (again) that's the reason why they need proof of your address. Unfortunately, the only supporting document they appear to have taken is the aforementioned proof of address. If nothing is returned to my home address, I'll be claiming a refund of the 10.16.

When you see the M word, there will never be peace.

Why do you say that? There are Muslims to be found the length and breadth of Thailand - the majority outside the troubled three and a bit southern provinces.

^ Thai civil servants have to retire when they are 60, but they can be rehired as consultants and continue teaching if they choose and their school needs them. As Culcine pointed out, these rules don't apply to foreigners.

That's my understanding. The post by the Text and Talk guy claiming you couldn't work in universities beyond the age of 60 appears to have been deleted.

My Visa Credit Card was debited 144.01 GBP on the 28th May for a Jumbo Renewal application that was filed at Trendy on the 22nd May.

Thus courier fee charged was 23.01 GBP

Looks like HMPO is starting to get their all Hymn Sheets printed the same now.

Presumably you mean 114.01 GBP.

Thanks for that. I'll reword my question then. What are other people being charged in courier fees?

I was charged 19.86 in courier fees (110.86 total). That figure is broken down as follows:

Return of passport - 9.70

Return of supporting documents - 10.16

What have other people been charged for a jumbo? Is it just an isolated case with me? Jumbo= 100.70GBP. Cheaper than the old price of over 150GBP.

Jumbo is 91.00 quid plus whatever courier fee they apply.