Romfordboy

Thanks tigerjohn

can you tell me what CD you bought to help your wife? Do you remember where you bought it and how much it was ? I'm thinking there might be a few different CDs out there and don't want to buy one that's no good.

Who is the person "helping the wife"?

Is it a friend or a visa agent?

I'm not sure. Some of the tests, such as BULATS, has a 2 year validity, according to the list of approved test providers on the UKBA website.

Thanks Kunash

Kunash

is the entry level 3 Esol Skills for life an actual course you can study, or is just an exam you can take that will meet the B1 requirement?

I think she's on another visa forum, too, with a slightly different username, but still asking the same things.

I'm sure plenty of people have used this forum successfully, Bob. I'm one of them

There is a great deal of useful information to be found on the internet as a whole, not just Thaivisa.com. The more information for the OP, the better, surely?

Advocating the use of just one visa forum for advice is a bit short sighted.

I can't see why you find it so strange of me also mentioning thailand-uk.com????

£800 for an agent, plus another £800ish for the visa itself. Ouch.

Hello mate

visa agencies are an option but in my opinion you can save yourself a lot of money by putting the application together yourself.

There is lots of good, free advice to be found on the internet, but I thoroughly recommend this site

thailand-uk.com

I used this website to find templates to copy when writing a letter of support for my wife's visa application, and if you have any questions, you can post a comment and someone will always answer you with the information you need.

I didn't want to post my comments on the open through risk of starting an argument between members about the merits of using a visa agent or not.

I can see both sides, but if your application is a straightforward one, where you and the wife/GF easily meet all of the requirements, then there really is no need to use a visa agent, you honestly could put it all together yourself.

Some agents will charge you anywhere from 30,000 baht minimum, including the Pattaya ones. I don't have any idea of specific Bangkok agents, but I have heard some horror stories about a couple of Thai owned agents.

Friends of my wife told her they had used several agents in BKK. One paid about 120,000 baht! That is extortionate.

Please take a look at thailand-uk.com. I've got nothing to gain from it, I'm not a sponsor of the forum or a visa agent, but I just don't like the idea of anyone having to pay through the nose, or at all, for a service from a visa agent which you could honestly do yourself.

You'll need to write a letter of support, basically sponsoring your GF/wife. Examples of these can be found on thailand-uk. Then you'll have to provide evidence of:

1. Your finances - basically you have a job or savings that will help support you and the wife in the UK

2. Your home or accomodation - you have to show you can provide somewhere for her to live in the UK, either your own home or with a family who agree to it

3. Your relationship -you'll need to prove your relationship is genuine, and not a marriage of convenience just to get her into the UK

For all of these 3 points what you'll need is supporting evidence - letters, bills, bank statements, mortgage statement/rent agreement statement. Photographs of you and the wife together, receipts from where you might have sent the wife money, hotel receipts from holidays you've taken together.

All of these things are easily in your possession already, or can be put together already. All a visa agent will do for his money is ask you put the same stuff together then hand it to him, so he can assemble it in a folder or whatever.

Good luck with the application.

And it sounds like Bale will be happy to see the back of Spurs when they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

I'm just waiting for the "food poisoning" again........

The Spuds shocking collapse at the business end of the season has the added bonus of hopefully highlighting the inadequacies of Harry Hotspur when championing him for the England job.

I can see it now......England in the quarter finals of a major competition, failing to seize the initiative when 2 goals to the good (unlikely, I know ) or capatalizing on the other team going down to 10 men.

All of a sudden Harry has one of his "Sven" moments and completely forgets, or fails to understand, the importance of tactics and bingo, the moment is lost and once again, so is the game.

Yeh, I cringed when I read "Soy Boy Cow".......maybe he was dreaming of Boyz Town and made a typo

Many thanks.

Sorry if the answer to my question is contained within this forum, but I haven't got a clue about phones or where to look, so if anyone can help, much obliged.

My wife has a Samsung Galaxy 2 phone which she bought and uses in Thailand. We'll be moving to the UK soon and would like to know if she can use it there? And can she use a UK sim card in the phone?

Yep, my first thought was someone's trying to do your legs and bubbled you up to immigration.

I agree, things will be much easier and cheaper in the long run if you marry in Thailand and go for a settlement visa.

I think it will strengthen an application if you're married already, but that's just my opinion.

A friend of my wife recently applied for a fiancee visa and has had a few problems. In fact, she's still waiting for the result. The embassy called her and wanted to know exact dates and location for her wedding in the UK.

You may go back and be told that you need to apply at the immigration office that covers the wife's tapian baan address... They told me this.. unbelievable I know!

Yes this came up yesterday but luckily didn't cause us a big problem. They wouldn't accept my wife's tabien baan from Khorat.

I blame myself though for listening to the advice of one of the trainees last week, I should have known better. She told us to bring my wife's tabien baan but she didn't explain that they would only accept a tabien baan relating to an address in Chonburi Province.

I ended up having to show rent receipts from the condo where we live and a letter from the manager to explain how long we've lived there together. Luckily we already had this from when we applied for my wife's UK visa.

It is crazy because so many Thai people come to work in places like Pattaya and Bangkok but originate from elsewhere. More often than not they'll be living in rented accomodation and wont have a tabien baan for Pattaya or Bangkok.

You can't really blame them, they have to deal with a lot of annoying foreigners all day long. I would be throwing pens and shouting at them as well if not worse. There is one guy in that office who I really don't like, always has an attitude that he is so important because he grants extensions. I am very thankful when I get the other guy working and not him.

Sounds like you're talking about the passport snatcher, usually sits at desk number 2, the smaller of the 2 men who deal with extensions. Looks gay, too. He was an arsehol_e yesterday.

I went to Jomtien immigration today, I have 30 days visa exempt until 15th April and wanted to apply for a 60 day extension based on being married to a Thai.

What with Songkran and all the public holidays coming up, I thought I'd do myself a favour and apply early, so I popped along to Jomtien today.

It was chocker block inside, standing room only. The trainee staff on reception were rushed off their feet and me and my wife spoke to a bloke who was sat at the counter casually eating a bowl of noodles.

My wife told him why we were there and he said I'd come too early, and that if they gave me the 60 day extension it would start today and not when my 30 days expire on 15th April. He said it was too busy and advised us to come back nearer the time, even suggesting coming back on 9th April, which according to my wife is a public holiday and the office will be closed?

Needless to say, what he said about the extension starting today was rubbish. I got my stamp and it starts once my 30 days run out on 15th April.

It was busy today but I saw some real poor customer service. Passports being snatched out of hands, pens rudely tossed towards customers when they asked to use one, snapping and shouting at customers. Very poor.

In the words of John Lennon, - "Give Peace A Chance".

If indeed the UK is extending their good will to Thailand, - let us see if Thailand will also be so generous.

Interesting subject.

They're not extending their good will, just their hand when they ask for your money.

You might save valuable time to enjoy your holiday but for some, they'd rather save valuable money. Who on earth wants to pay a Thai agent 100,000 baht for a visa, when you can find one of the UK owned agencies for much cheaper.

With a bit of patience, and less time spent on the beach or in a bar, anyone can put together their own visa application. That's just my opinion and each to their own.

I fully appreciate that not everyone wants to, or can. That's where a good, reasonably priced agent can prove invaluable to someone who, like you say, is 5000 miles away.

I'm not knocking visa agents per se, just the greedy ones.

Not sure about appointments to collect, we took a gamble and turned up at about 2pm to collect everything and we had no problems.

The email you got was worded differently to the one my wife got, but in essence it was the same. Your application has been processed and is ready for collection. No hint that it was successful or not, though.

Steer clear of any Thai visa agents, I've heard some shocking stories of some Bangkok based ones charging up to and over 100,000 baht for a settlement visa application, english test and TB xray.

Preying on Thai ladies whose husbands or partners are based in the UK and not in a position to help out much.

She will be happy as she will be allowed to stay in the UK.

His comment about ignoring things was probaby a reaction to some of your negative posts

i've got a similar question. I'm here on a 30 day visa exempt stamp and when that expires I intend to apply for a 60 day extension based on marriage to my Thai wife.

When should I be going to the immigration office to make the application to extend? Will a few days before my stamp expires be ok, or does it need to be earlier?

Tribalfusion, i've got my fingers crossed for you, good luck with the application.