JohnnyGray

It's important to check with the consulate first with regards to the documents you need in order to obtain a Schengen Visa.

I accept that while Spain requires that a flight has been booked and paid for and accommodation reserved, Italy, France and Portugal only require flight and accommodation information. Check with the consulate in question before submitting your visa application or your 60Eur fee may be wasted.

Please don't buy flight tickets before the visa is granted, despite 7by7's suggestion, it's not necessary in order to obtain a Schengen visa.

Then why do all the Schengen embassies/visa application centres say that tickets, or at least a reservation, are required?

Did you read the Spanish requirements I linked to?

Note that, as said before, we are talking about a friend, not a family member.

The Schengen visa application form does not require the applicant to have pre-booked flights or hotels. In fact it specifically notes in fields 29 and 30:

"29. Intended date of arrival in the Schengen area" "30. Intended date of departure from the Schengen area".

INTENDED not ACTUAL.

Search for "Schengen Visa_Application_form.pdf" if you don't believe me.

A planned travel itinerary, with possible flights and hotels might be useful in support of the application, but actual bookings are not necessary and would be illogical before a visa has been granted.

The granting of a Schengen Visa has NOTHING to do with flight bookings so don't waste money on tickets until your girlfriend has a Visa.

Please check your facts before posting; I'm afraid you are wrong; again.

Spanish visa application centre

Important documents required: 5 A round trip ticket to and from Spain or Schengen States.

Many Schengen requirements don't apply to the spouse of an EU citizen if they are traveling with or to join their EU citizen spouse; but that is not the case here; she is the OP's girlfriend, not spouse.

Scoobyjay, can you not purchase tickets UK-Spain on a refundable basis?

Please don't buy flight tickets before the visa is granted, despite 7by7's suggestion, it's not necessary in order to obtain a Schengen visa.

Your planned travel itinerary is sufficient to support your application.

Your wife applies to the country you intend to visit, or if touring the country you intend to enter first. It doesn't matter if you change your mind once she has the visa as once issued it will be valid for all Schengen states.

As she is the spouse of an EU national, it should be easy to obtain and free. Read the application form carefully and you will see that many of the questions and requirements wont apply to her.

7by7 is normally a reliable source...not in this case.

You clearly state that your final destination is the UK. So your wife needs a UK Visa to enter the UK.

If you want to visit the Schengen Area first then you also need a Visa from a Schengen Area member, like Germany, France, Spain, Italy etc.

Good luck

Your post is a little confusing. I'd like to help but have some questions.

1. Does your girlfriend already have a Visa to enter the United Kingdom?

2. When did you apply for your girlfriend's Spanish Visa (Schengen Visa)?

The granting of a Schengen Visa has NOTHING to do with flight bookings so don't waste money on tickets until your girlfriend has a Visa.

Dear tribalfusion001 - Just reading your entries makes me proud of the UKBA. You've got no chance (relying on your parents? give me a break)

You get what you can afford to pay, as in any other business arrangement. If you think you're getting a good deal, then you are...but it's always relative to what other's are getting...which you will never really know

If it did indeed happen, it's irrelevant whether she is from Switzerland or anywhere else, the criminals responsible must be brought to justice.

I've not seen it in the news, please quote your source.

According to the Daily Mail anyway. Bring on the London Olympics 2012! It puts any issues for visitors to Thailand into perspective.

Forget "buying" land. You can't own land as a foreigner in Thailand. OK you can buy a Condo, but what for? Rent somewhere nice and live from your UK investments and pension

Reality check?

Well, ignoring the fiscal viability of your plan, I think a loose attitude will be a bit more dangerous.

Do watch your figures in public. And figures are not the same as a lady's.

Stated with all the best.

What?????

If either or both of you are smokers or in poor health (that you can prove) you can expect to get more.

So how on earth does that work?

Do they insist on a minimum number of cigarettes each day?

With that condition I'd simply declare I was a five pack/day man for the last forty years. Does a smoker have to go for a "bad health" verification visit to the doctor? Are you allowed to give up once the annuity gets started, or is there a minimum level of nicotine consumption to continue the policy?

It's logical really. Smokers die younger on average than non-smokers. So the insurance company, using their statistical evidence, take a bet and offer smokers a better monthly return than for non-smokers, on the assumption that they won't have to pay out as long on the $600k invested for the majority of smokers compared to non-smokers

Yes, I can understand that.

So what is preventing me to declare myself a smoker? I last smoked a cigarette about forty five years ago, but I could buy a pack today and have a quick drag whilst answering "yes" to the question "are you a smoker?"

I don't represent the insurance firms that make good money out of annuities. They're not daft. Try it if you ever want to buy an annuity and think you can get one over them

If either or both of you are smokers or in poor health (that you can prove) you can expect to get more.

So how on earth does that work?

Do they insist on a minimum number of cigarettes each day?

With that condition I'd simply declare I was a five pack/day man for the last forty years. Does a smoker have to go for a "bad health" verification visit to the doctor? Are you allowed to give up once the annuity gets started, or is there a minimum level of nicotine consumption to continue the policy?

It's logical really. Smokers die younger on average than non-smokers. So the insurance company, using their statistical evidence, take a bet and offer smokers a better monthly return than for non-smokers, on the assumption that they won't have to pay out as long on the $600k invested for the majority of smokers compared to non-smokers

Just did a quick search on the internet for annuities...if you are 60 and your wife is 50, from one reputable provider you'd get a guaranteed 38,889.38 THB per month for a $600k investment, plus 3% extra each year for the rest of your lives.

If either or both of you are smokers or in poor health (that you can prove) you can expect to get more.

$600k is a decent pension pot. Your plan to re-invest 3% to maintain the value of your savings is sound. But your 7% average projection based on the investments you mention is probably over-optimistic and certainly not guaranteed.

One thing you could consider is buying a joint annuity, designed for a prospective pensioner like yourself and your wife.The products available include joint-life and joint-survivor annuities, where payments only stop upon the death of both of the annuitants. For example, an annuity can be structured to make guaranteed annual payments to a married couple, the payments ending on the death of the second spouse.

It's a complicated area and I suggest you seek professional advice and get at least 6 quotes, based on, as an example, a $500k joint annuity investment. Then compare their numbers with your projections.

Good luck!

You've been there twice and only want to stay there for 4-8 weeks a year? Where's the logic in buying? As an investment? Rent a condo or stay in a hotel when you want to visit.

I'm not sure your post is serious...

Like I said, many people bought villas in Bali and only stayed there for a month or two every year. so, I do see a logic there.

Yeah, part of the reason is for the investment purpose, but not the only reason.

If you've money to burn, good luck to you

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

No worries, I may pay a little above average, but Pattaya's not your average town. Wages vary across Thailand just as they do in every other country. It's all about supply and demand. In some places services are cheaper than in others. And when you find good employees, and want to retain them, then it makes sense to reward them

Somebody should translate this thread and post it on Pantip. Thai people will probably be going door to door and stopping farang in Big C asking if they can quit their profession and become a maid.

Rubbish, the vast majority of Thai domestic workers are employed by Thai families, on similar terms and conditions

It's about time.

Every Pakistani student wanting to come to Britain will face tough new tests after a pilot scheme found that as many as four in ten applicants may be bogus.

Home Office figures have revealed that thousands of student visa applicants cannot speak English, despite claiming they want to study here.

Home Secretary Theresa May has now decreed that anyone wanting to come to study in Britain from Pakistan must be interviewed by border agency officials before a visa is granted.

An estimated 10,000 students apply to come to the country from Pakistan every year.

Currently, if paper applications raise suspicions, applicants may be interviewed in their home country. Of these, around 20 per cent are rejected.

But a recent pilot scheme in which every applicant was required to have a face-to-face interview found that up to 43 per cent should be rejected. A senior Whitehall source said that by far the biggest reason for them being turned down was poor English language skills.

The pilots have now been extended to other 14 other countries including India, China, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.

The source said: ‘Britain is open for business to the best and brightest. But the message to bogus students is clear – you will be found out and you will be stopped from coming.’

A damning report last month by the National Audit Office found that a flawed immigration crackdown may have allowed up to 50,000 bogus students into Britain.

The NAO estimated that around one in six of student visas granted went to workers whose intention was to take jobs.

Students make up two-thirds of the migrants coming to the UK from outside the EU.

Immigration minister Damian Green has said widespread abuse of the student visa system, the most common way for migrants from outside the EU to get into the UK, had gone on for too long.

Pattaya: married couple mid 30's no kids, good English. 12k BHT per month each. LIve in. Free food. 6 days work a week. Paid Thai national holidays. She cooks fantastic Thai food and a mean English breakfast. He drives me anywhere, maintains the car, does the garden and pool and picks me up day or night. Can't do without them. Part of the family, we would be lost without them

You've been there twice and only want to stay there for 4-8 weeks a year? Where's the logic in buying? As an investment? Rent a condo or stay in a hotel when you want to visit.

I'm not sure your post is serious...

Thailand’s economy is getting back on its feet after the disastrous floods.The government is stepping up public borrowing and expenditure on reconstruction and disaster relief, which has introduced inflationary pressure.

But the Baht is still strong against a basket of currencies, making imports less expensive, which suggests the markets thinks that Thailand will recover relatively undamaged. Increasing oil prices remain the main threat to the economy and will drive inflation in the near-term.

Developments in Burma/Myanmar threaten to take a share of unskilled workers and investment away from Thailand.

Thailand needs to press on with its initiatives for the workforce in education and vocational training to develop its service industries. It's no longer a low-cost country for manufacturing.

Stickman rules, great content, hard to find but worth it

Can't wait. Tooled up and ready, bring it on! Soi 8 Pattaya

You don't have to wait.

Not sure what you mean? We all have to wait until Friday...then the fun starts, I'll be soaking it up in Pattaya Soi 8

Can't wait. Tooled up and ready, bring it on! Soi 8 Pattaya