retard

That's a week a go, I know you had it posted to you, but that's quite a delay. Hmmm, that's interesting, stamped on the 16th, 40 working days, maybe Monday for me.

Yes, just checked ours again. Printed 16th, not 18th. The buggers were sitting on it!

Got the approval this morning. Thanks to everyone contributing to this posting for helping me to keep sane. Thanks to Thaivisa express for submitting the application.

If you think there may be some problems then use an agency, they usually know all the pitfalls and can help you overcome them. I used Thaivisa express in Pattaya for my wife's holiday a couple of years ago and am currently using them to get her settlement visa. The cost is around £800 and Paul is a down to earth guy. If you live a distance away you can deal with the majority of it over the phone or e-mail

Forgive me, it's 7.30 Sunday morning, I've been awake 3 hours, and I'm bored out of my mind. Still waiting for that elusive courier. So I started to think about all that has gone before.

MY WIFE AND THE TEMPLE

After a number of early baths at the hands of various monks, and a ridiculous forecast that we would have a child within 2 years ( ridiculous because I have been incapable of fathering a child for about 30 years) I began to lose faith in these guys.

My wife didn't. She hangs on every word and visits regularly. Here are a few forecasts relating to her visa application.

1. " If you don't go to England before end of March you will never go" The application went in on 16th March!

2. "You will have your application approved but don't travel in April, it will be expensive. Wait until May" He must have been looking at the flight schedules because April was ridiculously expensive.

3. " Your application will be approved either on the 14th or 24th May" Got that wrong. It was considered last Friday, still waiting for result.( Bloody courier)

4. Very recent. "You will arrive in the UK on 24th May" Oh what a coincidence, the 24th.

Believe it or not my wife my wife expects the visa approval to come through on Monday but is planning delaying her flight until 24th

Lord knows what she will do when she comes to England, the nearest temple is about 100 miles away, I guess she will be building a spirit house in the back garden.

Fingers crossed for our visa and best of luck to all those still waiting

It seems most of the applications submitted on 16th March, (which people have posted the info on), have been processed, but a few awaiting the courier service. We are only 5 stops on the MRT to Lumphini, so will be picking the passport up in person, (whenever that may be), I don't think I could handle waiting for the post!

If it's a choice between courier or collect I would advise collect. The wait for that courier is unbearable!

Very helpfull. Thanks

Forgive me, it's 7.30 Sunday morning, I've been awake 3 hours, and I'm bored out of my mind. Still waiting for that elusive courier. So I started to think about all that has gone before.

MY WIFE AND THE TEMPLE

After a number of early baths at the hands of various monks, and a ridiculous forecast that we would have a child within 2 years ( ridiculous because I have been incapable of fathering a child for about 30 years) I began to lose faith in these guys.

My wife didn't. She hangs on every word and visits regularly. Here are a few forecasts relating to her visa application.

1. " If you don't go to England before end of March you will never go" The application went in on 16th March!

2. "You will have your application approved but don't travel in April, it will be expensive. Wait until May" He must have been looking at the flight schedules because April was ridiculously expensive.

3. " Your application will be approved either on the 14th or 24th May" Got that wrong. It was considered last Friday, still waiting for result.( Bloody courier)

4. Very recent. "You will arrive in the UK on 24th May" Oh what a coincidence, the 24th.

Believe it or not my wife my wife expects the visa approval to come through on Monday but is planning delaying her flight until 24th

Lord knows what she will do when she comes to England, the nearest temple is about 100 miles away, I guess she will be building a spirit house in the back garden.

Fingers crossed for our visa and best of luck to all those still waiting

When my wife arrives in the UK she wants to take on home care work. For this she needs to be able to drive and own a car. She can do both, but my insurance will not cover her on a Thai driving licence. So what to do? Can she get a provisional upon arrival; take lessons; pass the test; get full licence and THEN maybe get insurance cover. My question arises from someone telling me that she would not get a provisional until she had been in the UK for some time.True?

Got the news Friday, papers sent to agent by courier. Bloody agent not available today so have to wait for verdict until Monday. More sodding sleepless nights! Life's a bitch and then you die.

Is passport being posted or is she collecting from VFS?

Posted to agent

Got the news Friday, papers sent to agent by courier. Bloody agent not available today so have to wait for verdict until Monday. More sodding sleepless nights! Life's a bitch and then you die.

Retard,you went through a visa agency?

Yes. I came back to UK before she applied. Wife not confident so used agency. No regrets, saves a lot of shit and gave me time to prepare for homecoming. Didn't expect such a long wait though

got one question ... can anyone tell me how long it took from the moment you were told that a decision was made until you physically had the visa in your hands. ie how many days did it take to come through in the post.

we're obviouly both a bit nervous now after the interview questions ... there is quite a bit of pressure on her now. the rest of our application is as solid as a rock ... its just the questions now.

Mine went by courier to the agent am. Agent reckons to get it Saturday am. We have one or two gremlins same as you so we are both on tenterhooks

passport has been now sent to the messenger postal service. you should get passport today

Thanks. I presume that will go to the agency. So, all we do is wait for the verdict.

What does "Processed application returnd to courier" mean?

I was surprised to see that they contacted Simmsc's fiance for more details. From previous posts I understood that they only worked on info before them. I guess it shows that these people have some compassion and aren't just robots

3 applicants collecting passports on 18th May, all submitted 16th March.

Sod it! Where's ours?

It's coming dude, my fiancee had a call today (verifying some infos) - decision, she was told will be made VERY soon, imminently. remember, we and you applied on the same date. You're up soon!

I don't know about you, but it's driving me absolutely crazy

3 applicants collecting passports on 18th May, all submitted 16th March.

Sod it! Where's ours?

Just a point. In the March figures 14% got their approval within 15 days. How come they got preferencial treatment?

Finally, data for March, 8 week average, official.

Settlement Visas

2 days 3 days 5 days 10 days 15 days 40 days 60 days 90 days 120 days 0% 0% 0% 0% 14& 94% 99% 100% 100& total 201

The above data is for all decisions made in March 2012

Forgive me, my brain has stopped working! With 4 days holiday we who applied on 16th March have now endured 40 working days? True? So the wait is about over.

Guys, we have just had a message through to collect the visa 16/5/2012 10.30am...we will go to Bangkok now, pls wish us luck!

Excelent news. Good luck.

I heard to support your partner it's 105 pound a week.

That seems a bit more realistic. So I guess if my income exceeds 210 pounds a week ( 2 x 105)it would be enough. I came back to the UK a few weeks ago after several years in Thailand and was amazed at how much things cost here now. I think it would be difficult to survive on less than 300 per week and enjoy a reasonable quality of life.

Can someone tell me what the assessors consider to be sufficient income to support my Thai wife ( no kids) without depending upon the state?

Nothing today, 31 working days so far.

An earlier reply suggested that they don't report until 1330, so there is still time today. Fingers crossed

That was me, I checked the VFS application checker at 13.32, thanks anyway.

I think the time difference is 6 hours.

The head monk told her 14th. Glad I didn't buy that air ticket. Now she tells me he forecast EITHER the 14th OR 24th. Another 10 days to wait!

Nothing today, 31 working days so far.

An earlier reply suggested that they don't report until 1330, so there is still time today. Fingers crossed

Anyone who is applying for ILR needs to demonstrate their knowledge of life and language in the UK (KOL) unless they fall under one of the exceptions. See Knowledge of language and life in the UK.

The LitUK test is actually very easy, if one's English is good enough to understand the study materials and the test itself.

Learning all possible questions and their answers by rote is not the way to do it; would you do the same for a GCSE or other exam?

If one's English is not good enough to understand the study materials and the test then there is an alternative; an ESOL with citizenship course.

For more details, see Demonstrating your knowledge of language and life in the UK.

Instead of applying for ILR, one could apply for Further Leave to Remain every two years, at a current cost of £561 by post or £867 in person, always going up each year by more than inflation. Furthermore, this and the last government have both talked about limiting the number of times someone can apply for FLR in order to stop people avoiding KOL by doing this.

Even if, like yourself, someone does not intend to remain in the UK indefinitely, remember that to apply for British citizenship and thus be able to travel to and from the UK at will one needs to have ILR and have satisfied KOL.

Well I was born and raised in the UK, consider myself reasonably educated, and just done an on-line test. Scored 50%!