Tony M

Maybe yes, maybe no. On what do you base your statements ? The OISC registered agent, that I mentioned, has a 100% success rate in UK settlement visa applications since 2010. To back up this statement, I invite anyone who can show differently to post here. Can you give me some stats for lawyers ?

OISC members are more than "I can do" alleged visa agents. This might help you: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulations-that-immigration-advisers-must-follow--2/regulations-that-immigration-advisers-must-follow Interestingly, lawyers in the UK do not need ANY immigration experience at all in order to give immigration advice: No additional formal qualifications are technically required beyond being a qualified lawyer However, most immigration lawyers will: Take specialized immigration law courses Gain practical experience through supervised work Join professional bodies like the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA) Regularly attend continuing professional development (CPD) courses to stay updated Some may pursue additional certifications in immigration law So, it might be better to use an OISC regulated advisor who has taken, and passed, examinations, and is audited annually, and is accepted by the UK government as competent.

Sent you a PM

Basically, yes, but there some qualifications. You should seek advice from a licensed immigration advisor or lawyer in the UK, or from an advisor in Thailand who is registered with the OISC in the UK (a UK government approved immigration advisor). There are a couple of OISC registered advisors in Thailand, and one is in Pattaya - Thai Visa Express.

She can apply for a marriage settlement (fiancee) visa, to marry you in the UK. After marriage she can apply, in the UK, for Further Leave to Remain as a spouse. Without knowing what kind of stock portfolio you have, it's not possible to say whether it is acceptable to meet the financial requirement or not. If you have to sell the stock portfolio, in order to turn it into "cash savings", then subject to certain conditions it can be used as cash savings immediately. If you have documents showing that you are divorced, then that should be okay, but it depends on how the "divorce" was carried out. A "divorce paper" may or may not be sufficient. The amount of cash savings required is 88,500 GBP. You haven't said if you receive any pension(s) or "benefits" (due to health issues), but that could change the level of cash savings required. With respect, your post is a bit too vague to give exact advice.

They were probably getting out of the rain.

That was posted in July 2021. Why is the OP posting it now ?

Thank you. I wonder why they are doing that ? Its sort of unusual, isn't it ?

The police in Jomtien have handed out the attached to bars along Jomtien Beach Road. It seems to say that alcohol cannot be sold from 4 pm to midnight today, tomorrow and Wednesday ? or maybe it says they are carrying out inspections ? Inspections of what ?

You bowed to him ! I'll make that a question - you bowed to him ?

I was kind of hoping that they wouldn't pass the checks. I agree that your response is more reasonable than mine !

I would have thought that the reasonable response, in order to focus the operators' minds, would be to take all of these large buses off the road until they have been properly checked.

That can be fixed too : A Chinese woman managed to enter Japan illegally by having plastic surgery to alter her fingerprints, thus fooling immigration controls, police claim. xxxxxxxxx, 27, had previously been deported from Japan for overstaying her visa. She was only discovered when she was arrested on separate charges. Tokyo police said she had paid $15,000 (£9,000) to have the surgery in China. It is Japan's first case of alleged biometric fraud, but police believe the practice may be widespread. Japanese police suspect Chinese brokers of taking huge sums to modify fingerprints surgically. Local media reports said Ms xxxxxxx had undergone surgery to swap the fingerprints from her right and left hands. Skin patches on her thumbs and index fingers were removed and then re-grafted on to the matching digits of the opposite hand. Japanese newspapers said police had noticed that Ms xxxxxxx's fingers had unnatural scars when she was arrested last month for allegedly faking a marriage to a Japanese man. The apparent ability of illegal migration networks to break through hi-tech controls suggests that other countries who fingerprint visitors could be equally vulnerable - not least the United States, according to BBC Asia analyst xxxxxxxxxxxx

The article doesn't say what nationality passport she was using. Nor does it say what her travel plans were. It could have been a "simple" attempt to use someone's passport to enter Thailand for a holiday, or it could have been an attempt to use Phuket/Thailand as a transit point to another country. If she was attempting to travel on, perhaps to Europe, UK, USA, etc, then she might have presented a passport and, possibly, other documentation that might have gained her entry to that other country. Chinese impostors, or "look - alikes" often use a passport of countries that don't require an entry visa for maybe the UK - Malaysian, Singaporean, South Korean, etc. The problem they often have is that many of these impostors don't speak any language other than Chinese, whereas a Malaysian, etc for instance, would normally speak or understand a little English usually. So if they are asked questions by immigration, in English, or Malay, or whatever, then they drop themselves in the merde as they can't understand or answer. If that was the case with this lady, then she probably wasn't traveling alone, as she would normally have a "minder" to answer questions. But, there again, she might just have borrowed a friend's passport to have a lovely holiday in Phuket.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 70/100 My Time 76 seconds  

So, not VFS then.

Just to get things right, VFS Global has nothing to do with visa applications apart from accepting the actual application, taking biometrics (as your quote makes clear). They have no input into visa decision-making, correspondence, or anything else. That is dealt with exclusively by the UK Home Office. VFS Global is not an American company, and never has been. If you find the letter, and that is what it says, then you have a genuine grievance with the Home Office and UKVI.

Well, its been policy for as long as I can remember, and I was an Entry Clearance Officer in 1976, 1978 and 1987, and worked in British Embassies and British High Commissions overseas from 1999 to 2010. I have no idea what you mean by "an American Company" having had the contract for visas. There has never been any company or organisation (American or otherwise) other than the UK government, issuing UK visas.

I find that to not be correct. ECOs are required to explain why they are issuing a visa that is for a period less than applied for. Instructions to ECOs state: Long-term visit visas (multiple entry) Applicants for a Standard visit visa may apply for a visa that allows multiple visits of up to 6 months at a time over a period of: 2 years 5 years 10 years You can issue a shorter duration visa if the applicant meets the Visitor rules relevant to their visit, but you have concerns about issuing a long-term visit visa. Entry Clearance officers must obtain the authority of the Entry Clearance Manager before issuing a visit visa of shorter duration than that applied for. You must provide clear reasons for the decision to grant a visa for a shorter period than that applied for in a covering letter when the passport is returned. In such cases no refund (full or partial) is available. If you were not provided with the required letter, then you have a genuine grievance against the ECO and the UKVI.

I don't even understand your final sentence, so I will comment no longer. And that's definitive.

Why should I be well aware of that ? Definitive statements are very rarely valid ? That's a pretty definitive statement in itself, isn't it ? And wrong, without evidence, of course.

You have taken that comment totally out of context, and it should be considered as part of the whole response, the greater picture of a visit application. I'm sure other readers recognised the correct meaning of that sentence

In that case, no, it is not really acceptable. She can do that if she wants to, but if the UKVI, or Border Force in UK, find out then they could cancel the visa due to a change of circumstances. That said, if you are paying for the whole visit, then it doesn't really matter if she is working or not as long as you make it clear in the application that she is quitting her job. The Entry Clearance Officer, however, might think she is has quit her job because she is not returning to Thailand. Why can't she keep her job and get a leave letter ?

She basically has only 3 requirements to fulfil - English test pass, TB test pass, and evidence the relationship. Whether she is employed or not is irrelevant.

Do you receive random SMS messages ? A few years ago I had a similar problem, and it turned out that I was paying to receive SMS messages ! I had to go on the AIS site and request to stop receiving the messages. That worked.