Tony M

You can actually email them and, unlike many Thai businesses, they actually reply.

I have done it twice recently. Both trips were same as RAZELL above. I did notice (on Friday when I went to BKK) that you can now book the bus two days in advance. A couple of weeks back it was only one day in advance.

Here's a radical thought. Why don't you just check the bus website ? https://pattayabus.com/

Seems kind of simple to get things going. All entertainment spots, bars, pubs, go-gos, etc to be closed immediately and indefinitely, until they make an appointment and have been inspected by an independent inspector/organisation and can provide/post the evidence that they have been successfully inspected. So, at the start, everything that is open is open illegally, until inspected and certified. Probably be a lot of pressure from tourists and TAT, and even the genuine businesses themselves, to get places certified as "safe". The illegal/noisy ones shouldn't be hard to find.

Is that a casino I can see in the proposed plans ?

Something like this should be a simple application, but it's not. The UKVI have made it complicated. Firstly, you can, of course, apply for an extension of the visit visa, but it may or may not be granted. The "compassionate" UKVI take the view that a spouse or family member cannot remain in the UK to care for a sick realtive or spouse, but might be allowed to remain in order to arrange long-term care. Compassionate, indeed ! As theoldgit says above, the best route is probably to apply under the family life route. There is an element of "the right to family life" in such a human rights application. Basically, the argument is along the lines that, as a married couple, you have the right to family life together. And, as you cannot be expected to leave the UK, your wife should be allowed to remain with you in the UK. You would still be expected to meet the financial requirements of the immigration rules, but if you cannot do so, your wife would probably be put on a 10-year route to indefinite leave to remain, rather than the normal 5-year route. I would advise you to take professional advice, from a UK immigration advisor (expensive) or from the Citizens Advice Bureau (free). All advisors in the UK are either registered with the OISC or are lawyers. Non - professional advisors are illegal. There is one (maybe more) OISC registered immigration advisor in Thailand, based in Pattaya, and I can pass his details to you if you wish.

Same same

VFS Global has issued an update on Proiorit and Super Priority visa applications. These are currently available only for Visit visa applications. UKVI has also published the current processing times for visa applications: Important Changes to Priority Visa Services offered by UKVI from 15 July UKVI have made changes to the availability of Priority Services (PV) for new visit visa applications. From 15 July, the volume of PV appointments will be reduced to enable UKVI to process more standard applications and gradually reduce the overall processing time for all customers. Appointment availability for Super Priority services (SPV) for new visit applications will not be reduced. Please note that PV appointments for new visit visa applications must be purchased online during the appointment booking process and cannot be purchased in the Visa Application Centre or retrospectively. SPV appointments can be purchased online during the appointment booking process. Priority and super priority services for new study, work, and family applications continue to be suspended. UKVI continue to monitor this, and updates will be provided once these services are ready to be resumed. For more information on priority visa services please visit: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying from outside the UK – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) For more information on current visa processing times please visit: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) UK Visas and Immigration Update Processing Times The UKVI recently revised visa processing times for a variety of visa categories, including Visits, Transit, Study, Work, and Family Visas. The updated processing time for popular visas and services of UKVI will be as following; Visa Type Waiting Time Visit the UK 6 Weeks Travelling through the UK 6 Weeks Study in the UK 3 weeks Work or invest in the UK 5 Weeks Join the family in the UK 24 weeks Returning residents 3 weeks Replacing biometric residence permits 3 weeks Transfer your visa from your passport 3 weeks Certificate of entitlement 3 weeks

Well, it wouldn't surprise me if the Thai Govt tries to put a stop to that too, the way this lot are going. They could always go down the Laos route of making it illegal for a Lao citizen and a non-Lao citizen to "co-habit" in Laos unless married (and they make getting married pretty difficult too). But this lot would probably make it illegal for a Thai to co-habit with a non-Thai even if they are married.

Will the large force magically disappear at the weekend, when the Bangkok crowds arrive ? Couldn't even drive along Beach Road to Na Jomtien last Saturday evening.

Hve you tried cancelling the scanning and SMS options ? You can upload the documents yourself (saving 460 THB) and you can pay for the EMS at VFS. That will get rid of any payment requirement, and you can possibly book the appointment.

I know nothing about the legality of this. Is it illegal to film people without their consent, or illegal to publish the videos/photos of people without their consent ? Walking around, I see cameras in/on houses, shops, dashcams, crash helmets, businesses, etc. Is it illegal to video someone walking past my house without their consent ? Just askin', 'cos I don't know the answer.

It seems to be a kind of Catch-22 situation. Applicants and sponsors don't want to wait almost 3 months for a decision on their application. So, UKVI offer a couple of "Priority" services which give quicker decisions at a fairly high cost. Some cynics might say that the 3 month processing time is forcing applicants to pay for these priority services, but I wouldn't be so unkind as to even suggest that. However, if a fair number of applicants do pay for the priority services, then it seems probable that those taking advantage of the priority services, if there are a lot (business travelers, students who need to start their course, etc), then this makes other "ordinary" applicants wait even longer in the queue. Could it actually be a "manufactured" queue, to persuade applicants to use the priority services (oh....I did suggest it after saying that I wouldn't !) ?

This received from UKVI/Home Office today. Six months processing time for UK settlement visas : We are writing to inform you that due to the humanitarian crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine, UKVI is prioritising Ukraine Visa Scheme applications. This means that customers applying for other routes will experience some delays in the processing of their application. We have therefore made the decision to temporarily amend our Marriage and Family service standard to 24 weeks, from our usual service standard for this route of 12 weeks. This means you should get a decision within 24 weeks (120 working days) from the date you attended the Visa Application Centre to give your biometrics, rather than 12 weeks. We are working to reduce the current processing time as quickly as possible and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. Where there are extremely compassionate or compelling circumstances (for example, a medical emergency), we may consider expediting specific cases. However, the bar for this is high and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If your request is exceptionally urgent you can contact https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk for help. Please note that this is a chargeable service for overseas customers. For all other customers you will be contacted when a decision has been made and your passport is ready for collection at the Visa Application Centre.