bigyin

I think you have to pay the Health Surcharge and receive the number before you apply for FLR.

I would supply everything. I did this all a couple of months ago and supplied both plus copies. You should also supply the information they need to check direct with the exam board. We did the KET from Cambridge School of English. I don't know what they actually did but we got the visa.

Not if she is only in transit.

The instructions actually say that it must be A1 overall with at least weak in speaking and listening. On that basis I think that you are right to be concerned. I don't know whether anyone has had this experience and had the visa application accepted. It was something I was very concerned about last year but fortunately my wife got above weak in both speaking and listening and got her visa. I really don't think the KET results are very well presented at all. ThaiVisaExpress may be able to advise on this.

Always happy to help where I can.

Yes same here although I consider theoldgit and 7by7 the experts.

Sound advice from theoldgit and 7by7 as usual. When you put your evidence together try to put yourself in the position of the ECO who is concerned with 3 things really.....is it a real and subsisting relationship, is the trip affordable so that there will be no recourse to public funds and will the applicant return to Thailand at the end of the trip. Keep analysing your evidence and ask yourself whether you would be convinced by that evidence. If in doubt add a bit more but as theoldgit says remember the ECO is human not a machine. I personally have never supplied a letter from my girlfriend now wife and never had any problem but it certainly cannot do any harm. I know 7by7 is not a big fan of a lot of photos but I have always supplied a few sheets with around 10 photos per sheet. Everyone presents their evidence slightly differently but all successful applications adequately cover the 3 points I mentioned above.

Hi there

1. Making the appointment at Trendy:

How far ahead should I allow to ask for a time?

What would be a sensible way to assess what sort of times to ask for?

Does on apply by email? Email address please?

2. Friend or wife will deliver application at Trendy owing to difficulty travelling.

Is there a standard proxy form or do I just write one?

3.I have heard of payment problems

Should i open a SCB prepaid card and use that?

(Forgot the name....anyone know?)

Thanks

You can get an appointment fairly quickly certainly within a week. Each time slot allows multiple entries to the building so it is not 1 slot for 1 person. After you have submitted the application and paid you will be given the option of booking the appointment. If it is your wife who is applying for the visa then she is the person who has to go in person. You cannot go in her place nor can anyone else. You will normally not be allowed to accompany her in to the application area. Make sure she tells the staff at Trendy Building that she wants the application to be submitted as you have supplied it. I have not had any problems paying by card and a reputable card should go through without difficulty.

As far as I am aware you cannot get to the booking page until after you have submitted the application and paid. The time slots shown are not per person and for each time slot they let quite a few people in so I don't think there will be any problem about getting a time over a whole 2 day period especially if you are not too bothered about the actual time of day but you won't know until you are well into the process. Both times I have done this I got the day and time I wanted without any problem at all. Your dates are well ahead so should be fine. There is no facility to e mail them. They make the whole application process as impersonal as possible. I can understand why to a certain extent as they would be deluged with questions such as posed on this forum but it does make it hard the first time to get things right.

I have just come back from Vietnam which I entered via visa on arrival. This gives you 30 days so don't bother getting one from the Embassy. The procedure is that you contact one of the many companies online and get a visa approval letter which costs around $18-20. You print this off together with the arrival form. Get 2 passport size photos and $45 for the visa and present all this at the counter at the airport. I went into Hanoi and there was a bit of a queue but still took only about 30 minutes. Very easy and very painless and no need to part with your passport.

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I've never been to Hanoi but I have made 3 trips to HCMC.

I did my visa every time at the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok.

My Visa card is an ATM/debit card and the online agency for Vietnamese visa approvals denied the card the first time I applied.

As I live in Bangkok anyhow, it is just as easy to get a Vietnamese visa in Bangkok for me.

I probably will be going again to HCMC in July, same process.

I am considering renting a self service cooking equipped flat for a month this time in HCMC..... just to see how that works out.

If you live in Bangkok then Ok although it still means a trip to the Embassy whereas you are at the airport anyway but if like me you live 5 hours or more from Bangkok then it is just not worth the hassle. Getting one at the airport on arrival works very well. That is, of course, provided the credit card works online.

Very slightly off topic but relevant nevertheless is that there are no money changing facilities when leaving Hanoi airport so if using Dong change before getting to the airport.

The 3 -4 months is just their standard time they tell everyone and bears no relation to the actual processing time. Would be better if they said nothing.

Totally agree with 7by7. The Thai applicant goes in more or less straight away and they are busy the whole time doing the paperwork and biometrics. If you go with her you have to hang around but its not for long and certainly doesn't warrant spending 3000 bhat.

It would appear that you can take her without the need for another visa as per www.irelandinthailand.com/default.asp?...mpagedetail&id...

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Use of the companies advertising. I had no problems and they will tell you exactly what to do. It really is one of the least difficult things I have done in SE Asia.

I have just come back from Vietnam which I entered via visa on arrival. This gives you 30 days so don't bother getting one from the Embassy. The procedure is that you contact one of the many companies online and get a visa approval letter which costs around $18-20. You print this off together with the arrival form. Get 2 passport size photos and $45 for the visa and present all this at the counter at the airport. I went into Hanoi and there was a bit of a queue but still took only about 30 minutes. Very easy and very painless and no need to part with your passport.

Yes Nakhonchai Air is the way to go.

She doesn't need to have a job as long as you can prove that you can meet the financial requirement. You don't need travel insurance or flight quotation or any evidence of what she will do in UK. There is a question about this and I just put "Will look for work eventually when in the UK". She will get a name change certificate which should be translated into English. Yes letter from employer on official headed paper. No need to supply proof of purchase of house just mortgage statement and maybe council tax bill. Finally no need to have letters from friends as it is a settlement visa application. Good luck.

My wife had the TB certificate and the A1 test result in her name before marriage and we applied for a settlement visa after we were married. I drew attention to everything in the visa application and made sure the ECO knew that the A1 test result was in the old name..sent both old and new passports with the application and visa granted no problem. Just make sure they are made aware of what happened and that it is all the same person.

I thought you just needed to earn 18,600 a year,and have been working for 6 months

That is true but your original post suggested that that you were in Thailand and not working in the UK hence the references to savings and benefits.

KunMatt the 3 month post dating is addressed in this post The new UK visa process for settlement applications . I don't know whether anyone has recent experience of this happening. As 7by7 says it is the ECO who makes the decision so the request to post date has to be made in the application and I cannot stress enough to, as we have both said above, make it absolutely clear as to the date you want the visa to start. Having said that I had absolutely no problem with the post dating but I was very worried until I actually saw the visa.

When I applied for a settlement visa for my wife and step daughter late February we got the visa within 3 weeks but it might be taking a bit longer now as student numbers might be increasing. That was under the old system and I was able to post date the visa for 3 months and then I have another 3 months to get to the UK. Under the new system the assumption is that there is still the ability to post date the visa for up to 3 months but you do need to make this request very obvious when you apply as there are posts on this forum of requests being missed. The new system does make it very difficult to plan such a major life change.

I have recently obtained a UK settlement visa for my wife and 10 year old Thai step daughter. Have now been thinking ahead in case we want to go to another EU country from the UK on holiday. Everything I have read on this forum suggests that the English translation of the Thai marriage certificate should be certified at MOFA. I was in Pattaya recently and thought I would be lazy and ask Thai Visa Express to get my translated marriage certificate and step daughter's birth certificate certified for me. Paul at TVE was absolutely adamant that there was no need to have the translations certified by MOFA and that the translator's stamp was sufficient which has left me a very confused poster. Can anyone categorically state what is or is not required for Schengen visa purposes in terms of the marriage certificate? I know each country has different requirements but what is the situation? And what about a child's birth certificate? Anything required there.

Believe it or not the Statement of Results tells you more than the certificate which only gives the overall score and is really not of any value to the ECO. The Statement of Results is the one which confirms at least weak in speaking and listening. Yes the TB certificate is valid for 6 months and you can apply for the visa within that 6 months. The staff at the TB testing place will tell you that you must travel within 6 months. They are wrong. As long as you apply for the visa within that period you are OK. And yes the airfare going back to the UK is a complete rip off.

Yes the Embassy might well telephone for clarification over something as is their right but the VFS staff should not. In post 9 I did say that honesty is essential so that any answer you give will be the correct one because it is the honest one. The application should not contain any inaccuracies or fudges . Just not worth the risk.

It is unlikely that they will question her about the contents of the application nor should they as they have no part to play in considering the application but they might say something is not necessary and try to get her to take it out. Make sure she goes with all the supporting documents that you think are necessary and tell her to insist that the application is sent to the Embassy as submitted. Being forceful with an authority figure is not a typical Thai trait however but you have to be firm about this if you cannot go with her. Even if you could go with her you would not be allowed inside so she would still have to do that part on her own. I actually think that it is quite an ordeal for the average Thai lady applicant to go in there on their own.