phuket2013

Hi guys, my partner got his visa through successfully a couple of weeks ago, so thank you for your advice prior to us applying appreciate it!

Cheers!

I want to purchase travel insurance for myself, my partner and our baby to travel to the UK for 3 wks. All the policies I've seen so far are for children 1yr up. Our son will be 9months on the date we travel - which companies will provide travel insurance for a baby less than a year old?

~Thanks

Thank you Basil B and 7by7. I'm going to have to really drum it into his head that he must insist that everything gets included with the application.

Thank you for the replies.

Going to submit a visa application next week; I've heard a couple of times about the people employed at VFS removing bits of supporting information they deem unnecessary... I don't want this to happen. Is it possible to go into the room with my partner when he submits his application, so I can ensure ALL of our paperwork is submitted?

Also, to whom should I address our letters etc, is the UK Border Agency ok to put?

Cheers!

State six - how old is your son? I think it depends on the age from memory? If he is a baby you do not need to take him - you go and apply on his behalf. I did this and our passport took 6-7 weeks to come back.

Also, if you are applying on his behalf u dont need your wife's proof of adress - just you as the applicant. I asked my work to type up a letter confirming my adress and period of employment, and they stamped it with some official looking Thai stamp. This was satisfactory.

Booking flights now, I know we will leave/ re-enter Thailand on my son's Thai passport, and enter/ leave the UK on his UK one.

Is it OK to put the Thai passport and number on the flight booking?

His UK one is ready for collection but I'm not going up to Bangkok to get it for a couple of weeks so don't know the UK passport number yet.

Thanks!

Going to apply for my other half's visit visa at the end of the month, for a 3-week holiday at Christmas and to take our baby (Thai/ English) to meet my family and friends in London for the first time.

Bit unsure what to do about financial evidence for the visa app. for my other half; we are both working, although with the new baby neither of us have any savings to show. We won't be needing much at all while in London as we'll be staying in my parents' home, eating there etc., and they will be helping us financially during the holiday. What would be the best thing to do in terms of the visa app? Be honest and say that the circumstances are as above? Or should I ask my family to whack a certain amount in my partner's bank account before we make the application? And if so, how much?

Also, he is the baby's main carer, as his job allows for him to be at home much more than mine. As such it's gonna be quite important for the baby that his Dad is able to come with us on the trip; he'll be 9months at Christmas and I can't imagine how traumatic it would be for him not to see his Dad for 3 weeks when they are normally together the majority of every day. Should we mention something along those lines on the covering letter for the application?

Any advice appreciated

When I made the appt., I emailed them 2 weeks in advance of the requested appointment date, and got a reply confirming my appt. the same day. You need to give them 3 different date options and they confirm for one of them.

Good luck with it, super stressful getting everything in order but worth it in the long run

Have you thought about having the photos sent recorded from the UK? My mate has sent the baby parcels before that have arrived within 4 days! Might be worth the extra fee for less of a worry about when the pics will arrive?

Don't know if this is indicative of things moving quicker or if we got lucky, but my son's passport is ready for collection now making it just over 6wks start to finish.

How long will Trendy offices hang on to passports? Does anyone know? I'm planning to go to BKK mid-October with my other half for him to apply for his visit visa. Would be nice if we could collect the passport at the same time to get it done all during one visit....

Just got an email saying my son's passport is ready for collection, I applied July 16th so that made ours approx. 6 weeks turnaround.

asian painted frog maybe?

Thanks!

We're applying for a UK visa for my other half, I need to confirm which of the following my son and I are:

*British citizen

*British citizen overseas

*British subject

*British national overseas.

ME: Born in UK in 1984 to British parents, moved to Thailand 2012

SON: Born in Thailand in 2014 to me (British) and Thai father.

Looked at the gov.uk website, received a few unhelpful email replies from the queries service... can anyone here help please?

Thank you

Ah sh*t man, I've just spent the past 20mins prematurely celebrating in that case

This child passport was honestly the hardest thing I've had to put together since my dissertation.

It would be so nice if there was some kind of online progress checker. Or even a <deleted> acknowledgement lol.

hello! just seen the fee has been deducted from my account, does this mean that the application was successful and the passport is being processed?

Khun Matt, I am not 100% but seem to remember someone saying that your local immigration can provide a document with proof of address.. not sure if that's just for people who have to do the 90-day reporting or not but worth looking into. I guess any such document would also need translating from Thai to English..

Alex UK - you're welcome & good luck with yours too!

Stevomaesot - Countersignatory needs to have known you for 2+ years, and confirm that the child in the photo is yours and you have parental responsibility for them. They need to countersign only one of the two photos. On it they must write: I certify that this is a true likeness of mr/miss blah blah. See page 11 of the attachment. I'm assuming your UK friend could do it, providing they have met the baby and can confirm you are the parent...

OS_Guidance_Notes_08.13.pdf

Hi Alex,

I applied for my son's last week. You'll need to book an appointment at VFS in Bangkok, email them 3 date options and they will confirm one for you. [email protected]

You will need to take 2 passport photos of the kid, originals plus COLOUR copies of all the supporting documents (sign each page), the Overseas (OS) application form and OS payment form. Here is a link to the relevant gov.uk page: https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports/y/thailand/applying/child/thailand

Payment: The fee at time of writing is £76.01, put a UK card detail on if possible as there have been many reports of Thai card payments not going through thus delaying the process.

Two passport photos: 45mmX35mm, on white photo paper with a light grey or cream background. Child's head can be 29-34mm in length. No 'supporting hand' can be visible. One must be countersigned, by someone who has known you 2 yrs and can confirm it is your child... do you know anyone in Th who can do this? Ideally a british passport holder. You'll need them to fill in section 10 of the application form, plus i got a copy of their npassport page, and had them sign that and gave their email & phone number. I've worked here a couple of yrs with Brit colleagues so got one of them to sign for me

The supporting documents I took might differ to your needs, depending on circumstances. Check the guidance notes for supporting documents on the link above. I took orginals and copies of: my uk passport (every pg incl. blanks), my son's Thai passport (every pg incl blanks), his Thai birth cert plus legal translation, my birth cert, fathers documents (thai birth cert +translation, Thai ID card, photo pg in Thai passport) and I got him to sign these. We aren't legally married so didn;t need to provide any marriage documents. Because I was born after 1983, I needed to take my parents documents (the baby's British grandparents), namely their birth certs, and their marriage cert. Had to be originals. If you need original copies here is the link https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate I also copied my UK driving licence for photo evidence, and got a letter of employment confirming my address as name & address evidence. The photo, name and address evidence should be for you according to HMPO as you are applying on behalf of the child. On that note, you will need to do a cover note explaining why you are applying on behalf of the applicant (LOL!). The person at VFS will check the copies against the originals, stamp them and hand the originals back to you.

The office is pretty easy to find. Coming from the airport take the rail link to Makkasan, walk down the concourse to Petchaburi metro and travel one stop to Sukhumvit metro. Take exit 3. Its 5 mins walk from there. Report to the foyer in the Trendy building, and take the lift to floor 28.

I'll let you know when we receive our passport, I'm expecting around 10wk turnaround. You can have someone collect it on your behalf if you give them a permission letter.

Good luck!

PS sorry for any spelling/punc mistakes, typing this between taking care of the little man!

Yeah exactly, a non-optional checking service. I'd been miffed for a long time that I had to make the journey but didn't see the point in chewing off someone's ear at VFS as the service staff aren't the decision makers.

I have a friend who can collect for me, although I need to go again in Oct with my husband to apply for his visa so im hoping that the passport gets back in time for then.

Such an unbelievable amount of hassle!

Cheers gov.uk ;-P

Hey, I got my appt confirmed within 6 hours of emailing.

Also worth mentioning, I'd booked mine for 12 noon as I was flying up from Phuket, however got there early and asked if there was a chance of an earlier appt. They saw me at 10.10 as no-one else was waiting for passport services. So it's worth asking politely if you do get there early. Beats sitting around in some lame coffee shop with 2hrs to kill

Excellent, thanks for that!

Hi all,

On a tight schedule tomorrow. What is the best way to get from Suvarnabhumi airport to VFS at Trendy offices?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the info and moral support! haha.

Ive got a legal translation of my son's birth cert for his name, photo is in his Thai passport which is already written in Thai/ Eng so no need for a translation. Address evidence, I emailed HMPO querying this and they said it needs to be for myself as I am applying on his behalf so have begged work to type up a last minute employment record with my address on it. Rental agreements are not on the list of acceptable evidence would you believe!

When I/ we sign our passport colour copies, do we need to write anything? Or just sign & date? Can't find anything on the gov.uk website advising about this. Should I sign the copies of my son'sThai passport on his behalf?

Thanks again

Yes I think it's through VFS on behalf of HMPO... the email appointment footer was from VFS global.

With signing passport pages, do I need to get my counter-signatory and the boy's dad to sign the copy of their passport pages?

Or just me signing mine?

Sorry for the never-ending list of questions!

Great, thanks for that

Should I also sign his Thai passport pages on his behalf or leave it as it is?

Just wondering what you put your documents and forms together in, I've bought a folder with plastic pockets but got a feeling I'll get to VFS and they'll yank it all out. Will the originals or copies of the other documents be taken to send off? Like birth certs, etc.

Oh and yes I've copied the blank pages too - all 66 of them in the Thai pp