sandyf

In the early days of VFS, they took over from the embassy about 20 years ago, they had a great deal in the handling of applications. At no time have I ever indicated they were involved in making a decision, but if your application never passed through VFS no decision would be made. For some reason some want to distort the context of what gets said. When my wife did her first application at Regent House she was interviewed for about 20 minutes by VFS staff. Some will dispute "interviews" were held, and I would agree, "interrogation" would be more appropriate. The view is that if it didn't happen to them, it didn't happen to anyone. VFS is a parasite used by governments to underhandedly deter people from applying for visas. When the Ukraine war started Priti Patel misled the House when she said she would put more staff on processing visas. She wasn't in a position to employ VFS staff and they would only allocate 2 members of staff.

Only a certain mentality would come to that conclusion.

You would have to show me where I said they did. In the days where you had to had to hand over all the documentation to VFS, they had a great deal of influence on how quickly that documentation was passed to the embassy. Which in turn affected the time taken to get a decision. The point I made was they could speed that up if they chose to do so, or as things still stand, you can pay them to speed things up. As I already said, current procedures have limited some of the influence they once had.

Don't get hung up on what has transpired recently in the local area. "This kind of visa" has been on the go for many years.

You need to bear in mind that getting a foreign currency at the airport is a bit hit and miss unless ordered. Although USD is probably the easiest there is still a risk, they only have a certain amount on hand at any given time and the person in front may well take the last, particularly if a later flight. Personally I would look the other way round, buy the dollar for cash at the best rate you can before going to the airport, just keeping what you think you may need in baht. If necessary you can then just change back what may be needed as required, a much easier transaction.

I have been dealing with VFS for over 15 years, not just UK, also Europe and Canada, and have had many issues in that time. You are quite right, they did have far too much power. Also more interested in selling a service than providing one. However time has moved on and these days with self online submission they have a lot less opportunity to stick their nose in. If you upload yourself and avoid involvement with their services there shouldn't be a problem from them. A few years back we had to do Canada visa followed by UK visa, They screwed up on the Canada visa making the time for the UK visa tight. When I threatened to report them to the UK embassy they wrote across the top of the UK application "Urgent Fast Track" in large red letters. Then there were people saying VFS had no influence on visa applications.

Give over with the distortion. VFS cannot refuse to accept a completed application.

My wife had 4 prior to 2023, obviously not enough to get the 3 years in 2024 but doubt we well go back to Europe or transit through Amsterdam. Morocco this year, easiest visa I have ever done for her, one sponsor letter and had it in 48 hours.

It is not a "blank page", useable passport pages are numbered and as you say has no official function. I would not see it ever being considered as defaced. Previous passports had the emergency contacts on the inside of the back cover and in one of mine I had 3 emergency contacts and just boldly overwrote the box that had been stamped on the page. I would suggest you complete emergency contact page opposite and then write above what is on the back page "Additional Contact Information" Obviously up to you what makes you feel more comfortable.

That must be something new. When we went to Germany last year for a week, the visa was from 25th May 24 until 16th June 24. On a previous visit to Germany the visa was the exact time of the trip, 3 days, and that was as an EU family member.

Sorry if I didn't make it perfectly clear. Putting something in a letter is not the same as submitting documents and by distorting what I posted is not very helpful. People should realise that what they say is guidance and talking about 50 photos and the content in relation to what I said is out of order.

No, you pay in THB. It was 5218 THB when we did it on 17th March but may have changed beginning of April.

Indeed, brexit took away what benefit we did have.

Indeed for free,all the rest come at a premium. Think it was only one at Regent House when I started in 2010.

If you are referring to your visa status, then you will lose that on leaving the country. Depending on how much time is remaining you could get a re-entry permit before leaving to protect your visa status, else you would need to get a new visa or return visa exempt.

He could have had another visa since then. The language used in the OP points to a visa rather than a 90 day report.

Not quite sure what you mean. When passed to the VFS site you need to make an appointment, they offer various options, fast track etc and at different locations, all have to be paid for. Just take one of the free options. You also have to submit the documents, they offer various services that involve payment, I ignore those and do it myself so when completed there is no payment to VFS required. The courier return of passport, my wife asks and pays when doing the biometrics.

It is a bit more complicated than that. Visas come under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration is under the Ministry of the Interior. It is quite common in the UK for one ministry to have different ways to another.

If you are the financial support for the visit you have everything to do with it. I have recently done the 12th visa application in respect of my wife and in all that time there has never been any financial information provided in respect of my wife. However, that has been my way and I wouldn't want anyone taking that as advice, it is each to their own.

There is a big difference between what you submit and what is stated in a sponser letter. I have a photo of us outside the house embedded in the sponser letter.

I think it was 3 years ago I reported similar problem to VFS. The responses was as useful as a chocolate fireguard. I investigated myself and found it was my anti virus, I use Webroot and it didn't like their website.

You are making an assumption, he may well have been referring to a 90 day visa. The OP need to clarify.

I have done it a dozen times now and fairly straightforward, just a bit tedious. There are many views on the topic but to the same outcome. As a married couple you should write a sponser letter outlining the purpose of the visit with a brief summary of the relationship, how long, when married, current circumstances etc. In it you can make references to the property ownership/investments. You should also take full responsibility to cover all costs involved. It is said that you shouldn't book a flight until the visa is issued but I wouldn't agree with that, from day one I have always had the flight booked before applying. The clearance officer has to be confident that your wife intends to return and a return ticket with both names goes a long way. I always make a statement to the effect that we will both return to Thailand on "airline & date" and that travel insurance has been arranged for the duration. As far as making the application is concerned, that is done through VFS and you cannot avoid a visit to Bangkok. If driving, I would suggest parking on the outskirts and then travel in, there is an MRT station just round the corner. Appointments seem to be better than before and processsing time gone down to about 40 minutes, no longer the same congestion there was at Trendy. VFS is set up to sell services so entirely up to you if you want to use them or not, I dont, other than the courier to return passport. My wife got hers back just before Songkran and that was 15 days from submission but historically it has usually been around the 3 weeks. You should be ok if you get it in by the end of the month. When we did it there was no waiting list for submission but that can change and would be worth asking if anyone knows what it is now, have had to wait a couple of weeks in the past before submission. Good luck.

You have to bear in mind that not many countries extend visa status to the extent Thailand does. When you go to immigration, as there is no stamp in passport, you need to submit copies of the visa along with any other documents. Indeed it could be said that it should all be on computer, but you have to live with the reality.

Exactly - a "hands behind their back" scenario, brought about by some countries being able to veto the actions of the Security Council. Removing the veto would create a different ball game. Multiple UN agencies are mobilizing to alleviate the suffering inflicted by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. But in the UN Security Council there is only gridlock as Russia wields veto power as one of the five permanent members. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-invades-ukraine-un-peacekeeping/31758188.html