tlusername

Hi

the fees went up in april here:-http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/feestable060409 and here:- http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecont.../feesfrom060409

so in theory shouldn't go up again until next year but who knows, but yes apply asap as the rules can always change, and as thai visa express states they are coming through in quick time I hope they are this quick in october when my wife is due to apply.

all the best with the application

£850!!!!

I suppose someone has got to pay back the MP's expense claims.

Still keeping my eye in here guys to see how your all doing.

My wife was quite quick to action the visa. She collected Friday Morning and then boarded a flight the next day Saturday morning to get to the UK Saturday Evening.

For those worrying, I understand where you are..but don't fret to much..you really need to screw up with a weak application with missing documents needed or a lie seen or previous overstay to mess up here. Most seem to be missing docs or previous overstay and docs are normally asked for by phone.

Fingers crossed for you all,

tlusername

We have an adopted child who is pure Chinese long story but a close friend of mine and his wife were killed in an auto accident in China and had no family, my friend and I agreed some 22 years ago that should we ever have children we would do the "god parent" should something happen as neither one of us have family that could look after children.

wow - good for you...acts like this restore my faith in the world.

Congratulations to both of you, it feels like a barrier down now we're into March applications. Thanks for starting this thread, it is and has been a lifeline for me and Mrs while we wait for her visa.

Best of luck to you both in the next chapter.

Thanks gypsymoth - best of luck to you as well.

mrburb - thanks for your words and anyone else I have missed, sorry and thanks.

Congratulations tlusername. I am jealous now.

Looking at that list of TheFiend's i am depressed. You will all slowly fall away from this forum as you get your Visa's and i will be here all alone.

That said i am hoping that mine as well as everyone else's will be completed before the end of the month.

I was originally hoping to hear early next week in the hopes of getting my wife over here on the bank holiday weekend but now i would just be grateful to get her over here asap.

I hope TheFiend is right and the light at the end of the tunnel will be moving along quickly now.

I do hope you don't have a long wait mate..as for falling away I will try and stick around until my fellow 'visa waiters' have got sorted and our happy...but new people are coming into this thread all the time including whom submittied in April and May so they will need to know when you get yours to give them some hope too!

Good luck guys - i am sure you will get something soon.

Its a hel_l of relief when you get it - it's almost like a bad tooth has been pulled.

Thanks All!

I do get the feeling they are starting to make some good headway now...the busy period when there was lots of student and visitor applications has passed so they must be getting back to normal working practise again. I think we were just the unfortunate ones to apply during a very busy period.

Phew she's got it guys! it's not quite fully sunk in yet for me as I have got so used to sitting with this for the past two and half months, but we are there now.

Listen I really do feel for you guys and I sincerly hope a speedy answer for you...I will stick around in here and do my bit.

Submittied: 4th March

Recieved: 15th May.

Just made my morning phone call to the wife really not expecting any news and she said she was VFS after getting an SMS to collect her passport.

I have to call back in an hour as apparently the queues are large.

I figure everything should be ok as we had a strong application and our doing this on the tail end of a visit visa - fingers, legs and the dogs claws crossed for the next hour.

Brit Cit. visits Thailand on holiday and marries a Thai who has paid him/her X for the privilege.

Any further comment needed?

That's a cause though , not a law.

This is interesting post - I am sure there must be something in place, but what I do not know.

I do often wander if the hoops i have been made to jump through recently intervene my human rights in some way...I have had to share my finanical, personal and private life for scruntinization by someone i don't know - when I should not have to as I am in fact legally recognised as married.

Yes you can a few people on the forum have done it this way. I am sure someone will come along and post about it.

When you say the UAE - which state do you mean? Dubai is very different to Sharjah for example.

I did in fact live with a girlfriend in Dubai for just over year...we rented an apartment and both worked and never had any trouble, but this a largely down to us being quiet and not broadcasting our status. I did once even hear a head police officer saying they were not concerned with un-married couples whom live together as any other couple, they were more concerned about people kissing, groping in public or having adulterous affairs. We also met lots of other un-wedded but commitied couples, some even owning property together...Still having said all of that the law is still the law and if you were to piss off an emirate local they will find anyway they can to put you in the clink for a few years, so there is still a risk so it would be wrong to give you a green light as its way more complicated sometimes based on 'wasta' or who you know and what you own...for example a white uni educated male with a golfing tan well mannered ways and a big pay check with his quant english girlfriend of five years will be treated very differently to a Pakistani male and his Lebanese lover.

Now the other big difference may also be that we both had individual jobs each supplying a residency visa independently of each other.You on the other hand I imagine will need have your company sponsor you for you visa and then in turn you can sponsor your wife, but you won't be able to sponsor your girlfriend.

Shajah or Abu Dhabi on the other hand are totally different.

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Tango7, it must be sweet relief. From what you say though, you first hear that you can pick up her passport but you don't know if she has the visa at that point - is that right? You don't know if you've got the visa 'til you get to the front of the queue at VFS?

I was hoping to (1) get positive word (2) book 2 tickets from here in UK (3) pick up Mrs (4) pick up passport on the way back through BKK to airport.

Is there not some way VFS could let you know by phone or email if you're successful?

Has anyone got info on this please?

Hi Gypsymoth (is that not the saling boat at greenwich, london?)

I believe they are not allowed to even open the envelope, only your wife is allowed to collect and it must be sealed.

However, hopefully there may be a way around this someone else has found...perhaps a call to the Embassy would be best as they would need to auth this in the first place.

Hi baannambua,

You should source us some more details, such as others have asked...does she have a job? own property or have any compeling reason to return to Thailand? This 'reason to return' is the kingpin of the application as it displays to the UK Border agency that the applicant has a greater reason to return then 'disappear' into the UK with its many benefits and work opportunities compared to somewhere like Thailand.

If she does not have a real compeling reason to return then you can use your relationship as this reason....for example if you can prove (via photos, phone bill's, emails etc) that you are a genuine couple whom plan to marry / or build a future together then you can use this as a reason to return as the fact being that an overstay would jeopardise future applications (namely permanent settlement). If you don't have these and she has no job, or property etc then I would suggest getting in a couple more visits to thailand and make sure you keep all phone bill's, emails and when together take lots of 'coupley' photos together.

This is what I did with my then GF now wife when she came to visit me for 3 months.

tlusername.

Fair Dues Tango7 - in light of you situation its only right they got it sorted out asap.

Hey wish you all the best mate and congrats on visa and hope the wifes pregenency is hassle free and you have a healthy bouncing baby boy /girl.

Could be right, but I submitted documentation that would put Mein Kampf to shame. I submitted everything but the kitchen sink so it certainly wasn't an easy one. However, I did label each section very clearly, numbered each item and put a cover letter at the beginning peppered with (see item number 3) (see item number 20) etc

Did you send anything to them to say the wife is pregnant so its an urgent case? I think that is more likely to get you through quicker.

Anyway I feel it wrong to sulk at your good news..I don't want to come accross like that...I should at least take this as a show that they are now working on March's applications, but after waiting all this time it feels like a real let down and I can't help but think <deleted> is going on!

I would give up trying to predict anything here.

It seems they just pick them up in any old random order. Some people get them in two weeks, some wait three months...it does not depend on when you submitted...I think its more based on cherry picking..i.e. "that one looks easy to process, think I will work on that today."

tlusername It looks as though they are not as one would Expect doing them in strict Order

.

A few people on this thread (Johndoarung submited on 9 Feb. Jamesbones on 12 Feb)

Not come back to say they have or have not recived

So you are as wise as I am

I doubt you are on the Interview List. It looks like they give each one A pile to Look at and you might have A slow worker.

If you Look back through this thread you will see that people are NOT Reciving them in Strict Order

Having said that you must be getting Close.

Fingers Crossed for you I hope you get A positive result soon.

Sorry To Tango7 i wasen't thinking I have Everyting Crossed. You will Know by Now I dont dare look God Knows what you were going thro.

Sure Kenn you have a good point and thanks....I just get so jumpy going through this game and I think what makes it so hard is the uncertainty - the fact that someone for some reason could say 'No' and then god only knows how long you have to wait then and what you would have to go through (I love my wife that much that I think I would drop everything in the UK and try and make a life out in Thailand).

Trying to be more postive though I can only imagine the relief felt once you get the good news...I know for myself a shit load of pressure will drop away from solar plexus and I am sure it will do my health some good to put this whole thing in past..

until then I sit and wait...but not for much longer please

Tango7 - congrats again.

Did you request they view the application earlier due to your wife's pregnancy? I just cannot figure why we are still waiting when we applied a week before (I could understand a day or two, but not a whole working week).

I suppose I am just going to have to go back to waiting, but now I am just thinking the worst and I dare not tell me wife about this or she will start worrying sick.

Just got a call from my wife stating that she has been told her visa is ready for collection. Can't do this until 3pm today ( now 10 am ).

I will report back when I know.

I placed my application on the 10th March, application sent to embassy on the 11th March.

Next 5 hours will be hel_l...

Good news Tango I am happy for you - but I must say I am f**king livid now. Our application was forwarded to the embassy on the 4th March so it just goes to show that they are not processing in any order...unless they are about to spring an interview on us after waiting for over two months.

We submitted on March the 4th so I think we maybe some of the first to apply for March *in this forum/thread* so as soon as we here something I will reply to you all right away.

I think our cut off day should be the 4th of June which will be 3 calender months from the date it was delivered to the embassy by VFS.....unless it's 90 *working days* wait and not three months which means I am about to lose the will to live and have a long time waiting still what with all the public holidays, half day's, red shirt protests and failed IT systems etc.

And I'm sure the British Embassy have already got the excuse that problems with implementing the new system is the reason for future delays.

Sourced from the VFS website just now:

" 08 May 2009: Due to an IT problem, the UK Border Agency is experiencing delays processing some visa applications. We process around 200,000 visa applications per month and most applications have not been affected by the current problem. The UK Border Agency apologises for any inconvenience and is working hard to fix the problem. We continue to monitor the situation very closely. Should anyone require urgent travel to the UK they should contact their local visa application centre/ call centre/ UK Border Agency at a British mission."

Just noted we are now clear of public holidays for until July 7th. If anything I should hope that helps them speed up just a little bit.

sumrit & tahaan, your applications both sound very strong so you really do not need to worry to much, but I do relate to your fears as the same have come up for me as well. I am sure though its just them taking to long to process and working in ways we cannot deem or predict from the info coming back in this thread.

We are moving towards weeks 9 now and I believe also have a very strong application - my wife (then GF) was here in the UK for 3 months staying with me on a 6 month visit visa only two weeks before we submitted the settlement visa. We have also been together for a year and provided proof of my visits to Thailand and with photos of us with her parents and her with my parents in the UK - we also sourced a years emails, internet chats and phone bills.

She has also in the past successfully got a US visit visa, she studied in Japan for three years and during that time she travelled to South Korea on her own for a college break (with no sponsor). She speaks very good english as well as being a thai / japanese interpretor. Her folks were both teachers working for the government and she has not married before - so all in all she is quite suggestive of being someone in a genuine position to apply for settlement with no ill intent (having been in the country only two weeks before, she could have just stayed and disapeered if that was her sole aim).

I also own my property in the UK - I have a good secure job and can easily support her when she gets here.

So I say all this to try and chill you guys a bit as we have a really strong application but like everyelse we have not heard anything yet and I don't think we will until we get to 3 months.

Patience, indeed, and it seems that all government departments are as bad as each other.

As an example, my driving licence was suspended for medical reasons. In October last year, having got the 'all clear' from my consultant, I applied to get it back; a process the DVLA say should take 2 weeks, with a maximum of 8 weeks. I eventually got my new licence in February, 15 weeks after I first applied!

One of the problems is the desire by new governments to be seen to be doing something. So they fiddle and change things for no reason. The old IND seemed to be working as well as one can expect, for a government agency, but this government decided to change it to the UKBA. A mere cosemetic face lift which probably cost millions of pounds but improved services not one jot. If anything the service is worse now than before; although this government has increased the charges enormously!

Another problem is the seeming inability of government departments to set up efficient IT systems. How many times have we read of a new government computer system failing and millions having to be spent to put it right. Why can't they get it right in the first place? I suspect it is because the Treasury goes for the cheapest option, not the best.

So true, especially in light of the very near possible launch of Labour's ID card. The UK has an economny in shreds and is at its worst state since WW2, borrowing is at record levels and Jacqui Smith is still trying to push a national wide adoption of something we don't need. It was only a few years ago that we implemented bio-metric passports.