theoldgit

I'll move this to Banking

Whilst the rules still state that successful applicants need to travel to the UK within 30 days, as a result of ECO's being redirected to process applications from Ukraine, and maybe Covid as well, the validity of the vignettes has been extended to 90 days, because of the extended processing times. I'm aware of recent applicants, in Thailand and elswhere, who have all received vignettes with the 90 day validity. It could revert to 30 days at any time, to my knowledge the extended period has never formally been announced.

Payment is processed by World Pay using a debit or credit card, payments and are made online.

You’ve asked in the wrong forum, I’ll move your question to the correct one.

A lawyer friend of mine says that this book should be required reading for all men of a certain age relocating to Thailand to meet up with their true love, or search for it.

Link to French based commercial website removed.

Indeed you can, but that still requires two visits by somebody, not only the one you claimed.

That's worrying and an utter disgrace, it beggars belief that it takes a newspaper story for the Government to act. I read another story earlier where magistrates were issuing thousands of enforcement warrants electronically without checking the status of those affected, claiming such checks are "are now disproportionate and go far beyond the legal requirements". I do understand that energy companies have to protect their excessive profits though.

The person can enter any other country within the validity of the Schengen visa, without needing to enter the issuing Member State first. With a Schengen Visa issued by The Netherlands my wife subsequently travelled to Iceland and Italy, and with a visa issued by Denmark subesquently entered Austria, both without travelling to the country that issued the visa.

I suspect that if this corruption issue was really being taken seriously then they would also need a new, and much larger, prison to hold those involved.

Guidance - using The NHS when you return to live in the UK

A friend of mine returned there, with his Thai wife, a few years ago, he seems to be happy with his lot. He used to manage a British style pub in the basement of a hotel on Sukhumvit in Bangkok.

This has nothing to do with visas to countries other than Thailand, I'll move to the travel forum.

A friend of mine received one yesterday, as the mail delivery in my area is very hit and miss, I received no mail since September, I called DWP who confirmed that I'd been sent one three or four weeks ago, she offered to send my another by email.

Longer term visas are available to anyone who can demonstrate a compelling reason to visit over a longer period, a business person for instance who needs to travel regularly. For an ordinary traveler, maybe visiting family, whilst there are no rules to say an applicant has to work their way up the ladder, I suspect that’s what most do, don’t forget that if a shorter term visa is granted, there’s no refund.

You don't, the applicant would provide evidence that the initial visit is affordable, and the ECO would make a decision that on the balance of probabilities future trips would be affordable. An applicant would need to satisfy the decision maker that there is a genunie reason for visits over a longer period and demonstrate thier ties to their home country.

No, the six month Standard Visit Visa is usually multi entry The ECO can issue a single entry if they have any concerns, rare but it can and does happen. Likewise if an ECO has concerns regarding a longer term visa, they can issue a six month visa and there’s no refund, again rare but there have been a few reports on this forum of this happening.

Seems another batch of Life Certificates is enroute, obviously not to those who use their, or someone else’s, UK address.

The Consular Team aren't involved in visa issues, so I'll move your question to the appropriate forum. As @soi3eddiehas pointed when your wife applies for a visa, if granted, it will normally be a multi entry visa meaning that she can make a number of visits during the validity of the visa.

I applied on 23 December and received my new passport in just under three weeks, there are a number of similar reports. The VFS staff are still advising twelve weeks, but the young lady who dealt with my application added that there seemed to be an improvement in turn around times of late.

Indeed, and it's the same in the UK, though many believe otherwise.

Wasn't that one of the purposes of the over rescoured E-Borders project, the only Directorate that was imune from spending cuts, it was later abandoned, though I believe carriers were still required to forward data to the UKBA black hole. E-Borders_select/cm

Whilst you’re correct in pointing out that there are no regular embarkation controls when leaving the UK, carriers do record those leaving and pass the information onto the UKBA. That requirement was introduced following the outcry when the Home Office couldn’t provide accurate numbers of those leaving the UK, it was supposed to identify overstayers and those who haven’t complied with the conditions of their visas. I’m not sure that the UKBA are really that joined up ensure the actual data is effectively used.

Fair point, but there is probably a difference between frequent and successive visits, the Border Force Officer will need to be satisfied that the passenger is a genuine visitor and that the visa designed for regular visitors over a longer period of time isn’t used to live in the UK. Be prepared to answer questions, and provide evidence, of the ties to the home country if the visits are too regular.