theoldgit

You guys are too quick for me, or rather I am too slow.

This quote from the FCO Website for Hong Kong seems to suggest that your friend would be ok.

Passport validity

A British Citizen will normally be granted six months entry to Hong Kong on arrival, but only if the passport is valid for six months or more. If the passport has less than 6 months validity, Hong Kong Immigration will only grant one month longer than the scheduled stay in Hong Kong, but only if the validity of the passport allows this. The passport must be valid for the duration of stay in Hong Kong.

Seaneee, people are trying to help you and if that means playing devils advocate to point you in the right direction then so be it, there is no point getting tetchy with other posters.

The fact it that it is up to you and your wife to convince the ECO that you have a sustaining relationship and the ECO has refused the application because they don't believe you have done so. You must surly accept that the circumstances that you describe are pretty unusual and I am sure that you will understand why the ECO is concerned.

If your MP has pointed out that the ECO has made mistakes, and in my experience most MP's don't have a great understanding of the various Immigration Acts and certainly not of entry clearance procedures, well these may well be your wife's grounds for appeal, but you must really address the reasons for refusal and prove that given your unusual circumstances the application is genuine, she will return at the end of the trip and she is not hoping to circumnavigate the immigration rules.

Whilst I understand the points you make about "the hookers" that have "all got visas", that is really a red herring. You say your wife is allowed into Spain, well if she has a Schengen Visa and can prove that she has returned from trips to Spain then that might help convince the ECO that her returning from trips to other visa countries indicates that on the balance of probabilities she will return.

I wish you every success.

It seems to me from research done since our refusal that visas for a wife are more likely to fail than one for a girlfriend.

Pray what research was that?

As Litebeer has pointed out passports are no longer processed in Bangkok, if you go to the Embassy to lodge your application all they will do is check it and forward the application to Hong Kong where it will be checked again and the passport issued, you will still have to courier fees, though you can still pick it up at the embassy on its return.

You can send the application directly to Hong Kong, note you only have to send a copy of the passport, and it will be returned directly to you. http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for...ssport-renewals

I used my old UK driving licence but put my Thai address on the form as I used my Thai credit card when renting from Hertz last year, that didn't cause a problem until I returned the car when the price was changed to reflect the Thai rate, an increase of about 40%.

As I had reserved the car online and had a print out of the quoted price I stuck to my guns and insisted they honour the quotation. They did so but it involved the manager making a manual adjustment. Worth watching out for, especially if time is of the essence.

even if my wifes working , has funds, has 3 bedroom house in uk , has 5 yr residence card ? bit harsh isnt it ,

Not really, it's the applicant who has to convince the ECO it's a genuine visit and will return to Thailand at the end of the trip, not your wife.

I would imagine that the ECO might suspect that a six month trip might be indicitive that the applicant intends to remain in the UK with her friend.

Schengen Visas are normally issued for the original dates of the planned trip, and not for six months from date of issue, like the UK usually issues.

Last year my partner was issued with a Schengen Visa with a validity of one month, multi entry, from the date she stated we intended to travel. We thought we were going to have to delay the trip and asked the French visa section if the visa could be changed, we were advised that she would have to submit a fresh application as a fresh visa would be required.

I am pretty sure, not 100%, that the visa cannot be extended in country, unless in the case of an emergency.

Mr Andrew Drummond dispute is with Avalon over having given a different, and much smaller, plot of land than he had paid for. Mr Drummond´s case was due in court the day before he was beaten.

There are some very good developers here in Hua Hin but regrettably some really bad ones, both Thais ans Westerners, too.

For the avoidance of doubt Mr Drummond was not beaten, he is the journalist who reported the incident.

Without going into egg sucking mode, make sure the fresh application carries all the details of relationship and the reason to return, though they ask you for details of previous apps and can check, don't expect them to cross reference.

I don't see any reason why the brother cannot sponsor the application, anybody can sponsor an applicant if they can prove it's affordable and there is a good reason to to do so.

He should provide a letter outlining why is is prepared to provide sponsorship and provide proof that it is affordable, six months statements would normally be acceptable. He cannot guarantee that she will leave the UK at the end of the visit.

Of course affordability is only one part of the application, reason to return is equally important, the applicant should ensure that the reasons in previous refusals are fully addressed.

This might be of help http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf3sponsors#Q9

Edit: yes, a fresh application can be submitted straight away.

That Thaksin has really lost the plot.

So no point in continuing the voluntary (Class 3) contributions.

Providing you have made the correct number of contributions to receive the basic pension, no.

It's pretty fair that as there is no link between NI contributions and the retirement pension my pension should be frozen at the rate I start to draw it, not quite why they say that I must have so many years of contributions before I can receive a pension in that case?

The court agreed that the expats made no contribution to the UK economy, apart from the tax I pay on my occupational pension, and has been pointed out by other posters us expats are not a drain on other resources such as NHS, heating allowances and the like, all seems a bit one sided to me.

The pensioners alliance think public opinion might be in our favour, I seriously doubt it, I think the majority of Brits don't give a stuff, they think we are all relaxing on the beach sipping cocktails all day.

So whats next, the government has to make some serious savings so maybe they will eventually refuse to pay pensions to anybody not living in the UK.

You are not alone my friend and you are brave to post your difficulties on this forum, which is renowned for it's flaming.

I was in a similar position, I purchased a nice house and my girl friend, and her children, wanted for nothing. I was perhaps a little blinkered into thinking there was some love there so I married her. I wasn't naive to think that she was madly in love with me but I thought we had a good relationship, I would take care of her and her me, and when I popped my clogs she would have everything, and a decent pension for life.

When I eventually retired and moved to Thailand to live out my days in my dream home with the expectation that my new wife and would take care of each other, and maybe have some fun, my dreams came crashing down, it was evidently clear that living happily ever after wasn't part of her game plan, and my life turned into a living hel_l.

I decided that I needed to get out of that hel_l hole even if it meant losing everything, life is too short. Well I moved out and somehow she managed to lease the house the same day, clearly the market had picked up.

Anyway I engaged a lawyer and have been through the courts and I will now get 50% back, though the house has to be sold which will not be easy.

I have to accept that I got taken in by a wrong un whose sole objective was to milk me for everything I had, but I was too stupid to see it. OK I persevered and will get something back, but she will have made far more out of her scam than she could have ever made by doing a proper job, but if she had hung on a few years she would have kept everything plus a decent pension, suspect she she got greedy and just wanted a short term gain, or maybe I was just too awful to be with.

Well that's a pretty long story and pretty off topic but Chokdee69 maybe your wife is looking to cash in her chips, so you really need to start looking at protecting your interests.

Adding to the above it will extremely difficult, no nearly impossible for her to get a visa with the intention of staying for six months.

First of all it's worth noting that you don't lodge the appeal anywhere, your wife, the applicant, does. I don't say this to be pernickety, it's just to make the point that it's her application and her that needs to prove the point that the application is genuine and convince the managers that it should be overturned.

You say the decision was made as the result of a the ECO failing to cross reference the information provided in both applications, in which case the appeal should be made in Bangkok where the decision will be reviewed by the ECM, and hopefully overturned, but she needs to address the reasons for the refusal in both applications leaving no doubt in the mind of the adjudicator, otherwise the result will be the same. I am presuming you provided all the information in the second application and just didn't presume the ECO would cross reference them.

Good luck.

Thanks, chaps. If the car parking near the bridge is secure, I think a little trip into Vientiane is on the cards.

We have used the secure parking a couple of times and I thought it was pretty good.

After catching the bus for the short trip accross the bridge we caught a taxi for the trip into Vientiane, we stayed a couple of nights and enjoyed it very much.

Unless IT has changed dramatically over the last couple of years the IO at the port of entry will not have the details of the application readily available, but if they were concerned they could cross reference the information with Bangkok, the case number is written on the passport.

She should certainly put the actual address she is staying on the landing card and a letter from you advising that your address has changed might help if the IO has any concerns, as you suggest your phone number would be useful.

Just out of curiosity, is Thai Visa Express company that reply to so many queries on this forum at level 2 or above oisc ?

Thai Visa Express is certainly registered as an Immigration Advisor with OISC and as such is legally able to provide immigration advice in the UK, you don't need to be registered in Thailand, that's why there are so many cowboys out there.

I am pretty sure that TVE is a Level 1 advisor and as such would not competent to lodge an appeal, though he would certainly be able to point you in the right direction.

Come on lets be fair to the Red Shirts, they truly believe in their cause and are the best demonstrators money can buy.

Eastbourne

Thanks for all the stupid, spam replies.........now, if any person with a brain would like to answer the questions, please do. Thanks.

Don't be so <deleted> touchy, you asked for alternative destinations and you got them, Eastbourne is a very popular retirement destination.

If you don't want an answer, then don't ask the question. Can I respectfully suggest that you calm down.

Eastbourne

If you stick to your guns and don't want to pay the extra but they won't play ball most decent establishments will have a policy of 24-48 hours before check in to cancel your booking without penalty unless it's some special prepaid deal with a no cancellation clause.

If it's a special prepaid deal then they should stick to their part of the deal, they cannot have it both ways.

I agree that you should contact the general manager or even the regional manager if you can find their details.

Certainly the 747's they fly to London don't have individual tv monitors in steerage, I have had them on their Airbuses to Oz. I believe they plan to retrospectively fit them to their older aircraft.

Certainly Thai prices are substantially more than other carriers flying to Europe maybe people are prepared to pay more for the direct flight, I have stopped using them.