theoldgit

Don't knock em, without people like these the streets wouldn't be in such a pristine condition.

Has anybody ever seen Thai people stopped and fined?

Also sorry to hear this Merangue, this is all your family needs at the moment, hope the little un is ok.

Of course your wife can send a messenger to collect, though I suspect she has other things on her mind at the moment.

As a matter of interest, for you guys checking the tracking service on The VFS website, is the information updated at a regular time or even daily, or is updated a few days after you have collected your passports?

Boo is correct in saying that UK Visas advise you against purchasing a confirmed ticket before the visa is granted, somewhere in the guidance notes they suggest you include a copy of the planned itinerary.

I personally wouldn't go to the trouble of making a ghost booking, they are not worth the paper they are printed on and the ECO will know that.

As for flight being half empty, there is a thread elsewhere advising that Thai are dropping some flights.

Yes indeed, I can help with the first part - getting the cash here for £9.50 plus about 2.5% in exchange fees (so about £60 for £2000 transfer, nothing is cheap when it comes to bankers!!), you will have to check if your Thai bank charges you this end.

My experience with The Halifax was slightly different, as I said before I have only been charged £9.50 per transaction and as I asked for GBP to be sent I didn't have to pay any exchange fees, in fact I got a better rate this end. so £9.50 was the total cost from the UK.

I think I had to pay a charge this end of about 120 Baht.

And there was me thinking it was against the law to smoke in premises like this these, silly me.

Before anyone insults me I am not one of the anti smoking lobby, but the law is the law isn't it? or am I being nieve? (yes, I know I am)

Yes it's pretty scandalous, for a procedure that only takes a few minutes and last year was only taking a couple of days, a week at the most.

I presume it's a knock on effect of the even more disgraceful "service" being provided for settlement visas. I suspect it's combination of more applications and a reduction in staff, and it of course follows on from the latest increase in processing fees.

I note you have your flights booked for the 12th May I hope you mean the 12th June, they advise you not to purchase flight tickets before the visa is granted, they are not in the real world are they? Of course anyone also wanting a Schengen Visa needs to provide flight and accommodation details which they say they will check.

Hang in there, as if you can do anything else.

7by7, I was not talking about your comments which as normal are spot on, it's remarks like this I don't particulary like, even though it seems be true, I think we should be above remarks like this.

* your agent is a useless <deleted> making continual negative appraisals so he(?) will look better if it turns out OK. ($$$$ )

I also don't people saying that if if were he he would go and kick doors of their hinges, frustrating as it is remarks like this lead to us all being tarred with the same brush.

I retain the view that the OP should try and reason with the ECM bearing in mind that the faxed copy of the divorce papers does not seem to have been questioned at the time.

OK again off topic, but, I prefer the sugar free drinks mainly because they don't taste as sweet, but I am not so sure now - I spilled some Coke Zero on a cupboard the other day and it took the surface off, don't know what it's doing to my insides, think I will stick to water.

Whilst I agree that the use of an agent is questionable, in fact UK Visas makes a point of saying so, I think some of the personal comments regarding the agent used on this occasion are a bit OTT, especially when the reasons for the refusal are not known.

I agree that if you are going to use an agent you really should use one that is registered with OISC, but whilst it is illegal to give immigration advice in the UK without being registered this is not the case in Thailand, though one agent is registered. Anyone can set themselves up as an "Immigration Advisor" without any skills whatsoever, and whilst I am not suggesting for one moment this is the case with this agent, you only have to look at the vulchers circling round at the VFS office to see what I mean.

As a matter of interest how much is the road tax, Honda Jazz?

I refer to my earlier posting, it is possible to get a credit card without a work permit and without securing it against a deposit in a bank.

I applied for for and was issued with an American Express credit card last year, obviously to assess the risk I had to give them six months worth of bank statements but no work permit, I am retired.

I think this is a good example of TIT, put a dozen or so people in a room and they will all get a different result to the same scenario.

Worth noting for the future for anyone sending cash to Thailand is that with a HBOS account you can make international transfers on-line for £9.50 a pop, and you can specify that you want to send GBP's.

Well worth checking out, you have to of course register for their Internet Banking.

Don't speak to another ECO ask to speak to the ECM (Entry Clearance Manager) go through the facts and say that you think that a mistake has been made and request that they review the decision.

I sent them a polite fax yesterday pointing out the error, but as for speaking to the ECM, how would I go about doing that? Are their telephone numbers listed somewhere?

My agent is submitting the appeal today with the original of the divorce paper. I'll send another fax later.

I would phone the Embassy and ask to speak to either The Second Secretary (Head of Visa Section) or The Second Secretary (Immigration) who is the ECM, their names are in the public domain in case they ask, they are listed on The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. http://122.0.2.102/protocol/list_detail.as...e_code=13430001

Try and get through to one of them and try to be reasonable and just say that you think an error has been made so would they mind reviewing it for it for you.

You can of course appeal but as has been pointed out that would take many weeks as would a fresh application, not to mention a new fee.

Don't speak to another ECO ask to speak to the ECM (Entry Clearance Manager) go through the facts and say that you think that a mistake has been made and request that they review the decision.

Good luck

Really sorry to hear this Johnathan, this sort of news is always a shock especially when it's for a second visa and with all the work you seem to have put in, and a two year visa don't come cheap.

You need to try and relax sit back (easy for me to say) and ascertain if the reasons given in the refusal are justified. Unfortunately you might not have the right to appeal, it depends on the type of visa, but if you think there has been a material mistake in the assessment of the application, you need to contact the ECM and ask them to review the decision.

When you have chance put the details of the refusal notice on the thread so that people can give you some pointers.

Edit for typo

Sorry, the UK visa section.

You know - the one with all the recent stories about the long processing times for settlement visas

Some airlines will not let you book on-line in Thailand without going to the office and showing your credit card before the ticket is issued, even if you are flying. I recently tried to book tickets for Emirates and Qantas, both had a pop up explaining this requirement.

I have been reading about the current long processing times for settlement visas, which must be really frustrating, I just wondered what is the current processing times for tourist visas, is there a knock on effect?

That's it.

Yes it has to be paid by bankers draft or cashiers cheque from any bank in Bangkok or a bankers draft from outside of Bangkok, some branches of Bank of Ayudhya don't charge a fee.

What did surprise me about True Lack of Visions customer couldn't care less department was after being deluged with cancellations, one of their staff's words not mine, numerous letters in The Bangkok Post, from ex-pats and Thais, and even an article in The Guru Magazine, they didn't deem it necessary to publish a rebuttal.

They really have lost the plot, as well as customer satisfaction.

And I got Bali for 2,400 Baht for two of us travelling in November, that included everything, meals, the luggage the lot.

I think it's a question of catching the deals at the right time, and that doesn't necessarily mean early.

Edit - and 1,400 of that is the airport tax from Thailand.

Great deal Did you look out for anything specific or just keep monitoring the website?

RAZZ

There was a heads up from another TV member on the forum advising people of one of the Air Asia 0 Baht flight promotions, so I logged on quickly and managed to get the free flights, just paying the odds and sods. We had promised ourselves a trip to Bali and by making a quick decision got a suitable date. Took a few attempts to secure the flights, but not too long, even if I couldn't drive my girl friend to work.

Have managed to get a few other internal bargains, and have never has a problem flying with them.

And I got Bali for 2,400 Baht for two of us travelling in November, that included everything, meals, the luggage the lot.

I think it's a question of catching the deals at the right time, and that doesn't necessarily mean early.

Edit - and 1,400 of that is the airport tax from Thailand.

No it doesn't.

Get the BTS from Ekkamai, transfer to the MRT (underground) at Asoke, that goes to Hualampong Station.

I certainly wouldn't waste money on an agent unless the applicant really isn't capable of filling in a form and collating the supporting the evidence.

A recognised agent will certainly be experienced in form filling and whilst some of their customers will have got visas they can give no guarantee that any application will be successful, some will offer to take the applicant to VFS but, unless the applicant is disabled, they cannot go in with them.

Just read the guidelines and most of the relevant posts on this forum, then fill in the form and supply the supporting documents.