theoldgit

The Stansted Express goes directly into Liverpool Street in London, stopping at Tottenham Hale for the Victoria Line, though the underground is probably not ideal with loads of luggage.

https://www.stanstedexpress.com/index.asp?S...A-267A6A87384E}

National Express run a bus service to various parts of London, this is of course subject to heavy traffic during the rush hours.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/Airport/stansted.cfm

At 2800 baht per letter I can figure that this is a pretty good racket. I bet they don't pay the immigration guys more than 200-300 baht of it for requiring you to have the letter though!

Whilst I think the fee is a bit high, it's my choice to pay it rather than tie up 800,000 in a Thai bank, but I certainly don't think it's a racket and I certainly wouldn't suggest that they pay Thai Immigration a commission. The fee for issuing letters like this is set centrally by the FCO and I don't suppose for one minute they factor in what you are suggesting.

Good news, all's well that ends well.

I upgraded from the slower speed to 2Mb after just one month, the girl in the local shop said it couldn't be done so I went to the main office and they did it straight away, even threw in a new wireless modem.

In Thailand the so called "visa agents" can not give immigration advice to visa applicants.

But unfortunately they do, many of them will lurk around the application centres praying on the vulnerable.

The legit advisers, that sponsor this thread, are respectable businesses who will offer honest advice and services - and no I am not connected with any of them.

I have not seen any so-called "embassy letter" certifying the income but from what I have read in this forum no embassy or consulate actually certifies the income.

The consulates of most other countries, I understand, certify the authenticity of the applicant's signature on an affidavit written – or a printed form filled out – by the applicant. I believe that also the Swiss consulate offers the service of certifying the authenticity of your signature on a document, but not the correctness of the content of the document, for a fee with a nice consular stamp.

It would be nice if some people who got such "embassy letter" regarding their foreign-earned income could scan and post the letter with certification they got, obliterating personal and confidential information in the document as necessary.

I certainly got a letter from the British Embassy last year confirming the income from my pension, it said something like I had submitted evidence of my annual pension of £xx,xxx. To do this I had to show them an original letter from my pension company, then they gave me the letter the following day. The letter from the embassy cost me about 2,800 Baht, as I recall, for the life of me I don't know why the Thai authorities will not take the pension statement as proof.

Didn't keep a copy, so I cannot scan it, but will so next month when I repeat the exercise.

I assumed that he would need to fly to Hong Kong first, then change aircraft before catching the London flight from Hong Kong, that's what I meant by flying in the wrong direction first.

I know that I have a tad under three hours from Bangkok to Hong Kong before I catch the twelve hour flight to London.

How much is the car tax, and how do you renew?

I have flown China Airlines from Amsterdam cheaply some years ago, took a BMI flight from Heathrow, but you could also take a BMI flight, or easyjet, from Edinburgh.

Try flying into Amsterdam then getting a flight to Edinburgh from there.

Try doing a ghost booking on the airlines website, you can ascertain all the extras at the stage before you confirm the booking.

Cathay have a good name and that is not a bad price, though you are initially flying in the wrong direction.

I have booked a flight from Hong Kong to London in August, using my Virgin miles, Cathay are quoting me a price of £533 for the Bangkok - Hong Kong return, which makes your price even better.

Stansted Airport, not Luton.

She would have to declare any refusals in any future application so it would be taken into consideration, but it is not unusual for an applicant who has been refused to address the issues raised in the notice of refusal, and then be granted a visa.

Your girlfriend needs to have a good case before she applies, and with what you have said so far, I would respectfully suggest she hasn't, a lot of applicants have had far stronger cases and have had their visa applications refused.

Just a thought, could you arrange for the girl to be made aware that her intentions are known and if she doesn't back off "the beans will be spilled".

I was scammed by a Thai woman, and am fighting back, which she doesn't like.

People advised me to be careful, but I didn't listen, but there was no proof at that stage. There were plenty of alarm bells ringing, but I ignored them, to my cost.

In theory all banks will open a savings account with just a passport, I say in theory because if you ask different branches or even different tellers in the same bank you will get a different answer.

I opened an account with the Bank of Ayudhya when I was living in Hua Hin when I moved to Bangkok I asked to transfer the account to a local branch "no cannot, you need a work permit" so I went down the road and opened an account with Kasikorn in a few minutes.

I stress a savings account, not a current account with a cheque book, I pay all my bills via their internet banking system and use their visa debit card for shopping. You cannot use their debit card online, but they will give you a virtual credit card to use on line.

Whilst I am happy with Kasikorn other people are happy with their own banks, there have been loads of threads on this subject.

In short go from bank to bank, and you will get an account opened.

No probs, I am about to go through the same with my live in Thai girlfriend, of course as we have lived together for 18 months we don't write, email or telephone each other. I am providing photos and passport stamps of our five trips overseas, letters from her employer and adult education college as well as my bank statements, as I am sponsoring her, as well as details of our rented condo which is in both our names. And whilst a return ticket isn't a guarantee I will stick a copy in as well as our itinerary and letters from friends we will be staying with as well as hotel reservations, I will also stick in a copy of our ticket to Bali after our return to Thailand.

I think she has a strong case but it is subject to the whims and mood of the ECO on the day.

Anyway let's know how your wife gets on.

Before you go off on 7by7 you might want to double check the check list, which clearly states a copy of the sponsors passport is required, I presume that as you have included bank statements that you have sponsored your wife. I have cut and pasted the relevant paragraph from the check list for social vists, though I would have thought that a spouse visa would have been more appropriate.

Sponsored visits – If another person/a company is sponsoring your trip we must see the following documents- letter from the sponsor, a copy of their passport which include the biodata and all immigration record pages, their bank statements for the last 6 months or company registration and bank statements

I hear many complaints about VFS but it seems in this case they were trying to be helpful, they apparently pointed out that a copy of your passport was needed and when you didn't supply it they sent off the application anyway.

Well that's my take on it, that said I wish your wife every success with her application.

You also need to be aware that VFS are not responsible for the visa to enter the UK, they are responsible for accepting the application, checking the papers against a check-list and forwarding to UK Visas at The British Embassy, and then handing the sealed envelope containing the passport back to the applicant.

You will also recall that when your girlfriend submitted her application for a visa she would have indicated the dates of her trip, if you say to an IO that you don't know the date of the return trip, as stated earlier, that will ring alarm bells. If she stays considerably longer than the date on the original application it could feasibly cause a problem with any future application.

Your girlfriend will have to convince the Immigration Officer, if asked, on arrival in the UK that she intends to abide by the terms of her visa and return at the end of the trip, this might be difficult with a one way ticket. It's very unlikely that she will be refused entry into the UK unless the officer can prove that material facts in the application have changed, and given that UK Visas advise you not to purchase a ticket until the visa is granted, the material facts will not have changed.

It's probably unlikely that the IO would ask for proof of a return ticket, but they might. You might ask Jet if they would board her with a one way ticket, if only to put your minds at rest.

And don't forget that you can buy fake Harrods shopping bags in Bangkok.

"Let's hope he didn't have a run in with the Boys In Brown, no Passport and all, and ended up in the Immigration Detention Centre."

Bit over the top I would have thought.

Thanks for clearing that up. I wonder if it can be used as a debit card overseas? My visa debit card here does not even have my name printed on the card, so they are going by signature alone, plus if my card was lost or stolen it could be used in stores without an ID check.

I am pretty sure that I read somewhere that you can use it overseas, though not sure how the pin & chip network people would cope with a none chip and pin card, same goes for my Thai credit card I suspect.

If you ask them will provide you with a card with your name on, Kasikorn did for me, took a week and there was no extra charge.

In fact there website confirms you can use their card overseas: http://www.kasikornbank.com/portal/site/KB...00056f8f30aRCRD

I have a Kasikorn Visa debit card which can be used in supermarkets, pay hotel bills and the like, .

When you use it in supermarkets, do you enter a PIN or just sign the receipt after purchases?

Sign the receipts, this is of course in Thailand.

Thanks for making that clear. If your bill at the Thai supermarket is 1235.25 for example, is that exact amount deducted from you account?

Yes, not one satang more.

I have a Kasikorn Visa debit card which can be used in supermarkets, pay hotel bills and the like, .

When you use it in supermarkets, do you enter a PIN or just sign the receipt after purchases?

Sign the receipts, this is of course in Thailand.