Sporting Dog

I remember quite a few years ago when it was thought that IBM was invincible - and tried to run the market to suit themslves rather than the customers. Look what happened to them.

I agree about the tipping point mentioned above. I use computers - I don't really want to get too hung up on the OS etc etc. (to me, its like cars - I drive them but I don't want to dick around under the hood). BUT I think the time has come look into MS alternatives - Linux is the obvious starting point. I don't want to but I'll be damned if I am going to held to ransom by MS...after all I am the customer.

I was under the impression that translated official documents had be certified. If I remember correctly it does say that somewhere but I could be wrong. I doubt very much they would accept just your wife's translation. Maybe she could translate them and then get them certified.

Its a hassle getting them certified but a bigger hassle would be to get them sent back a month after putting your application in saying they have to be done again.

There's lots of places that do translations, particularly near the embassies. I'll bet they're all about the same price!!!

I was told by our IT guy that Vista needs a Gig of RAM to run properly!!!!!!

<deleted>!!

Thank you....Op's circumstances sound fairly similar to ours. (we had a couple of other issues to sort out so it ended up taking 5 months)

AND

Up the mighty Eagles....what a heart stopper!!!

My wife got her visa a couple of weeks ago (she's arriving this SATURDAY!!!!) and maybe our experience could assist.

1. I had next to nothing - had been living in LOS so not earning a lot of money. I did have a job and income to go back to and provided proof of that.

2. Yes undoubtedly.

3. My wife didn't change her surname even tho we were married in Oz, and then returned to live in Thailand. She applied using her maiden name as that was the name in her passport, ID card etc. I don't think it made any difference. Besides many women keep their maiden names these days.

4. Write about the phone cards in the supporting letter - name the companies etc. It must be a common occurrence these days - phone cards are so much cheaper!!

5. I would have thought 300 was too many but I guess if they are ALL relevant it would be OK.

6. Same same for me - just provided the letters and envelopes.

7.If thats all you've got, well so be it.

8. The medical check was sent to the embassy before my wife's application was lodged and there were no problems. BUT I have heard of them being lost. I wouldn't be too worried if you do the medical check a little bit before the application goes in (say within a month). The police check was done by my wife and it was given to her to be translated and certified at the Thai Foreign Affairs Office. They didn't send anything to the embassy as far as I know. So do it so it goes in with the application.

So good luck. Stay positive, it could take a while (maybe not) and remember that when dealing with bureaucrats and policemen its always "yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir!!"

The missus is heading downunder soon.

Can anyone point me towards any good torrent sites to get thai-language films, TV etc

Thanks

Visa hassles, the coup, no alcohol in the arvo and NOW THIS. WHERE WILL IT STOP!!!!

I think you will need the docs to be certified at the embassy - It may be a well known school in NST but I doubt the embassy will be aware of it. My wife took docs in for certification, when she mentioned they were for a spouse application they waived the fees. However the embassy isn't the easiest place to get into but they will certify documents - maybe only between certain hours.

Photos are good but just give them a cross-section - different things showing the passing of time together. I don't think they need 30 photos of the holiday in Phuket, 40 pics of the trip to Australia etc...just a couple of each 'event' showing BOTH of you in the pics.

I think medical tests are sent straight to the Embassy. Thats what they did in our case - I guess its to stop people tampering with them. Its a bit of a worry because they get to the embassy before the application goes in (ours did anyway) and we thought they may get lost. No problems tho'.

Good luck

Just adding to this....A marriage certificate, certified copy or not is not acceptable as proof of marriage....you will need a wedding extract from the Dept of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

...and...

If you are in Thailand and someone else has to go to Births, Deaths and Marriages, you will need to send/fax signed authority for them to be able to pick up the extract. Then they will have to get the copies certified (unless you want to give the embassy the original).

See - piece o' piss.

All the Thai language documents we submitted were translated (there's lots of translators in BKK) and then taken to a Thai Govt Office to verify the translation. It might have been the office of Foreign Affairs - I'm sure someone else must know. It takes a few days and like everything to do with the visa, costs more than you expect. Also I was under the impression that the verification from the Thai Govt was a requirement for a Spouse Visa - but maybe not.

For evidence we had no joint bank accounts but had lived together for 18months in Thailand. We submitted photos, telephone bills, statements from friends and family, anything that showed the relationship was genuine. Also I think they make a judgement about the relationship based on the whole body of evidence you submit, so if its a bit lacking in some areas it can be overcome by having strong evidence in other areas.

As for length of statement - put yourself in their shoes. Be as brief as possible but make sure you clearly get your information across. Err on the side of comprehensiveness but try to only make statements that can be backed up by evidence. Lots of "We'll be together until our dying days" statements are a bit meaningless to the reader who doesn't know you from a bar of soap.

Make a big effort to get all the documents together and correct for when you submit your application - getting documents at later stages is a hassle and could slow down the process.

All copies of submitted documents from Australia need to be certified. The Embassy will certify Australian documents in BKK but there could be a charge. Keep a copy of all documents.

Oh and make sure you and your partner are fully aware of what you have written in all parts of your application - it won't look too great if they ask about something at the interview and your missus doesn't know what they are talking about!!

Good Luck

You could consider teaching other subjects in an EP. I taught science (mainly), plus some math, health and computing - the actual content isn't that difficult for levels up to about M3. It will take a little while to figure out the 'way' to teach them.

One advantage is that you don't have to be an 'entertainer' for every class. I taught a few English classes and sometimes it can be a real pain to create another dynamic, sanook AND educational lesson.

Teaching science, the kids expect to have to do a bit of book/board work. Plus you can always go back and revise, reinforce, quiz etc when you haven't got a lesson fully ready.

Australia.

My wife got her spouse visa today......she's over the moon and so am I.

We applied mid-April so it took about five months. Many times I was tempted to pick up the phone and find out what was going on at the embassy but I resisted - took the view that no news is good news.

Anyway I've read this forum often and picked up quite a few tips - for the two previous tourist visas and this spouse visa - so thanks to everyone that contributes, can't imagine how difficult it must have been in pre-internet days!!

I've flown that route a few times. Thai is the only airline that flies direct to BKK and not that often each week. Sometimes it goes via Phuket.

The cheapest single airline all the way to BKK has usually been Singapore. It has flights every day from Perth to BKK and many a day from SIN to BKK. So the trip isn't any longer than the Thai flights via Phuket.

Also not only is it cheaper to fly Singapore, the planes and service are much better than Thai - and you can earn Thai frequent flyer points using Singapore. (and if you're flying regularly you'll pick up the money you would have saved by using AirAsia, Tiger etc by getting a free flight eventually)

I had a bit of a look at getting one of the cheaper airlines for the BKK-SIN leg but then the layovers get too long and it was hard to find out about baggage transfers etc.

I never use QANTAS even to SIN cos they are usually the most expensive. Also I've never seen a good airfare for this journey on any of the internet sites.

They should be banned form the next World Cup on the grounds that half their team is Croatian,

but half the Croatian team is Australian - not that that helped much!!!!

Soccer is really for cheats and handbags, so I'm focussing back onto the real footy...carn Eagles.

I think there should only be a penalty in soccer if there is a head high tackle.

I think there should be a penalty in soccer if there aren't any head high tackles.

I'm sure you already know this but -

You don't dial the first zero when ringing a mobile in Thailand from Oz.

So if your number in thailand is 02 9445 4690

you should dial 0011 66 2 9445 4690

Sorry if I'm stating the bleedin' obvious!!

A Thai lawyer can Notorise documents for you and this is acceptable

in many countries, eg the UK.

Alternatively the Thai Foreign Ministry will perform the service for a nominal charge.

Check with the OZ embassy what it required.

Documents can be certifed at the Embassy ... for a fee!! Take the original and copies.

Just knowing they eat those horrible centipedes is good enough reason to leave them be.

We had a couple live in the house but a snake took up residence in the roof of the bathroom a couple of months ago and the tookay left/got eaten. A couple of weeks ago I found the cats chasing a large red centipede up the fly-wire door.....need the tookays back!!

And at least the tookays shit are big and easy to clean, but the jing-joks are small and numerous.

My wife says having a tookay in the house is good luck.

A few months back I went outside to see what the neighbours were getting so excited about and they had scared one of them "chicken killer" lizards up a tree. Big bastard it was too.

Out came the artillery - slingshots, rocks and finally an air-rifle with a telescopic sight - to try and knock it back to the ground.

I didn't want to see such an impressive animal stoned or shot to death so I went back inside.

They did say, the next day, that it was "aloi maak".

With regards to the Health Requirements.

If the applicant has had Hepatitis B, will this make her ineligible for a SV.

Is it possible to speak to someone at the embassy to get a general answer prior submitting an application?

Obviously TB or AIDS would mean no SV but HepB - it is very common in SE Asia.

Any advice (about visas, not HepB's medical aspects) gratefully received.

Me and the missus have successfully gone thru two tourist application processes - one at the vfs and the previous one at the embassy.

Just started getting the spouse visa stuff together within the last week - what a nightmare, makes the tourist visa process seem like a walk in the park.

Just getting through the process must be evidence of a committed relationship.

Can't imagine what it would have been like without this forum and the helpful posters.....I'm hoping (dreaming) that our application will go in and not have to be returned because of missing docs or incorrect forms. And that wouldn't be possible without being able to ask questions on this forum.

Thanks to all of the posters....and you too Mr Burns.

(I'm pretty sure I'll be posting more questions/getting clarifications over the next couple of weeks)

I have just received an email from the embassy telling me 'an applicant is not required to submit Australian police check if he or she does not live in Australia more than 12 months.'

I also asked about he letter of introduction for the Thai police and was told to visit the Thai Police Website or ring them. Which of course I had done before emailing them.

The Thai Police website says a 'Requesting letter from the embassy of the country that the applicant plans to travel (if available)'

So its all a bit ambiguous....I guess we'll just try to do it without the letter.

But it is a bit of a worry because my wife has to travel from Trang to do all this stuff - not just a quick drive into the city!!

Quick questions - looking at the Migration Pack, we need to get a Police Character Certificate.

Form 47P says for the Certificate from Thailand Police, the wife needs to take a few things (PP, ID Card etc) to the police station - including 'a letter of introduction obtainable from the Australian Embassy Bangkok.'

Can this letter just be picked up from the embassy or do we have to make special arrangements to get one?

As I understand it, the Police Certificate needs to be submitted with the initial visa application, so how do I go about getting the letter of introduction to get the certificate?

Again thanks for any advice.

I spoke to the Embassy today.

It is possble to put two different visa applications in at the same time. (after all they keep the money if a visa isn't granted)

However it was pointed out to me that the applicant must be available for interviews, follow-ups and the handing down of the decision. So if they are in Australia, no further processing takes place until he/she returns to (in this case) Thailand.

I mentioned that I thought it usually took about three months for a spouse visa to be granted and the officer said yes but if their are no complications they can be processed quicker.

I also asked the officer what he would recommend - his answer was that it would be better to just do the spouse visa because my wife would have to get back from Australia as required....and personally I think if a case officer arranged an appointment and then we had to say 'well we just have to arrange flights back to Thailand, and we'll get back to you when we've decided on a good time' they COULD view the applicant as less than fully committed (maybe).

All this pretty much accords with what the above posters say - and we don't want to do anything that may hinder the speed or outcome of the more important spouse visa.

So I think we'll just do the spouse visa - I can't see any real reasons for complications (touch wood) so we'll just have to be apart for a little bit.

So thanks again to all the posters.

Spot On Mighty Mouse.

Your answer covers just about everything I need to know.

And thanks for the bit about travelling to and from Aus in the future - there is a very good chance we'll return here to stay/live for various periods. (its gonna be real hard returning to Perth!!)

I really hope she can get the two visas - the decision to return home was made only recently so we haven't been able to start the paperwork yet - and we're a long way from Bangkok. I hope there aren't any (major) problems - we have lived together here in LOS for the last 17 months - married for nearly a year.

Thanks to all for the advice and info from everyone!!