16 minutes ago, faraday said:

Wonder whether Brian Davidson is just making a bold move, to show he's the new boss.

New? He's been there 18 months!

32 minutes ago, evadgib said:

New? He's been there 18 months!

Wow...time goes so fast!!

16 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Settlement visa applications have to be scanned now in Bangkok. Documents have to copied onto scanning/barcoded sheets first. It's a pain and one reason why they are currently taking so long to process.

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Settlement visa are no longer scanned at VFS in Bangkok. The system failed miserably, and submitted documents could not be seen, or found, by the processing ECO in Sheffield. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in many applications being refused because "documents were not submitted".  UKVI have made no attempt to review the refusal decisions, so applicants are having to appeal. Having charged (settlement) applicants around 2,500 GBP to process their application, UKVI have made no attempt to rectify their processing errors. The system is a complete mess.

 

Currently, all documents must be sent by post to UKVI Sheffield. There is no scanning at all in Bangkok. The documentation must include a pre-paid addressed envelope for the documents to be returned to either the sponsor in the UK or the applicant (in Thailand, or wherever).

 

The blurb from the British Embassy in Bangkok says that there will be no change to the current system of visit applications. So how will VFS, or UKVI Bangkok, get the documents to New Delhi ?  The scanning system has been proven to have failings.  We await further info from UKVI Bangkok.  It's interesting to see that the Embassy, and UKVI, don't foresee any changes to their current service levels. Common sense would dictate that, if documents have to be sent physically to Delhi, then service standards will drop.  Alternatively, if they use the scanning system which has already failed, then I guess that we can indeed expect no change in service standards, in that applications will continue to be refused on the grounds that "no documents were submitted". That would seem to be the current service standard.

 

To answer another earlier posted question, Bangkok handles around 100,000 - 120,000 applications a year,  of all categories. Some of those applications are from Cambodia, Myanmar, etc.

Like I posted on page 2: the only way this will sort of work is if everything is physically sent to India and  back again. It has risks and it means the avarage processing time will go up but those up the chain don't seem to mind aslong as legal deadlines are generally met. UKVI will thus copy what the Dutch started doing a few years ago. The system works even though it's a downgrade for the applicant. And in the first few months some Thai ran into airport check in staff who at first would deny boarding because the visa  said ' Issued at Kuala Lumpur' rather than 'Bangkok' ... It's not their job but don't be surprised when checking staff will argue that a visa issued from India is not valid for a Thailand based flight. 

 

The only way scabeing could sort of work is if the applicant would be the one scanning the documents themselves via a site/app run by UKVI where you need to insert and upload your evidence step by step, question by question. Dutch immigration recently launched that for immigration application. If UKVI has been inspired by the Dutch they may adopt this for visa applications. But then they would still need the passport at some point to insert the visa sticker. The external service provider (VFS) can't do that and this would mean the embassy in BKK would be doing so after been given the okay from the regional visa centre in India. 

 

So I don't expect anything else than the whole application being put in an envelope by VFS and sent to India for processing. 

2 hours ago, Tony M said:

Alternatively, if they use the scanning system which has already failed, then I guess that we can indeed expect no change in service standards, in that applications will continue to be refused on the grounds that "no documents were submitted". That would seem to be the current service standard.

It's therefore in the interest of applicants and/or their sponsors to retain a digital record at the point of applying so that they can produce a white rabbit by means of evidence; Securing a swift U turn or their money back.

Edited January 21, 20188 yr by evadgib

2 hours ago, Tony M said:

Settlement visa are no longer scanned at VFS in Bangkok. The system failed miserably, and submitted documents could not be seen, or found, by the processing ECO in Sheffield. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in many applications being refused because "documents were not submitted".  UKVI have made no attempt to review the refusal decisions, so applicants are having to appeal. Having charged (settlement) applicants around 2,500 GBP to process their application, UKVI have made no attempt to rectify their processing errors. The system is a complete mess.

Same happening from within the UK for FLR and ILR applications.

 

2 hours ago, Tony M said:

Currently, all documents must be sent by post to UKVI Sheffield. There is no scanning at all in Bangkok. The documentation must include a pre-paid addressed envelope for the documents to be returned to either the sponsor in the UK or the applicant (in Thailand, or wherever).

Since when, and where is that information?

2 hours ago, Tony M said:

So how will VFS, or UKVI Bangkok, get the documents to New Delhi ?  The scanning system has been proven to have failings.  We await further info from UKVI Bangkok. 

Only last week a British Embassy official stated from June they would be scanned. Let's wait and see.

 

What puzzles me is why the Visas fees are shown in $!!!

 

So instead of Somchai you get Sanjay. Same same but different.

I have never read so much gobbledegook as I read in the opening post of this topic.

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

UK Visa & Immigration to Relocate Visa Application Centres from Bangkok to New Delhi 

 

19 January 2018

 

In June this year, United Kingdom Visa & Immigration (UKVI) will relocate its visa decision making centre from Bangkok to New Delhi. This is part of UKVI's long-standing global strategy to modernise its visa operation and consolidate visa decision making into large regional hubs. There will be no change to the visa application process in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, or to overall service standards. 

 

The move to New Delhi will maximise the benefits of new technology that allows for visa-decision making to be independent of the country of application. It will drive efficiency savings and achieve greater standardisation of visa decisions around the world. 

 

British Ambassador to Thailand, Mr Brian Davidson, said:

 

"The UK is fully committed to a strong and broad-based relationship with Thailand. The number of Thai nationals applying for UK visas and travelling to the UK rises every year. We are delighted at this growth as it shows the strength of the links between the two countries and that Thai people still love to visit the UK, whether for work, study, family or leisure. 

 

UKVI is committed to supporting these links and ensuring that we continue to provide safe and secure visa decisions, excellent customer service and value for money to the UK taxpayer."

 

Customers in Thailand will see no change to visa service standards. Customers will still apply for their visas online and submit their biometrics and documents at two Visa Application Centres (VACs) in Bangkok and Chiang Mai managed by VFS-Global. 

 

UKVI, in conjunction with VFS-Global, are committed to delivering excellent customer service in Thailand and new customer services at the VACs will continue to be rolled out during 2018.

So instead of Somchai you get Sanjay. Same same but different.

The ECO should still be British.

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20 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The ECO should still be British.

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And interview applicants in Thai?

And interview applicants in Thai?

There are no interviews for Visitor visas. Sometimes applicants are phoned by an assistant ECO. It will be interesting to see how this works when it moves to India.

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There might be some interest in the attached further information from the FCO job vacancy website. It does contain the useful information that the Embassy will actually be moving to Sathorn in 2019, not this year. For info, the B3 grade is the ECO grade :

 

View Vacancy - BK - UKVI Country Manager, B3 (Internal Vacancy)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

Job Category  

Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)

Job Subcategory  

UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  

In June 2018 UKVI will complete its consolidation of South East Asia visa-decision-making into UKVI Sheffield and UKVI New Delhi.

Following the move of visa-decision-making to New Delhi in June 2018, UKVI will maintain a small support team in Bangkok. 5 posts will remain and they will support New Delhi colleagues by delivering:

• Visa writing (remote-printing) all SPV and PV applications made in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Cambodia.
• Document verification, enrichment and interview capacity for Thailand (and resources allowing for Cambodia, Laos and Burma and Vietnam).
• UKVI’s outreach and corporate messaging for key partners including FCO, British Council, MFA in Thailand, Laos, Burma and Cambodia to ensure UKVI’s work is fully understood by relevant partners.
• All relevant customer service expectations between UKVI in Sheffield, New Delhi and VFS-Global in Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia to support UKVI and VFS.
• VAC and SELTs inspections as required.

The role of the B3L Thailand Country Manager is to manage UKVI’s activities and A2L staff based in Thailand with support from the team in New Delhi. The job holder will report to an ECM in New Delhi and will receive daily support from the ECM team there. 

The job holder’s primary role will be to ensure all visa writing in Bangkok is managed, printed and dispatched to VFS within UKVI’s customer service standards. The job holder will also need to successfully balance all other competing operational demands throughout UKVI’s peak and low seasons, as well as on a day-to-day basis. 

The  job holder will need to be an effective line manager able to performance manage and develop 4 x A2L staff into their new roles – each of which will be a multi-functional A2L role and will need to flex with UKVI’s changing operational priorities.

Excellent communication skills will also be needed as the job holder will act as a bridge between stakeholders in South East Asia and the Decision-Making-Centres in Sheffield and New Delhi.

The job holder will be exposed to a wide range of UKVI and FCO priorities and will absorb parts of B3L roles currently within the work objectives of the Workflow, Customer, Office and Enrichment Manager functions.

Day to day contact with and support from UKVI colleagues in New Delhi and Sheffield will be the norm, as will proactive and regular contact with all key stakeholders across the region – from the most senior downwards. You will be representing UKVI and will thus be exposed to unique issues, giving the job holder excellent development opportunities as the job combines people management, operational delivery, stakeholder engagement and customer service. 

This job will be based in the current British embassy compound and will move with the rest of the embassy in 2019 to the new premises in Sathorn.

The role is being offered on a permanent basis, however UKVI’s strategic direction is changing and there is a long-term goal to become digital by default, to handle more of our workload on-line, to introduce e-visas and remove the need for vignette printing. The pace of change is currently unknown but the job holder will need to be aware that changes in the future will have clear implications for this job.

5 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

There are no interviews for Visitor visas. Sometimes applicants are phoned by an assistant ECO. It will be interesting to see how this works when it moves to India.

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There can be interviews for Visitor Visas, as for any Visa type.

The ECO can make the call, dependant on the nature of the question(s) the basis of which can decide a 'successful' or 'refused' application.

11 minutes ago, Tony M said:

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law.

@brewsterbudgen

 

There is the confirmation that ECO's are not all British.

27 minutes ago, Tony M said:

This job will be based in the current British embassy compound and will move with the rest of the embassy in 2019 to the new premises in Sathorn.

Hopefully not far from the BTS line.

There can be interviews for Visitor Visas, as for any Visa type.
The ECO can make the call, dependant on the nature of the question(s) the basis of which can decide a 'successful' or 'refused' application.

Yes. Telephone calls are made on some occasions but not face-to-face interviews.

[mention=25648]brewsterbudgen[/mention]
 
There is the confirmation that ECO's are not all British.

There are other requirements that would be make it very difficult for non-British citizens to be ECOs. You referred to some Thai citizens who are currently ECOs in Bangkok. I think that is very unlikely.

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4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

There are other requirements that would be make it very difficult for non-British citizens to be ECOs. You referred to some Thai citizens who are currently ECOs in Bangkok. I think that is very unlikely.

I can assure you I know otherwise Brewster, but let's agree to disagree because your a very nice chap.

I can assure you I know otherwise Brewster, but let's agree to disagree because your a very nice chap.

Good idea. I'm happy with that. I know Tony M is participating in this thread and I believe he has direct experience. Maybe he can clarify/confirm. Having foreign nationals making decisions about visas and immigration to the UK seems unlikely to me. I know a number of Thais who have worked at the Embassy in Bangkok, but only as assistants to British ECOs.

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Things may have changed since I was employed in an Embassy.  UKVI can employ local staff of pretty much any nationality, but those staff will not be ECOs. This is mainly due to the security clearances required.  This is from a recent ECO/ILO job advert :

 

Due to the security requirements of the position applicants should be British, US, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian or EU national who have spent at least two of the last five years in their home countries. 

On 1/19/2018 at 1:45 PM, webfact said:

The move to New Delhi will maximise the benefits of new technology that allows for visa-decision making to be independent of the country of application.

So does this mean that the visa application decision centre for Indian nationals might be on the move from New Delhi to Bangkok?

4 hours ago, Donutz said:

So I don't expect anything else than the whole application being put in an envelope by VFS and sent to India for processing. 

With additional courier/postage charges being passed on in full to applicants, of course.

23 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Regardless of the Country all foreign documents must be translated into English, and one requirement to become an ECO would be to read, write and speak English.

That doesn't mean the significance will be understood.  However, it may be that there will be a man in Bangkok to explain matters, though how he learns I'm not so sure.

On 21/01/2018 at 1:32 AM, Tanoshi said:

Prime example! The Malaysian marriage certificate should have been translated into English. Any misinterpretation would suggest it was on the translators part, not the ECO.

It was.  The translation hasn't been published, but having looked at other Malaysian marriage certificates, it's hard to imagine what could have been misinterpreted.

On 21/01/2018 at 1:32 AM, Tanoshi said:

 

Sounds as though your wife showed the Kor Ror 2 (Registration of marriage) rather than the Kor Ror 3 (Marriage certificate).

Maybe it does, but it *was* the khor ror 3 that we showed and had translated.  The problem was that "chot thabian somrot" was translated as "registered their marriage".