Bangkok Embassy Refusal To Admit Visa Boyfriends

[michael1954]

At the moment the Embassy will not allow friends or relatives to accompany Visa applicants who are scheduled for an interview. This is a daunting time for many Thai visa applicants. It is a crazy situation that a British resident is barred from his own embassy.

I have written to my MP and he has written to the Foreign Secretary. If anyone else is incensed by this it would help if they did the same.

[Sophon]

At the moment the Embassy will not allow friends or relatives to accompany Visa applicants who are scheduled for an interview. This is a daunting time for many Thai visa applicants. It is a crazy situation that a British resident is barred from his own embassy.

I have written to my MP and he has written to the Foreign Secretary. If anyone else is incensed by this it would help if they did the same.

I think this is posted in the wrong subforum. As far as I can tell it concerns visa's to the UK not Thailand.

Sophon

[atlastaname]

Sophon ,

the OP is talking about visas to the UK!! It is in the right sub forum.

Michael,

of course you are right to complain and i for one am delighted that someone is bothering to do it . A few more persistant complaints like yours and the situation could get changed back to how it was. Of course do remember the previous situation was really just as scary. You would both sit there a bag of nerves , the stomach going great guns, feeling both hot and cold at the same time , your whole body messed up whilst hardly daring to speakto each other. A horrible feeling that was made worse by the unfriendly clinical atmopsphere. I suspect nothing has changed regarding the atmosphere, the only differance now being that the applicant nervously sits there alone .

The oficial reason for banning UK citizens from their own Embassy was overcroding , although on the MANY occasions i was there i never saw overcrowding. People did wait outside its true , but that was to escape the stifling atmosphere of terror rather than due to overcrowding. Of course by eliminating the UK citizens it has also conveniently eliminated them seeing how things are conducted .... although i am sure that was not the intention

Now you have to wait outside in the road in the heat . Nice treatment !! I wish you luck in your complaint but of course its doubtful you will get anywhere. The removal of the UK citizen and his/her ability to observe was of course deliberate. They have managed to speed up applications considerably from what was a dreadful rate of efficiency to what is now passable , but the removal of our rights to accompany our loved ones is not a contribuatary factor in the speeding up of the applications now being achieved.

[Sophon]

Sophon ,

the OP is talking about visas to the UK!! It is in the right sub forum.

Only because it has been moved . It was in the "Thai visas" subforum when I read it before.

Sophon

[seagull]

At the moment the Embassy will not allow friends or relatives to accompany Visa applicants who are scheduled for an interview. This is a daunting time for many Thai visa applicants. It is a crazy situation that a British resident is barred from his own embassy.

I have written to my MP and he has written to the Foreign Secretary. If anyone else is incensed by this it would help if they did the same.

I think this is posted in the wrong subforum. As far as I can tell it concerns visa's to the UK not Thailand.

Sophon

OP said "British resident is barred from his own embassy" In other words UK Embassy. That would means it is visa for Thais to travel to the UK. Right? However his subject headings said "Bangkok Embassy". If indeed it is Bangkok Embassy, then he is seeking visa to enter Thailand. Right? Wrong?

[GU22]

British citizens are not banned from their own embassy, only parts of it. If a Brit has a reason for entering any particular part then they will be allowed in.

Sponsors do not have, and never have had, the 'right' to accompany applicants to their interview.

The official reason for not allowing sponsors into the visa section is overcrowding. The real reason is the violent behaviour of shaven-headed morons who couldn't get a visa for the girl they'd barfined last night.

[atlastaname]

Does that mean that the British Embassy is lying then when it says overcrowding is the reason?

I would have thought that is a serious matter . What do you think?

[britmaveric]

Well they want to interview the applicant not you. So I think its unreasonable for you to think that you need to be there.

[mr_hippo]

The applicant is being interviewed, not you. This stops anyone from prompting the applicant.

[atlastaname]

Well they want to interview the applicant not you. So I think its unreasonable for you to think that you need to be there.

Yes point taken , but nonetheless why can't you be there.? The applicant will be nervous in the extreme so why cannot they have some moral support? Seems Brit like you are saying they should not have that choice. Seems unduly harsh to me . If you go for a job interview friends can wait in reception , so why not here?I think we all agree its not due to lack of space, so what are they afraid of? If it is a few foul mouthed Brits like suggested by some , then surely they could deal with those like any other establishement, have them ejected by security. So once again we come back to .... whats the real reason?

[atlastaname]

The applicant is being interviewed, not you. This stops anyone from prompting the applicant.

You misunderstand. The OP is asking why us Brits are not allowed into the Embassy as before to sit and wait with the applicant. No-one is suggesting that we accompany them at the actual interview.

[britmaveric]

Well I'm sure they have good reason for it as for not waiting in the lobby. Anyways if these are the rules then one must follow them, does no good to whinge.

[solo siam]

I've never understood this, If your wife/girlfriend went for a job interview would you go along with her? It's an interview for her, about her - if she can't survive talking to an English Beaurocrat for 5 minutes how on Earth will she survive in the UK.

[lamphun]

Sounds like some jumped up Visa clerks don't want anyone to see what they're up to.

Well done the OP for complaining.

[Tarragona]

I went to the consular section one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. It was so crowded up there that they suggested people went to sit downstairs. There was plenty of space down there with about 10 visa applicants waiting for their interviews.

Actually the atmosphere, while not exactly relaxed, did seem lighter than when the HABs were all hanging around in the past. Some girls were chatting and it probably helps to talk to others you feel are in the same boat. Some of the guys I saw in the past probably caused the girls a lot more stress than the interview.

Edited February 22, 2007 by Tarragona

[mr_hippo]

If your girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/wife is being interviewed at the British Embassy, what is your official business there? You have none.

[GU22]

Does that mean that the British Embassy is lying then when it says overcrowding is the reason?..........

...............If it is a few foul mouthed Brits like suggested by some , then surely they could deal with those like any other establishement, have them ejected by security.

What I do know is that I personally for various reasons attended the visa section 5 times during 2000/01. On each occasion bar one all the seats were taken, there was not even any standing room in the waiting room and queues were spilling out into the courtyard.

When you have that many people milling about, if security then have to try and deal with some chav who refuses to accept that his tom aint going to get a visa then sooner rather than later an innocent bystander is going to get hurt.

It's a shame they had to do it, but I can see why.

[seagull]

The applicant is being interviewed, not you. This stops anyone from prompting the applicant.

You misunderstand. The OP is asking why us Brits are not allowed into the Embassy as before to sit and wait with the applicant. No-one is suggesting that we accompany them at the actual interview.

So, is the OP not permitted into the embassy's compound or not allowed into the interview room?

If it is the embassy's compound, might be due to security reasons. If not allowed into the interview room, then complainant is not the interviewee. So stay out, please.

Or maybe I should stay out. I ain't brit.

[GU22]

So, is the OP not permitted into the embassy's compound or not allowed into the interview room?

Not permitted into the embassy itself. Previously sponsors were allowed into the waiting room, but they have never been allowed into the interview itself.

As a point of interest, what is the situation at other embassies?

[seagull]

So, is the OP not permitted into the embassy's compound or not allowed into the interview room?

Not permitted into the embassy itself. Previously sponsors were allowed into the waiting room, but they have never been allowed into the interview itself.

As a point of interest, what is the situation at other embassies?

Sponsors? OP mentioned "friends & relatives". In other words, busy bodies. And if not permitted into embassy's compound, could be due to security reasons. As for the waiting room, well, how many "friends & relatives" is the OP talking about? A dozen? Then, overcrowding could be the reasons.

Incidentally, where is Michael the OP. Please shared more lights here, as you have gotten everyone at their throats, and you seems to have disappeared into thin air.

[thaihome]

I know that you cannot accompany your special interest person to the interview at the US Beijing Embassy. You are stopped by the PLA guards outside (consulate officer warned this would happen).

TH

[Prakanong]

"some chav who refuses to accept that his tom"

LOL - I know exactly what you mean but using "tom" in this conext is quite funny.

Sorry could not resist - just bought the book "Toms and Dee's"

[topfield]

Just like to add that if you REALLY don't want to go alone into the interrogation room...oops interview room in my experience they have always allowed one's solicitor to attend and also permitted tape recordings where requested in writing prior to the interview.

[Mossfinn]

Incidentally, where is Michael the OP. as you have gotten everyone at their throats,

No change there then! and it doesn't need Michael for that

It does seem a little harsh not allowing, even one interested party into the waiting room, although there is absolutely no reason at all for them being in the interview room.

If security is the problem, last time I was there they had the Gurkha Rifles on guard and nobody but nobody is a match for the finest regiment in the world.

But somebody made a good point earlier, when the interviewees are left alone amongst themselves in the same situation it probably has a calming effect.

If you are a hairdresser, barmaid, taxidriver or any other profession, whether you have met them for ten minutes or ten years, you have every right to an interview, what you havn't got is the right to cause a disturbance or action violence against the staff nor they or any other person cast aspersions against any other person.

Good Luck

Moss

[db1]

I thought that you have to go to the VAF centre now for visa and they send them on to the Embassey you are allowd in the vaf centre

David

[GU22]

To submit the application, yes. But if an interview is required then this is held at the embassy.

[AA1]

To submit the application, yes. But if an interview is required then this is held at the embassy.

I recently applied for at the Visa Centre to get a Visa for my Thai wife. Other than having a slight delay as lunch time, I had no problem and other than being asked to bring in copies of 2 or 3 other documents which I did next day. The system now works very well and I was able to find out via their website when the Visa was ready to be collected. When I collected her Visa there was a slight variation from what I applied for. I wrote to the Embassy explaining the problem. The very next day my wife got a telephone call on her mobile from the Embassy apologising and asking her to bring in her passport to be altered. We went together and and the Visa was changed.

The staff at the Embassy could not have been more polite and helpful.

I agree with what was said earlier - 'If you go for a job interview the husband would NOT go along so why should he for a Visa interview'. They want to talk with your wife NOT you.

[Badbanker]

I remember speaking to the British Consul at one of those British Chamber functions held at the bar within the embassy 5 years ago. He was very straight with me about the issuance of visa's to the spouses of British nationals. Someone who is in genuine need of a visa for a spouse will have no problem.

He said " It is my sworn duty to ensure the scum of British Society does not come over here and marry the scum of Thai society and then go back to live the UK.

He then gave me his business card and if I ever had a problme getting a visa for my wife to give him a call and he would sort it out right away, as he said he was aware some do slip through the cracks!

Interesting concept!

Badbanker

[teacher]

He said " It is my sworn duty to ensure the scum of British Society does not come over here and marry the scum of Thai society and then go back to live the UK.

I have been to the embassy with my girlfriend and to be honest if i had'nt she would not have got the visa she applied for. We had shown all the evidence needed but there was a mix up on my statements and they thought i had a bank loan as a large amount of money went into my account and my girlfriend could not explain her way through it. They asked her if i was there and i explained that i had just sold my house in the uk and that is why we were going to visit and stay at my mums, as quoted in the invitation.

One other reason for the overcrowding is they used to let the thai touts wander in and out looking to con the people who had been refused. Without doupt i must have seen at least 7 of them in there.

Has anyone ever been approuched by these people????

[mrbojangles]

Has anyone ever been approuched by these people????

Yep but they got an abrupt response from me

On another note. I went to the Brit Embassy in Shanghai last year. My mate lives there and was applying for a VV for his Chinese girlfriend. Not only did they let him in the Embassy but me as well. We sat right outside the office where his girlfriend had the interview.

So it sounds like either the Embassy in Bangkok have adopted a local ruling on this. Or, China has relaxed it's policy