Tourist Visa to Europe for Thai partner..Give Up?

[mikey88]

I’m looking at the bulk of info on getting a tourist visa for my Thai partner so we can have a holiday in Europe.

Seems a simple ask doesn’t it....

Just want to go to Europe for a month and see the sights...spend some money and come back to Chiang Mai.

I can’t see how it’s going to work though and would appreciate any tips from you all.

I want to book a specific apartment in Paris but there’s no option to ‘put a hold’ on it pending the possible granting of Visa for my Thai partner.

I  have to pay ..upfront.

Likewise with the plane tickets...

It seems to my eyes anyway that I have to book and pay for the seats...pretty much now.

It seems an impossible situation.

What if the visa is not granted....??

Any thoughts...?

 

 

 

 

[delboy]

I had exactly the same dilemma last year.  I visited a travel agent who was able to make a booking on Thai Airways and put it on hold for 30 days.  Then I made a booking on booking.com for a hotel that had a full refund policy.  We applied for the visa and produced the booking documents.  After 25 days we hadn't received a reply concerning the visa, so the travel agent extended the hold on Thai Airways for a further 30 days.  A week later the visa was granted and we amended the plane booking to a cheaper flight.

[Bill97]

Delboy to the rescue solving the impossible problem. [emoji106]


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[pgrahmm]

We went through Star Visa....The cost was modest, 3k.....They know what the grantor's are looking for and overbuild the portfolio to be submitted....They have people on the ground in Bangkok to assist/guide in the process there.....I believe it was free if not granted, however, we were ok'd.....

It took about 9-11 days.....

Star Visa seems to be the go to place for Thais seeking visas....

[KhunBENQ]

For which country (consulate) would you apply?

Schengen area?

Edited July 20, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[beau thai]

We wanted to do paris, barcelona and various italian cities but added in Germany so we could use what I believe is the only schengen visa facilitating consulate in CM. Thoroughly enjoyed the unplanned time we wpsent in berlin and Munich though.

But personally I prefer to  get visa before booking flights/accommodation.

Thai will need travel health insurance for Schengen Visa and we used Star Visa for that - I think recommended by German Consulate but dont recall now. Whatever Star Visa were very good.

Good luck with your trip. It will all be worth it in the end!

[Orton Rd]

If you are an EU citizen she pays nothing for a shengen visa and forget vfs, EU law states she can apply to the Embassy for the visa. Had this last year applying at the Italian Embassy in Bkk, security argued for sometime they did not do visas and had to go to the vfs office. Changed his mind when I showed him the print out of the EU law covering it. It is very easy you do not need an agent service!

Edited July 20, 2019 by Orton Rd

[wgdanson]

10 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

If you are an EU citizen she pays nothing for a shengen visa

Only if you are married.

[boonrawdcnx]

It is not difficult to do.

If you apply for a Schengen Visa you should apply at the embassy of the country in which you are going to spent most of the time irrespective off the first port of entry.
Do not buy flights before you got the visa - most travel agents will make a reservation for you for a small fee like a few hundred baht tell them it is for a visa application - if you book online later they keep the fee or if they offer a good price you can book with them.
You can also book fully refundable tickets (most expensive) online then cancel them and book something cheaper.
Hotel reservations - use a booking site like Agoda and choose the rooms where you pay nothing until a few days before you travel - you can often still cancel until 2-3 days before you travel without penalty.
Also make sure you have all the paperwork the embassy requires and then purchase a travel insurance - most embassies recommend a place where you can purchase travel insurance for a reasonable price that covers the required amounts to travel to Europe.




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