Must Read British Embassy update regarding processing of visa extension letters

[tomth]

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

 

I sent a mail with the required scans of my passport stamps but didn't get a confirmation email. Other people got confirmation right? 

I don't want to hassle them unnecessarily. 

[theVenerable]

I submitted my request on Thursday. Got confirmation of receipt but still no support letter. 

My Visa ran out on Saturday. 

Now, should I go to the immigration office tommorow (Monday) and maybe get issued with a 7 day extension? or not bother going to the office until I get my support letter from the embassy in a few days? 

Will I get in trouble if I don't show my face on Monday? 

And when are the sadists at immigration going to give us, and thier staff a break? 

Edited March 29, 2020 by theVenerable

[ubonjoe]

55 minutes ago, tomth said:

I sent a mail with the required scans of my passport stamps but didn't get a confirmation email. Other people got confirmation right? 

I don't want to hassle them unnecessarily. 

Did you send it to this email address?

[Welshpete]

Day 5 still no letter and no confirmation of receipt of application Monday will be 5 days overstay incurring a 2500thb fine which I can do without , not sure weather to reapply or wait I understand the pressure that the embassy must be facing yet I am annoyed that my first 2 applications where denied within 12hrs and now I have been waiting for 5 days

[tomth]

On 3/28/2020 at 8:39 AM, ubonjoe said:

 

Hi Ubonjoe, yes sent to that address. 

 

 

 

[darrendsd]

57 minutes ago, theVenerable said:

I submitted my request on Thursday. Got confirmation of receipt but still no support letter. 

My Visa ran out on Saturday. 

Now, should I go to the immigration office tommorow (Monday) and maybe get issued with a 7 day extension? or not bother going to the office until I get my support letter from the embassy in a few days? 

Will I get in trouble if I don't show my face on Monday? 

And when are the sadists at immigration going to give us, and thier staff a break? 

If you sent it Thursday you should receive your letter on Monday - it is very clearly stated it is 2 days and weekends won't count in that

 

If your visa ran out on Saturday why did you wait until Thursday to email the Embassy?

 

Wait for the letter and then go then

 

 

[theVenerable]

9 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

If you sent it Thursday you should receive your letter on Monday - it is very clearly stated it is 2 days and weekends won't count in that

 

If your visa ran out on Saturday why did you wait until Thursday to email the Embassy?

 

Wait for the letter and then go then

 

 

Here we go again. 

I 'waited' until Thursday because Thursday was the first time I even knew about the support letter existing. 

 

I emailed the embassy TWO TIMES before that anyway. 

 

Would you like to see the documents, your honour? 

[darrendsd]

28 minutes ago, theVenerable said:

Here we go again. 

I 'waited' until Thursday because Thursday was the first time I even knew about the support letter existing. 

 

I emailed the embassy TWO TIMES before that anyway. 

 

Would you like to see the documents, your honour? 

Ok so my comment stands - if you didn't know about the support letter beforehand Thursday was the first time you applied so you will get it on Monday

 

The other 2 times you contacted them they wouldn't have replied as you would have sent it to the wrong email address

Edited March 29, 2020 by darrendsd

[theVenerable]

1 hour ago, darrendsd said:

Ok so my comment stands - if you didn't know about the support letter beforehand Thursday was the first time you applied so you will get it on Monday

 

The other 2 times you contacted them they wouldn't have replied as you would have sent it to the wrong email address

It wasn't the wrong email address.. I didn't even APPLY for the support letter as I didn't even know it existed. I'm just saying I'm not lazy as some people seem to insinuate in here, and already contacted the embassy twice anyway.
Nevermind...


 

[theVenerable]

Good news for everyone. 
I've got my support letter through in my email just now.
Which means they are at least sending out emails over the weekend.
Maybe some others will get an unexpected email and won't have to wait until Monday.

[finy]

When it says evidence can you upload mobile photos or do they want photocopies?

 

It's not very clear.

 

I can't imagine there are lots of photocopy places open right now.

[Welshpete]

There have been numerouse email addresses published to obtain a letter for a visa extension from the British embassy. Please please check and double check you will get a confirmation almost immediately 

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, finy said:

When it says evidence can you upload mobile photos or do they want photocopies?

I am sure they will accept good clear photos of the pages of your passport they want.

You can install scan apps for most smartphones now that do a better job than just taking a picture.

[UdonRoy]

On 3/28/2020 at 7:57 PM, deevo666 said:

very simple process. i submitted my email on wednesday afternoon via email and got a letter today.  they will be proiritising all those applicants that are coming up to 15 days left on their visa as they need it first. my expiration is april 23rd but still got a letter in 2 working days. these are mad times but people just need to calm down and show some patience. this is far from an everyday occurence and ultimately given new covid cases amd deaths everyday i would say a 2 day turnaround is excellent

I also submitted my application Wednesday afternoon, visa expired on Friday 27th. I still have no letter as of Monday morning, seems they must of missed me when sorting out priority. You were very lucky. 

[ubonjoe]

47 minutes ago, Welshpete said:

There have been numerouse email addresses published to obtain a letter for a visa extension from the British embassy.

Not all emails addresses are working according to some posts I have seen. Some people have gotten a auto  reply that they are not checking them.

The posted in the OP is the one they want you to use.

[Tanoshi]

On 3/29/2020 at 9:39 AM, Welshpete said:

Day 5 still no letter and no confirmation of receipt of application Monday will be 5 days overstay incurring a 2500thb fine which I can do without , not sure weather to reapply or wait I understand the pressure that the embassy must be facing yet I am annoyed that my first 2 applications where denied within 12hrs and now I have been waiting for 5 days

The confirmation is only an automated return 'do not reply' email

 

If you didn't receive an automated reply to your mail, then I suggest you resend using the address provided above by UJ.

[finy]

The email in OP is definitely right one.

 

I recieved a confirmation email specifically mentioning an extension due to COVID-19 within 5 minutes of emailing them.

[UdonRoy]

Has everybody received their letters? 

I applied last Wednesday and I have not received it yet, starting to get a little worried but I don't want to email them again and contribute to an already congested system.

[tomth]

On 3/28/2020 at 8:39 AM, ubonjoe said:

 

Hi, to update, I just received my letter. So prompt and efficient service from them as I had submitted the request on Saturday (28th). I did not receive any automated confirmation email from them so be aware not to panic if you don't get that. 

So now my current extension expires on the 15th. Anyone know how many days early I can go to Chaeng Watthana to extend again? 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, tomth said:

Anyone know how many days early I can go to Chaeng Watthana to extend again? 

The way things are now i would say wait until a week before or just before the 15th.

[finy]

Quick update for UK citizens who haven't applied for their letter yet:

 

I took a photo of the required pages in my passport with iPhone.

 

Recieved my embassy letter within around 20 hours.

 

They must be working really hard over there. I wanted to email back saying thanks but I don't want to waste their time ????

[McArie]

Just to emphasise an important technical requirement when emailing your passport and visa details, a requirement that has not been clearly stated earlier:

 

• "If you have received an auto-reply, to your extension letter request, we have received your email and you do not need to resend or contact us again. If you do not receive an auto-reply please check the size of your attached files and ensure they do not exceed the maximum size allowed by our systems (5MB)."

       

 

This is now clearly stated on the UK embassy webpage:  

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand#covid-19-visa-extension-applications--support-letter

 

Typically if you scan/photo of your passport pages by a mobile phone, a single JPG file may be anything from 2MB above by default...

So try to reduce your individual file size by photo-resize app or on your computer (e.g. Paint or similar) to, say, 700KB ...

 

Related to the topic, my personal experience of obtaining the letter has been entirely satisfactory: 

• emailed my request with attached evidence on Tue, 31 Mar, 13:26
• received acknowledgement email from the centre Tue, 31 Mar, 13:28
• received email from the embassy Wed, 1 Apr, 15:05

The letter contained all relevant details including my full name, DoB, passport No., the date I entered Thailand and visa extension expiry date, embassy round seal, letter date and name of the vice consul. Only small glitch in the letter they referred to me in the plural ... :-) Other than that everything was OK.

 

WELL DONE BRITISH EMBASSY IN BANGKOK TEAM! MANY THANKS!

Edited April 4, 2020 by McArie