Q&A session with the British Embassy Consular Team - ask your questions here!

[maxcorrigan]

19 hours ago, bodga said:

This  is  what I do, I get the fastrack one  where  you turn  up on a  particular  day and get it  all done there and then, wouldnt waste  my  time with the comedy show in Thailand

Yes, easy to say but if you read other posters you would not be able to get back to Thailand for god knows how long with your shiny new passport!

[joebrown]

12 hours ago, izod10 said:

By not issuing income letters(65000 per month),which did cost 1900 baht from embassy,now the cost is 100 baht(bank statement)

At the time the UK Embassy stopped issuing Income Letters AFAIK all Immigration Offices accepted them without much further investigation. In other words it was very quick and easy for the IO. Nowadays the workload for the IO has increased by having to check the source of income, type of transfer (FTT) and the 1 year bank statement. Needless to say not all offices accept monthly income 65,000/40,000bht, and want to see a deposit of 400,000/800,000bht. I know of 1 such office. I can imagine there are others!

[Old Dissenter]

15 hours ago, Jen65 said:

Are British subjects living/retired in Thailand required to register with the British Embassy , even on a voluntary basis ???

No

[Old Dissenter]

Divided families

https://www.reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk/

[zyphodb]

21 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

How would you support yourself if you dont have the income to do so ?

The income requirements for a foreign spouse are way higher than what the UK gov. considers a livable wage... 

[techno]

Why was the British Consulate in Chiang Mai closed as the staff their were most helpful. When will it reopen again to serve ex-pats 

[CorpusChristie]

13 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

No. They no longer want to know we exist. Stopped years ago. 

It was from a bygone era , a time before computers and when it was even difficult to telephone back to the UK ,  when people could disappear without trace and noone knowing where they are or what happened to them .

  These days , with mass communications , registering at Embassies is completely unnecessary  , just like Embassies really , before Embassies were a lifeline between you and your home Country , these days, we can contact home freely and as often as we need to 

[izod10]

On 8/4/2020 at 2:54 AM, Dice Man said:

Totally agree.I have taken this to the Pensions Tribunal and LOST as the judge said " it is to expensive to fix"   as its gone on for over 20 years! This case was taken the the European Justice Court about 10 years ago and the lady nattowly lost! Time to do it again I think??

From what I remember the woman concerned did not pay income tax in the UK,which if true was ridiculous,made case very weak,put a tax payer ,probably different outcome

[Baerboxer]

On 8/3/2020 at 2:10 PM, evadgib said:

1. Why is it not possible to renew British passports online in Thailand when it is perfectly possible to do so from all surrounding countries? A Thai driving licence is more than adequate photo ID to satisfy the 'must-carry-ID-at-all-times' assumption which has been constantly 'body-swerved' by UK authorities whenever legal clarification has been sought (via FoI etc). Strictly speaking this isn't entirely a consular affair (Passports being primarily a HO responsibility) but anything that streamlines HMG's workload is surely better than 2x 12 hr expensive and completely unnecessary round trips to Bkk; especially if elderly or disabled?

 

2. What can be done for Brits currently separated from their families as a result of the virus or for any that will join them if they have to return to UK for any reason and cannot get back? What can HMG do for any rendered homeless by such action ('Right to family life' plus the additional hardship inflicted upon any dual national dependents left behind)?

 

Note: Not all Brits in Thailand have homes or relatives in UK & I shudder to think how much this has cost any that might have been stuck there since March.

 

You DID ask! ????

 

Good questions. But just to note that Consuls and Consular services are actually Home Office not Foreign Office. The Home Office manage passports including the outsourcing of consular services for visa applications and passport renewal.

[evadgib]

27 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Good questions. But just to note that Consuls and Consular services are actually Home Office not Foreign Office. The Home Office manage passports including the outsourcing of consular services for visa applications and passport renewal.

Presumably a (vise versa) typo...?

[philba]

41 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Good questions. But just to note that Consuls and Consular services are actually Home Office not Foreign Office. The Home Office manage passports including the outsourcing of consular services for visa applications and passport renewal.

Nope. Consuls and Consular services are FCO (or FCDO as they are about to rebranded)

[LukKrueng]

On 8/3/2020 at 3:51 PM, jingjing99 said:

Like many others with a current valid Thai Visa...I have become locked out of Thailand, and my property and my life there ......where I have been a resident 15 years....all flights now cancelled....luckily i have a work permit....

 my Visa runs out on 28 August ...flights are scheduled to restart 29th August....Can I get an extension of 1 week ?

Are you asking the British embassy to extend a Thai visa? 

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thanks for all your questions. We are with the consular team tomorrow and hope to get answers to as many questions/issues as possible.

 

Any questions posted from here will wont be included in the meeting this time round. 

[soi3eddie]

8 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

It was from a bygone era , a time before computers and when it was even difficult to telephone back to the UK ,  when people could disappear without trace and noone knowing where they are or what happened to them .

  These days , with mass communications , registering at Embassies is completely unnecessary  , just like Embassies really , before Embassies were a lifeline between you and your home Country , these days, we can contact home freely and as often as we need to 

I know, I was being flippant however many British expats here feel like the British Embassy dont give <deleted> for their citizens or is that "subjects"?.

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

I know, I was being flippant however many British expats here feel like the British Embassy dont give <deleted> for their citizens or is that "subjects"?.

What would you like them to do , to show that they care about you ?

Invite you around for Sunday dinner ?

Afternoon Tea on the lawn 

[soi3eddie]

19 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

What would you like them to do , to show that they care about you ?

Invite you around for Sunday dinner ?

Afternoon Tea on the lawn 

If they wanted to help us Brits they would make it easier and simpler to renew our passports and apply for spouse/partner visas more easily. Making an appointment for consular help such as affadavits should be easier and cheaper too.

If they were to offer free champagne brunches for us then that would be a bonus ????

     

[OJAS]

4 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

If they wanted to help us Brits they would make it easier and simpler to renew our passports and apply for spouse/partner visas more easily. Making an appointment for consular help such as affadavits should be easier and cheaper too.

If they were to offer free champagne brunches for us then that would be a bonus ????

     

Careful what you say about the passport renewal process to @CorpusChristie! As one of the With-It Tower Passport Renewal Experience Fan Club's more ardently enthusiastic members he has very recently made it abundantly clear to me in another thread that, in effect, we should all be fulsomely singing the praises of this particular third-rate service to the very highest heavens as being the best thing since sliced bread solely on the grounds that most of us only have to suffer it once every 10 years. It has therefore probably come as a major disappointment to him that many contributors to this particular thread (ourselves included, of course) do not appear to feel the same positive way about it as he does.????

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

Careful what you say about the passport renewal process to @CorpusChristie! As one of the With-It Tower Passport Renewal Experience Fan Club's more ardently enthusiastic members he has very recently made it abundantly clear to me in another thread that, in effect, we should all be fulsomely singing the praises of this particular third-rate service to the very highest heavens as being the best thing since sliced bread solely on the grounds that most of us only have to suffer it once every 10 years. It has therefore probably come as a major disappointment to him that many contributors to this particular thread (ourselves included, of course) do not appear to feel the same positive way about it as he does.????

Well, if you are incapable of making a trip to BKK or  CM to renew your passport every ten years  , you have my sympathies . 

   I have had wonderful service from both BKK and CM in regards to passport renewal , but I can understand that if you need to push yourself in a wheelchair from Nakhon nowhere to the Embassy, it could be quite a task  

[Stocky]

16 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

Well, if you are incapable of making a trip to BKK or  CM to renew your passport every ten years  , you have my sympathies . 

I'm perfectly capable of making my way to Bangkok from Hat Yai, but it's a total PIA. And it's not every ten years, maybe if you travel little, but travelling for work and visas taking whole pages I'm lucky if a passport lasts me 3 years. 

 

To avoid having to deal with the muppets in Bangkok, I plan passport renewals to coincide with trips to the UK, and make use of the same day service.

 

[Clarkey611]

The changes for Brunei and Malaysia - meaning they will be added to a list of travel corridors - will come into force in Wales from midnight on Friday, and from 4am next Tuesday in England and Scotland.

 

Why not Thailand?

[OJAS]

22 hours ago, Clarkey611 said:

The changes for Brunei and Malaysia - meaning they will be added to a list of travel corridors - will come into force in Wales from midnight on Friday, and from 4am next Tuesday in England and Scotland.

 

Why not Thailand?

Maybe because England, Wales and Scotland haven't agreed to the establishment of travel corridors with Thailand?

 

[NanLaew]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:31 AM, OJAS said:

And that comment IMHO illustrates perfectly the fragmented and disjointed nature of our dealings with HMG collectively these days, with each relevant component part (DWP & HMPO as well as the Embassy) operating exclusively within the confines of its particular silo with blinkers firmly attached. So much for the concept of "joined-up government" which was being enthusiatically espoused by Blair & co 20 years ago!

Could be worse. Could be born an Aussie where you have to go home frequently to keep your pension alive.

 

Or even worse, born a Kiwi where if you skip a home visit, you have to pay back the pension they already paid you.

 

Nice one Tony! You kept it simple but that seems too difficult for a few.

[NanLaew]

On 8/5/2020 at 6:43 PM, soi3eddie said:

I know, I was being flippant however many British expats here feel like the British Embassy dont give <deleted> for their citizens or is that "subjects"?.

How many feel that way @soi3eddie ?

 

Apart from you and @OJAS I mean?

[NanLaew]

On 8/6/2020 at 5:20 PM, Stocky said:

I'm perfectly capable of making my way to Bangkok from Hat Yai, but it's a total PIA. And it's not every ten years, maybe if you travel little, but travelling for work and visas taking whole pages I'm lucky if a passport lasts me 3 years. 

 

To avoid having to deal with the muppets in Bangkok, I plan passport renewals to coincide with trips to the UK, and make use of the same day service.

 

I've been doing that for ages already. I even did a passport renewal via the UK while I was working offshore Vietnam.

[Stocky]

26 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I've been doing that for ages already. I even did a passport renewal via the UK while I was working offshore Vietnam.

I've done three via the Passport Office in Newport, one whilst it was postal to Hong Kong, I've simply avoided using the farmed out VFS service via Bangkok. 

[Old Dissenter]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:40 AM, izod10 said:

From what I remember the woman concerned did not pay income tax in the UK,which if true was ridiculous,made case very weak,put a tax payer ,probably different outcome

Being awarded a state pension is related to the payment of National Insurance contributions not income tax. Most pay income tax during their working lives.

[OJAS]

On 8/8/2020 at 11:55 AM, NanLaew said:

Apart from you and @OJAS I mean?

I beg your pardon! Kindly point to me where I ever said on here that 'the British Embassy dont give <deleted> for their citizens or is that "subjects"'.

 

Looks to me like you are experiencing considerable difficulties these days in being able to differentiate between the British Embassy on the one hand and, on the other, the With-It Tower Passport Renewal Glorified Post Office whom, thankfully, you are ploughing an increasingly lonely furrow on here in defending to the highest heavens as being the best thing in passport renewals since sliced bread.

 

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, OJAS said:

I beg your pardon! Kindly point to me where I ever said on here that 'the British Embassy dont give <deleted> for their citizens or is that "subjects"'.

 

Looks to me like you are experiencing considerable difficulties these days in being able to differentiate between the British Embassy on the one hand and, on the other, the With-It Tower Passport Renewal Glorified Post Office whom, thankfully, you are ploughing an increasingly lonely furrow on here in defending to the highest heavens as being the best thing in passport renewals since sliced bread.

 

When I used VPS (?) at Trendy house, I got excellent service .

I even turned up seven hours before my appointment and they serviced me there and then 

[johnmell]

I would like to know some details about 14 days quarantine, arriving in the UK from Thailand. Not wanting to inflict myself on family or friends , it is stated the authorities have places you can go at your own expense. How much, and where are these.

[Jumbo1968]

3 minutes ago, johnmell said:

I would like to know some details about 14 days quarantine, arriving in the UK from Thailand. Not wanting to inflict myself on family or friends , it is stated the authorities have places you can go at your own expense. How much, and where are these.

You can stay anywhere, just book into a hotel and give that address, it’s self quarantine not enforced although they can check up on you if they want.