Problems with UK Immigration Services

[KhaoYai]

I've had several problems regarding services provided by both UK Immigration and their outsourced partners.  It is impossible to contact anyone in UKVI that actually understands the issues - almost certainly because the contact points are also outsourced and staffed by non native speakers who do not fully understand the language.

 

I realise that this is not a consular matter but can you suggest a way of getting through to someone who is actually in England?  You will be aware that to even contact immigration you have to either pay for a premium phone call or £5.48 to send an e-mail.  I did that and was not at all happy that the people that replied to me clearly had not understoon the problem - one being called Abdul.

 

In the end people just give up - is this what the UK government want?  If it is, they are making a laughing stock of themselves.  For someone having a real problem, its just about impossible to sort it but as long as the government has cut costs, I suppose that's OK then!

 

My issues mainly apply to VFS and UKVI.

[theoldgit]

Have you tried this route, you don’t actually get to talk to anybody, but your concerns will be looked into.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure

[KhaoYai]

1 minute ago, theoldgit said:

Have you tried this route, you don’t actually get to talk to anybody, but your concerns will be looked into.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure

I thank you for that but I'm clean out of wasting my time with the UK government, its agencies and my MP at the moment. I've been battling with them over the travel ban for months with zero replies. Yet they have time to make my planned visit to my wife even less likely by announcing today that £5000 fines will be brought in next week for anyone travelling without a legally permitted reason. Bizarrely, if I owned a condo in Thailand I could legally travel if I was selling it but not to visit my wife/family!

 

I think Guy Fawkes had the right idea.

[NanLaew]

What specifically is the problem? You mention both UK Immigration, VFS and your MP which is a rather broad remit. I would hope that the collective experience of the forum members may be able to give more precise assistance and may even have experienced and resolved the same issues?

[OJAS]

4 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Bizarrely, if I owned a condo in Thailand I could legally travel if I was selling it but not to visit my wife/family!

 

But, even if you were able to travel legally to Thailand, don't think that your passport would simply be stamped by Immigration at BKK Arrivals without any further ado, as was no doubt the case on previous trips. The powers-that-be here in Thailand currently require all arrivals from abroad to jump through various hoops, as described in considerable detail elsewhere on this forum, before they can be reunited with their loved ones living here. Like those of us Brits living here in LOS who are currently feeling frustrated on account of the formidable difficulties with which we are presently being faced in making trips in the reverse direction to yours (myself included), I strongly suspect that our only choice in practice is to bide our time until the overall COVID-19 situation improves sufficiently, no matter how long that might take.

Edited March 24, 2021 by OJAS

[KhaoYai]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

What specifically is the problem? You mention both UK Immigration, VFS and your MP which is a rather broad remit. I would hope that the collective experience of the forum members may be able to give more precise assistance and may even have experienced and resolved the same issues?

Two different issues:

 

UKVI and VFS - several problems last year during my wife's visa application.

MP - regarding the UK travel ban.

 

I am dealing with both issues myself, no need to discuss them here.

[blackcab]

On 3/24/2021 at 4:43 PM, KhaoYai said:

I am dealing with both issues myself, no need to discuss them here.

 

Closed at the OP's request.