No response to email (to VFS) to book an appointment to renew British passport

[bulmercke]

Ten days ago I sent an email to <[email protected]> to book an appointment to renew my passport. I included in the email everything they asked for: name - date of birth - contact number - three preferred dates and times - but to date I have heard nothing back from them. Has anyone had recent experience in booking an appointment with them (Bangkok  office)? Thanks.

[esaandaz]

Hi

I booked an appointment with them last month, sent an email and got a response in 24 hours. It seems everything you've done is correct but as it's now a long weekend holiday maybe wait til Monday and resend your email.

[Crossy]

I'm in the same process, but being a lazy <insert suitable expletive> ... I'm using KeyVisa.

 

Darren acknowledged my payment on 5 July, today (13 July) I got notice from VFS that they have forwarded my application to the UK.

 

It remains to be seen how long the process takes.

 

As an aside I applied to renew my UK driving licence on Wednesday last week (using my existing PP number so no need for a new photo), paid my 14 squid using my UK credit card. The new licence arrived at my (ok, my parent's) UK address on Saturday! I have no idea why it was so quick, some of my UK friends have been waiting months.

 

 

 

[sanuk711]

9 minutes ago, Crossy said:

. I'm using KeyVisa.

Lets us know how that works out--- I am also woeful at doing things, my UK passport ran out 6 months ago (I have 2 others) & I have been meaning to contact him.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Lets us know how that works out--- I am also woeful at doing things, my UK passport ran out 6 months ago (I have 2 others) & I have been meaning to contact him.

They are doing mine at the mo, did one for my chum a couple of years back, no probs...????

 

[Crossy]

7 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Lets us know how that works out--- I am also woeful at doing things, my UK passport ran out 6 months ago (I have 2 others) & I have been meaning to contact him.

 

I've used them in the past with no issues as have many others. I see no reason for things to have changed, other than the crazy wait times in the UK.

 

I will of course report progress.

 

[MrMuddle]

17 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Lets us know how that works out--- I am also woeful at doing things, my UK passport ran out 6 months ago (I have 2 others) & I have been meaning to contact him.

I used them at the beginning of the year, when most of the UK Passport office was off work with Covid! Took a good few weeks, but got there in the end. Found Darren and his staff very efficient and helpful, delay was not down to them, excellent service throughout!

[scubascuba3]

6 minutes ago, MrMuddle said:

I used them at the beginning of the year, when most of the UK Passport office was off work with Covid! Took a good few weeks, but got there in the end. Found Darren and his staff very efficient and helpful, delay was not down to them, excellent service throughout!

Friend of mine said never again will he use them.

 

As for the op,check your email junk folder

[sanuk711]

45 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Friend of mine said never again will he use them.

Can you expand on that.....?...... what went wrong.....?......

[bulmercke]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Well you won't believe this but I decided to email them again this afternoon using my existing email provider (yahoo.com) and received an automated response back within an hour.

I had originally contacted them twice using a new email account I had set up with GMX Mail and had heard nothing. So the problem must have been with GMX Mail even though the emails I "sent" to them were in the "sent folder". I had even successfully exchanged emails between these two accounts (to myself) but for some reason there must be an issue either sending emails to VFS or receiving emails from them using GMX Mail.  I guess I made a mistake trusting this dodgy free email.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, sanuk711 said:

Can you expand on that.....?...... what went wrong.....?......

all he told me was big delay and they weren't helpful, maybe a one off

[StevieAus]

12 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Lets us know how that works out--- I am also woeful at doing things, my UK passport ran out 6 months ago (I have 2 others) & I have been meaning to contact him.

We have used them in the past to renew our daughters UK passport.

The service is excellent.p

[CharlieH]

12 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

I've used them in the past with no issues as have many others. I see no reason for things to have changed, other than the crazy wait times in the UK.

 

I will of course report progress.

 

I need to do the same thing but when I contacted Keyvisa I was not comfortable with them saying they needed to keep my passport for 6 weeks ?

 

How long did they hold your passport ?

[Crossy]

14 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I need to do the same thing but when I contacted Keyvisa I was not comfortable with them saying they needed to keep my passport for 6 weeks ?

 

How long did they hold your passport ?

 

Last time (which was a while back) it was around 2-3 weeks before I got it back, this time, I'll let you know.

 

The application has just been acknowledged by VFS Global (about a week after Key took my payment) so one would hope "soon". I can't imagine them needing to hold on to it any longer.

 

[scubascuba3]

48 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Last time (which was a while back) it was around 2-3 weeks before I got it back, this time, I'll let you know.

 

The application has just been acknowledged by VFS Global (about a week after Key took my payment) so one would hope "soon". I can't imagine them needing to hold on to it any longer.

 

If going direct to VFS I don't think they keep your passport, I'll definitely do that when next due

[MrMuddle]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

I need to do the same thing but when I contacted Keyvisa I was not comfortable with them saying they needed to keep my passport for 6 weeks ?

 

How long did they hold your passport ?

They had mine for longer than that, though they did return it to me when I needed to show it, for a Hospital stay. I sent it back to them again, and they returned it along with my new passport, when it arrived. Best to take a photo of your Passport picture page and current visa stamp, in case you are stopped. Old Passport is invalid anyway, as the UK Passport Agency at Trendy cuts the corner off it.

[Muhendis]

14 hours ago, Crossy said:

I'm in the same process, but being a lazy <insert suitable expletive> ... I'm using KeyVisa.

 

Darren acknowledged my payment on 5 July, today (13 July) I got notice from VFS that they have forwarded my application to the UK.

This is something I will be doing later this year. 

Being as how I live some distance from VFS, It may be worth using Keyvisa.

People seem to avoid giving information regarding price.

Please feel free to post how much you paid for this service.

[sandyf]

15 hours ago, Crossy said:

As an aside I applied to renew my UK driving licence on Wednesday last week (using my existing PP number so no need for a new photo), paid my 14 squid using my UK credit card. The new licence arrived at my (ok, my parent's) UK address on Saturday! I have no idea why it was so quick, some of my UK friends have been waiting months.

I did mine the same way last year. There was a message on the website saying delays due to covid so when my son advised me a couple of days later that a letter had come from DVLC I thought it was some problem.

Turned out to be the new licence.

[Crossy]

31 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

This is something I will be doing later this year. 

Being as how I live some distance from VFS, It may be worth using Keyvisa.

People seem to avoid giving information regarding price.

Please feel free to post how much you paid for this service.

 

It's on their website 5,000 Baht service fee on top of the passport fee.

[sandyf]

12 hours ago, bulmercke said:

but for some reason there must be an issue either sending emails to VFS or receiving emails from them using GMX Mail.  I guess I made a mistake trusting this dodgy free email.

Your emails may well have ended up in their junk folder.

Email monitoring has become quite strict in recent years and you may have had the same problem with any new email account. I am not sure if they can tell how long an account has existed but lack of previous connection can be a problem.

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Last time (which was a while back) it was around 2-3 weeks before I got it back, this time, I'll let you know.

 

The application has just been acknowledged by VFS Global (about a week after Key took my payment) so one would hope "soon". I can't imagine them needing to hold on to it any longer.

 

Can you please tell me/us what other charges you have to pay apart from their 5k and cost of PP ?

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

It's on their website 5,000 Baht service fee on top of the passport fee.

Many thanks for this.

Living in Buriram Keyvisa will be the way to go for me.

[Crossy]

40 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Can you please tell me/us what other charges you have to pay apart from their 5k and cost of PP ?

 

UK legal passport photos.

The minimal cost to EMS the PP, photos and application to them.

 

I'm not aware of any further charges, yet!

 

[transam]

16 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Friend of mine said never again will he use them.

 

As for the op,check your email junk folder

Your chum has been out voted here......????

[transam]

56 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Can you please tell me/us what other charges you have to pay apart from their 5k and cost of PP ?

I believe if you are not going to pick new PP up from KVS office, they charge 100bht to take it to the post office and EMS it to you, that's it..

[Thingamabob]

Never had any problems of this nature with VFS who are efficient and helpful, and have never retained my passport. I suspect you will get a response after the current holidays. 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Your chum has been out voted here......????

yes a small sample

[chilly07]

I also used Darren at KV and the whole process took 7 weeks. Well worth the fee to avoid 2 visits to Trendy as I have restricted mobility. I got my old passport back after the first KV trip to Trendy and returned it for the second. Easy for me as I am in Pattaya.

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, chilly07 said:

I also used Darren at KV and the whole process took 7 weeks. Well worth the fee to avoid 2 visits to Trendy as I have restricted mobility. I got my old passport back after the first KV trip to Trendy and returned it for the second. Easy for me as I am in Pattaya.

 

Yeah.

 

If doing it by post they would like to keep your PP until the new one arrives.

 

If that's a problem then Darren will send it back for the EMS fee and of course you have to send it back to them to get the new PP.

 

 

It's also worth noting that, whilst I and others have had no issues communicating with KV, I've been in conversation with another member who is having exactly the opposite experience with some less than professional exchanges. So it does seem that the bad experiences happen too.

 

So if there are alternatives available who can do by post it's worth posting here.

 

[Jumbo1968]

23 hours ago, Crossy said:

I'm in the same process, but being a lazy <insert suitable expletive> ... I'm using KeyVisa.

 

Darren acknowledged my payment on 5 July, today (13 July) I got notice from VFS that they have forwarded my application to the UK.

 

It remains to be seen how long the process takes.

 

As an aside I applied to renew my UK driving licence on Wednesday last week (using my existing PP number so no need for a new photo), paid my 14 squid using my UK credit card. The new licence arrived at my (ok, my parent's) UK address on Saturday! I have no idea why it was so quick, some of my UK friends have been waiting months.

 

 

 

I used Key Visa to renew our sons U.K. Passport, took 17 weeks, not their fault though, I enquired at Key Visa to renew my U.K. Passport, they said 2 weeks ?