23 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

The process is now handled by an ousourced private company by their Bangkok office as stated above.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, VFS only capture the biometric details, upload supporting evidence if the applicant hasn't uploaded it themselfs, and retain the applicants passport until a decision has been made by a directly employed ECO in either the UK, India or China, I think that's what you meant. 

21 hours ago, theoldgit said:

 

For the avoidance of doubt, VFS only capture the biometric details, upload supporting evidence if the applicant hasn't uploaded it themselfs, and retain the applicants passport until a decision has been made by a directly employed ECO in either the UK, India or China, I think that's what you meant. 

Well yes but from an applicant's point of view, the whole process is handled by VFS. There may on some occasions, be contact with an ECO if there is a problem or they want additional information and/or they do sometimes contact an employer to check the applicant's employment status etc.

On 1/23/2023 at 12:55 AM, superal said:

      Reasons to return might be ?   Interested as my lady was refused , despite having own property , large restaurant and supporting parents . 

Reasons to return has always been a thorny issue with much disagreement on what will convince an ECO.  My personal view is that 'insufficient reasons to return' is sometimes used by an ECO when they are just not happy with something on an application but their reasons are not part of the guidance they are given.

 

Some people think that owning land or having children are good reasons to return - I don't agree.  It is perfectly possible to own land in one country and live in another and in the case of children - it is quite common for parents to live separately from their kids in Thailand.

 

The essence of a genuine concern over reasons to return is to show a settled and stable life in an applicant's home country.  Close family ties, a regular job are normally accepted as evidence of the above.  However, in my opinion, on too many occasions 'reasons to return' is a lottery. I've seen people with plenty of evidence refused and people with very little evidence accepted.

 

For evidence of my 'lottery' suspicison - see Roo860's earlier post.

 

Conversely, I've also seen people claim that plenty of reasons have been given but when the application and refusal notice are examined, you can see why.  Quite often an application falls down because the evidence provided doesn't stack up when checked.  For example, quite a lot of people in Thailand work on a basis that to Western thinking is causal.  They give an employer's details but when the ECO tries contact them, nobody answers.

 

To give an opinion on why an application has failed, the evidence provided would and the decision notice would need to be examined.  Even then, what is acceptable to one ECO is not to another.

 

I have found though, that if the reasons for refusal are dealt with properly on re-submission, the application is granted.  However, remember this, ECO's have a set amount of time allowed to deal with an application - make sure the evidence is clear and easily accessible.  It is not unheard of for an ECO to miss vital evidence - I've seen some people state that bank statements have been sent, for example but the ECO states that the sponsor has failed to provide financial evidence.

 

It used to be that indexed 'Evidence Folders' were the way to go but I'm told that these are now taken apart by VFS.

26 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Well yes but from an applicant's point of view, the whole process is handled by VFS. There may on some occasions, be contact with an ECO if there is a problem or they want additional information and/or they do sometimes contact an employer to check the applicant's employment status etc.

Applicants can believe what they want, but the fact remains that VFS staff play no part whatsoever in the decision making process, they don’t even see the actual application.

if an ECO requires clarification, and the vast majority of applications are decided on the application and the supporting evidence submitted, they will either make their own enquiries, or use a locally employed member of the UKVI team based in Bangkok to make enquiries.

It is really impossible to comment on the reasons for refusal of an application without all the facts including the rejection letter.  Every applicant presumably thinks they have explained everything thoroughly but it isn’t always how it looks to someone else. From rejection letters I have seen they do normally give a clear indication of what they are not happy about.