I will be renewing my UK passport next year and am thinking of using Key Visa Co Has anybody here used them and can relate their experience.

I had to renew my UK PP last year, I saw Darren at Key Visa, then compared his quote with Thai Visa Express, and I decided to go with Thai Visa Express. I got very fast friendly service from Thai Visa Express, and I personally recommend them.

 

Key Visa was run by Darren who sadly died a while back. I believe his wife and the Thai staff are now running the business.

Am based in Pattaya and used Key Visa in early 2021, primarily due to covid transport restrictions. Took about 7 weeks to process and all went smoothly.

This was before Darren passed away but have not heard of any problems stemming from that sad event.

Used this company a couple of months ago. Took 2-3 weeks to renew

https://thaivisa-express.com/can-a-visa-agent-help-me-get-a-new-british-passport/

1 hour ago, BenCrew said:

Used this company a couple of months ago. Took 2-3 weeks to renew

https://thaivisa-express.com/can-a-visa-agent-help-me-get-a-new-british-passport/

Thanks, I will use them. I did it all myself last time but it was a hassle as I don't have a credit card and my BBK debit card wont do pounds sterling, in the end I had to get a virtual credit card from Kasikorn, then travel twice to Bangkok with two overnight stays so the fee is well worth it.

I used Keyvisa at the beginning of this year and all went well apart from the passing of Darren during the process. This caused a small problem for me which was quickly resolved. 

I'm in Buriram so using an agent is probably cheaper for me. The process took 12 weeks.

I used My Thai Visa.com. cupla months ago.

[email protected]. 12 000 baht all done via phone and post

18 hours ago, BenCrew said:

Used this company a couple of months ago. Took 2-3 weeks to renew

https://thaivisa-express.com/can-a-visa-agent-help-me-get-a-new-british-passport/

Do you know where their office in Thailand is located? Did you go there, or do send everything by post?

Their office in Pattaya is at the top of Soi 15 the Buakhow end.

 

I used them last week 11000bt for a 32 page standard passport.

 

I was asked to return in 7 days to pick up the old passport which I did.

 

I asked the lady yesterday how long, about 8 weeks? She said they are much quicker now, maybe 4 or 5 weeks.

 

Excellent service. The lady even filled the form in for me and I just had to sign. You also need to provide 2 passport photos.

 

I would definitely recommend Thai Visa.

I used them a few years ago & had no problems.
Will use them again when passport due for renewal
 

They got the job done for me for child first passport application and made it all easy but I was furious when I learned they sat on the application for over a month before actually doing anything, passports were taking months to process and this additional and unwarranted delay caused no end of problems for me.

On 9/1/2023 at 8:21 AM, soalbundy said:

I will be renewing my UK passport next year and am thinking of using Key Visa Co Has anybody here used them and can relate their experience.

I used them when Darren was there and was stung badly. But  things could be different now.

Key Visa giives great service. I have used then twice to renew my passport and most recently since Darren passed I have renewed my sons passport with great service.

23 hours ago, grain said:

I had to renew my UK PP last year, I saw Darren at Key Visa, then compared his quote with Thai Visa Express, and I decided to go with Thai Visa Express. I got very fast friendly service from Thai Visa Express, and I personally recommend them.

 

Key Visa was run by Darren who sadly died a while back. I believe his wife and the Thai staff are now running the business.

they are indeed and things appear to be the same =no probs,

I used them a year ago, just before Darren sadly passed away. Cannot fault their service. I had filled the form in red ink as I am colour blind, and did not see the pen colour. He sent me an e-mail, laughed it off, and refilled the forms. Had an email that hey had the passport, and it was at the house in Surin next day. Cannot fault them.

On 9/1/2023 at 1:48 PM, BenCrew said:

Used this company a couple of months ago. Took 2-3 weeks to renew

https://thaivisa-express.com/can-a-visa-agent-help-me-get-a-new-british-passport/

I used Thai Visa Express last year for  renewal. Excellent, no fuss or BS.  If memory is intact, the handler was Paul.

1 hour ago, elwood said:

I used Thai Visa Express last year for  renewal. Excellent, no fuss or BS.  If memory is intact, the handler was Paul.

Yes Paul. I was dealing with him from my home in Korat, I had the form and I phoned Paul to ask some questions about the form, he said just sign it and send it to him, they filled everything in correctly. Also he takes care of the UK fees, I just did a bank transfer from my Thai account to his, all very easy and fast.

On 9/2/2023 at 7:58 AM, mikeymike100 said:

Do you know where their office in Thailand is located? Did you go there, or do send everything by post?

Their office is in Pattaya. I did everything by post.

IMHO says it all about the ridiculous procedures we Brits are subject to at passport renewal time these days that we appear to be alone among Western nationals living in LOS in needing to fork out extra for the services of agents to make them bearable!

 

20 hours ago, OJAS said:

IMHO says it all about the ridiculous procedures we Brits are subject to at passport renewal time these days that we appear to be alone among Western nationals living in LOS in needing to fork out extra for the services of agents to make them bearable!

 

It saves a trip to BKK. I also have an Aussie PP, I renewed that last year too but had to attend in person at the Australian fortress in BKK. So that entailed a return trip to BKK and 1 night in a hotel.

20 hours ago, grain said:

It saves a trip to BKK. I also have an Aussie PP, I renewed that last year too but had to attend in person at the Australian fortress in BKK. So that entailed a return trip to BKK and 1 night in a hotel.

But only 1 trip in connection with your Aussie passport, I take it, with your new passport being mailed/couriered to you direct? 2 physical trips are mandatory in the case of British passports, firstly to submit your renewal application and secondly to collect your new passport a number of weeks later.

 

And no physical trips at all to central offices are needed in the case of those who are permitted to apply for new British passports online from a fair few countries (including Malaysia and Singapore in this part of the world), but not Thailand for some mysterious reason.

 

On 9/5/2023 at 9:57 AM, OJAS said:

IMHO says it all about the ridiculous procedures we Brits are subject to at passport renewal time these days that we appear to be alone among Western nationals living in LOS in needing to fork out extra for the services of agents to make them bearable!

 

It's not just Thailand. Unfortunately, nowadays the UK Embassies do not apparently provide basic services such as passport renewal anywhere in the world.

 

I was living in BKK in the early '90s. If I remember correctly, in order to renew my passport I trotted along to the Embassy in Wireless Road  - can't remember if I needed an appointment - filled out a form, gave them some cash and was told to come back in 2/3 weeks to collect new passport. All worked perfectly. (I believe a similar service was available at the Chang Mai consulate): A similar process occurred when I went to renew my passport in Brussels 10 years later. All changed in early 2010s. Tried to renew my passport at UK Embassy in Brussels once again and was informed that they no longer provide passport services and that I would need to go to London or Paris to do so. Told that it was due to cost cutting. My suggestion that they might like to think about combining the three independent diplomatic missions which the UK had in Brussels - one to the EU; one to NATO and one to Belgium - under one administrative and physical roof in order to save money seemed to fall on deaf ears.

16 hours ago, RayC said:

It's not just Thailand. Unfortunately, nowadays the UK Embassies do not apparently provide basic services such as passport renewal anywhere in the world.

 

I was living in BKK in the early '90s. If I remember correctly, in order to renew my passport I trotted along to the Embassy in Wireless Road  - can't remember if I needed an appointment - filled out a form, gave them some cash and was told to come back in 2/3 weeks to collect new passport. All worked perfectly. (I believe a similar service was available at the Chang Mai consulate): A similar process occurred when I went to renew my passport in Brussels 10 years later. All changed in early 2010s. Tried to renew my passport at UK Embassy in Brussels once again and was informed that they no longer provide passport services and that I would need to go to London or Paris to do so. Told that it was due to cost cutting. My suggestion that they might like to think about combining the three independent diplomatic missions which the UK had in Brussels - one to the EU; one to NATO and one to Belgium - under one administrative and physical roof in order to save money seemed to fall on deaf ears.

I believe that at one time UK embassies worldwide used to provide a one-stop shop to local expats needing services provided by HM Government. This is, unfortunately, no longer the case, with the result that expats are now required to deal direct with a whole raft of Government organisations depending on which service they are after - e.g. HMPO in the case of passport renewals, DWP in the case of the State Pension and HMRC in the case of taxation issues generally. And this shift of responsibilities appears to have happened at the same time as the "joined-up Government" concept, which was being so enthusiatically espoused by the likes of Tony Blair 20 years ago, has been steadily eroded in the meantime - with the result that it appears that each component part of HM Government is now required to confine its activities to responsibilities which fall strictly within the purview of their particular silo, with blinkers firmly attached so as to prevent any "undesirable" sideways glances into other silos.

 

I strongly suspect that a negative consequence of all this, as far as we are concerned, is that embassies' detailed knowledge of local issues which could affect how HM Government services are provided to expats living abroad is almost certainly not passed on these days to those sitting in HMPO, DWP and HMRC ivory towers.

 

On 9/7/2023 at 8:17 AM, OJAS said:

And no physical trips at all to central offices are needed in the case of those who are permitted to apply for new British passports online from a fair few countries (including Malaysia and Singapore in this part of the world), but not Thailand for some mysterious reason.

In a naive attempt to discover what that mysterious reason might be I used the messaging function on the HMPO website to ask why we had to undergo the inconvenience of two trips to VFS or the extra expense of hiring an agent while, as you say, it's possible to apply online from many other countries.

 

The reply came back as follows:

"Thank you for your email about applying for a passport.

Unfortunately, not all countries follow the same rules.

Regards,

His Majesty’s Passport Office"

 

I can't decide whether the person who wrote that is stupid or just doesn't care - probably both.

 

20 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

 

 

I can't decide whether the person who wrote that is stupid or just doesn't care - probably both.

 

 

Probably not as daft as the person who:-

 

1. Bothered to correspond with HMPO.

 

2. Expected a sensible reply from that communication.

On 9/8/2023 at 11:15 AM, hotandsticky said:

 

Probably not as daft as the person who:-

 

1. Bothered to correspond with HMPO.

 

2. Expected a sensible reply from that communication.

But no-one - and I mean absolutely no-one - can surpass the legions of clueless dimwits employed by HMPO in the daftness stakes! They are in a league of their own.

 

On 9/7/2023 at 4:11 PM, RayC said:

It's not just Thailand. Unfortunately, nowadays the UK Embassies do not apparently provide basic services such as passport renewal anywhere in the world.

 

I was living in BKK in the early '90s. If I remember correctly, in order to renew my passport I trotted along to the Embassy in Wireless Road  - can't remember if I needed an appointment - filled out a form, gave them some cash and was told to come back in 2/3 weeks to collect new passport. All worked perfectly. (I believe a similar service was available at the Chang Mai consulate): A similar process occurred when I went to renew my passport in Brussels 10 years later. All changed in early 2010s. Tried to renew my passport at UK Embassy in Brussels once again and was informed that they no longer provide passport services and that I would need to go to London or Paris to do so. Told that it was due to cost cutting. My suggestion that they might like to think about combining the three independent diplomatic missions which the UK had in Brussels - one to the EU; one to NATO and one to Belgium - under one administrative and physical roof in order to save money seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Previously i have renewed my passport at the Hong Kong consulate. No appointment just turn up and collect it 2 days later. Same price as the UK. Also in Taipei just turn up fill the forms and it took 5 days as the passport was actually created in Hong Kong and posted to the Taipei consulate. This was all in the past. 

 

I am in Chiang Mai now and you have to use VFS Global who at least have an office in the city. Email for an appointment. Colour copies of every page of your passport required, download the forms, print, get some photos etc. You have to do it all yourself. Passport cost is £138 including postage. VFS charge 1520 baht for accepting your application and forwarding to the UK. Current turn around time is 3 or 4 weeks if its fast and many months if its slow. Fast or slow you will find out only after applying. 

All all that faffing about is why I used an agent.

On 9/12/2023 at 12:20 PM, CNXBKKMAN said:

Passport cost is £138 including postage. VFS charge 1520 baht for accepting your application and forwarding to the UK.

That’s not quite correct, the passport fee is correct but VFS don’t charge for processing applications and forwarding them to the UK.

 

The courier fee is charged, and collected, by the UKPA for sending the new passport from the UK to Thailand.

On 9/16/2023 at 4:17 PM, theoldgit said:

That’s not quite correct, the passport fee is correct but VFS don’t charge for processing applications and forwarding them to the UK.

 

The courier fee is charged, and collected, by the UKPA for sending the new passport from the UK to Thailand.

I have not made my application yet but i hope you are right.