All British Visa Requests By Post

[george]

All British visa requests by post

The British embassy in Bangkok has requested that all Thais wanting to travel to the United Kingdom submit their applications by post or make use of its drop-box facility.

It cited unprecedented demand as the reason for the move, which came into effect on July 5.

The embassy said its visa section would from now on only accept a limited number of face-to-face applications each day.

“Very urgent and compassionate cases will be decided on an exceptional and individual basis by the entry-clearance manager,” the embassy said.

Applicants must include full supporting documentation to avoid delay, it added.

An embassy officer said more than 200 applicants showed up at the visa section each day, but the section was only capable of processing 80.

The increase in applications has partly been sparked by Phuket Airline’s special seven-day package tour to Britain. Some applicants have been queuing at the embassy as early as 1am. The visa section opens at 7.30am.

For further visa information, visit the British embassy’s website at www. britishembassy.gov.uk/thailand.

[BIG SPUDS]

If you look at the uk embassy web page it says you can make use of the drop box if you meet the criteria. This criteria does not mention people applying for tourist visas. So what does that mean?

Can you use it if you want the tourist visa?

My GF is still going in august and is a bit confused as she has been told to go by an office who deals with applications for visas, and the embassy have told her she can use the drop box if she wants?

CONFUSED!!!!

Please email me if you have been to the embassy lately and tell me your experince of if she should go in person or post!

[george]

Why email?? Better if people answer here!

Thanks!

[BIG SPUDS]

Can anyone tell me from 1st hand experience or a reliable source, what is now required for the correct method of applying for a visa.

GF wants to apply again in August, Has anyone been and turned away becuase of "Too many People" wanting interviews?

Has anybody used the drop box for Tourist applications?

What does any one suggest for the best?

Please help she wants to the visa for september 26th, but cannot be interviewed before august as waiting information/ proof of our relationship.

[Darlek]

If you look at the uk embassy web page it says you can make use of the drop box if you meet the criteria. This criteria does not mention people applying for tourist visas. So what does that mean?

Can you use it if you want the tourist visa?

My GF is still going in august and is a bit confused as she has been told to go by an office who deals with applications for visas, and the embassy have told her she can use the drop box if she wants?

CONFUSED!!!!

Please email me if you have been to the embassy lately and tell me your experince of if she should go in person or post!

just ring up the foreign office and ask for the asian section ,they will tell you what the score is.

[the scouser]

Big Spuds,

The drop-box facility can only be used by applicants who meet certain criteria - see the embassy website.

Except in exceptional circumstances the embassy is now only accepting postal applications. Should your g/f require an interview the embassy will write back to her with a date and a list of supporting documents which she should produce. The current waiting time as per the embassy's website is 63 days. If you anticipate her travelling to the UK in September she should therefore apply immediately.

In another thread you asked for clarification of what precisely had occurred at your g/f's previous trip to the embassy. The visa officers have a brief chat with any new applicant and will form an opinion as to whether the person will qualify or not. This is called a sift. Should the officer believe that the individual is unlikely to succeed in getting the visa then he will inform the applicant of this and invite the applicant not to formally submit the application, thus saving the non-returnable fee and avoiding having a refusal signal endorsed in the passport. However, should the applicant wish to proceed, he/she can insist on lodging the application and undergoing a formal interview. From how you described it, this appears to have been what happened to your g/f when she last went to the embassy.

Hope that helps,

Scouse.

[the scouser]

Just to clarify the drop-box facility:-

This can be used for any type of visa application should the applicant meet one of the criteria. Unless your g/f has travelled to N America, UK, etc within the last 2 years it is unlikely that she will qualify to use this facility.

Scouse.

[jayenram]

We applied by post to the British Embassy in February 2004 for a visitor’s visa intending to travel to the UK in early September 2004. We were informed by email and by telephone that the application had been submitted too early and were advised to resubmit an application in July 2004. In mid June, we submitted a further application with up-dated supporting documentation.

After reading the notice on the British Embassy website (3rd July 2004), I emailed the Embassy concerned that the issuing of the visa would be delayed to the extent that it may jeopardise our trip. On 7th July 2004, we received a mailed notification that an interview had been arranged for 28th July 2004. Five days later, we had a telephone call from the Embassy advising that we should travel to Bangkok to attend a preliminary meeting with the Entry Clearance Officer at our convenience (Monday to Thursday, 13:00 – 14:00 hrs). Should this meeting satisfy the ECO then the visa would be issued the same day at 15:00 hrs and there would be no need to then attend an interview. Should the ECO not be satisfied, then we should attend the previously arranged interview.

We intend to meet the ECO on Monday 19th July. I will post the results on this thread.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Big Spuds,

The drop-box facility can only be used by applicants who meet certain criteria - see the embassy website.

Except in exceptional circumstances the embassy is now only accepting postal applications. Should your g/f require an interview the embassy will write back to her with a date and a list of supporting documents which she should produce. The current waiting time as per the embassy's website is 63 days. If you anticipate her travelling to the UK in September she should therefore apply immediately.

In another thread you asked for clarification of what precisely had occurred at your g/f's previous trip to the embassy. The visa officers have a brief chat with any new applicant and will form an opinion as to whether the person will qualify or not. This is called a sift. Should the officer believe that the individual is unlikely to succeed in getting the visa then he will inform the applicant of this and invite the applicant not to formally submit the application, thus saving the non-returnable fee and avoiding having a refusal signal endorsed in the passport. However, should the applicant wish to proceed, he/she can insist on lodging the application and undergoing a formal interview. From how you described it, this appears to have been what happened to your g/f when she last went to the embassy.

Hope that helps,

Scouse.

Long time no see Scouse. Wherever have you been ? Welcome back.

[the scouser]

Hi Doc,

They don't have access to computers where I've been.......

But it's good to be out, er sorry, back.

Scouse.

[pschef]

I live in Chiang mai, is it possible to apply for a visa at the British Consul?

Just wondering

[the scouser]

The consulate in Chiang Mai, unfortunately, doesn't process visa applications. They may take in an application and pass it to the embassy to be assessed but you'd have to clarify that. E-mail [email protected]

Scouse.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The consulate in Chiang Mai, unfortunately, doesn't process visa applications. They may take in an application and pass it to the embassy to be assessed but you'd have to clarify that. E-mail [email protected]

Scouse.

The Annual get together for Country Members I guess. Lest we forget.

[Martin]

I went to the Embassy just a few days before this all hit the fan.

I was so appalled (at the poor physical arrangements laid on for visa applicants) that I wrote to London.

My letter is below. Of course I put my request for reply at the end, as such letters get 'topped and tailed' by their skim-reading recipients. A few dozen letters on the lines of my last few sentences wouldn't come amiss.

If I don't get a reply in a reasonable time, I am minded to try to get a Parliamentary Question put down about forward planning of Embassy facilities for visa-issuing.

As usual, it is a UKvisas (the Home Office-FCO unit) that is letting the side down. Consulate (upstairs) is a pleasure to visit, for service as well as adequate facilities.

e-mail: [email protected] xxxxx214 Group 2,

website: www.thaihomestay.co.uk xxxxxxNon Sa-At,

tel: +66 (0) 42 392 705 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxUdon Thani,

mobile: +66 (0) 98 61 44 69 xxxxxxxxxxx41240, Thailand

The Desk Officer for Bangkok,

Visa Correspondence Section, 03 July 2004

Ukvisas, London SW1A 2AH, UK.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Comment on insufficient facilities at Bangkok, and query: ‘How come?’

I am a British citizen who, last Tuesday (29 June) had to visit your visa-issuance service to make an application for a visa for my (Thai) wife to visit UK with me this coming September. I found the experience to be physically uncomfortable, though administratively properly-conducted.

Arriving at 07.30 (the advertised waiting time), I joined a long queue outside in the hot sunshine.

At 08.00, I entered the first building. There I counted 50 of us shuffling forward in a U-shaped queue in a space that I estimated to be some 10 foot by 50 foot, and with some of that area taken up by about a dozen chairs and a form-filling counter. The atmosphere was stuffy, as well as the space being tightly crowded. I reflected on what an unwelcoming impression of the UK this must give to foreign nationals.

I noticed on the wall an announcement that the waiting time for interviews was some 8 weeks (about the same as it had been 5 years ago, when I last attended this office).

Having handed in my wife’s application, I was directed to a large waiting room that was blandly boring, and perishingly cold from an over-vigorous air-conditioning system.

It struck me that the present number of travelers is broadly in line with forecasts made some years ago by organizations such as the British Airports Authority; and that Ukvisas must have quite accurate figures of the proportion of visa applicants who have to attend in person; and of the proportion of them who need to be interviewed.

So I am writing to enquire how it is that the provision of visa-issuance space on the Embassy premises (where there are empty acres) was not increased as necessary ahead of forecastable increased demand? And how such a backlog of interviews occurs?

The FCO websites are adequate, even impressive. But the physical resources committed do not match. This embarrasses me, as a British citizen.

Yours faithfully, Martin Allinson

[jayenram]

We applied by post to the British Embassy in February 2004 for a visitor’s visa intending to travel to the UK in early September 2004. We were informed by email and by telephone that the application had been submitted too early and were advised to resubmit an application in July 2004. In mid June, we submitted a further application with up-dated supporting documentation.

After reading the notice on the British Embassy website (3rd July 2004), I emailed the Embassy concerned that the issuing of the visa would be delayed to the extent that it may jeopardise our trip. On 7th July 2004, we received a mailed notification that an interview had been arranged for 28th July 2004. Five days later, we had a telephone call from the Embassy advising that we should travel to Bangkok to attend a preliminary meeting with the Entry Clearance Officer at our convenience (Monday to Thursday, 13:00 – 14:00 hrs). Should this meeting satisfy the ECO then the visa would be issued the same day at 15:00 hrs and there would be no need to then attend an interview. Should the ECO not be satisfied, then we should attend the previously arranged interview.

We intend to meet the ECO on Monday 19th July. I will post the results on this thread.

To continue.......

We arrived at the British Embassy at 12:50 to find a queue of over 100 applicants in the hot sunshine. At 13:00, the gate was opened and the applicant(s) were allowed in individually (obviously for security reasons). By 13:20 we were ushered in the gate and found the previously mentioned horseshoe queue for the deposition of applications, interview notifications and passports. By 13:45 we had deposit the FG's passport and were asked to wait until her name was called.

The FG was very nervous, almost frightened, of the forthcoming "interview" and continued to sit and frett until her name was called at 15:15. It was apparent that only two of the three counters were in use.

The "interview" lasted not much longer than one minute during which she was asked the following four questions, viz: "For how long do you intend to visit England?"; "How long have you known your boyfriend?"; "Does your boyfriend live in Thailand?"; "What w*rk does your boyfriend do?". All the answers to these questions were in the application. It was, in my opinion, an advantage that I'd persuaded (finally) the FG to answer the questions in English. She was then asked to wait until her name was called, to collect her visa (no indication was given as to how long this would take).

At 16:20 the visa was issued.

Although it was an uncomfortably long wait, this was outweighed for her by the fact that she had passed the "interview" and had her UK visa.

[pnustedt]

At 16:20 the visa was issued.

Oh dear, you do realise that you have to buy TWO return tickets now?

[jayenram]

At 16:20 the visa was issued.

Oh dear, you do realise that you have to buy TWO return tickets now?

Oh bugger!

Now where did I put that visa?

[Martin]

Exactly the same happened to me.

When finally called to the window, a young(ish) Brit woman asked me "How long do you want to go this time?".

I was amazed as she had that information staring her in the face on the piece of paper she was holding.

But since she seemed to be in a tearing great hurry (or practising for a rapid-fire speech competition) I just said "Three weeks".

Then she asked "When do you want to go?". That, too, was staring her in the face; but I took the question at face value and said "September 5th".

She then rattled off "Right. Take seat and wait for the cashier".

There was me expecting a grilling about why I was there and not my wife (she was ill that day) and all sorts of other things! I doubt if I was at the window 20 seconds.

But oh, boy! was it ever good to get back out into the warmth of LOS. Do the bosses keep that aircon at London winter temperature, in case the juniors otherwise 'go native'?