2, 5 Or 10 Year Vv

[Phil_ne_uk]

My girlfriend has had two visitors’ visas to date. The first one was issued in January 2005 and the second in May 2006 and she has now been to the UK on three different occasions. She is about to apply for her third vv and I want her to get a 5 or 10 year visa if possible. I asked the BE about this and they said,

Obtaining a longer term visit visa such as a 2 year, an applicant generally must have previously obtained at least two 6 months visas. The issuance of longer-term visas is a gradual process and is based on individual qualification, therefore issued at the discretion of the Entry Clearance Officer. Please note that the visa fees are non-refundable therefore we cannot refund the difference of visa fees if the longer term visa is not issued.

In 2005 the V V fee was 2880 baht. Last year it was 3500 baht and this year’s exorbitant fee for a 6 month visa is 4,536 Baht. A multiple visit visa for 2, 5 or 10 years is 14,400 Baht, who would possibly apply for a 2 year visa? No-one!

The question is has anyone’s girlfriend had any luck obtaining a 5 or 10 year visitors’ visa?

Or does anyone know the criterion to be eligible for a longer duration V V?

Cheers,

Phil

[Mahout Angrit]

From UK VAC site

From 25th August 2006, multiple entry/ business visit visas will be issued for a period of 6 months or 2 years only, unless a person already holds a previously issued 5 year visit visa. The British Embassy in Bangkok will no longer be issuing 5 year or 10 year multiple entry visit/business visit visas until further notice, due to the introduction of biometrics.

Many posters here have obtained two year visit visas and provided she stuck to the periods she requested on the previous applications should be possible although probably not really viable.

Edited August 5, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[yaketyak]

It would be interesting to see if she could get a two year visa. Unlike Mahout i don't know anyone who has obtained anything other than a 6 month visa , so if you do apply for one i for one would be interested in the outcome. I always understood that two year (and the old 5 and 10 also) were reserved for those for whom it is "appropriate" which is official speak for "not your average Thai" . Do let us know.

Regarding the fees i do have to disagree. THB 14400 , whilst a rip-off like all visa fees, is such a trivial amount to us Brits that to even consider it is absurd. The massive advantage of getting a two year visa and all the hassle it saves over getting regular 6 month ones is well worth it.

[Phil_ne_uk]

From 25th August 2006, multiple entry/ business visit visas will be issued for a period of 6 months or 2 years only, unless a person already holds a previously issued 5 year visit visa. The British Embassy in Bangkok will no longer be issuing 5 year or 10 year multiple entry visit/business visit visas until further notice, due to the introduction of biometrics.

Many posters here have obtained two year visit visas and provided she stuck to the periods she requested on the previous applications should be possible although probably not really viable.

Mahout, I could be wrong but I understand that statement refers to a business visa, not a visitors visa. The BE said nothing about a limit for visitors visa’s when they replied to my email.

It would be interesting to see if she could get a two year visa. Unlike Mahout i don't know anyone who has obtained anything other than a 6 month visa , so if you do apply for one i for one would be interested in the outcome. I always understood that two year (and the old 5 and 10 also) were reserved for those for whom it is "appropriate" which is official speak for "not your average Thai" . Do let us know.

Yaketyak, may I ask where you obtained this information regarding “not your average Thai”

Regarding the fees i do have to disagree. THB 14400 , whilst a rip-off like all visa fees, is such a trivial amount to us Brits that to even consider it is absurd. The massive advantage of getting a two year visa and all the hassle it saves over getting regular 6 month ones is well worth it.

With all respect what you wrote above seems to be contradictory. First you agree that the visa fee is a rip off but then you say 14400 Baht is a trivial amount. Maybe you have loads of cash to throw away to the greedy UK gov but many of us don’t. Its also not just the amount but the principle.

Apart from that why should it cost the equivalent of 7200 for a 6 month V V when a single 6 month V V costs 4536 Baht? They only have the application to do once so the fee should be only 4536. lets face it, it’s the same work to issue a 6 month 2, 5 or 10 year visa.

What may I ask do you consider is a massive advantage of getting a two year visa?

[doctormann]

I would willingly pay the 14400THB fee for a 2-year visa, just to avoid the enormous pain in the backside of having to put together all that paperwork every time the missus needs a VV. In fact, I would willingly pay for the 10-year jobby if there was any chance of getting it! As has been pointed out, however, the 5-year and 10-year VVs are not currently available. Just what this has to do with biometrics escapes me.

I was told, when I asked the UK Embassy in BKK, that 2-year visas were possible after the applicant had already had 'at least two six month VVs'. The missus has just got her 2nd VV so applying for a 2-year one was not appropriate - this time.

Next time she will definitely try for the 2-year VV. If you think about it, you would just about break even on the cost (although I agree it is a rip-off) if three trips were made within the 2 years. You would save a lot of hassle with the paperwork and would avoid multiple trips to BKK, along with the associated costs.

Yes, UK visa fees are expensive (same with many other countries) but I reckon that getting the longest validity available is the way to go - always assuming that multiple trips will actually be made, of course.

DM

[the scouser]

Just what this has to do with biometrics escapes me.

Me too. Methinks the embassy are using the introduction of biometrics as a convenient way of not issuing any 5- or ten-year visit visas.

Scouse.

[yaketyak]

Phil, to answer your questions

1) i read somewhere recently , could be ukvisas site?, thast 2 year visit visas are available to "appropriate" applicants. I construed this to mean not your average low earning or unemployed Thai but the higher ups in society. However thats just how i read it ...could mean something else. Thats why i said do let us know if you get the 2 year and how easy it was to get. Personally i know no-one who has it although other posters do so it is possible it seems.

2) not contradictory at all. I agree the fees are a rip-off but i also think its a trivial amount in the scheme of things. When chatting to many farang in Thailand or the UK i am constantly amazed at how they will talk of spending small fortunes on booze and sex in Thailand but when it comes to visas or flight tickets or accomodation they are as tight as you can get. ( i am actually the other way around!!). I can only speak of those i have known , but they are all wealthy ... and tight

3) doctormann has answered your last question for me .

[Bobegraves]

I got a 2 year vv for my partner quite easily. She had only had one vv to the UK before that .We sent all the required paper work and had no problems.Been together for 4 years and had a civil union last November.

[bkk_mike]

My mother-in-law is on her third 2 year visit visa.

We've NEVER applied for a 2 year visa, only 10 year ones, and they've NEVER been issued.

Biometrics is simply a new excuse for what they've been doing all along in Bangkok. - Unless you know a Thai that has been issued a 10 year visit visa (to the UK - she's got a 10 years for the US).

IF anything - putting in biometrics should hopefully mean that longer visas should be issuable. i.e. They did her fingerprints for the US, and the visa has her picture on it. - Will the UK be doing the same - fingerprints and pictures on the visa - so that people can't land, then "lose" their documents and claim asylum, as the fingerprint record will mean they know exactly who the person is.

Personally, if they just came out and said - we won't issue 5 and 10 year multi-entry visas to Thais because Thailand doesn't issue 5 and 10 year multi-entry visas to Brits - I'd be fine with that. (That's a reasonable position)

To say it's somehow related to biometrics just seems weird.

P.S. The issue isn't the cost - the issue is the hassle involved. (Getting a visa for Thailand is a matter of going to the embassy with an application form (one side of one sheet of A4) and the fee, a copy of my wife's ID card and the marriage certificate - I don't need recent bank statements, proof of income, proof of address in Thailand, letter from a sponsor, etc. etc.) Add in that my mother-in-law doesn't live in Bangkok, and applying for her new visa every two years is a pain in the neck. (And if anything, biometrics will make it worse, as she'll have to go in person...)