Uk Tourist Visa

[GeordieFarang]

I've become friendly with a Thai family for the past 3 years and the younger daughter has just graduated from University. My wife and I invited the daughter to visit us in England so that she could brush up on her language skills before taking a Master's degree later this year. Now I thought it would be a fairly simple thing to arrange a tourist visa for a short visit to the UK but it looks as if I am mistaken. I found the visa application form on line and gave her guidance on how to complete this and also sent a letter to her saying that we would act as her sponsor while she was in the UK. I advised her to take this to the British Embassy but, for better or worse, she listened to a friend who told her to apply through an agency - TSL & Associate (Thailand) Co. Ltd - as they had handled her application in the past. I was staggered to find that this agency took a non-refundable deposit of 10,000 baht against a grand total of 20,000 baht to process this application. I was horrified at this and just cannot believe the cost. Can this really be the cost of getting a visa just to take a short holiday in the UK? At current exchange rates this equates to £400 - nearly the price of the air fare. Any suggestions gratefully received.

[7by7]

The cost of a visit visa is £65, paid in local currency.

I'm afraid that your friend has been conned by the agency. This is not unusual, unfortunately many so-called visa agencies in Thailand overcharge and give poor, unqualified advice, even those that appear respectable and those run by ex-pat Brits.

Many of these agencies give poor advice which, if followed, often results in the application being refused. I hope that this is not the case for your friend.

If they have not yet submitted the application I suggest that she gets her application form and passport back off them and does it herself. The lost 10Kbaht deposit she will have to write off to experiance.

If she has not yet paid any money to the agency, good. Tell her not to and do it herself.

Any help or advice she or you may need can be obtained here; for free!

[CharlieB]

I've become friendly with a Thai family for the past 3 years and the younger daughter has just graduated from University. My wife and I invited the daughter to visit us in England so that she could brush up on her language skills before taking a Master's degree later this year. Now I thought it would be a fairly simple thing to arrange a tourist visa for a short visit to the UK but it looks as if I am mistaken. I found the visa application form on line and gave her guidance on how to complete this and also sent a letter to her saying that we would act as her sponsor while she was in the UK. I advised her to take this to the British Embassy but, for better or worse, she listened to a friend who told her to apply through an agency - TSL & Associate (Thailand) Co. Ltd - as they had handled her application in the past. I was staggered to find that this agency took a non-refundable deposit of 10,000 baht against a grand total of 20,000 baht to process this application. I was horrified at this and just cannot believe the cost. Can this really be the cost of getting a visa just to take a short holiday in the UK? At current exchange rates this equates to £400 - nearly the price of the air fare. Any suggestions gratefully received.

There is no real need for anyone to use an agency when applying in most cases. Looks like her friend has pointed her in the wrong direction. The application form isn't taken to the embassy. All applications are submitted through a third party agency VFS who take the fee payment and make sure the application is filled out correctly. The onus of visit visas is providing a strong case for the person returning to Thailand at the end of the visit. In this case, if she already has a place on a masters course, proof of this should be supplied.

[GeordieFarang]

The cost of a visit visa is £65, paid in local currency.

I'm afraid that your friend has been conned by the agency. This is not unusual, unfortunately many so-called visa agencies in Thailand overcharge and give poor, unqualified advice, even those that appear respectable and those run by ex-pat Brits.

Many of these agencies give poor advice which, if followed, often results in the application being refused. I hope that this is not the case for your friend.

If they have not yet submitted the application I suggest that she gets her application form and passport back off them and does it herself. The lost 10Kbaht deposit she will have to write off to experiance.

If she has not yet paid any money to the agency, good. Tell her not to and do it herself.

Any help or advice she or you may need can be obtained here; for free!

Many thanks for the prompt reply. While I'm unhappy at her loss of the 10,000 baht I suppose that she should count her blessings that she didn't lose the 20,000! I can't see that there should be any problem in her obtaining a visa for a genuine visit to see this country but I'll certainly come back to this excellent forum should I need further advice.

[mariner29]

At 20,000 that was still cheap we hear fees of £700 sterling is the standard charge Orchid of Siam are the only registered agency in Bangkok.

Edited January 11, 2009 by mariner29