Uk Visit Visa

[goonerthegooner]

Hi All,

Just thought you might like too be updated with this new UK Visa Company called VFS[THAILAND ]LTD at Lumphini.

Went up there for a tourit Visa for the wife of 5 years now,and guess what,they want 100,000 yes 100,000 Baht Tea Money,before they even process the paperwork. With that i told them where too stuff their Visa.

As you could imagine,i was well pissed off,too top it all it's and Indian owned Company.

I telephoned the UK Embassy in Bangkok,too complain about this,their answer was not our problem we have out sourced it,take it or leave it. As usual,no bloody help at all.

So just watch yourselves up there now,they are all on the take.

[Mobi]

Hi All,

Just thought you might like too be updated with this new UK Visa Company called VFS[THAILAND ]LTD at Lumphini.

Went up there for a tourit Visa for the wife of 5 years now,and guess what,they want 100,000 yes 100,000 Baht Tea Money,before they even process the paperwork. With that i told them where too stuff their Visa.

As you could imagine,i was well pissed off,too top it all it's and Indian owned Company.

I telephoned the UK Embassy in Bangkok,too complain about this,their answer was not our problem we have out sourced it,take it or leave it. As usual,no bloody help at all.

So just watch yourselves up there now,they are all on the take.

Could you clarify please? Is this the same company in Ploenchit that the British Embassy has appointed to processes all visas etc to the UK?

And what exactly was this 100,000 Baht fee for? To do the paperwork, or just process the visa application?

If they are also doing this kind of "under table ", "smooth the process" business, at the very least there is a serious conflict of interest here.

In any event, if you have been married for 5 years, you shouldn't have any problems in getting a tourist visa.

[goonerthegooner]

Hi Mobi,

The place the UK use now is VFS[THAILAND]LTD.

Regent House,

Rajdamri Road,

Lumpini

Prathumwan,

The 100,000 was just tea money too process the paperwork.

They do not issue Visa's there,all paperwork when complete is taken too the Emabssy for the Consulars approval,and brought back too the office.

Seems the more you pay the ''''quicker you get the visa''''''.

There have been many bad reports of this company,and their underhand tactics,but they know you are stuffed without paying,as you cannot go direct too the Embassy now.

Hope this helps

[geriatrickid]

Dioesn't sound right. If it is tea money, the company will have broken its contract with the UK government. I find it hard to believe that the UK would tolerate such extortion. Perhaps a written complaint to the embassy, with a copy to a few MPs such as the responsible minister and the opposition critic.

It's unacceptable.

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here

[Mobi]

Hi Gooner,

Yes that's what I thought . I haven't used their service but I know how it works - I just wondered if it was the same office, which you have now confirmed.

If what you say is correct ( and of that I have no doubt), then it it is an absolute disgrace, and someone high up at the embassy should be made aware of this.

We, farangs are quick to criticise the Thais for corruption and underhand practises, yet here is the so-called bastion of "all that is right and proper" condoning similar activities.

Maybe a letter to the Times of the Telegraph would be in order.

I won't name names, but there is a certain honorary consul who is not averse to taking back handers to write certain letters.

It would seem that if you stay in Thailand long enough you become one of them. (when in Rome)

But even our own members of the house of Lords are not averse to being bribed in return for influencing legislation. I really do despair.

[goonerthegooner]

Hi Mobi,

Have drafted a letter much the same as what i have written here and send it too The

[Mobi]

Hi Mobi,

Have drafted a letter much the same as what i have written here and send it too The.....

The..........?????

I'm waiting with bated breath

[typhoon]

Hi All,

Just thought you might like too be updated with this new UK Visa Company called VFS[THAILAND ]LTD at Lumphini.

Went up there for a tourit Visa for the wife of 5 years now,and guess what,they want 100,000 yes 100,000 Baht Tea Money,before they even process the paperwork. With that i told them where too stuff their Visa.

As you could imagine,i was well pissed off,too top it all it's and Indian owned Company.

I telephoned the UK Embassy in Bangkok,too complain about this,their answer was not our problem we have out sourced it,take it or leave it. As usual,no bloody help at all.

So just watch yourselves up there now,they are all on the take.

What's going on?? didn't some poster the other day say he payed 4000+ baht to this lot the other day? to secure a tourist visa for his partner? I intend for my g/f to apply in march, can anybody tell me the best way to do it! agents? seems to be so many around. My g/fs mate used visa world and they got slagged off the other day by someone.

[ubonjoe]

There was this recent topic about a rip off.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Visa-Agency-Rip-t238490.html

I thought at first that this is what had happened to the OP.

[typhoon]

Is VFS (THAILAND)LTD the same as VFS Global which is on the 2nd floor of Regent house????

[HumDiddy]

Hi All,

Just thought you might like too be updated with this new UK Visa Company called VFS[THAILAND ]LTD at Lumphini.

Went up there for a tourit Visa for the wife of 5 years now,and guess what,they want 100,000 yes 100,000 Baht Tea Money,before they even process the paperwork. With that i told them where too stuff their Visa.

As you could imagine,i was well pissed off,too top it all it's and Indian owned Company.

I telephoned the UK Embassy in Bangkok,too complain about this,their answer was not our problem we have out sourced it,take it or leave it. As usual,no bloody help at all.

So just watch yourselves up there now,they are all on the take.

What's going on?? didn't some poster the other day say he payed 4000+ baht to this lot the other day? to secure a tourist visa for his partner? I intend for my g/f to apply in march, can anybody tell me the best way to do it! agents? seems to be so many around. My g/fs mate used visa world and they got slagged off the other day by someone.

Hi Mate

I used David at Visa No1 he was very good kept me updated all the time and gave me all the correct information his email is [email protected]

He charged me £600 to do everything do not use a thai companie because they are not the best use one with English people a lot easier

To be honest all of these companies get slagged off because if you get there great if you dont there pony!!!

I got the fiancee visa because he told me that tourist visa would be hard to get but they will let you know.

Tourist visa was 4,400 and fiancee 33,500 and that was in December.

Good Luck

Paul

[7by7]

VFS are a well respected company who offer visa processing services to many countries, not only in Thailand, but worldwide. They would lose far more money if they lost those contracts than they could ever make by ripping applicants of as described by the OP.

I suspect that the OP has fallen victim to the scam operated by VISA WORLD CONSULTING, who are unfortunately in the same building as the VAC.

VFS staff look like this:

[Brigante7]

What's changed at the british embassy? When my missus got her fiance visa 2 1/2 years ago, she took everything into the embassy herself and got her visa, ok it was at the 3rd attempt, but we never even thought about using an agent we just made sure we had every possible thing they could want. I know that they had thai's working at the embassy and it was them who were knocking back applications just so that you had to reapply and thus pay again with every application, robbing cu_nts.

Edited February 1, 2009 by Brigante7

[stevehaigh]

i'm confused too, i thought it was simply a matter of filling out the application, providing proof she has ties to Thailand and your done. we didn't use an agent for my wife's USA visa, why use one for a UK?

[theoldgit]

What changed a few years ago is that all the applications have to be given to VFS who them pass them onto UK Visas for evaluation and, if appropriate issuing the visa.

I am not a particular fan of VFS, but I doubt very much if they are involved in this type of scam, though there are many official looking companies in the same building, who will be more than happy to relieve you of your money.

The visas are, and always have been, issued by staff working for UK visas.

[goonerthegooner]

Hiya,

With my first op,i copyed the whole post and e-mailed it too The Daily Mail,and the good old Sun.

As for 7by7 op,saying i have got confused by Visa World Consulting,he must be sadly mistaken,English is my first Language,I can read,ok,these people need too be exposed for what they are,bloody robbing ###tards. [sorry Mods]

Will post any replys from the above ok.

[goonerthegooner]

There was this recent topic about a rip off.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Visa-Agency-Rip-t238490.html

I thought at first that this is what had happened to the OP.

Credit me with a bit more savvy than this.

[7by7]

I know that they had thai's working at the embassy and it was them who were knocking back applications just so that you had to reapply and thus pay again with every application, robbing cu_nts.

Rubbish. What would a Thai employee at the embassy have to gain? They are not on a commission! All the money from visa fees goes to the Treasury!

The decision on visa applications always has been made by British employees working at the embassy. This is still the case. All VFS do is collate the paperwork, collect the fee and forward the application to the embassy. Their staff are not involved in the actual decision making in any way. Although they will advise applicant's not to submit the application if the paperwork is poor, they must forward the application to the embassy if the applicant asks them to.

Goonerthegooner, if a member of the VFS staff did act as you say then you must make an official complaint to the embassy. They will take the complaint very seriously.

Many people on this board and others have submitted applications over the last few months. Not one of them has reported similar treatment from VFS staff. This includes my sister-in-law who submitted a visit application just before Christmas and has been in the UK with us since early January.

Why is it only you who has had this problem?

The scammers from VWC do all they can to make people think that they are VFS staff. They do not identify themselves and there are no signs to say that you are in the wrong office. You would not be the first Brit to think you were in the VAC when in fact you were in the wrong office. Unfortunately, you wont be the last.

Edited February 2, 2009 by 7by7

[gregchambers]

To the original poster - the proper visa processing centre has many rows of seats where you have to wait until your number is called and then you go sit at a kiosk at the front to hand over the doc's etc and you are separated by a glass screen from the interviewer. The office belonging to the touts, you will sit on one side of a proper desk with no barriers between yourself and the tout. There are definitely touts hanging around outside who will take you up to the office whilst questioning your lady in Thai (mine told them I was chalat (intelligent) and we did not need any help; they promptly went away) and their office is almost next to the VFS office but without the security screening. It is dead easy for someone to be taken in!

[mazimus]

I got my wife a visa last week at the first time of asking.Do the application ONLINE,i got this tip on this forum,(thanks again everybody)take as much paperwork as you can,marraige cert 5 years ago bank statements last 6 months how you will support her in the uk for the duration of the stay etc.The application centre is in Rajdamri Rd in Ploenchit near the British embassy,however not in my opinion near enough to walk to.Take a taxi they all know where it is.Need any more help give me a bell.

[sumrit]

About two years ago a friend of mine went to the VFS office to apply for a visa for his g/f. Just outside he was aproached by somebody who said they worked for the VFS. They showed him in to an office then said they could ' fast track' the application for 20k baht. He paid the money and his g/f got her visa but it wasn't until I went with him to collect the passport that he realized he'd been duped and shown into the visa world consulting offices. As he said when he was being taken into the offices by somebody he thought was from the VFS office he didn't take much notice of where he was being taken.

A costly mistake but it sounds like they're charging a lot more than 20k these days.

[CharlieB]

Hiya,

With my first op,i copyed the whole post and e-mailed it too The Daily Mail,and the good old Sun.

As for 7by7 op,saying i have got confused by Visa World Consulting,he must be sadly mistaken,English is my first Language,I can read,ok,these people need too be exposed for what they are,bloody robbing ###tards. [sorry Mods]

Will post any replys from the above ok.

I doubt the Mail or Sun will be bothered in the least about this. You probably won't even get a reply from them. Those two newspapers are happy to pander to people who would like nobody foreign to come into the UK, so what would they gain from running this story. Besides which, 4 or 5 years ago I emailed the News of the World details of 3 houses and a central London job agency using illegal workers from Eastern Europe (non-EU countries) to work in hotels at Heathrow and they never replied back.

Edited February 5, 2009 by CharlieB

[Junglejumbo]

Can you not do all the paper work yourself then take it to the embassy?

[7by7]

No, all applications have to be submitted via the UKVAC.

Staff there are clearly identifiable by their uniform and photo id, as per the photo above. There will be signs telling you that you are in the VAC too.

No uniform, no photo id, no signs then you are not in the VAC!

If a VFS staff member does ask you for any 'tea money' or for any payment other than the official fees then you should immediately ask to speak to the manager. Take the staff members name from their id badge and make a formal, written complaint to the embassy with a copy to your MP.

[Eff1n2ret]

Can you not do all the paper work yourself then take it to the embassy?

In the early days of the VFS operation I think there was something on the Embassy website or Entry Clearance Guidance that if you insisted, you could submit to direct to the Embassy, but there's certainly no such option on offer now.

Interestingly, I see there's a strapline running on the VFS website which offers "Form-filling by qualified staff 300baht". Has anyone tried that?

Seems to me there's a pretty fine line between form-filling and giving advice, which they say they don't do.

Edited February 5, 2009 by Eff1n2ret

[Kharzi]

The OP has either imagined this or is having a bit of fun.......

So much of what he says is simply too fantastic to ring even remotely true particularly if one has any experience of the reality.

The counter clerk is subject to the floor supervisor and he is responsible to the office manager. Anyone soliciting a bribe in the course of accepting an application could not hope to do this without involving the entire office. Furthermore, the counter is in front of an open plan waiting area and does not lend itself easily to clandestine transactions not least because the response of the applicant from whom a bribe is to be extracted cannot be gauged with any degree of discretion. Moreover, if such a bizarre request for a bribe of this proportion were to be made the applicant has only to make a phone call to the Be in order to expose it for what it is.

My understanding of the process now is that the applicant cannot be accompanied into the VAC by the sponsor.

Is he saying he accompanied his wife into the VFS centre or, as most of us have already assumed, his wife mistakenly ventured into the shonky visa agent immediately adjacent?

[MJo]

True indeed, wrong office or then something personal against VFS or Indians in general. At least he has not come back here to give more information.

Just looking his previous posts... http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Uk-Visa-Refused-t234077.html

[CharlieB]

I thought to myself as I read it that if he himself went into the 'visa centre', then he's obviously gone into the wrong place as only the applicant is allowed in to hand over the application. The security is pretty tight on the door there, one person allowed in at a time through the gate and ID card is checked and possibly retained while they are in the centre (Can't remember if it's retained).

A little hard to arrange 100,000 baht bribes... Picture the scene: Applicant goes through security and has ID checked. Waits her turn and then approaches desk and hands over visa application. 100,000 is asked for. Doubtful the applicant has this kind of cash on them. Applicant goes back out through security to consult with partner. Partner doesn't have 100k on them. Applicant has to go through security again and go back to the clerk. Tells clerk they will have to go and get the 100k from a bank. Couple go off in search of bank (Who can withdraw 100k from an ATM? That's £2000. Most cards have a £200 - £300 a day limit on them.) So, say they are able to raise 100k cash. They return to visa centre, applicant goes through security again with 100 x 1,000 baht notes in hand. Waits to approach same clerk. Hands over big wad of cash....

Somehow, it doesn't seem practical in such an open office. You can just see some parts of it from the outside and it appears fairly open plan with low counters. Not much cover for doing shady deals. However, applicant & partner being duped into believing agency next door is part of VFS centre and100k baht is asked for in one of the offices in there is believable.

When my wife and I went to apply for her visa we were met at the door downstairs by someone from the visa agency next to VFS. He never said where he worked and when we asked where the VFS centre was he was very helpful in taking us into his agency next door. Of course, I spied the real centre next door, but we needed to get some photos done and some translations, so I let them think they'd fooled me.

We refused their offers of help, even when they tried to convince us there was no way we'd get a visa without their help. They also made out that we wouldn't be able to get my daughter a UK passport and birth certificate without their help. I knew all this was a load of bull and told the 'manager' this. He asked me how I knew this. I told him I wasn't an idiot and had read up on things on the internet. I'd also done the paperwork for a mate a few years before and he'd got the visa ok. I made it look like we were considering their offer, whilst making sure we got the necessary photographs and translations. They basically wanted us to cough up 20k baht for a visa application that I'd already put together. All they got was a couple hundred baht for a birth certificate translation and a couple hundred baht for some passport photos.

Edited February 6, 2009 by CharlieB

[Brigante7]

I know that they had thai's working at the embassy and it was them who were knocking back applications just so that you had to reapply and thus pay again with every application, robbing cu_nts.

Rubbish. What would a Thai employee at the embassy have to gain? They are not on a commission! All the money from visa fees goes to the Treasury!

The decision on visa applications always has been made by British employees working at the embassy. This is still the case. All VFS do is collate the paperwork, collect the fee and forward the application to the embassy. Their staff are not involved in the actual decision making in any way. Although they will advise applicant's not to submit the application if the paperwork is poor, they must forward the application to the embassy if the applicant asks them to.

Goonerthegooner, if a member of the VFS staff did act as you say then you must make an official complaint to the embassy. They will take the complaint very seriously.

Many people on this board and others have submitted applications over the last few months. Not one of them has reported similar treatment from VFS staff. This includes my sister-in-law who submitted a visit application just before Christmas and has been in the UK with us since early January.

Why is it only you who has had this problem?

The scammers from VWC do all they can to make people think that they are VFS staff. They do not identify themselves and there are no signs to say that you are in the wrong office. You would not be the first Brit to think you were in the VAC when in fact you were in the wrong office. Unfortunately, you wont be the last.

I don't know who VFS or VAC are but my wife handed all her paper work and visa fee to the receptionist (Thai) at the british embassy and waited for her interview, she never left the embassy, she was refused twice but each time they were happy to tell her that she could reapply again as many times as she wanted as long as she paid the correct fee. The first time they said they thought she was lying on her application, visa refused, end of story, second time they told her that her boyfriend (Me) was an illegal alien in the UK and I had a fake UK passport and I would be sent back to my home country, you couldn't make it up, I was born and raised in the UK. The receptionist was located in a small waiting room and made it clear to my wife that for a fee, At the time £1000, she could guarantee her application would be succesful and she also made it clear that if we didn't pay then there was a very good chance her visa application might fail so don't tell me I'm talking rubbish. When I sent her the 3rd letter to pass on to the embassy asking them to give her a visa to visit me in the UK I explained that I had spoken to my MP about her being refused twice and about them selling visa's, I hadn't but they didn't know that, it worked and she got her visa.