Getting Help From The British Embassy (regarding Settlement)

[Dont Panic]

I just got a settlement visa application form from the British embassy. I asked the lady at the counter if she could give me the checklist of required documents. She said she didn’t have any......just fill out the form!

I’ve been on the embassy website and it’s no help either. I’ve heard that my wife will need to be tested for TB and that that has to be done at a certain hospital......is this true? There is nothing to indicate this on the website. Also I’ve heard that she will need a police report detailing any previous run-ins with the law......again nothing to clarify this.....

Can somebody please post a link.......how do I get this info!??

cheers

[mariner29]

UK/VAC centre has guidance she does not require a police check.

[theoldgit]

Depends which settlement visa you are looking for, look at the list here you can then download a check list for the one you need.

http://www.vfs-uk-th.com/documents.aspx

[chenposeb]

Try to stick with it buddy.

I had similar frustrations. Basically you have to try to do as much of it yourself as possible.

The guys at the VFS are little more helpful, but still can be like getting blood out of a stone. I had one of the more complicated issues to deal with, but they did come through in the end.

A mixture of persistence and re-reading and re-checking everything on the net and with the VSF until it makes sense.

The TB thing is done by their own doctors, I think they organise this when you submit the Visa, but ring them and ask them, it may have changed.

The biometric thing is done on the day you hand your stuff into the VFS (or was, better to check again).

Check out the list of things you need in the pamflet they gave you at the Embassy (that rack full of leaflets in front of the reception desk) and try to go for slightly more documents than they need.

Just my experience.

Good Luck!

Edited March 18, 2009 by chenposeb

[Merangue]

The TB thing is done by their own doctors, I think they organise this when you submit the Visa, but ring them and ask them, it may have changed.

You will need to get the TB thing done BEFORE submitting the Application. It is required as part of the documentation.

http://www.vfs-uk-th.com/tb.aspx

[Brigante7]

I just got a settlement visa application form from the British embassy. I asked the lady at the counter if she could give me the checklist of required documents. She said she didn't have any......just fill out the form!

I've been on the embassy website and it's no help either. I've heard that my wife will need to be tested for TB and that that has to be done at a certain hospital......is this true? There is nothing to indicate this on the website. Also I've heard that she will need a police report detailing any previous run-ins with the law......again nothing to clarify this.....

Can somebody please post a link.......how do I get this info!??

cheers

Been there, done it, pain in the ass. Some free advice, whatever documents you give them they will want something else, it'll be something so obscure that it'll be funny, even if they had a checklist of everything required they would leave 1 or 2 things off it, it's not in their interest for you to be succesful at the 1st attempt. The more attempts people have to make, the more money you have to pay and like all goverments, the UK shower only want every penny (or baht) that they can squeeze out of you, yes I hate the british embassy in BKK although now I understand you don't deal with them direct, lucky for you.

It would be interesting to know how much the fees went up by when this new company started dealing with the visa applications?

Brigante7

[theoldgit]

It would be interesting to know how much the fees went up by when this new company started dealing with the visa applications?

Love em or hate em, The British Embassy in Bangkok do not set the fees, they are set by central government and are the same worldwide. VFS are a glorified postbox and do little more than receive applications and forward them to Visa Section and then hand the passport back without even knowing the result. When the contracting out of receiving applications via VFS first started there was a service fee, this was later abolished and the cost absorbed into the visa application fee.

[Dont Panic]

thanks for the replies........2600 seems a little steep for an x-ray........

[Merangue]

thanks for the replies........2600 seems a little steep for an x-ray........

It is how much it cost my Gal 2 months ago.

[Dont Panic]

looking down the check list.......thanks for the links.......I see that evidence of current financial position in the UK is required........as we'll be staying with my parents to start with, does that mean a letter from my dad plus documents to back it up? Is it right that I will still be the 'sponsor', even though it is my dad that owns the house and has all the money???

cheers

[mrmazinkle]

thanks for the replies........2600 seems a little steep for an x-ray........

It is how much it cost my Gal 2 months ago.

Just been to Noparat Hospital in Bk..Blood pressure,X ray(chest for TB)certificate. for job 350 baht...

[Tango7]

looking down the check list.......thanks for the links.......I see that evidence of current financial position in the UK is required........as we'll be staying with my parents to start with, does that mean a letter from my dad plus documents to back it up? Is it right that I will still be the 'sponsor', even though it is my dad that owns the house and has all the money???

cheers

I am in a similar situation. I have been an expat here for 6 years and quit my job to return to UK. This makes me unemployed until I get home.

I contacted a lawyer in the UK and they stated that you have to sponsor your wife / fiancee / girlfriend. Your parents can not act as sponsors or guarantors. You need to show you have your own money / incom eto support your wife. The fact you live with parents should not matter as this is your point of residence. You need to have letter from parents stating you live / can live there with wife / fiancee etc. You need to show size of house, number of bedrooms / rooms excluding bathrooms and kitchen. You need to show land registry or the fact your parents own the house.

If you have a job, 6 months worth of salary slips and bank account statements. If no job, proof of money in the bank to show you can sustain yourself and wife for a period that enables you to find eployment. You will have to show employment history, qualifications and so on which go towards showing whether you have the chance to get a job.

Your wife's qualifications / employment hostory etc necessary. Need to show proof of relationship via photos, chat transcripts, phone records etc etc. You'll need reference letters and so on... and so on...

I have known my wife for 6+ years and we've got good references, qualifications, job history and so on but we're still waiting for the visa to come back and it's not certain we'll get it. Just get everything together, check everything and submit along with the TB result, check made payable to British Embassy, Bangkok and keep fingers crossed.

I hired a solicitor in UK. Cost around 1,000 pounds all in. They supplied good cover letter and assisted well. PM me if you want more info but I'm no expert. Just been throughit all recently so memory is fresh.

[Jonson83]

thanks for the replies........2600 seems a little steep for an x-ray........

It is how much it cost my Gal 2 months ago.

Just been to Noparat Hospital in Bk..Blood pressure,X ray(chest for TB)certificate. for job 350 baht...

350...?

Did the IOM send you there???

I thought there was only two hospitals that the IOM accpeted and they both cost 2600?

I went to bumrungrad, the IOM charge you before you go to the hospital...

[eddibabyyeah]

Just been to Noparat Hospital in Bk..Blood pressure,X ray(chest for TB)certificate. for job 350 baht...

That is the sort of price you'd expect to pay for these tests in BKK but it is no use whatsoever as far as a visa application is concerned. The only cert they accept is from the IOM.

So, although your 350bht is good value, it is a waste of 350bht as far as visa application goes.

[7by7]

Don't Panic, I and others provided the answers to the questions you ask here in another thread started by you; this one.

Have you read it?