Is The Embassy Busy Just Now?

[Ever Hopeful]

My fiancee has today been told that the Embassy is too busy to interview her for her Fiancee Visa until July 1st. We submitted our application through an agency a few weeks ago, and the said agency insisted I register a marriage for four months after I submitted my documents to them. As I did this in February, I booked a wedding in England for June 26th. Having submitted the original copies of my receipts for this I find it a bit bloody minded of the Embassy to ignore our bookings and basically say "It's just tough about your wedding!" Are we being victimised or are they flooded with applications? Is there anything we can do? Anybody any thoughts?

[Rinrada]

My fiancee has today been told that the Embassy is too busy to interview her for her Fiancee Visa until July 1st. We submitted our application through an agency a few weeks ago, and the said agency insisted I register a marriage for four months after I submitted my documents to them. As I did this in February, I booked a wedding in England for June 26th. Having submitted the original copies of my receipts for this I find it a bit bloody minded of the Embassy to ignore our bookings and basically say "It's just tough about your wedding!" Are we being victimised or are they flooded with applications? Is there anything we can do? Anybody any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lots of threads on this subject

New marrage visa laws as from 1st Feb....2005.

No Visa ...No wedding...sorry

Visiting the UK to get married

From 1 February 2005 any person who is not a British citizen, an EEA national, or settled permanently in the UK must have a visa to visit the UK to get married

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pa...d=1006977149962

[The_Moog]

Its been this length of waiting list for a long time. 3 mths

You just have to grin and bear it.

Sorry and good luck !

[GU22]

My fiancee has today been told that the Embassy is too busy to interview her for her Fiancee Visa until July 1st. We submitted our application through an agency a few weeks ago, and the said agency insisted I register a marriage for four months after I submitted my documents to them. As I did this in February, I booked a wedding in England for June 26th. Having submitted the original copies of my receipts for this I find it a bit bloody minded of the Embassy to ignore our bookings and basically say "It's just tough about your wedding!" Are we being victimised or are they flooded with applications? Is there anything we can do? Anybody any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Firstly, it goes to show the folly of believing that a visa agency has any control over the workings of the embassy.

Secondly, the embassy are not being "bloody minded," the waiting time has been around 3 months for a long time, as a visit to the embassy website or an enquiry by phone or e-mail to the embassy would have told you. They are also very clear that no firm arrangements for tickets, weddings etc. should be made until after the visa has been issued. It seems you are the victim of incompetence by the visa agency.

You may find that phoning the embassy and asking for a cancellation will get you an earlier appointment, but this could be at very short notice.

[samran]

The backlog has probably built up due to the fact that you can't get married in the UK while on a visa that doesn't lead to settlement (ie tourist visa).

Means that the embassy in BKK is now forced to consider more applications for settlement, given now that they can’t be considered in the UK by the Home Office once you have landed.

This is what happens when you get the Conservatives, UKIP and other assorted Chavs jump up and down about ‘immigration and illegal immigrants’.

The government reacts be forcing most settlement visas to be decided overseas so there is no chance for someone to be rejected in the UK and then go to ground. And this causes a backlog of applications at the embassy. My visa for settlement took six months to come through last year.

[the scouser]

The embassy interviews applicants in, more or less, order of application, so it's not a personal slight but rather an indication of the length of the waiting list.

Scouse.

[bkk_mike]

Embassy have said July 1st for the interview.

Surely April isn't so late in the day that you can't change your wedding plans without much of a penalty. (I'm sure yours isn't the only wedding ever to be delayed, and it's not like the flowers are already picked)

It's only a real problem if you've already done things like send out invitations...

Personally - the embassy itself says you shouldn't trust visa agents, and honestly, they prefer the truth rather than some sanitised version of it that visa agents sometimes try and get applicants to say.

I feel sorry for you, but booking your wedding based on a vague 4 months figure given by a visa agent sounds rather dumb. Book the date when you know things are sorted. (i.e. visa is granted, and flight tickets are confirmed) Or get married in Thailand so that you're already married when she goes to the UK... - it's actually cheaper since you don't then have to pay to convert the fiance visa into a 2 year entry permit.

Finally, they usually give you the interview date in about 5 working days after the application is submitted. If she's only got the date now, it suggests the visa agent definitely didn't submit the application in February (and probably not even in March...)

Edited April 21, 2005 by bkk_mike

[Richard W]

The embassy interviews applicants in, more or less, order of application, so it's not a personal slight but rather an indication of the length of the waiting list.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it truly the matter of a waiting list, or are there also checks to do? When my wife applied for her settlement visa (over 6 years ago), we were offered a much shorter wait than we were expecting because she had already been refused a visitor's visa. 3 months seems rather a long time for a mere waiting list to settle down to. Surely it isn't stabilised by people withdrawing their applications? Or do fresh staff not get assigned to Bangkok if the waiting time gets too short?

[bkk_mike]

Is it truly the matter of a waiting list, or are there also checks to do?  When my wife applied for her settlement visa (over 6 years ago), we were offered a much shorter wait than we were expecting because she had already been refused a visitor's visa.  3 months seems rather a long time for a mere waiting list to settle down to.  Surely it isn't stabilised by people withdrawing their applications?  Or do fresh staff not get assigned to Bangkok if the waiting time gets too short?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife got hers back in 99 too, and I don't remember it being 3 months back then. I think it was only 4-6 weeks wait for the interview.

However, the tsunami this year would mean that they have a bit more of an application backlog than normal, since the visa section was closed for some weeks.

Edited April 22, 2005 by bkk_mike

[the scouser]

Is it truly the matter of a waiting list, or are there also checks to do?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The checks they conduct take literally a few minutes. They consult local records, the Visa Warning List and the Immigration Service computer.

I'm not sure exactly what the set up is at the embassy in Bangkok but, for argument's sake, lets say they have 1 ECO per day doing settlement interviews with an alloted time of 45 mins each then 7/8 can be conducted in one day. Obviously, if more than 8 such applications are taken in every day, the waiting list grows.

Scouse.

[Pob]

Does anyone have any true idea of what the wait for a tourist visa is?

The emabssy website says 15 working days, is this accurate?

Many thanks

Pob

[GU22]

Approximately, yes. That's if an interview is required.