New Zealnd Embassy Runaround

[jo99xx]

Recently I have had the unfortunate task of dealing with the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok.

My Fiencee and I decided we would like to go to NZ for 2 weeks for a holiday to visit my family at the end of January.

We thought we were being prudent by applying well in advance and put an application in on the 20th of November Only to be told it would take 35 days to process... No problem as we had anticipated this..

We provided a mountain of information even though it was only a 2 week Tourist Visa

Bank statements

Photos

Letters from both our employers

My Fiencee has been employed by the same International Company in Thailand for 7+ Years and holds a Mid level Senior position.

Letters from my Parents stating they will provide accommodation for the duration for the stay

Bank statements from our Thai account and my NZ account both with sufficient funds for a 2 week holiday

Lease agreements for our apartment in Thailand that is pre paid up until 2011.

Ownership papers for our car in Thailand.

Ownership for my Fiencees land and house in Thailand.

And a few more things I can't remember.

Also my Fiencee has a Multi entry Visa to the US that is Still Valid for 10 years.

Only to be called by the Immigration officer 2 days ago.. 25th January to say they needed more information and the Visa would not be processed until after the 2nd of February.

I complained about how long this had taken and now they would process the Visa after the Departure date of the 28th Jan.

The woman at the department said “You can cancel the Visa if you like but you will not get anything back”.

I asked if the Visa is still processed on the 2nd when will it be valid from she said from the date on the 28th of January.

So they will be issuing a Visa that is already post dated by 5 days.

I believe this is a Ridiculous amount of time to process a simple Tourist visa for a 2 week holiday.

Not to mention it seems we are being overly scrutinised into our relationship status for a simple tourist Visa.

Perhaps my Fiencee should have applied as an Independent Traveller for the Visa and things would have been a lot less Complex?

Has anyone else had issues with this and the New Zealand Embassy?

[stickman]

Went with the Mrs. to apply for a visa to NZ with all documents I thought they would require. Was asked a few basic questions and was told within 2 or 3 minutes that the visa would be approved and that we should return about 5 (?) days later to collect it. The process was painless, the staff friendly and efficient and we had no complaints.

Reading your description of your Mrs., I would have thought it would have been very simple for you too. Your experience is completely different to ours.

[jo99xx]

Went with the Mrs. to apply for a visa to NZ with all documents I thought they would require. Was asked a few basic questions and was told within 2 or 3 minutes that the visa would be approved and that we should return about 5 (?) days later to collect it. The process was painless, the staff friendly and efficient and we had no complaints.

Reading your description of your Mrs., I would have thought it would have been very simple for you too. Your experience is completely different to ours.

Yes I thought it would be a Painless experience too Where did you apply? Bangkok?

The lady who has been dealing with us has been nothing but Rude and unhelpful.

Perhaps we should ask for another staf member to deal with it?

[NanLaew]

What 'other information' do they suddenly need that they have sat on their hands on for the past 2 months?

Have you been dealing with anyone face-to-face here?

I agree that it's an absurdity to take that long to process a simple tourist visa application; it's only New Zealand after all.

[jo99xx]

What 'other information' do they suddenly need that they have sat on their hands on for the past 2 months?

Have you been dealing with anyone face-to-face here?

I agree that it's an absurdity to take that long to process a simple tourist visa application; it's only New Zealand after all.

They wanted old Emails Phone records and copys of my Visa stamps in and out of Thailand..

I personally have not delt face to face with anyone but My GF has.

I did remind them that we were only applying for a 2 week holliday Visa not some Spousal long stay Visa...

If it drags on any longer I will be goping to the Visa office myself and asking to speak with a New Zealand senior Official.

[rfukata]

"I believe this is a Ridiculous amount of time to process a simple Tourist visa for a 2 week holiday.

Not to mention it seems we are being overly scrutinised into our relationship status for a simple tourist Visa.

Perhaps my Fiencee should have applied as an Independent Traveller for the Visa and things would have been a lot less Complex?

Has anyone else had issues with this and the New Zealand Embassy?"

You may be correct into this paragraph analysis. They may be hesitant concerning the issue of fiance' and visiting NZ.

(the probability of the both of you getting married whilst on travel/tourist visa may be a key issue. This is also a

issue for the US embassy)

[NanLaew]

What 'other information' do they suddenly need that they have sat on their hands on for the past 2 months?

Have you been dealing with anyone face-to-face here?

I agree that it's an absurdity to take that long to process a simple tourist visa application; it's only New Zealand after all.

They wanted old Emails Phone records and copys of my Visa stamps in and out of Thailand..

I personally have not delt face to face with anyone but My GF has.

I did remind them that we were only applying for a 2 week holliday Visa not some Spousal long stay Visa...

If it drags on any longer I will be goping to the Visa office myself and asking to speak with a New Zealand senior Official.

Good grief! Is this a fiancée visa application or a tourist visa application? Since they are asking for info from your passport, I think it would be very smart to go there personally. You say you personally have not dealt with them and then say that 'I did remind them' so have you spoken directly with someone handling this or not?

Maybe your fiancée has somehow inadvertently rubbed this biatch at the NZ Emb the wrong way (you know how bitchy the cloven ones can be)? Either way, maybe them seeing the both of you will speed things up and if not, you can always politely ask to see her supervisor and stop the nonsense.

[jo99xx]

"I believe this is a Ridiculous amount of time to process a simple Tourist visa for a 2 week holiday.

Not to mention it seems we are being overly scrutinised into our relationship status for a simple tourist Visa.

Perhaps my Fiencee should have applied as an Independent Traveller for the Visa and things would have been a lot less Complex?

Has anyone else had issues with this and the New Zealand Embassy?"

You may be correct into this paragraph analysis. They may be hesitant concerning the issue of fiance' and visiting NZ.

(the probability of the both of you getting married whilst on travel/tourist visa may be a key issue. This is also a

issue for the US embassy)

And what would be the issue if we did get married while on Holiday?

Not that we intend to do so at all.

It is obvious we will be returning to Thailand/work, house, bank account, car, Property,

Wedding Holiday is actually a large portion of the New Zealand Tourism industry.

You can fly to NZ get married in Queenstown have a Honeymoon and fly out on a package.

Edited January 28, 2010 by jo99xx

[jo99xx]

What 'other information' do they suddenly need that they have sat on their hands on for the past 2 months?

Have you been dealing with anyone face-to-face here?

I agree that it's an absurdity to take that long to process a simple tourist visa application; it's only New Zealand after all.

They wanted old Emails Phone records and copys of my Visa stamps in and out of Thailand..

I personally have not delt face to face with anyone but My GF has.

I did remind them that we were only applying for a 2 week holliday Visa not some Spousal long stay Visa...

If it drags on any longer I will be goping to the Visa office myself and asking to speak with a New Zealand senior Official.

Good grief! Is this a fiancée visa application or a tourist visa application? Since they are asking for info from your passport, I think it would be very smart to go there personally. You say you personally have not dealt with them and then say that 'I did remind them' so have you spoken directly with someone handling this or not?

Maybe your fiancée has somehow inadvertently rubbed this biatch at the NZ Emb the wrong way (you know how bitchy the cloven ones can be)? Either way, maybe them seeing the both of you will speed things up and if not, you can always politely ask to see her supervisor and stop the nonsense.

Its a Tourist Visa

And you asked If I had face to face delt with anyone NO I have not but I have talked on the phone to the Thai Lady dealing with the Visa.

I will be in Bkk tomorrow and will be heading to the Embassy Monday to sort this crap out.

[Donnyboy]

we had the same experience as the OP when the gf first went on holiday to NZ, the process took over 2 months. But now, subsequent visa apps to NZ can be done by post.

I believe NZ has tightened up visa rules for Thai women as many flouted the visa rules by working in the sex industry, and or overstaying.

There was some human traffiking as well.

[NanLaew]

we had the same experience as the OP when the gf first went on holiday to NZ, the process took over 2 months. But now, subsequent visa apps to NZ can be done by post.

I believe NZ has tightened up visa rules for Thai women as many flouted the visa rules by working in the sex industry, and or overstaying.

There was some human traffiking as well.

They suspended the free visas for Thai after some trafficking and prostitution issues OVER 10 YEARS AGO!?

The OP's fiancée is applying NOW but it appears that things are getting worse. I will admit that on my 2 trips to NZ, the first immigration pass through (in 2007) was exactly that. The second (early 2009) however had me dicked about with for over 2 hours with endless questions. I am an old Brit on a Brit passport. If your fiancée gets the visa, she can count on the 'third degree' on arrival too.

[edokhv]

I had exactly the same experience, which resulted in my girlfriend not being able to join me for the business trip back to NZ.

We did get the visa at the end but it was too late to be able to organize the flights.

I hope next time around it will be easier.

I was tempted to fly to Bangkok to meet the immigration official in person to point out how 'dumb' some of the additional questions were, at the end e-mail responses were sufficient

[trevorg]

My wife applied by post for a NZ tourist visa in late November 2009, we recieved an e-mail to state that they had recieved the application with the name of the official dealing with it, but not to contact them for a few weeks, we were due to fly out on 19th December (to Oz and then onto NZ). We e-mailed them back to state that we needed her passport returned by 18th December and got an immediate reply that the visa had been approved. Passport arrived back by post with visa a couple of days later.

Only docs we supplied were passport, copies of Tabien Baan, ID card, my passport (inc Thai visa and in/out stamps), payslips and bank accounts and a sponsor letter from a friend in NZ who we were visiting. No extra information requested and no questions.

I think we received the passport back only 7 days after sending application. I'm on a British passport by the way.

I wish you the luck that we had with your application!

[gregchambers]

Well, reading these it looks like if you are married then you get the tourist visa without much hassle, probably the same for most embassies. Thais used to not need a visa to NZ but there was so much abuse re sex workers and overstays that they changed it, and now they have tightened up again probably for certain age groups who are most likely to enter the sex game in NZ. That you actually get some kind of contact directly with the embassy when applying should be considered in amazement compared with say the British Embassy... so don't knock it

[Donnyboy]

we had the same experience as the OP when the gf first went on holiday to NZ, the process took over 2 months. But now, subsequent visa apps to NZ can be done by post.

I believe NZ has tightened up visa rules for Thai women as many flouted the visa rules by working in the sex industry, and or overstaying.

There was some human traffiking as well.

They suspended the free visas for Thai after some trafficking and prostitution issues OVER 10 YEARS AGO!?

The OP's fiancée is applying NOW but it appears that things are getting worse. I will admit that on my 2 trips to NZ, the first immigration pass through (in 2007) was exactly that. The second (early 2009) however had me dicked about with for over 2 hours with endless questions. I am an old Brit on a Brit passport. If your fiancée gets the visa, she can count on the 'third degree' on arrival too.

the rules changed 10 years ago and remains so

no 3rd degree when my gf went over ever, shes been 3 times now

[Donnyboy]

I had exactly the same experience, which resulted in my girlfriend not being able to join me for the business trip back to NZ.

We did get the visa at the end but it was too late to be able to organize the flights.

I hope next time around it will be easier.

I was tempted to fly to Bangkok to meet the immigration official in person to point out how 'dumb' some of the additional questions were, at the end e-mail responses were sufficient

i wouldnt push yr luck if you want yr visa next time

[Svenn]

Same experience here- 6 weeks to get the thing processed, only to have it expire within a month or two from when it was issued!! How is anyone supposed to plan a trip if they have to wait 6 weeks to know if it's possible, then have only another few weeks to go there! ridiculous. We never ended up using the visa and I think it might have expired by now. I'm hoping if we ever go there it will be easy to renew it for her. (I'm not a NZ-er so it's not a big deal, just for holiday)

Oh, btw, the embassy was furious that I filled in a date with the U.S. format of Month-Day-Year rather than NZ's custom of Day-Month-Year on my partner's application... that took about a week to sort out...

Edited January 31, 2010 by Svenn

[Traxster]

Yeah...sounds to me like the person at the NZ Embassy 'got out of bed on the wrong side'.........

[7by7]

Several posts deleted.

This is a topic about New Zealand visas, not prostitution!

[7by7]

More posts deleted.

A reference to NZ immigration getting 'tough' due to human trafficking is not an excuse for the posts that have been deleted.

Stick to the topic or I will start handing out official warnings and suspensions.

[jo99xx]

Well its 5th of Feb and still nothing from these morons at the NZ embassy.

I even went in to talk to someone about it and was told ohh your case officer is on holiday...

and no one else wold help..

SO annoyed at this crap.

I am planning on writing an official complaint to the NZ consular in Bangkok.

Ambassador: HE Bede Corry

And maybe I will write to Captain Brett Fotheringham (Defence Attaché) also as I served with him while in the RNZN ...

[bdenner]

OK jo99xx how did things go in the end?

I'm planning a holiday in NZ with TW next year in conjunction with a defense force reunion. We have been married for 9+ years and she had an Australian Permanent Residence visa for 7 years which has expired now as we never intended living there. (When is Permanent not permanent????)

Anyway, if we have to go through a mountain of crap to get a Tourist visa I'll just cancel the plans and they loose my tourist dollar.

[handydog]

OK jo99xx how did things go in the end?

I'm planning a holiday in NZ with TW next year in conjunction with a defense force reunion. We have been married for 9+ years and she had an Australian Permanent Residence visa for 7 years which has expired now as we never intended living there. (When is Permanent not permanent????)

Anyway, if we have to go through a mountain of crap to get a Tourist visa I'll just cancel the plans and they loose my tourist dollar.

My now wife applied for a tourist visa two years ago, to have a holiday in NZ and to meet my family there (I am kiwi). After having to supply similar paperwork as the OP, the application seemed to sit in limbo for ages. It took three months to process it

The Thai lady processing the file was insistant that it would be completed before the ticket dates and was wanting to have it complete the day before due to fly!! I thought this was cutting it a bit fine and managed to talk to her supervisor (kiwi) and the passport was available to be collected 4 days before flying out.

In the end only a Special Purposes Visa was granted and was only valid for the two weeks she was to spend in NZ.

This in turn caused problems when she arrived in Christchurch and she was taken to an interview room and grilled by immigration for an hour on arrival.... Just because she was not on the üsual Tourist Visa.

The Kiwi Team Manager I spoke to explained that Special Purpose Visa was issued because they determined I had the means to be able to support her and hide her from immigration if we chose for her to overstay.... Go figure!!!

IMHO

I think i caused the Thai office staff to loose face by going over her head to her manager to get a bit more action on the process time.... hence no tourist visa reccomended by her.

The first line Immigration peple in the office are Thai and have a different work ethic to Kiwi and subiquently only do the minimum work required of them.

Visa's are granted at the management level... not the first line Thai staff.

The office has a high turn over of Thai staff and many are therfore lacking experience and have a low case load.

At present we have a residency visa application in process, it has been 6 months wait so far but as it is processed by a different part of the immigration office we have had no problems with it at all and the staff we have delt with. They have been very plesent and helpful and have been keeping us up to date with the status of the application. We hope to have it completed in June.

To the OP...

I hope your stay in NZ is more plesent than the trouble you have had so far trying to get there.