Legal Help For Visa Applications

[Old Bean]

If I'm in the wrong place again,Sorry. I will be trying for a retirement visa in UK, I am English and over 50. I have read comments which do not flatter the embassy in London, plus references to THE consulate in UK,I have also seen adverts on this site advertising help rangeing from telephone consultation to full "wheel lubrication" for a price. Naturally if it were easy to get a visa from the embassy this should not be necessary. Does anyone know whats what. I have been visiting Thailand for over twenty years have enough Thai to get by and would prefer to do it myself.

[lopburi3]

There is no reason you can not do it yourself. There is a short list of requirements and if you meet them it should be easy - even in London AFAIK. But other offices may be more user friendly and spell out the requirements better.

[Crossy]

London is OK but they don't accept postal applications.

Hull is renowned as the most friendly consulate, Cardiff is also OK, you can apply to these (and the other consulates) by post.

If your documentation is reasonable you don't need any help, just fill in the form and send off with the fee (no cheques), documentation and passport. Make sure you include enough in the fee for them to send back using registered post (and put a note to this end in your covering letter) otherwise they will just use a regular envelope.

Usually takes a week end-to-end.

BTW the consulates are staffed by very English people, no Thai, no problem

Edit: Oops, sorry, missed that you were retiring, stupid of me.

Edit 2: You may get better mileage by applying (Hull by post) for a non-O (NOT retirement) on the grounds of 'visiting friends'. No medical etc. and then converting to a retirement when you arrive. You will need the 800,000 Baht in the bank here when you extend. Just a thought.

Edited June 16, 2005 by Crossy

[Steve2UK]

The London embassy is a bit more formal and maybe just plain busier than THE consulate - and its website is not the greatest. But, as Lop says, if your papers etc are in order then there's no reason to pay a middle man for what you can readily do yourself.

As you probably know, O-A retirement visa applications have to go direct through the Embassy (not the consulates) anyhow. But, if you had any queries, I daresay the friendly consulate folk would help out with advice before you apply through the embassy.

[Rinrada]

The Royal Thai Embassy in the past did indeed have a bit of a reputation of possibly not being the most helpfull place in the Uk to make applications and get approval but from personal and most recent experience I cannot complain.

As said in earlier posts I decided to go for my first Noni "o" (after all these years )and dropped the papers off on the Friday morning (10 minutes) and picked them up again with visa on the following Monday....15 minutes.

As said above they do not accept postal applications but if you live in the smoke it only a short run down to South Ken.by tube and a 10 minute walk from there.

Lots of little French type coffee shops for cappu and "Qua-sonts" afterwards.

[Old Bean]

The Royal Thai Embassy in the past did indeed have a bit of a reputation of possibly not being the most helpfull place in the Uk to make applications and get approval but from personal and most recent experience I cannot complain.

As said in earlier posts I decided to go for my first Noni "o" (after all these years )and dropped the papers off on the Friday morning (10 minutes) and picked them up again with visa on the following Monday....15 minutes.

As said above they do not accept postal applications but if you live in the smoke it only a short run down to South Ken.by tube and a 10 minute walk from there.

Lots of little French type coffee shops for cappu and "Qua-sonts" afterwards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank's to all. I have written an email to the embassy and one to the consulate in Hull. I live in the Isle of Wight so it is a bit of a hike up to the embassy, and twice, good coffee notwithstanding.

[aletta]

You could always do a bit of sightseeing but stay in another area as Kensington is very expensive on the wallet.