On browsing the terms + conditions of a language school in Cambridge, England,

this brush-off popped up when I asked for more details >>>

IMPORTANT: Our system has detected that you are connecting to our website from a country that has

extremely tight visa regulations. Unfortunately we cannot process your enrollments as we are not able

to arrange the necessary visa documents required. If you already have a visa or a passport from another

country that does allow you to easily enter your chosen destination country, please use the following link: Contact Us

From the website : LanguageCourse.net

Proof if needed of the difficulties we face - has anyone else experienced this problem

when trying to find an English Language course in England for a Thai partner ?

If you look at the Visa Statistics you will see that the success rate for student applications in Thailand for 2008/9 (the latest year for which figures are available) is 81%. About average, certainly better than The Philippines (60%) and not far behind Australia (90%).

All UK visa applications made in all countries are assessed using the same rules, and now that the points based system is fully working (it wasn't in 2008/9) any student who 'ticks the boxes' must be granted a tier 4 student visa.

The site you quote is not a language school, they're not even in the UK!

International Administration Headquarter:

LanguageCourse S.L.

Ronda Sant Pere 16, 3

08010 Barcelona, Spain

Tel.: UK: +44-2033555340 | US: +1-800 6136345 | Int: +34-932688774

Director: Dr. oec. Daniel Spohn

Tax Identification Number: ESB62762091

Commercial Register Number: 022017981 in Barcelona

I suggest that for proper information you contact the school direct.

The literal inference of "you are connecting to our website from a country that has

extremely tight visa regulations" is that the country that has extremely tight visa regulations is Thailand, which doesn't make sense - a more logical statement would be "...from a country whose nationals are subjected to extremely tight..."

Hardly a recommendation for a language school.

Quite right. The statement suggests that Thailand has very strict rules on visas - not that the UK has strict rules on issuing visas. Try a different language school!

Thanks for some sharp, well-informed responses.

The statistics for successful visa applications for Thai would-be students is very good news.

I don't understand the assertion that my quote wasn't even from a language school, and

was somehow based in Spain (!). This is a link to the CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND language

school whose site terminates in the statement about visas being 'extremely tight' in Thailand >>>

LSI - Language Studies International Cambridge Discount Booking. English Language School in England

(hope it works!)

That link is to the site whose details are as I posted before. The address in Spain was taken from their 'Contact Us' page. They appear to be some sort of search engine/booking agent for language schools in many countries. On the page you linked to is the comment "You never pay more than booking directly with schools."

This is a link to the actual school in Cambridge that you mention. I suggest that you contact them direct.

But first, you should read Guidance - Points Based System Tier 4: (General) Student and (Child) Student (INF 29)