Which Visa Company

[ankwa]

Hi , im trying to get my gf back to england to stay with me , im currently in touch with two visa companies , they are key visa company and orchid siam visa which is registered and a lot cheaper ? is this better ? ,

Can any one tell me anything about either of them as id like to know before i commit

Thanks Folks

[TiggerFish]

I don't know anything about either company but if you HAVE to use a company make sure they are OISC registered.

The alternative is to save a lot of money and do it yourself, many many people have done this successfully.

[bridge]

Thai Visa Express - OISC Registered.

[dmax]

go with key visa mate, the boss there darren will not bu**sh*t you unlike another company i used before in pattaya, key visa in lk metro pattaya. key visa got my wife her visa no probs, frienly staff but the main thing is they wont roll you or fill u full off empty promises !!

[ankwa]

go with key visa mate, the boss there darren will not bu**sh*t you unlike another company i used before in pattaya, key visa in lk metro pattaya. key visa got my wife her visa no probs, frienly staff but the main thing is they wont roll you or fill u full off empty promises !!

Funny you should say that , i have a friend in Wales who contacted me today and said they were a nightmare to deal with and dont use them as thier not registered , i suppose every case is different , but they are £200 more than the registered company , so maybe ill get a bit more feedback before i decide ?

[bridge]

go with key visa mate, the boss there darren will not bu**sh*t you unlike another company i used before in pattaya, key visa in lk metro pattaya. key visa got my wife her visa no probs, frienly staff but the main thing is they wont roll you or fill u full off empty promises !!

Funny you should say that , i have a friend in Wales who contacted me today and said they were a nightmare to deal with and dont use them as thier not registered , i suppose every case is different , but they are £200 more than the registered company , so maybe ill get a bit more feedback before i decide ?

Simply ask whatever agent you are considering using what formal qualifications they have in relation to the migration law and advice you are seeking. Always do your due diligence, and make sure the person providing the advice and assistance is in fact qualified to provide the said advice and assistance you are seeking.

Stick with an OISC registered agent.

[7by7]

If you give us more details of the type of visa you are after and the circumstances of you and your girlfriend, you may find that you get all the advice you need here; for free.

The choice is yours, but I always recommend that if one wants to use an agent, use a qualified and regulated one from the OISC register. As far as I'm aware, there are two in Thailand; Orchid of Siam and Thai Visa Express.

Have a read of this thread.

[Thongkorn]

do it yourself , save yourself £700, if its a visitor visa you can get all the information of this site , many have done before and had a good result. You get all the information of the visa site telling you how to fill the forms in correctly .

[Mercury]

No need to use an agent at all. If you can read and use the internet, both of which you have already proven here, then you have enough grey matter to handle a visa form.

I would advise going through the process online, with dummy details, to get a feel for it and then print the completed form out (save it in .pdf form as well for review) and see where you could provide better answers for the real one.

The documentation required varies but people here avail themselves of each others help every day and for straightforward requests, you can do it yourself no problem.

Note that places like Key Visa will not even tell you how much they want. I read into that that they want as much as they think they can take you for.

[bangkockney]

OISC registration is only required for case workers providing immigration advice within the UK.

As others have said, you don't need really need to use an agent. Be sure to fully read the relevant guidance and you should be OK. Make sure you check you have the most up-to-date forms as they new ones tend to be issued every one to two months.

If you must use an agent, confirm all fees in advance and find out exactly what it is you are paying for. It's almost important to establish very early on if they have professional negligence insurance and what happens if your application is refused.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Feel free to contact my company for a quotation if required we are the only registered consultancy in Pattaya, look for an agent who has demonstrated proven ability with applications.

[chongam]

Key Visa charged my friend 60.000 Baht-----and failed to get the visa, he went to another agent for 15.000 and got it!!

[7by7]

OISC registration is only required for case workers providing immigration advice within the UK.

True, there is no such requirement under Thai law for any visa agent in Thailand to be qualified or registered.

However, being OISC registered does show that the person one is talking to, and paying, is qualified in UK immigration.

From what I have read and been told, what happens with most unregistered agents if the application is refused, even those who advertise 'no visa, no fee', is that they find some excuse in their small print as to why the refusal is nothing to do with them, and say that if you pay them another large amount they will fix it!

Most agents in Thailand are mere form fillers. They can help with simple straightforward applications by advising on what documents to produce etc., but anything more complicated and they are out of their depth, though they wont admit it and still take large sums of money from their victim client.

The only sensible advice must be that if one wants to use a visa agent, use one who is qualified, registered and regulated in the country to which one is applying.

[ankwa]

Hello Thanks to everyone for thier advice

Im looking to apply for a Tourist Visa for my girlfriend , at the moment our relationship is six months old and i have two trips to Thailand since i met her so three altogether , i also have phone records for the past six months , not so many e-mails but in the early days a few back and forth but that stopped now as we dont need to when we talk everything in a day already , i have loads of photos , i have my own house and im in full time employment , will i need to get documents like bills or bank records, and is there a letter i need to write to invite her ? translated in thai also ? , she doesnt work in a full time job but does work on a food stall back and forth when needed and helps her family with thier buisness which is a laundry service. So there will be no offical record of her working , is this a problem ?

[ankwa]

Key Visa charged my friend 60.000 Baht-----and failed to get the visa, he went to another agent for 15.000 and got it!!

60000 baht thats shocking ! is that not like £1200 , unbelieveable !

[7by7]

You should write a sponsor's letter briefly outlining the history of your relationship, your future plans together and the reason for her visit at this time. There is no need to translate this, or any other document, into Thai. It is not strictly necessary, but I think that it is a good idea to have Thai documents translated into English.

For a list of supporting documents see Social visit supporting documents. As well as the documents on this list, then include anything else you feel may help, e.g. evidence that you own your home so can offer her accommodation. Provide evidence of contact; phone bills, email headers etc. If you phone her using a low cost number or phone cards then say so.

If the ECO is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your relationship is genuine and therefore the visit is genuine then that she has no full time employment should not be a problem; although I would include an explanation of her work in your sponsor's letter. Will her family write a letter to say that she works in the family business?

For more information see Guidance - Visitors (INF 2) and Guidance - Sponsors (INF 3).

For where and how to apply, see Official UK visa application website in Thailand

[bangkockney]

If the ECO is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your relationship is genuine and therefore the visit is genuine then that she has no full time employment should not be a problem; although I would include an explanation of her work in your sponsor's letter. Will her family write a letter to say that she works in the family business?

She will need to demonstrate that she has the intention to return home following her visit to the UK. She should therefore submit evidence of any assets held in Thailand: savings, property etc. I would also suggest including family assets too, to demonstrate her family life is in Thailand.

Your sponsor's letter is not the appropriate place to detail her employment arrangements, as her employment is nothing to do with you; this must come from her employer.

Whose food stall does she work on? And the family laundry business - is it recognised as a business i.e. does it have a unique tax payer reference?

Many people in Thailand work strictly with cash, so this can be a tricky situation to overcome. For points based applications it's easier for people as they can just deposit cash in a brand new account for minimum 28 days, no questions asked. For visit visas there is the real problem of demonstrating ties to Thailand.

[7by7]

Your sponsor's letter is not the appropriate place to detail her employment arrangements, as her employment is nothing to do with you; this must come from her employer

Obviously any proof of the applicant's employment should come from their employer, which is why I asked if her family would write a letter. But if they have no such proof the sponsor's letter is a perfectly acceptable place to explain why; and also to briefly outline any other points about the application that require it.

Keep it simple and if possible keep it in one place, referring to supporting documents when appropriate. Remember that the ECO has a very limited time to look through the application; make it easy for them or they may miss something important. This has happened and applications have been refused because of it; as a couple of members here can confirm!

I don't know how many Thais, if any, have a unique taxpayers reference or similar; but I do know the ECO's are fully aware that many people in Thailand work cash in hand and so have no official documents to prove their employment, such as we in the UK would have, a P60 for example. Letters from an employer are often the only proof of employment submitted with an application, and provided the ECO is satisfied that the letter is genuine (they do sometimes phone the employer to check) then this is fine.

If she can provide proof of assets and/or employment then this will obviously strengthen the application. However, a read through this forum's archives will show that many people have obtained a UK visit visa for their partner when they had neither, nor any other concrete reason to return. They got their visa because the ECO was satisfied that the relationship was genuine, so the reason for the visit was genuine and so the visitor would return home.

[ankwa]

If the ECO is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your relationship is genuine and therefore the visit is genuine then that she has no full time employment should not be a problem; although I would include an explanation of her work in your sponsor's letter. Will her family write a letter to say that she works in the family business?

She will need to demonstrate that she has the intention to return home following her visit to the UK. She should therefore submit evidence of any assets held in Thailand: savings, property etc. I would also suggest including family assets too, to demonstrate her family life is in Thailand.

Your sponsor's letter is not the appropriate place to detail her employment arrangements, as her employment is nothing to do with you; this must come from her employer.

Whose food stall does she work on? And the family laundry business - is it recognised as a business i.e. does it have a unique tax payer reference?

Many people in Thailand work strictly with cash, so this can be a tricky situation to overcome. For points based applications it's easier for people as they can just deposit cash in a brand new account for minimum 28 days, no questions asked. For visit visas there is the real problem of demonstrating ties to Thailand.

The food stall is just run by a friend of her mothers , they sell noodle soup and a few other things , i asked her and its not registered buisness the laundry is the same and they really do it for the local people around the village when its needed, its all cash in hand work and there are no taxes paid , the way these people live is day by day and they dont really strive to have a lot of money but are just happy to have enough to get by , even when they won 20000 baht on the lottery they never saved it it was spent on a party and things for the house ,

[7by7]

As I said, explain all this in the application.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

A quick word of warning to any would be applicants the Embassy are actively calling the employer to check if they are employed, I have heard of certain companies drafting fake letters etc.

Remember you can be banned from entering the UK for up to 10 years for inserted misleading information on an immigration application.

[ankwa]

A quick word of warning to any would be applicants the Embassy are actively calling the employer to check if they are employed, I have heard of certain companies drafting fake letters etc.

Remember you can be banned from entering the UK for up to 10 years for inserted misleading information on an immigration application.

So can you get into trouble if you say that they are working for cash in hand, but not for a company and not paying taxes , ?

[7by7]

No. As said before, the ECO's are well aware that many Thai people work cash in hand, and it is no concern of theirs.

What TVE means is that some unscrupulous visa agents advise clients to lie in the application, and will even provide fake documents to back up those lies. The ECOs are increasingly checking the provenance of such documents.

If the ECO discovers that an applicant has provided false information or fraudulent documents in an application then that person may be banned from entering the UK for up to 10 years.

Of course, if one tells only the truth in an application and all the documents provided are genuine then one has nothing to fear in this respect.

[Thongkorn]

Key Visa charged my friend 60.000 Baht-----and failed to get the visa, he went to another agent for 15.000 and got it!!

I did it myself got it first time cost about 10 000baht, Passport, ID card, the lot for a holiday/visit visa, I got all the information of this site, that's why I try and put some information back,

[ankwa]

Key Visa charged my friend 60.000 Baht-----and failed to get the visa, he went to another agent for 15.000 and got it!!

I did it myself got it first time cost about 10 000baht, Passport, ID card, the lot for a holiday/visit visa, I got all the information of this site, that's why I try and put some information back,

What were the costs of 10000 for ? , and is it possible for me to do the application while in the UK then Submit it at the start of my next trip with my partner ?

[ankwa]

Hello thanks again folks for taking the time to add to the forum and give advice , its very much appreciated

Would anynone have a rough draft of a sponsors letter so i can get an idea of what its like ? , also which format does the photo evidence need to be supplied in , cd or usb ok ?

And finally does my partners supporting documents papers need to be translated into english ?

Im starting to put together a booklet with my supporting evidence like bills , mortgage statement , pay slips , with an index at the start so you can easily find what your looking for with each bit being in a numbered section , how does this sound ?

This visa application is starting to feel like doing a project for school , its all about research

Cheers

[7by7]

What were the costs of 10000 for ?

A big clues is when he says "Passport, ID card, the lot" which i imagine includes the visa fee as well.

is it possible for me to do the application while in the UK then Submit it at the start of my next trip with my partner ?

Yes; you can complete the form, paper or online, and then take or send it to her together with your supporting documents for her to take to the VAC to submit the application and have her biometrics taken.

Documents in Thai do not need to be translated, though I think it doesn't hurt to do so and may help as it means the ECO wont have to wait for a Thai member of staff to become available.

Photos need to be good old fashioned prints.

I have the sponsor's letter from my sister-in-laws application on file; I'll post it soon.

[7by7]

Here it is; obvioulsy I've edited it to remove identifying data. (Edit: missed a couple of names; never mind!)

(BTW I've deleted your last post, as it is just a quote of my previous; presumably you hit the wrong button! Happens to us all.)

Visit sponsor's letter example.docx

Edited July 31, 2010 by 7by7

[ankwa]

Here it is; obvioulsy I've edited it to remove identifying data.

(BTW I've deleted your last post, as it is just a quote of my previous; presumably you hit the wrong button! Happens to us all.)

Thank you thats a big help , how many photos would i need to supply i have about 100 over ?

[7by7]

We didn't supply any photos for my sister-in-laws application, for obvious reasons.

Twenty to thirty should be fine, from various times and locations. If when you print them out you can include the date they were taken then do so, but don't worry if you can't.