Uk Tourist Visa Sms

[phomthai]

OK the missus has received the sms from the British embassy saying she should get her passport back in the next few days

Why can't they say on the sms if the application has been successful of not????

Have had this before & even if you phone them up, go thru' the security questions etc they still won't tell you!!!

Reasonably confident that she's got the visa (hope that's not tempting fate.....) but we can't book flights yet...can't plan anything until she actually gets the passport in her hands!!!

Aaaarrgggghhhhh it's so f'ing frustrating.....could be worse I s'pose it could've been a Friday sms and the wait would probably be even longer....

[theoldgit]

She wouldn't have got the SMS from the British Embassy, it would have come from VFS in Regent House.

The reason VFS did not give your wife the result is they don't know. VFS are no more than a service to pass the application for processing by UKBA staff in the embassy and then receive a sealed packet back containing the passport, hopefully with a visa attached.

I hope your wife is successful.

[RAZZELL]

She wouldn't have got the SMS from the British Embassy, it would have come from VFS in Regent House.

The reason VFS did not give your wife the result is they don't know. VFS are no more than a service to pass the application for processing by UKBA staff in the embassy and then receive a sealed packet back containing the passport, hopefully with a visa attached.

I hope your wife is successful.

As above. Data Protection and all that.

RAZZ

[phomthai]

She wouldn't have got the SMS from the British Embassy, it would have come from VFS in Regent House.

The reason VFS did not give your wife the result is they don't know. VFS are no more than a service to pass the application for processing by UKBA staff in the embassy and then receive a sealed packet back containing the passport, hopefully with a visa attached.

I hope your wife is successful.

As above. Data Protection and all that.

RAZZ

Can't really see data protection as being an issue, would expect that VFS would have a service level agreement in place with Border Agency/embassy which would cover that off...

I know of several people that moaned about the sms service & reckon it could be improved so will be looking at sending feedback to embassy once the little lady's here in UK

3 or 4 days saved (day 1 ECO decides - day 2 VFS receive paperwork & send sms - day 3/4 collect passport...even worse if over a weekend) on sorting out flights can save a small fortune especaiily when most will be booked at the last minute!

It's something the emabassy could easily rectify with the sms coming from them rather than VFS...or even just answering the question when phoning as opposed to the "I can't tell you, how do I know you're the applicant?"..."Hang on we've just answered your security questions 100% CORRECTLY"...a simple automated system would sort this, it really isn't rocket science!

But hey maybe I expect too much good service, guess no one wants to accept responsibility if they send out wrong sms:hit-the-fan: ...and don't even get me started on the exchange rate they use when calcualting the visa fee:whistling:

Anyway the good news is that she got her visa and flights have at last been booked for the little lady!

[RAZZELL]

She wouldn't have got the SMS from the British Embassy, it would have come from VFS in Regent House.

The reason VFS did not give your wife the result is they don't know. VFS are no more than a service to pass the application for processing by UKBA staff in the embassy and then receive a sealed packet back containing the passport, hopefully with a visa attached.

I hope your wife is successful.

As above. Data Protection and all that.

RAZZ

Can't really see data protection as being an issue, would expect that VFS would have a service level agreement in place with Border Agency/embassy which would cover that off...

I know of several people that moaned about the sms service & reckon it could be improved so will be looking at sending feedback to embassy once the little lady's here in UK

3 or 4 days saved (day 1 ECO decides - day 2 VFS receive paperwork & send sms - day 3/4 collect passport...even worse if over a weekend) on sorting out flights can save a small fortune especaiily when most will be booked at the last minute!

It's something the emabassy could easily rectify with the sms coming from them rather than VFS...or even just answering the question when phoning as opposed to the "I can't tell you, how do I know you're the applicant?"..."Hang on we've just answered your security questions 100% CORRECTLY"...a simple automated system would sort this, it really isn't rocket science!

But hey maybe I expect too much good service, guess no one wants to accept responsibility if they send out wrong sms:hit-the-fan: ...and don't even get me started on the exchange rate they use when calcualting the visa fee:whistling:

Anyway the good news is that she got her visa and flights have at last been booked for the little lady!

I think your argument is a bit pointless....Can 4 days can make a difference in the cost of a flight?

After waiting 4/6/12 weeks a couple of days doesn't really matter as long as you get the answer you're looking for.

And does anyone in 2010 really call their gf/wife/significant other "the little lady"????

RAZZ

Edited October 14, 2010 by RAZZELL

[phomthai]

She wouldn't have got the SMS from the British Embassy, it would have come from VFS in Regent House.

The reason VFS did not give your wife the result is they don't know. VFS are no more than a service to pass the application for processing by UKBA staff in the embassy and then receive a sealed packet back containing the passport, hopefully with a visa attached.

I hope your wife is successful.

As above. Data Protection and all that.

RAZZ

Can't really see data protection as being an issue, would expect that VFS would have a service level agreement in place with Border Agency/embassy which would cover that off...

I know of several people that moaned about the sms service & reckon it could be improved so will be looking at sending feedback to embassy once the little lady's here in UK

3 or 4 days saved (day 1 ECO decides - day 2 VFS receive paperwork & send sms - day 3/4 collect passport...even worse if over a weekend) on sorting out flights can save a small fortune especaiily when most will be booked at the last minute!

It's something the emabassy could easily rectify with the sms coming from them rather than VFS...or even just answering the question when phoning as opposed to the "I can't tell you, how do I know you're the applicant?"..."Hang on we've just answered your security questions 100% CORRECTLY"...a simple automated system would sort this, it really isn't rocket science!

But hey maybe I expect too much good service, guess no one wants to accept responsibility if they send out wrong sms:hit-the-fan: ...and don't even get me started on the exchange rate they use when calcualting the visa fee:whistling:

Anyway the good news is that she got her visa and flights have at last been booked for the little lady!

I think your argument is a bit pointless....Can 4 days can make a difference in the cost of a flight?

After waiting 4/6/12 weeks a couple of days doesn't really matter as long as you get the answer you're looking for.

And does anyone in 2010 really call their gf/wife/significant other "the little lady"????

RAZZ

Yes 4 days can make a difference to the cost of a flight and factor in seat availability & then you'll realise that 4 days can make a difference!

To highlight the issue we were visiting friends in Chiang Rai after we put in the 1st application. Got the sms on the Thursday so called & tried getting an answer over the phone but no joy. Pet hate of mine, if I ask "Why CAN'T you tell us?" and the answer comes back as simply "We CAN'T tell you"....well what use is that? "Why?"..."We can't tell you!"..."Sorry you can't tell me why you can't tell me?"..."CAN'T" is NOT a reason it's just an excuse:realangry:

Seats on the EVA flight I was going back to UK on were going pretty fast even though it wasn't for another 3 weeks. So we went back to BKK earlier than planned, got to VFS with about 10 minutes to spare before they closed on the Friday. The little lady got one of the last seats on the flight!

...and yes even in 2010 some people do really call their other half "the little lady"....why? Probably cos she's only 5 foot tall being Thai and she's my lady...haven't heard the term "significant other" for a while though..

You are right so long as you get the right answer in the end everything else doesn't really matter but I'm not the richest man in the world and it just annoys me when I end up paying extra for something cos the embassy won't, sorry "CAN'T", say if you've got the visa

To quote "How do we know you're the applicant?" when we call and have gone through ALL the security questions is stupid. That would be like asking your bank over the phone to tell you your balance and then they ask "How do we know you're the account holder?" even though you've just gone through a minefield of security questions...."Well yes I see your point I am in the habit of giving out all my personal details and embassy password or reference number to complete strangers just so they can find out if I've been granted a visa to visit the UK!"

Data protection is a catch all excuse for just not wanting to help! Computer says no! Why? Computer says no!....

The other annoying thing was that we originally intended applying for the visa at the start of my 3 month trip but VFS advised WRONGLY that the visa could not be forward dated and they suggested we apply 4 weeks before we wanted the visa to commence. I should point out this was before I discovered thaivisa.com...now I know different!

So in that time VFS and the Embassy cost me a small fortune, factor in BKK-LHR-BKK being considerably more expensive than LHR-BKK-LHR so every month & day saved can help....

The point is though that it's frustrating getting the sms but not being told if successful when it could quite easily be included as part of the sms service! How many out there get all excited when the sms arrives only to then feel deflated & anxious cos you now have to wait even longer! But hey civil servants forget they work for us & are supposed to provide a service....

...end of rant...