Uk Settlement Visa English Test Confusion

[LynPatchara]

My wife will be applying for a spouse visa soon. We already booked a KET ( cambridge key english test ) at NORMINGTON EXAM CENTRE, which was on the newly updated list of tests and test centres as of 4th October 2011. In fact i have been all over the UKBA uk website and the Thai UKBA website and VFS and every last one lists The KET as accepted and the links lead to accepted test centres, one of which is NORMINGTON.

And yet the people at VFS insist its not accepted. I spoke to them on the phone, ,my wife did, a friend did, we sent enquiry emails, and although they say its not accepted I cannot find any information anywhere across the board of UKBA websites that confirms this. The lady on the helpline at VFS vaguely said that some countries such as THailand altered the rules and its not acceptable any longer. I challenged them that if that is the case how can anybody applying possibly know that, as it is in all the lists.

As you can see I'm slightly costernated, we've already paid the course fee ( 2000THB ) and the other courses reccomended by VFS are 2 or 3 times more expensive and frankly I have the feeling that VFS are somewhat incompetent and I'm not sure If I can believe them.

Please, if anyone has any help they could give me on this I would be deeply grateful as it's proving to be a bit of a cluster#$$# at the moment.

Kind regards,

Ryk fawcett

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Approved list of providers Click this link.

[LynPatchara]

Thats the list, KET is on there, NORMINGTON is there, thats what i believe, and yet the people at VFS insist its not accepted ( the KET and NORMINGTON ).

I want to believe that the VFS is at fault, i suspect they may even be trying to funnel testees to the centres they want.

Well then i guess we just carry on with our approved KET and NORMINGTON as it is clearly allowed, and pay no further attention to VFS.

Seems like all i can do.

Thanks T.V.EXPRESS for your speedy reply, wish us luck.

Best regards,

Ryk Fawcett

[bangkockney]

Be sure to protect yourself.

Print the approved test list from the link above and the list of test centres from Cambridge's website. Print them from yor browser so they are date stamped.

Write to UKBA with a copy of the reply from VFS Thailand and print their response. Submit with application.

Good luck I really hope all is accepted OK.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Thats the list, KET is on there, NORMINGTON is there, thats what i believe, and yet the people at VFS insist its not accepted ( the KET and NORMINGTON ).

I want to believe that the VFS is at fault, i suspect they may even be trying to funnel testees to the centres they want.

Well then i guess we just carry on with our approved KET and NORMINGTON as it is clearly allowed, and pay no further attention to VFS.

Seems like all i can do.

Thanks T.V.EXPRESS for your speedy reply, wish us luck.

Best regards,

Ryk Fawcett

Has your wife a sister I recently did a settlement visa for a lady with exactly the same family name ?

We use Bulats test generally.

[VocalNeal]

I had to laugh at the Bulats test. It seems to be written for someone who is applying for a dead end job in some boring corporation.

[Rykbanlor]

Thanks for the feedback, I will certainly print the list and web pages to cover our backs on that front.

Thaivisaexpress, no she doesn't have a sister, just coincidence I guess.

Thanks once again guys, I will probably make some more posts later when we get into the process and find out more,

Regards,

Ryk fawcett

[Eff1n2ret]

The essential point to remember is that if you produce a certificate issued by one of the 5 companiese nominated by UKBA you've fulfilled the requirement of the Immigration Rules. It's not for VFS to say where you can go for the test.

[kobrien]

Hello guys,

My wife has already done this test last year,as the new one came in 2 weeks later I am told her certificate is now invalid.

I have contacted random agencies in Bangkok who are telling me the nearest test date is in June,THREE MONTHS AWAY.

Has anybody used a test centre recently,and one that has a monthly test rather than once every three/four months ?

Many Thanks

[Romfordboy]

My wife did the BULATS test at a company called Vantage Siam in Bangkok. It's not a perfect test but plenty of other people have done it so we followed suit.

They run tests every week, on Thursday and Fridays, 7000 baht.

I don't know if things have changed lately, or if it's busier, but we had no problem when the wife phoned and booked a slot for her test earlier this month. We called on a Monday or Tuesday and Vantage Siam had slots available for Thursday and Friday of the same week if we'd wanted.

We booked it for a few weeks later, 2nd February 2012. No problems.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

We use Bulats we have regular slots Thus & Fridays or call them yourself.

[hardgrafter187]

Seems to be no problems booking for bulats with vantage Siam my wife called to book for a test early last week she sat the test yesterday I have been with my wife for six years have always spoke to her everyday over the phone if im not in thailand sometimes 3 times a day so she can quite obviously hold a basic conversation with me. I also have a 3 year old half Thai daughter who speaks Thai and English already as well. I do not know what the results are yet she says she failed but I heard on here by someone before that 90 percent of the girls who come out of vantage think they have failed but have actually met the A1 standard acquired but because the the results what she has got are written in English she cannot read it so I do not know if she has A1 or not. I will post to let everybody know what happens.

[hardgrafter187]

Ok these are the results my wife was given inside the test center when she finished

Overall band. CEF level A1

Profile

Overall score. 17

Listening score. 7

Reading and language

knowledge score. 28

Might be a stupid question but does this mean she has the A1 requirement or not

[Romfordboy]

They only give half the result on the day of the test. Some of it can't be marked or assessed straight away, like the speaking and writing tests. What they gave your wife relates to reading and listening, and from you wrote, she got A1, so all good on that front.

The speaking test your wife did has to be taken from the computer and listened to and assessed by someone in the UK.

It doesn't take long, though. My wife did the test on a Thursday and we were told to ring the Vantage Siam office the following Tuesday afternoon to get the results of the writing and speaking tests.

The only 2 tests you need to worry about are the speaking and reading/listening tests, for which your wife needs A1.

Vantage will issue her with 3 blue test reports - one for the speaking test, one for writing, one for reading/listening.

If she achieves A1 in all 4 tests (reading.listening. speaking, writing) they will also issue her with a certificate from the UK. But that wont be available for about 2-3 weeks after sitting the test.

Some ladies wont get A1 in all 4 tests. In my wife's case, she didn't get A1 in writing because she found the test difficult. So she wasn't issued a certificate from the UK, all she got were the 3 blue test reports from Vantage.

[hardgrafter187]

Ok thanks alot for your help mate so how long did it take to get the blue test reports and would you have any idea if you just submit them for the visa application or do you need a proper certificate

[Romfordboy]

We got the blue test reports quick. Did the test on a Thursday, got the results over the phone the following Tuesday and the reports were available for collection on the Wedesday. Vantage Siam can post them to your wife if she wants.

As for submitting the certificate or not, I emailed VFS and the embassy to find out what documents they needed. We were worried because my wife didn't get a certificate. They both emailed me back and said you can just submit the blue reports, if you don't have a certificate it's not a problem. As long as your wife gets A1 in speaking and listening, no problem.

To cover our arse, I explained it all in my wife's application and printed out and included both the emails.

[hardgrafter187]

Ahhhh ok so the papers don't take 3 weeks to come to you then or do they if they send them or is that just the proper bulats certificate? .

Another question for you mate did you find anything on here about how or what order to compile the info for the application I here if it is exactly how the IMO wants with everything there the process can be sped up dramatically.

[Romfordboy]

The blue test reports we got were available to collect from Vantage Siam quick, did the test on Thursday and they were ready at the Vantage Siam office the following Wednesday. You have the option of having vantage post them to you or the wife, or you can collect them yourselves.

I was advised that the UK certificates take about 2-3 weeks to get to Vantage from the UK. They can be sent out or collected, too.

Obviously, if you want stuff posted to you it will take longer, and it depends where you want them posted to, so it's hard to judge how long it would take for you to receive them.

I would give Vantage a call and find out how your wife did in all 4 tests and then make a decision about collecting stuff or having it sent to you. I'm sure they only do tests on Thursdays and Fridays, so give them a call tomorrow, Tuesday, they should know the results by then.

I'm not too sure what advice is available on this forum with regards how to compile your wife's application folder. Have a look at thailand-uk.com, the forums there will be a big help.