Vac Thailand - Uk Border Agency Confusing!

[stubuzz]

I have just got back from the VAC, Thailand. What a nightmare.

Details: I am British, My wife is Thai. My 6 year old daughter is 50/50.

I went to submit my family visa applications.

They told me i have used the wrong forms. ( VAF 1B )

Form VAF1 B-To come to the UK as a family visitor, you must be able to show that you will be visiting the following family members in the UK:

• spouse, civil partner, father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister;
  
• grandfather, grandmother, grandson or granddaughter;
  
• spouse or civil partner's father, mother, brother or sister;
  
• son or daughter's spouse or civil partner;
  
• stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother or stepsister; or
  
• a person you have been living with in a genuine and subsisting relationship, like marriage or civil partnership, for at least 2 years before the day you apply.
  

They are visiting:spouse or civil partner's father, mother-grandfather, grandmother

They told me i should use a General visitor-special child visitor for my daughter, and a general visitor for my wife.

I had to apply again online in the glass fronted shop next to the VAC, and print out new forms. Internet usage 100BT printing charge 30Bt a page x 26 pages!!!!!

Did i use the wrong form- VAF 1B??

[stubuzz]

This page explains how to apply for a visa as a child visitor.

Depending on where you live, you may be able to make your application online or by printing out and completing on of the following application forms:

• form VAF1A if you want to come as a tourist or to visit friends
  
• form VAF1B if you want to visit family
  

Edited December 13, 2012 by stubuzz

[VisasPlus]

VFS had no right to make you fill out another form. Your application meets the Family Visit requirements. Many people have been made to do this by VFS, and VFS, even having been told not to do it by the Embassy, continue to do so. I believe it is a just a money-making exercise for them. This is an extract from an email from the Embassy to me on the subject :

"I am writing in response to your email dated 20^th August.

I am disappointed to hear that you have cause to complain about ...xxxxxx....experience at the VFS visa application centre and I would like to offer my apologies for the embarrassment which this caused your client.

As you are aware there have been some recent changes to the Family visitor rules and staff at VFS have obviously misunderstood some of these changes. We are speaking to the Staff at VFS and will provide some refresher training on this area.

To clarify the changes in the rules and how they affect the community in Thailand, should a Thai national be travelling with her British husband (or Unmarried partner where the couple have been in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least the 2 years before the day the application is made and the relationship is genuine and subsisting) then they can apply as a family visitor.

We have provided instructions to the visa application centre to accept applications even if the applicant does not qualify as a family visitor and we will amend to the general visitor category once the application reaches the visa section at the British Embassy if it is clear that the applicant does not meet the family visitor criteria."

You should now complain immediately to the Embassy in Bangkok ( copy it to VFS). Request a refund of the money you had to pay to VFS.

Feel free to use the extract above, and inform the Embassy that it is taken from an email from the Entry Clearance Manager to Visas Plus in August this year.

Edited December 13, 2012 by VisasPlus

[stubuzz]

So, i did use the correct form. They did not make me fill out another application, but they did not want to accept the VAF 1B. They told me inlaws do not count as family. I feel like i have been scammed.

I dont understand request a refund of what money? The intermet and printing costs?

Also, outside the VAC there is a notice showing the picture requirements. It states they should be on a white background. The UKBA PHOTOGRAPH GUIDANCE states: taken against a light grey or cream background.

Thanks for your time and advice.

[VisasPlus]

So, i did use the correct form. They did not make me fill out another application, but they did not want to accept the VAF 1B. They told me inlaws do not count as family. I feel like i have been scammed.

I dont understand request a refund of what money? The intermet and printing costs?

Also, outside the VAC there is a notice showing the picture requirements. It states they should be on a white background. The UKBA PHOTOGRAPH GUIDANCE states: taken against a light grey or cream background.

Thanks for your time and advice.

Yes, I think you should be refunded by VFS for the internet printing charges. VFS are contracted by the Embassy, so the Embassy should not only oversee their service, but ensure that customers( you) are not ripped off. I think you are right, and I believe it is a scam. It has been going on for a long time.

What/who is in the office where you did the printing, etc ? Is it a print shop, an office, or a visa company ?

[stubuzz]

It is the shop/office on the right hand side of the VAC. It has no sign, but i think it is a visa agent.

I will send a complaint to the British Embassy.

Thanks again.

[VisasPlus]

It is the shop/office on the right hand side of the VAC. It has no sign, but i think it is a visa agent.

I will send a complaint to the British Embassy.

Thanks again.

Yes, I had heard that the visa company that was next to the VAC, when they were upstairs until a couple of weeks ago, has moved downstairs too. That is an amazing coincidence. There are many stories about this visa company, and I am not surprised if they have "managed" to open up next door to VFS again.

Please complain to the Embassy, or the situation will never change.

[stubuzz]

Compalint sent. I will update the post when i receive a reply.

[Theo007]

I forgot to mention in my previous posting about this company that I was told that my photos were too small and was obliged to have new ones taken there at a cost of 250 baht. Later, when I compared them to the old ones, I found that they were exactly the same size. I also showed them to the official in New Delhi who agreed with me.

[mikebell]

I have complained to the Embassy about Rajadamri office. It is a den of vice where staff routinely try to scam vulnerable Thais and their inexperienced spouses.

The photo rejection scam has been going on for years then you are forced to have another taken there and then at a premium price.

I was told my wife's application lacked enough 'paper'. I produced a check-list of necessary documents showing I had everything and asked what more paper was necessary. The only response was a furtive glance - I think the paper required was a brown note.

My wife went beyond the point where farangs are not allowed. She came out in tears. A lady, in uniform, consoled her and gave her a card for a Visa Agency!

The waiting time to receive your visa has varied from four days to six weeks!

I am sure there is an 'express' service you can pay for.

The British Embassy have farmed this service to a set of thieves.

[Foggy Bottom]

My wife went beyond the point where farangs are not allowed.

Surely this in itself is against the requirements set by the embassy and consulate?

If so, then every Brit on this board should be referring this to their home constituency MP for a an investigation into VFS and any complicit behaviour from the consulate or embassy (as well as into the alleged scams mentioned above).

[7by7]

The comment "the point where farangs are not allowed" should be amended to read "the point where only applicants are allowed." Although I am told that in quiet periods this rule is not enforced as it is in place to stop overcrowding within the UKVAC.

VFS Global are a company used and trusted to operate visa application centres worldwide by many countries, not just the UK.

When the UKVAC in Bangkok has previously been alleged to have scammed applicants, further investigation has usually shown that the victim was not in the UKVAC at all, but in the agents next door.

If I had my way then these agents would not be in the building, but neither VFS nor the British embassy have any control over to whom a landlord rents office space.

From reading the complaints in this topic it appears that the UKVAC staff are not guilty of scamming people, but rather of incompetence through not being properly trained.

In which case the procedure recommended by VisasPlus in post 3 is the way to go.

Of course, any evidence that the UKVAC staff are in any way colluding with the visa agency or otherwise acting improperly should be reported to both the embassy and VFS Global immediately.

Edited December 16, 2012 by 7by7

[VisasPlus]

Stubuzz,

One other thing occured to me. By making your wife use the form for a general visit visa, rather than a family visit visa, VFS took away your wife's legal right of appeal ( had the visa been refused). This must be an illegal action, and is worth mentioning to the Embassy ( if you feel so inclined).