The Thai mrs applied in person in bkk over two weeks ago and I thought the application was so good it would be a simple matter to get the visa. In the office it says 10 days but it's now over two weeks and all we have heard is somebody phoning to ask some seemingly irrelevant questions. they have a website where you can check bit it does not work very well. Anybody got any experience with them? I expect I will be to blame if it gets refused!

Your case officer ringing is not that unusual. They are just doing their job properly. It's never that simple to get a visa imo. Be patient.

Your case officer ringing is not that unusual. They are just doing their job properly. It's never that simple to get a visa imo. Be patient.

A bit of detail, ten days for processing time is working days, not elapsed time

12 days working time, put it in on the 10th over 5k including the handling charge.

Got one in 2 weeks. You have to allow for weekends and public (Buddha) holidays, and there's been a few of them this last fortnight I think.

I found the website progress pretty good, and the NZ Embassy is pretty good to deal with. Provided you had the right documentation and don't have a criminal record, you should be sweet.

First time my gf applied for a visitor's visa last year, it took around 3 weeks. That was when it was at the Consulate itself, not the visa place they have now, and they had a sign saying that the first time you applied for a visa it would take longer than subsequent visas.

Second visitor's visa, last year, took around 2 weeks, again at the consulate, not the visa processing centre.

Third visitor's visa, this month at the visa processing centre, it took just 9 or 10 days. Although with that extra 800 THB fee the visa processing centre charges, I still wasn't happy (Especially as the cost of the visa had already gone up anyway).

All 3 we submitted the paperwork in person, rather than by mail. Monday is Labour day in NZ, and Wednesday last week was a public holiday here in Thailand so I'm not sure if these would effect the visa processing times or not. However as it's school holidays, there might be more applications than usual, as people have free time to visit visa processing centre. Also they might be understaffed lately, as it has been Oak Kan Sar and Boon Ka Tin lately, so a lot of people head home to visit their families (e.g. embassy staff take annual leave).

Thanks for that sly. I was disappointed more in the seemingly stupid questions they called with as we included everything asked for plus a lot more. They wanted to know why she did not want to live in the UK, what has that got to do with a VV to NZ? How old were the people in NZ we were going to stay with and did we have any kids. If they want to know daft questions why not include them in the 16 page application? VV to NZ costs even more than to the UK and they don't tell you about the 800 baht handling fee until you get to the office, we went in person as well. I did not see a sign saying first time would take longer.

Yeah I got pretty annoyed first time we did ours, mainly because of the extra documents they wanted. As the 12 page "guide to completing your visa application" didn't mention that they'd require proof of our relationship etc. Personally I thought that a signed statutory declaration by me to foot the cost of medical costs + deportation should have been enough. But discrimination and racial profiling are ok if it's immigration (especially when most kiwis will never even know what's happening). Although what we submitted was significantly less than what people online had said they'd done for UK/USA visas for their Thai partners.

The second time I applied they asked for more of the same and I told them to piss off because I submitted it last time, and that they could just look up our Facebook profiles if they wanted to see pictures of us together. They then granted the visa + made it multiple entry so that we wouldn't have to apply again for another 6 months lol.

Third time they didn't require/ask for anything other than what was asked for in the application form. Also when you have to do a statutory declaration, if you forget to do if beforehand they'll direct you to the NZ embassy on the other side of town. But we used the lawyers office on the same floor without any problems (1000฿ fee, which is the same as the embassy I think)

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The guidelines now do ask for proof of relationship so we gave marriage cert, photos of us travelling and at home docs to prove she owns two properties, a car and plenty in the bank. Also proof she went to the UK twice and came back well within the time, so I thought it would be pretty straightforward. Guess we will find out this week.