UK Visa fee

[Tony M]

The cost of a UK visit visa is 80 GBP. In THB at today's ( Embassy) rate that is 4480 THB

The new online visa system shows visa fees only in US Dollars, not in GBP or THB. The visa fee must be paid by Visa or Mastercard only.

The payment website page gives the fee for a UK visit visa as $ 132.

An application submitted this week shows that the visa fee taken was 86.24 GBP. The Bangkok Embassy website shows the Consular rate of exchange in Thailand as 56 THB for one GBP, thus 80 GBP is 4480 THB.

Just where does the Visa Card charge of 86.24 GBP come from ?

Why are the fees in US $ anyway ?

Is this a fee scam, or an exchange rate scam, or is it scam at all ?

If the fee is paid online, why can't it just be 80 GBP. If I buy goods online from the UK, then I pay the UK price. Why are exchange rates even involved here ?

[7by7]

All good questions, Tony; have you asked the embassy or UKV&I?

[Tony M]

All good questions, Tony; have you asked the embassy or UKV&I?

Yes,

When you submit an application, you receive an email asking for your comments on the application process. I know of others who have questioned the current procedures, but, so far nobody has received any feedback. The email goes direct to an ECM at the Embassy, but they are not ( so far) giving any responses The email contains this paragraph :

Enquiries

If you have any questions regarding your payment please email [email protected] quoting your transaction reference:xxxxxxxxxx. This email address is for enquiries only, NOT Refund Requests – to request a refund you must follow the process detailed above.

[7by7]

When you submit an application, you receive an email asking for your comments on the application process. I know of others who have questioned the current procedures, but, so far nobody has received any feedback. The email goes direct to an ECM at the Embassy, but they are not ( so far) giving any responses

Unfortunately, I am not surprised.

[durhamboy]

For a long time I have thought that there is something wrong with the exchange rates the embassy uses. It always seems to be about 5 to 10% higher than the actual "mid-point" exchange rate and therefore seems to be too high. It is the same with the other visa fees e.g. settlement visa fee where the effect is even more acute because of the higher visa fee.

I think the embassy is making money on this. Would a "freedom of information" request be appropriate?

Also when I applied for my wife's settlement visa they would only accept bank cashier's cheques and most banks charged for this therefore adding to the expense. Has this changed now to be visa and mastercard only? If so, what happens if you don't have one?

Also I agree that the fees should not be in US Dollars. I can't work out how it comes to £86.24 - that would give a rate of $1.53 to the £ when today's mid-point is about $1.64. That would be too low I think. The only thing I can think of is maybe they are "double exchanging" i.e. Thai Baht to US Dollars and then to GBP.

Bottom line is that it is just another example of the government squeezing more money for visas from a "captive audience".

[theoldgit]

That's an absolute disgrace.

We should flood them with enquiries on that email address or maybe write to The Daily Mail, they are a big fan of HMG.

We could also tweet Clarke, sorry I mean Mark Kent, he seems to a big fan of social media, adding Facebook for good measure.

[Tony M]

That's an absolute disgrace. We should flood them with enquiries on that email address or maybe write to The Daily Mail, they are a big fan of HMG. We could also tweet Clarke, sorry I mean Mark Kent, he seems to a big fan of social media, adding Facebook for good measure.

I agree that a few enquiries might focus someone's attention on this. I have just sent another one !

[TCA]

If they are charging in dollars and someone is using, for example, a UK sterling-denominated credit card, then what is charged is down to the rate of exchange (£/$) given by the UK bank. Consular rates will have no bearing on this and baht rates will have nothing to do with it either.

In Thailand it's common for businesses to add on extra charges for use of credit card but you'd hope that wasn't the case for a UK embassy! The UK bank will also take an additional percentage (RBS take 2.75% as a non-sterling transaction fee) on top of probably an already poor exchange rate.

Having said that £86.24 is still on the high side. The applicant who was charged this should be able to find out exactly what fees have been incurred from a bank statement or a call to his/her bank. Or even via online banking if signed up to it. There should however be no reason why the embassy cannot arrange for payments to be taken in sterling and absolutely no fees charged whatsoever.

Edited January 10, 2014 by TCA

[Tony M]

If they are charging in dollars and someone is using, for example, a UK sterling-denominated credit card, then what is charged is down to the rate of exchange (£/$) given by the UK bank. Consular rates will have no bearing on this and baht rates will have nothing to do with it either.

In Thailand it's common for businesses to add on extra charges for use of credit card but you'd hope that wasn't the case for a UK embassy! The UK bank will also take an additional percentage (RBS take 2.75% as a non-sterling transaction fee) on top of probably an already poor exchange rate.

Having said that £86.24 is still on the high side. The applicant who was charged this should be able to find out exactly what fees have been incurred from a bank statement or a call to his/her bank. Or even via online banking if signed up to it. There should however be no reason why the embassy cannot arrange for payments to be taken in sterling and absolutely no fees charged whatsoever.

The payment goes through a company called WorldPay. Does that make a difference ?

It appears on the bank statement as this :

Debit Card Transaction

UKBA, LONDON, USD 132.00, 01/08/2014 86^.24

Edited January 10, 2014 by Tony M

[7by7]

The main question I want an answer to is why the British government is charging in dollars and not in Sterling.

An extra £6.24 (7.8%) for a visit visa is bad enough; but if the same percentage is applied to a settlement visa the fee goes up from an already exorbitant £851 to £917.38.

When payment during the online application process was first announced I, for one, was pleased as I thought it meant the iniquitous consular exchange rate would no longer be a factor.

But it seems UKV&I, or their political masters, have found a way of screwing even more money out of applicants.

[TCA]

The payment goes through a company called WorldPay. Does that make a difference ?

It appears on the bank statement as this :

Debit Card Transaction

UKBA, LONDON, USD 132.00, 01/08/2014 86^.24

I don't think WorldPay makes a difference. It's just the payment processing company used by UKBA and charges from them would be incurred by UKBA directly. Not much info on that bank statement but a call to the bank should be able to dissect what makes up the sterling amount. What is interesting is that it is UKBA in London, not Bangkok, who are receiving the dollars. And so as 7by7 said, why dollars? But it's the bank who make the money because of the charges on a non-sterling transaction, not UKBA, so why they choose to want dollars is beyond me, unless they know something we don't about the future value of sterling!

[Waterloo]

WorldPay are a similar organisation to paypal on ebay, just a third party billing service, currently do some work in one of there offices in london.

Had to purchase some technical spec's for work the other day and WorldPay handled the billing at no extra charge.

As a buisness they have to charge for there services I suspect this depends on what contract they sign with there client as to whether the client or the customer pays?

[theoldgit]

World Pay are actually a UK based company, and in this instance they are collected fees for a UK service, I believe they are used to collect visa application fees worldwide, I fail to see the justification of charging for this service in US Dollars.

Clearly this a cost saving measure as negates the need for their staff to bank drafts and I assume that Word Pay will offer an accounting service, again to save costs to HMG.

I would assume that the majority of card payments, in Bangkok, will use Thai cards, so currency conversions shouldn't be an issue, it's only become so because of their change of systems.

[TCA]

I would assume that the majority of card payments, in Bangkok, will use Thai cards, so currency conversions shouldn't be an issue, it's only become so because of their change of systems.

People using Thai cards to pay UKBA for their visa would now be subject to the baht/dollar exchange rate, plus any other fees that Kasikorn, or whoever, charge for transactions in a foreign currency. This would still be the case even if the charge was in sterling, unless the embassy decided to use its own exchange rates and put through a baht transaction. But it appears all payments are processed in the UK in dollars.

The only people who will benefit are the banks and anyone paying using a dollar-denominated credit card, although even that might not be fee-free. Sometimes a foreign transaction, despite being in the same currency, can still result in charges.

It has to be a decision from on high in UKBA that they'd rather have dollars than sterling. Only they can tell us why that is, but they definitely should not be carrying out transactions in a foreign currency at the expense of its customers, in order to bank in a currency that suits them.

[theoldgit]

Save that the "Consular Rate" is already set at a level to protect the UK in Thailand against currency fluctuations. So when visa fees were paid by draft it was at a rate agreed with the centre, as is the fee for other Consular Services paid by card.

As a UK taxpayer I'm all for cutting costs but economies of scale meant to save costs to the supplier of the service, shouldn't mean an almost 8% increase in costs to the customer.

Contracts are normally signed off by the Cabinet Office, so yes it's at Senior Servant level, but I still don't believe there is a justification in billing in USD.

[Basil B]

Sounds like the card companies are the winners here "double conversion", I agree these fee are being paid to the UKBA, why can they not be paid in GBP the legal currency of the UK, by card or bank transfer.

This Stinks like having to dial a 0845 number for the VAT or Inland Revenue, thankfully they have resolved that issue.

[7by7]

It appears on the bank statement as this :

Debit Card Transaction

UKBA, LONDON, USD 132.00, 01/08/2014 86^.24

Is that all it says?

Whenever I have used my Nationwide debit card abroad, in Europe or Thailand, my bank statement shows the amount in local currency, the exchange rate used, the amount in Sterling and any commission charged; plus any ATM charges if I've used it to get cash.

According to The Money Converter. com at todays rate of $1 = £0.60677, $132 = £80.09.

But I suppose it depends on what rate is used; the British government's consular rate, World Pay's rate or the bank's.

BTW, the cost of a visit visa in the US is $136.

Very odd.

[TCA]

Save that the "Consular Rate" is already set at a level to protect the UK in Thailand against currency fluctuations. So when visa fees were paid by draft it was at a rate agreed with the centre, as is the fee for other Consular Services paid by card. As a UK taxpayer I'm all for cutting costs but economies of scale meant to save costs to the supplier of the service, shouldn't mean an almost 8% increase in costs to the customer. Contracts are normally signed off by the Cabinet Office, so yes it's at Senior Servant level, but I still don't believe there is a justification in billing in USD.

Indeed. When paying by draft they used this consular rate to establish a fixed baht price. Thereby the only fee was the cost of a bankers draft. Using a Thai card to pay in baht shouldn't result in charges either, unless the embassy (like some Thai retailers), specifically charged them. Using a card anytime for a foreign currency transaction will result in charges. I wouldn't imagine this is a UKBA contract issue regarding services though, or anything like that. Being able to accept payment in a different currency isn't a difficult thing. Somebody there has just decided they want dollars and I look forward to hearing their justification.

It appears on the bank statement as this :

Debit Card Transaction

UKBA, LONDON, USD 132.00, 01/08/2014 86^.24

Is that all it says?

Whenever I have used my Nationwide debit card abroad, in Europe or Thailand, my bank statement shows the amount in local currency, the exchange rate used, the amount in Sterling and any commission charged; plus any ATM charges if I've used it to get cash.

According to The Money Converter. com at todays rate of $1 = £0.60677, $132 = £80.09.

But I suppose it depends on what rate is used; the British government's consular rate, World Pay's rate or the bank's.

My card is the same but looks like this transaction was only a couple of days ago and sometimes it takes a few days for the whole information to feed through. The bank will have all the information though. As to the rate, it's most definitely the bank's. UKBA will be requesting payment of $132 and that's exactly what they'll get. WorldPay only process the transactions, will have nothing to do with setting exchange rates and will be paid entirely separately to individual customer transactions. So the charges and rate are all down to the bank as far as I can see. It could well be they charge a high minimum fee as opposed to just a high percentage and a poor rate. Would be interesting to know which bank as it should be easily checkable on their website.

[Jay Sata]

You've all missed the point that World Pay are a commercial company involved in transacting the fee.

They are a business not a charity. Who pays for the staff they employ? You do.

The pound/baht/dollar fluctuate on a daily basis. However the UK government want's the same sum delivered on every transaction.

To achieve that there are risks and the bottom line is this system works just like Paypal.

The days of the postal order and cheque are long gone.

The US dollar is the international currency so easy to process payments whatever the exchange rate of the Mattabeelee gumbo bead or the baht.

Does it really matter if you have to pay a few pounds more?

That'd like driving around town for the cheapest fuel.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Jay Sata

[TCA]

You've all missed the point that World Pay are a commercial company involved in transacting the fee.

No they're not. Their fees are paid by directly UKBA in this case. If UKBA choose to pass on these fees in some way to their customers, then that is incorporated in the visa cost. The charges in question are those levied by the bank for a foreign currency transaction, in tandem with the exchange rate applied by them. The question is also why would a UK government department charge fees in a foreign currency? For me it's completely unheard of.

[Jay Sata]

In which case it needs to be raised by a letter/email to Keith Vaz.

He seems to get things moving.

[theoldgit]

1. You've all missed the point that World Pay are a commercial company involved in transacting the fee.

2. They are a business not a charity. Who pays for the staff they employ? You do.

3. The pound/baht/dollar fluctuate on a daily basis. However the UK government want's the same sum delivered on every transaction.

4. To achieve that there are risks and the bottom line is this system works just like Paypal.

5. The days of the postal order and cheque are long gone.

6. The US dollar is the international currency so easy to process payments whatever the exchange rate of the Mattabeelee gumbo bead or the baht.

6. Does it really matter if you have to pay a few pounds more?

7. That'd like driving around town for the cheapest fuel.

1. Nobody has missed the point at all, HMG has contracted their visa fee collection to save on their own costs, charging their customers an extra fee for this is not acceptable.

2. Nobody has suggested they are a charity, everyone accepts they are a business and HMG are using the economies of scale to reduce their costs, nothing wrong with that, but charging their customers extra is simply not acceptable. HMG save the cost of their own staff by using World pay.

3. Yes currency rates fluctuate hourly and that's why HMG have a Consular Rate to protect themselves against currency fluctuations, if not their customers.

4. ??

5. Both cheques and postal orders are alive and well, as are bankers drafts. However you have missed the point that whilst electronic payments are increasing, they are designed to save money not cost the consumer more.

6. What a ridiculous statement, of course it matters. Are you honestly saying that a customer should pay an extra 8% because a company wants to streamline it's operation? We're not all as rich as you.

7. Not worthy of comment.

[Jay Sata]

Well just try sending a cheque to the Thai consul in Cardiff or the Thai Embassy in London.

Impossible!

[sam sen]

if the visa fee is £80 then say its £80 and charge £80

if the visa fee is £86.24 then say its £86.24 and charge £86.24

if there are any additional fees clearly state them

my 6 month thai visa is £75 and £75 is charged

how hard can it be?

[Tony M]

Today, the visit visa fee is shown on the UKBA website as $ 136 ( up 4 Dollars from Wednesday ).

[7by7]

Well just try sending a cheque to the Thai consul in Cardiff or the Thai Embassy in London.

Impossible!

You really should check your facts before posting. they don't accept cards either; and charge in local currency, i.e. Sterling. Visa Fees

Visa fees are payable in pound sterling and in cash only.

Yet again you have either completely missed the point or are simply stirring things from underneath a bridge.

[Seekingasylum]

The UKVI ( would people please stop using the &, the Home Office don't ) are simply recovering the cost of contracting out payment processing and the rate employed is inevitably loaded in favour of the service provider. Exchange rates are spread according to buying and selling and ensures the broker always wins. The point here is that the FCO is penalising the customer and charging for something which in a competitive market would be absorbed by the provider. People should complain. Given the beneficiary is a UK organisation it is quite shameful the way they are exposing captive clients to rapacious exchange rates in such a cynical way.

[7by7]

Whatever exchange rate is used, it wouldn't be a factor if they charged in Sterling.

A UK visa, fee payable online to the UK government; why charge in USD?

[7by7]

My MP was recently extremely helpful in obtaining confirmation that an expired A1 test certificate was acceptable for FLR applications; so I have today emailed him to ask if he can find out why applicants are being charged in USD for a service provided by the UK government with a fee set in Sterling by the UK Parliament.

I'll post his reply when received.

[Tony M]

My MP was recently extremely helpful in obtaining confirmation that an expired A1 test certificate was acceptable for FLR applications; so I have today emailed him to ask if he can find out why applicants are being charged in USD for a service provided by the UK government with a fee set in Sterling by the UK Parliament.

I'll post his reply when received.

That's good, 7x7. I have asked the Embassy, but I'm not holding my breath on any quick response.