billywhizz17 Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Very true , lots of hassle I could of done without , might see u at embassy then , good luck Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Good luck to you too. I will update my experience at the Embassy in due course - not going for a few weeks yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 As promised, an update on my experience at the Royal Thai Embassy in London over the last couple of days. I visited the Embassy in London on Thursday to present my papers for my O-A visa (based on retirement - I am age 50) and my wife's O visa (as my dependant age 48). We are both UK citizens. I arrived at 11 am and the place was pretty hectic. It is in the basement and as you enter on the right hand side is a ticket machine where you take a blue ticket with a number on it. You then proceed into a room on the right hand side. Given it was between 11 am and 12 noon no visa applications were being processed (at window number 1) until the queue of people picking up their visas (from the day before) had been dealt with. At this stage a stream of numbers flashed across the screen and they started processing visa applications. One lady dealt with these at window number 1 at an incredible speed. The ticket numbers were irrelevant and you did not have to present your number at the window so I suggest you get into this queue once they start processing the visa applications ASAP. Most people seemed to present their papers and pay £25 and their receipt was presented really quickly. My application took a bit longer but still no more than about 5 mins. Here are the papers I presented. For my O-A application: - passport with a minimum of one year until expiry - 3 visa application forms plus 3 additional forms for O-A based on retirement - 3 passport photos - * bank statement (printed from Internet) showing £16k balance - these funds had only been in my bank account for a couple of weeks - * ACPO police certificate - * medical form completed and signed by my GP - £125 cash for multiple entry visa * all certified by a Notary Public (NP). The NP called ACPO whilst I was in her office to get them to confirm they had issued my police certificate. For my wife's O application: - passport - 1 visa application form - 3 passport photos - copy of marriage certificate. - £25 in cash for single entry visa - we will look extend this visa once in Thailand. At 11.30 am on Friday I re-visited the Embassy and picked up our passports and visas. The 11 o'clock rush for visa collection had gone and there was no queue and I was in and out in less than one minute. Interestingly, both of our visas have a must enter before date of 25 September 2015 ie 1 year. This is worth flagging as previous comments on this forum say you must enter within 3 months on an O visa. Perhaps this is because my wife is classified as a dependant and therefore gets the same must enter before date as me. My tip would be to get to the Embassy as soon after 9 am on day 1 to apply for your O-A visa and leave picking it up on day 2 until after 11.30 am (pick-up) is between 11 am and mid-day. Finally, I am puzzled as to why you have to apply in person for the O-A visa as it could all have been done by post. However, as you will know from my previous posts I called the Embassy before I applied and they said all O-A's must be applied for in person and cannot be done by post. My wife did not go to the Embassy with me. I hope recounting my experience helps anyone looking at obtaining an O-A visa in the UK based on retirement. Doogle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Sorry, noticed two mistakes. - passport for an O-A must have minimum of 18 months to expiry - O visa fee for single entry is £50 and not £25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Hi Thanks for the information , I've got all my documents together now as well and was going to go for the visa next week , what did you have with the notarisation ? I've just got a stamp and seal on each document but the notary talked about getting a legalisation letter as well? I'm also thinking about going to BKK to get the visa instead of a 400 mile two day trip to London for it but I'm going to call the embassy on Monday about that Many thanks , have a happy retirement Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smedly Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Hi Following feedback from this forum (and particularly help provided by Ubonjoe) I have been preparing documents for my O-A visa application in the UK. The Thai Embassy in London sent me an email confirming the following: The bank statement, health certificate and police certificate all need to be notarised. I have completed this processctoday and as previously pointed out here the fees can vary widely for this service. I was quoted fees of three times what I paid by one Notary Public. The Thai Embassy did not say that the bank statements need to be certified by the bank so I have not done this. It is worth noting that the Thai Embassy in London has not responded to my recent emails asking for further clarification so I will have to see what happens when I go to the Embassy in London in a couple of weeks time. I will keep you posted. With guidance from Ubunjoe I will also be applying for an O visa single entry for my (UK) wife which we will look to extend once we have been in Thailand for 60 days. The shame in this whole process is the conflicting information between website (which should be 100% correct but isn't) phone calls were people have no clue and emails which because of what I have mentioned above means there are so many that they seldom reply If they got the info on the website 100% correct then there would be no need for any other form of communication - seasoned funds ? - combination of funds/ pension ? - application by post ? - type of account for funds ? (savings/current etc) How hard is it to train staff and put the correct information on the website, give all the staff answering emails/phone a page of rules with the correct info It beggars belief that in this day and age an office could be so incompetent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Billywhiz17 My Notary Public also talked about legalisation but I did not do this and it was not a problem. I understand why you might opt to obtain your visa in Bangkok. If so the police report and medical certificate will not be required. One of the attractions of applying in the UK is that the funds to meet the 800,000 baht requirement (for savings route) can be held in a UK bank account. Good luck with whichever route you go down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJAS Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 (edited) Hi Thanks for the information , I've got all my documents together now as well and was going to go for the visa next week , what did you have with the notarisation ? I've just got a stamp and seal on each document but the notary talked about getting a legalisation letter as well? I'm also thinking about going to BKK to get the visa instead of a 400 mile two day trip to London for it but I'm going to call the embassy on Monday about that Many thanks , have a happy retirement Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Just be aware that, unless you are planning to relocate to Bangkok, you might find yourself faced with a considerably longer return trip (in terms of both time and distance) for a visa conversion than the one between Hull and London. And in all probability on a manically-driven bone-shaker of a clapped-out bus instead of a relatively luxurious National Express coach to boot! Edited September 29, 2014 by OJAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 Hi I've decided to bit the bullet and go to London for it then I'll know I'm ok before I set off for Thailand Thanks , I'll post an update once I've got the visa !! Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Hi Been to the embassy in London and got my visa this morning , no problem , process as you described Thanks for the advice and next stop Thailand !!! Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Great - enjoy Thailand!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Oh I know I will , cold beer in one hand hot chick in other !! Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpcoe Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 As promised, an update on my experience at the Royal Thai Embassy in London over the last couple of days. I visited the Embassy in London on Thursday to present my papers for my O-A visa (based on retirement - I am age 50) and my wife's O visa (as my dependant age 48). We are both UK citizens. You have a (multiple entry?) one-year Non-Immigrant O-A Visa which grants you a one-year permission to stay upon (each) entry. Your wife has a (single entry?) Non-Immigrant O Visa which grants her a 90-day permission to stay, and which I believe you can extend for an additional 30 days within Thailand. What's the plan for your wife after 120 days in Thailand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 As promised, an update on my experience at the Royal Thai Embassy in London over the last couple of days. I visited the Embassy in London on Thursday to present my papers for my O-A visa (based on retirement - I am age 50) and my wife's O visa (as my dependant age 48). We are both UK citizens. You have a (multiple entry?) one-year Non-Immigrant O-A Visa which grants you a one-year permission to stay upon (each) entry. Your wife has a (single entry?) Non-Immigrant O Visa which grants her a 90-day permission to stay, and which I believe you can extend for an additional 30 days within Thailand. What's the plan for your wife after 120 days in Thailand? Since August 29th when immigration order 327/2557 went into effect dependents of non-oa visa holders can get an extension of stay as their dependent. There never has been a 30 day extension possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimamey Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Hi Following feedback from this forum (and particularly help provided by Ubonjoe) I have been preparing documents for my O-A visa application in the UK. The Thai Embassy in London sent me an email confirming the following: The bank statement, health certificate and police certificate all need to be notarised. I have completed this processctoday and as previously pointed out here the fees can vary widely for this service. I was quoted fees of three times what I paid by one Notary Public. The Thai Embassy did not say that the bank statements need to be certified by the bank so I have not done this. It is worth noting that the Thai Embassy in London has not responded to my recent emails asking for further clarification so I will have to see what happens when I go to the Embassy in London in a couple of weeks time. I will keep you posted. With guidance from Ubunjoe I will also be applying for an O visa single entry for my (UK) wife which we will look to extend once we have been in Thailand for 60 days. The shame in this whole process is the conflicting information between website (which should be 100% correct but isn't) phone calls were people have no clue and emails which because of what I have mentioned above means there are so many that they seldom reply If they got the info on the website 100% correct then there would be no need for any other form of communication - seasoned funds ? - combination of funds/ pension ? - application by post ? - type of account for funds ? (savings/current etc) How hard is it to train staff and put the correct information on the website, give all the staff answering emails/phone a page of rules with the correct info It beggars belief that in this day and age an office could be so incompetent I think you're spot on with this. It a complete shambles which is why I always ask on here. I spoke to a guy at Birmingham consulate who was quite good. I was advised on here to apply through Birmingham because Hull suddenly decided they needed financial statements which I was short on as I'd paid out a lot and was waiting for the money fro the sale of my house. Birmingham had never heard of this requirement but did want a translation of the marriage certificate which Hull didn't want. I could manage that (at great expense for a quick turnaround). With the embassy I've phoned and just been left waiting for someone to get the right person. I emailed and got no reply to my 3 questions so I sent it again and got 1 answer. I'll be posting on here again soon as I will be needing an 'O' visa next year and I'm sure, or at least I hope the embassy website is wrong. I don't understand why the OP can't get an 'O' because he's not 65. Surely it's 50 for retirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 I was told by them at the London embassy I had to be over 65 for a non O and to apply for an O A visa Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Yes - I am 50 years old and got an O-A. My UK wife is under 50 but qualifies for a non-immigrant O visa as my dependant. All that was needed over and above the visa application, form, photos and passport was our marriage certificate. We will extend my wife's visa in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimamey Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Thanks for that , looks like I'm going to London then !! Wonder if they will accept application in person and then post passport back when granted ? Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand For peace of mind better to collect it in person regardless, I would have thought. How can you be sure that they won't just bung it in a letterbox with an ordinary second-class stamp on the envelope? The cost of an extra night in London town will probably be more than outweighed by the hassle & expense of replacing your passport if it goes astray in the post, not to mention the need for a further trip to the Embassy for a duplicate visa.. They usually suggest 'special delivery' for £10. I've used that myself for returns from the consulates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorts Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I was told I had to pick up our passports/visa in person between 11 am and 12 noon the next day but worth asking if they will post (securely). Anybody can pick up the passport(s) providing they have the receipt they give you when you apply in person on Day 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimamey Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 (edited) I was told by them at the London embassy I had to be over 65 for a non O and to apply for an O A visa Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Maybe they've changed the rules but on the website it says 50. http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/44 It certainly used to be 50 as I'm 60 now and I had a Non Imm 'O' based on retirement a couple of years ago before I got married. The problem as smedly said is it's a bit of a mess. The websites are often wrong and the staff don't always seem to know the rules either. The consulates seem to make up their own rules so they're all different. You made the right decision coming on here to ask. It's what I always do. Glad you got yours sorted out but just one bit of advice. Be careful of those hot chicks, especially when you've had a few cold beers. Edited October 6, 2014 by kimamey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz17 Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 Hi Thanks for that , I'm going tomorrow so just sorting last few items out now , lot of hassle to get the O A but I won't have to do visa runs and hope to have a stress free time once I'm there Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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