O-A from the London Thai Embassy

[SheungWan]

Today I submitted the documentation for an O-A visa which was accepted, so unless refused when I pick up the passport tomorrow I am good to go.

Since I live in London I was able to visit the embassy whenever i had queries and I had two major ones:

Criminal Record Disclosure:

The downloaded information on the embassy website and the info handed out at the Embassy refers to ACPO and the procedure for getting it there. It is longwinded.

I had previously been directed by a local police station to enquire via Disclosure Scotland and received my clearance for £25 (a lot less than ACPO). So the question was whether the Embassy accepted Disclosure Scotland. I tooke the certificate to the Embassy. Acceptable? Yes.

Notary Public:

This is expensive and the Embassy website states clearly that it must be done. I was just about to kick things off when I noticed that the A-O guidance 1 page note handed out at the Embassy says certification must be done by notary public or solicitor. Again I trooped down to the Embassy to sit in the queue with my blue slip to ask them to confirm whether certification by a solicitor is acceptable. Answer: Yes. Cost: £30.

The solicitor made a copy of all the docs and stamped them and signed them.

[Maestro]

Thank you for this information, SheungWan. I'm sure it will be useful for others applying for the non-O/A via at the Thai embassy in London.

[jacksam]

Scheung....I'm going to Au late December and doing the O-A thing. With limited time the "bound and signed off by a notary is a concern. Cuts down on my process time. In AU we have to apply for o-a in Canberra, hence I need to post. Why is life so hard with this rubbish. Anyway play by the rules I guess. Wondering what cost and time frame for this rubbish is.

[Howiehotspur]

Thanks for the info , it's just what I've been trying to investigate as it's not clear as to how to obtain it .

On the web site it states ...

Proof of income with a minimum of £1,400.00 per month or £1,400.00 or £16,500 anuually for those who have been issue category O with multiple entries

Medical Record

Criminal Record check

I don't currently have any visa , and have only applied for the usual 3 month one in the past .

1. I have 3 problems here and hopefully you can advise me .

I'm 55 , have money in uk bank but won't be able to transfer until i get to Thailand and open account , and then it has to be in that bank for 3 months ? ( do I just get downloads of bank statements , as currently they are in my online saving accounts .

2. How do you get a medical record check .. Just go to your GP and request one ?

3. How do you obtain a criminal record check , where Is your first port of call for this ? .. Agency that does them ?

I live in Sussex and can go to Thai embassy easily , but guess you have to queue . Can you complete forms there or do you need to take everything with you .. And what would that be ? .. My girlfriend needs to renew her passport ( she's Thai ) anyway as it only has 3 months left , we aren't married , but she has been here as my partner since 2004 , is there anything she can do or say to help in the application , I'm guessing not but what do you recommend .

Cheers Martin

[SheungWan]

@Howiehotspur

All forms can be downloaded from the London Thai Embassy website.

Income: I completed my application on the basis of monthly income and provided 3 months printout of current account bank statements plus a letter from the bank stating that I had a current account with them. Plus I highlighted the pension item on the printout plus I provided a copy of the original pension award letter to me.

The question for you here is that if your monies are not income but rather savings then you might not qualify. This is one of those questions to ask at the Embassy in person IMHO as the Embassy advice leaflet clearly states income. If you do make the trip you can take your financial data to show them. They will clearly advise if there is flexibility. Maybe someone else on Thaivisa has some knowledge.

Medical Record Check: You download the form from the Embassy website. The characters on the form merge into each other but it is readable. Two times I took the form to my medical practice reception and they said they would deal with it, but it just sat on somebody's desk. What to do? I made an appointment with a doctor for something completely unrelated and at that appointment I asked the doctor if they could help with the form. I gave them a copy and a copy of the Embassy requirements. The doctor completed the form and provided a covering letter for me to collect a few days later.

Criminal Record Check: http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/

I don't think your girlfriend can help you in your application in the UK.

Edited October 13, 2014 by SheungWan

[SheungWan]

Scheung....I'm going to Au late December and doing the O-A thing. With limited time the "bound and signed off by a notary is a concern. Cuts down on my process time. In AU we have to apply for o-a in Canberra, hence I need to post. Why is life so hard with this rubbish. Anyway play by the rules I guess. Wondering what cost and time frame for this rubbish is.

I can only retail the one conversation I had with a notary. By the end of the conversation I concluded he was talking crap as he started saying things like how do we know your Disclosure doc isn't a forgery and the police wouldn't let him look at the original records and then he said that in order to validate my bank account I would have to log in in front of him. A right song and dance act plus he then asked for £300 for certifying the 3 docs (plus VAT no doubt). What a rip-off. I thought that was too much, so he talked about putting them in a 'bundle' to certify whatever that means for the low low price of £100. The problem with this bundle nonsense is that it gets away from the visa requirements of each of the three sets documents (finance, medical, criminal) being individually certified and since one cannot take a sample to the Embassy to ask advice I didn't think that either preparing a 'bundle' of forking out hundreds of quid were either a good idea.

[Howiehotspur]

Sheung , that's really helpful thanks

My income will be very small , £440 a month .

But I have a fair amount in two accounts .. Savings , aprox 80k .. And am in the process of selling my property and should have around 100k equity to also . I thought it was either income Or volume in ( Thai bank ) .. Ofcourse that was an issue too as to get that into a Thai bank for the required time ,

So would you therefore recommend / advise maybe I just get a normal double entry visa , 3 months . And apply for a change to a pension visa .when in Thailand ?

[jacksam]

Despite all the advice available from thaivisa and Google. There always seems to be a little part we are not sure about. For example, the financial requirement.....

I don't have much money in my AU bank but I have a LOT in super fund. I have a statement with balance also contains sentence like. "These funds are available for withdrawal at any time as I have reached age of 60......"

Would this original statement be sufficient??? Who knows. So I place 1million baht in Thai Bank. Yes can obtain the signed letter from bank. So when in AU to apply for the O-A visa can I use this letter?? Or does it have to be in AU bank. Again I'm not sure. Many people say its easy and yes I'm sure after I have gone through process it may seem more straight forward. I try not to clog up thaivisa with questions but hells bells it can be confusing.

[SheungWan]

Sheung , that's really helpful thanks

My income will be very small , £440 a month .

But I have a fair amount in two accounts .. Savings , aprox 80k .. And am in the process of selling my property and should have around 100k equity to also . I thought it was either income Or volume in ( Thai bank ) .. Ofcourse that was an issue too as to get that into a Thai bank for the required time ,

So would you therefore recommend / advise maybe I just get a normal double entry visa , 3 months . And apply for a change to a pension visa .when in Thailand ?

@Howiehotspur

Whether you wish to go an alternative route of applying for a pension visa in Thailand is up to you, but I would rather keep this thread's discussion focussed on whether the door is still open for you to apply for a visa at the Thai Embassy in London. According to the Embassy stated requirement of having sufficient income the answer is no, so the door appears closed, but I just made a check against the O-A form. There is a provision for entering monthly income, but hey-ho there is no provision for entering annual income, but rather a provision of entering savings (and in which banks). So what we might have here is a discrepancy between requirements stated and the application form. If the application form takes precedence, then savings can be counted. But you must confirm with the Embassy in person. If you are selling your property then that money should not count until it has been in your accounts for a period of time. I do not believe that savings have to be transferred to a Thai bank for a UK application. However, if you do have Thai savings of some worth, then no reason not to include as well when making your enquiry.

Edited October 14, 2014 by SheungWan

[SheungWan]

Picked up my O-A visa yesterday so the above information now fully confirmed.

[MAZ3]

Picked up my O-A visa yesterday so the above information now fully confirmed.

Thanks a lot,my original plan was the OA in London, but dismissed it with all the cost of a Notary Public.

But now I will do exactly the same as you!.

Cheers