in a couple of months time i will need a letter from the british embassy to show to immigration for my i year visa,can anyone tell me how long it takes if i use one of the visa shop as i dont want to go to bangkok personally also how much will it cost approximately.thank you in advance for any helpful advice.

It can only be obtained by post .

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423129/Pension_10_02_15__Master.pdf

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

Really ?

The Embassy charge is actually 2340 Bht

If the link I provided had been opened the heading would have been noted !

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Edited May 25, 201511 yr by nzexpat

Yes. only available by post - recommendation is to send documents by EMS and the Embassy are supposed to send them, and the letter, back the same way, for which there is an additional 100 Baht charge. Payment has to be by money order.

Last year, my letter went into limbo for about three weeks for some reason. I was not provided with an EMS tracking number by the Embassy, which makes the whole EMS thing a bit pointless. I had to get them to re-issue the letter - no extra charge for this. The original letter did turn up eventually - still no idea where it had been!

My advice is to leave plenty of time. The letter, when you get it, will be valid for six months anyway so you can do this well in advance of your extension date.

DM

Yes. only available by post - recommendation is to send documents by EMS and the Embassy are supposed to send them, and the letter, back the same way, for which there is an additional 100 Baht charge. Payment has to be by money order.

Last year, my letter went into limbo for about three weeks for some reason. I was not provided with an EMS tracking number by the Embassy, which makes the whole EMS thing a bit pointless. I had to get them to re-issue the letter - no extra charge for this. The original letter did turn up eventually - still no idea where it had been!

My advice is to leave plenty of time. The letter, when you get it, will be valid for six months anyway so you can do this well in advance of your extension date.

DM

only valid for 1 month where i go

Edited May 25, 201511 yr by MYKTHEMIN

thanks for all the info,i havent got a printer so i presume i can print one of the form off at a computer shop.

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

It makes me wonder why some people, who haven't a clue, offer help which only hinders.

Key Visa were offering this service quite recently as know guys that use them, unless its changed the information is very relevant and could make life easy for the OP

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

It makes me wonder why some people, who haven't a clue, offer help which only hinders.

Key Visa were offering this service quite recently as know guys that use them, unless its changed the information is very relevant and could make life easy for the OP

If you look at the Key Visa website here, http://www.keyvisathailand.com/services/pension-letters/ you can see the source of the confusion. They say that the cost of their "professional service" is 500baht, but the total charged to the client is 3,500, so the obvious inference is that the embassy's charge is 3000baht. However, as nzexpat has already stated, the embassy charge less than 2500baht (it varies from time to time according to the exchange rate).

I suppose as their market is people who can't be bothered (it can't be people who are too busy, it's an application for a retirement extension), they can charge what they like, but anybody who takes the trouble to download the simple proforma available from the British Embassy can fill it in within 5 minutes. Then a trip to the Post Office and it's done. Earlier this year I posted on the Monday and the letter was returned on Friday the same week..

I used key visa three weeks ago - total cost 3020bht (2520+500) - took three days to get my letter. Great service

Edited May 25, 201511 yr by Bluemoon99

Yes. only available by post - recommendation is to send documents by EMS and the Embassy are supposed to send them, and the letter, back the same way, for which there is an additional 100 Baht charge. Payment has to be by money order.

Last year, my letter went into limbo for about three weeks for some reason. I was not provided with an EMS tracking number by the Embassy, which makes the whole EMS thing a bit pointless. I had to get them to re-issue the letter - no extra charge for this. The original letter did turn up eventually - still no idea where it had been!

My advice is to leave plenty of time. The letter, when you get it, will be valid for six months anyway so you can do this well in advance of your extension date.

DM

only valid for 1 month where i go

The Thai immigration 'official' period of validity is 6 months (confirmed last year).

I accept each immigration office can be a law unto itself.

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

Really ?

The Embassy charge is actually 2340 Bht

If the link I provided had been opened the heading would have been noted !

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Why would anyone pay somebody to do something as simple as getting an embassy letter ?

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

Really ?

The Embassy charge is actually 2340 Bht

If the link I provided had been opened the heading would have been noted !

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Why would anyone pay somebody to do something as simple as getting an embassy letter ?

The charge is only 500 baht (used to be 300). That's much easier than travelling to Bangkok to get it myself. Not sure i would trust the post for something that important.

Key Visa by Big C South Pattaya, they take the information up on a Wednesday and collect the letters on the Friday, they check all your paperwork and take photocopies. Their charge for the service is 500 baht, the embassy charge 3000 baht for the letter!

Really ?

The Embassy charge is actually 2340 Bht

If the link I provided had been opened the heading would have been noted !

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Why would anyone pay somebody to do something as simple as getting an embassy letter ?

The charge is only 500 baht (used to be 300). That's much easier than travelling to Bangkok to get it myself. Not sure i would trust the post for something that important.

..... so you think agents don't use the post ?

No they send one of there staff with a load of stuff twice a week

Did mine for me 4 weeks ago.

Great service.

No they send one of there staff with a load of stuff twice a week

Did mine for me 4 weeks ago.

Great service.

So the following statement does not apply to agents ?

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

No they send one of there staff with a load of stuff twice a week

Did mine for me 4 weeks ago.

Great service.

So the following statement does not apply to agents ?

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Jip99

It may simply be that they mean 'we don't want loads of people turning up here at the embassy, so use only the post".

But, like all things, if one guy from Key Visa turns up with 20 applications or so, he can hand them in and then get them back within a couple of days. Obviously there is no link between a private company (KV) and the Brit Embassy, so they are not going to make any reference to it in the official blurb - even though it probably suits the Embassy.

100 % correct.

No they send one of there staff with a load of stuff twice a week

Did mine for me 4 weeks ago.

Great service.

So the following statement does not apply to agents ?

"Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa This service is only available by post."

Jip99

It may simply be that they mean 'we don't want loads of people turning up here at the embassy, so use only the post".

But, like all things, if one guy from Key Visa turns up with 20 applications or so, he can hand them in and then get them back within a couple of days. Obviously there is no link between a private company (KV) and the Brit Embassy, so they are not going to make any reference to it in the official blurb - even though it probably suits the Embassy.

fair point.

I have no issue with anyone using such a service (whether the agents collects or deals by post) it is just that I can't see the point of paying for such a simple task.

I may think differently if I lived in Pattaya.

Just to update the charge for this service went from 300 to 500 Baht. At present the charge is a blanket Baht 3500. The Embassy charge is Baht 2475. The cost therefore is now Baht 1025. Not a complaint just saying what it is. I did mine by EMS -B2575

Does anyone if this service is available from the U.S. embassy. Part of the reason I moved to Chiang Mai.