Phuket

the fool monty · #1 24-07-2006, 15:30

I see that applications for UK visas are now being handled at a new address and not the british embassy/consulate.Does this mean the service has been contracted out to a private company?and will this mean there will be a more lenient attitude to the processing of applications?

One thing I can see is that if it is a private company acting on behalf of embassy is that there could possibly be an opportunity for these companies offering visas,immigration lawyers to smooth the wheels during the application preocess!!

Coolhand · #2 24-07-2006, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fool monty

I see that applications for UK visas are now being handled at a new address and not the british embassy/consulate.Does this mean the service has been contracted out to a private company?and will this mean there will be a more lenient attitude to the processing of applications?

One thing I can see is that if it is a private company acting on behalf of embassy is that there could possibly be an opportunity for these companies offering visas,immigration lawyers to smooth the wheels during the application preocess!!

What an apt name!
http://www.phuket-info.com/forums/re...highlight=visa

One thing I can see is a private company being more strict. There will be strict controls in place in there contract, which will be subject to frequent audit - and if they don't perform adequately there is a very good chance that their contract will not be renewed.
As for these companies acting unethically, whatever makes you think that?

eric-the-viking · #3 25-07-2006, 04:55

well according to people i know have visited the new agents ,it is now a lot harder than before,ALL yours and her documents have to be fully in order.
before they will even be considered to being presented to the consulate.

LivinLOS · #4 25-07-2006, 09:20

Surely thats a good thing though.. Prevents knock backs through badly prepared applications ???

lazer · #5 25-07-2006, 17:57

I've just got a settlement visa for my Tirak who is pregnant with my kid should have taken 3 months to process but if you pay an agency eighty thousand baht they can arrange with the new company to have it processed in 1 month. Make up your own minds but to me that's fraud. Also still had to pay the twenty thousand baht application fee. Got the visa in 1 month and she is with me now.

H3X · #6 25-07-2006, 23:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazer

I've just got a settlement visa for my Tirak who is pregnant with my kid should have taken 3 months to process but if you pay an agency eighty thousand baht they can arrange with the new company to have it processed in 1 month. Make up your own minds but to me that's fraud. Also still had to pay the twenty thousand baht application fee. Got the visa in 1 month and she is with me now.

Hi lazer .... congrats on the visa and baby

.... if some angry fat blonde comes up to you whilst your both happily stolling round B&Q on Sunday and and gives you a lecture on bad bad Thai girls mentioning 'you'll have to support her whole family you know'

.... it will by my ex , - she hates Thai girls for some reason...... tell her to f*ck off go get a job and stop milking me dry

Good luck mate ...

CeeGee · #7 01-08-2006, 02:23

The short answer to the original question is no.
VFS have no part in the decision making of the granting of a visa.They check that all your doc are correct and then put them in a box and send it to the embassy.The embassy grants or not grants the visa, all the new agency do is process the documents and deliver them to the embassy.
No one can make any decision apart from the embassy and when the documents are returned they are in the same box as sent.Until the box is opened they do not know if a visa has been granted or not.

dizbuster · #8 01-08-2006, 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazer

I've just got a settlement visa for my Tirak who is pregnant with my kid should have taken 3 months to process but if you pay an agency eighty thousand baht they can arrange with the new company to have it processed in 1 month. Make up your own minds but to me that's fraud. Also still had to pay the twenty thousand baht application fee. Got the visa in 1 month and she is with me now.

Congratulations on getting the visa, I hope everything works out for you.

Where did you hear that it takes 3 months to get this visa ?? How reliable was the supplier of this information ?? I think you should ask these questions before infering fraudulent activity amongst the agencies that assist in visa applications. The reason I say this, is because there is too much third hand knowledge going around about visa applications and it is best not to add to it as someone could read it in the future and it could affect their circumstances, all because somebody thought they knew, rather than actually knew, something.

I hope you get my point and understand it is just that and that I am not having a dig just at you, as that is not the case at all.

What could explain it, is that an agency knows exactly what is needed and therefore gets all the relevant information in a lot quicker than someone who is trying to do it themselves. I used an agency and they sent me a "shopping list" of items to send in to their Bangkok office, then contacted my GF and got her to do the same. Then they called her in to their offices, got her to fill in the application form and then sent everything over to VFS. They knew what was needed and it did not take long. Had I tried to do it without help, I might still be here now trying to figure out what else I need to send in with the application, so instead of 2/3 weeks with an agency, it could have ended up being 2/3 months by myself.

As CeeGee says, they (VFS) have no part in what happens from the moment that the application gets sent off until the moment it arrives back from the Embassy. I know this from my own experiences as I phoned VFS to ask about my GF's application and whilst they told me that they were in possession of her "box", they would not under any circumstances open it, only she could do that.

lazer · #9 01-08-2006, 16:49

Hi Dizbuster
On the british embassy web site it states that settlement visa applications take 13 weeks to process so this is where I got the 3 months from not from general gossip. Also when I paid the 80,000 baht to the agency they guaranteed the visa would be granted in 1 months time and it was the agency who told my tirak to go to the embassy to get the visa so they knew before we did so this closed envelope story is just that.

dizbuster · #10 01-08-2006, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazer

Hi Dizbuster
On the british embassy web site it states that settlement visa applications take 13 weeks to process so this is where I got the 3 months from not from general gossip. Also when I paid the 80,000 baht to the agency they guaranteed the visa would be granted in 1 months time...

I cannot argue with the first part, if the embassy said 3 months, then 1 month was a right result.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazer

...it was the agency who told my tirak to go to the embassy to get the visa so they knew before we did so this closed envelope story is just that.

I am a bit confused by your closing comment. The agency you used would have been informed that your GF's passport/visa were ready for collection, in fact you may also have been able to do this as VFS now have an online checking facility. Once your agency told your GF, she went to another agency i.e. VFS, (not the embassy) and I think this is where the confusion lies. VFS is an agency dealing with the general public on behalf of the British embassy.

Your agency sent all the documentation to VFS, who then check through it all to ensure that all the paperwork is there then they package it all into a "box" and send it to the British embassy. The embassy reviews the application, grants the visa and then sends "the box" back to VFS who hold onto it until your GF collects it.

CeeGee · #11 02-08-2006, 03:58

I can confirm what Diz says about VFS.Because of some admin **** up, I had a long chat with the Manager about two months ago.No one in the VFS, including the manager,knows what the outcome is.The embassy will not tell him, I was in his office when he telephoned.They(the Embassy) will only say at what stage the application is at, not the outcome.VFS are infact forbidden by the terms of their contract to release any information at all.They cannot comment on any application or even tell you if your application stands any chance.They can only advise you if you have all the required documents, but not on the "quality" or "content".This is straight from the horses mouth ie VFS Manager in Bangkok.There is no way any other agency can know the contents of the box unless someone in the Embassy informed them unofficially and totally against the rules.As Diz says an agency can help you with the paperwork, but that is it.The Embassy makes the rules, the timescales and the decisions, no one else and if anyone tells you different think long and hard about why they are telling you something different Sorry if I sound like I am preaching but I have gone through it all involving my MP, the Ombudsman and everyone at the Home Office and UK Visa from the cleaner up. End of story.ps we did get a visa in the end, roll on the 23rd when she comes to the sunny UK

dizbuster · #12 02-08-2006, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by CeeGee

...roll on the 23rd when she comes to the sunny UK

Nice one CeeGee, even if you only have half the fun I've had over the last 3/4 weeks with my GF, then you'll forget all the hassle you went through and have a great time

Hopefully you will have more than that

Good luck

CeeGee · #13 02-08-2006, 19:46

Cheers Diz, but I think I might have some problems.When I asked what she wanted to see in the UK her answers were The london Eye, Harrods, Harvy Nicks Selfridges Prada DKNY and Bond Street oh yes ,and she wanted to go to madame Tussauds, I asked her why, "to get my photo taken with David Beckham"

I think my bank manager will be travelling first class on his next holiday

MeMon74 · #14 04-08-2006, 19:54

Hi everybody

Can anyone tell me what the chances are of obtaining a holiday visa after being turned down once before. Is it worth trying again after rectifying the points the Embassy has made in the refusal.

Any help much appreciated

Cheers

CeeGee · #15 05-08-2006, 04:13

I think you have answered your own question.Look at the reasons for refusal, do a search on this and other forums, then submit the evidence they have asked for.There is no limit to the number of times you can apply. or how long or short between applications.Just remember a well thought out application with plenty of evidence will carry a lot more weight than the application form and one sheet of A4.
No, before you ask, there is no magic formula, many have gone before you, read what has happened to them then look at your application and see what is missing.
Good luck