sending my wifes Passport to Thailand. Like hell

[komfortablynumb]

Sorry can't find this topic covered already.
My Thai wife lives with me in the UK. She has a 2&1/2 year spouses visa.
We want to bring my step kids for a holiday they are 15 &19.
Got them passports and i think i know which visa to apply for.
However they inform me the uk consul in Bangkok want to see her original passport, not a copy.
Leaving my wife in the Uk without 1. For a short while.
Surely this can't be true. If whilst it's away and the lokal plod want proof of her right to stay in the UK no passport might entail an interview at the Police station.
I can't see this working the other way either. Being in Thailand and passport in the UK.
Any one else had this problem?
for any help.

[caller]

I'm no expert. but this seems odd to me. All records are computerised so can't see why they need sight of an original? Who exactly has asked for this and why?

[margaretcarnes]

I agree with Caller. Who exactly is telling you this? The 19 year old at least should only need his own passport to get his visa. 15 year old might be a different issue - but you could always check with the Consul in Bangkok as to their usual procedure. Sounds very dodgy.

[Randy Cornhole]

My advice would be check, double check and treble check. Your wifes passport is a valuable document...

[lomuamart]

KNumb,
As far as I'm aware, it's illegal for your passport to cross a border without you - other than in exceptional circumstances. That's any border, so from the UK to Thailand or vice versa.
I'd agree with the others, don't let your wife do it. If things go awry it could well mess up any longer term plans you and your wife may have in the UK.
Is there any body/department in the UK that you could check this out with? Maybe your wife could call the Thai Embassy's consular section in London?
As an aside, I can imagine that The British Embassy in BKK will want to see some paperwork to prove that the kids are legally your wife's - birth certificates/tabien bahn - and they're going to have to demonstrate that they have sufficient reason to return to Thailand after their holiday to get the visa.
As margaretcarnes says, try emailing the British Embassy in BKK. You're a UK citizen, I presume, so you there's nothing wrong with you contacting their consular section. You might be pleasantly surprised at how helpful they'll be and quick to reply:
http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... nationals/
The email address is down there towards the bottom right hand corner of the page.

[dtaai-maai]

Professor Numb, nice to read you again.

Contact the visa section at the BKK Embassy by email and ask them to confirm this. Then ask them to suggest how the passport can be sent safely and legally. If it's not illegal and is essential, they should be able to give you an address at the F&CO in London from which the passport can be forwarded by diplomatic bag.

Good luck!

[STEVE G]

Yes, it seems to be absolutely mad that if your wife is in the UK she should have to send her passport to Bangkok for the benefit of an organization that is obviously based in the UK.
Are the children allowed to travel to the UK alone or do they have to be accompanied?

[Wanderlust]

Following on from d-m's post, I would have thought a copy of the passport certified by an official at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office would be sufficient, and I am sure that passports should never be sent anywhere without their holder. I would imagine the person at the British Embassy in Bangkok assumed that your wife is in Thailand or would be travelling with the children, so checking and telling them again the exact circumstances should clear everything up.

[caller]

I'm just wondering whether when they went to the outsourced visa application service, they got caught by the private company apparantly on the same floor that tries to lure the unwary in as if they were the official agency?

Lots of warnings about this elsewhere.

[komfortablynumb]

thanks all for your advice. I knew i was thinking rationaly.
But you know how hard it is to persuade a thai wife she may just be wrong.
I write this from my laptop in the doghouse.
Any one passing is welcome to join me for a