90 day multi-entry visa from the UK (change of procedure)

[Nereus]

I was not going to comment on this, but it affects people from every country.
Surely, the continued confusion surrounding ANY non-immigrant visa is peoples insistance on refering to any of them as "RETIREMENT" visa`s. They are NOT! It is the EXTENSION that CAN be granted on the grounds of retirement.

[HHTel]

My mother (almost 89 years old) has been coming to Thailand for 3 months every year for the past 11 years. She went in person to the Hull Consulate today and was told that they can only issue her with a 60 day tourist visa. For a non-o she would have to apply by post to the Thai Embassy in London but they're currently taking in excess of 6 weeks to turn them around.

The Thai Consulate's website states under the new rules that non-o visas can be issued in person at the consulate but they have to get approval from London. They say that they will contact the applicant when approval is given and then they will issue the non-o visa. They say to allow 5 days for the approval.

Has the lady in the consulate got it wrong or is their website wrong??

[caller]

It's certainly been a period of upheaval for the Thai consulates here in the UK.

Both the Hull and Birmingham consulate websites now state that they cannot accept postal applications for visas and that these must be posted directly to the Thai Embassy. The Brum consulate states this change was made on 15th January.

It's been the case for a while now that they had to be sent to London for approval first, but you could still apply by post to the consulate, it basically just took longer. But now it's personal applications only.

For a while Hull seemed to be out of synch with Brum at least, in that from what was said elsewhere, Brum were still issuing stuff, whereas Hull wasn't (recollection might not be 100% me on that one). But maybe that's the reason for the change?

Whatever, if the Embassy don't have the staff to take on board this extra work they have created for themselves, I guess delays of several weeks will be the norm.

Edit:

This is on the Thai Embassy website:

Visa Application by post

The Royal Thai Embassy in London commenced its visa application by post service on the 2 January 2014. Termination of visa services by post at the Royal Thai Consulates in the United Kingdom and Ireland (namely, the Royal Thai Consulates in Birmingham, Cardiff, Hull, Liverpool, Glasgow, Gibralta and Dublin) will be effective from the 15 January 2014.

http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/401

2nd edit:

Further to HH Tel's post, I can't see anywhere on Hull's website that states an 'O' visa application can't be processed in Hull, via London, if applying in person. In fact, it states the complete opposite and Birmingham still seem to be saying that's possible!

[HHTel]

Update:

After my mother was issued 2 x 60 day tourist visas, I E-mailed the Hull Consulate. I received a reply the next day and my mother got a call that morning. She is to take her passport back rin to the consulate along with her bank statements and they will endeavor to cancel the tourist visas and issue a non-o 90 day visa as she has been used to.

Heads up to the staff at Hull who will try to get things right. I'm sure after a few months, it will all become clear.

Currently:

Liverpool say that it only affects visas for under 65's. Birmingham have a completely different interpretation. The Thai Embassy say that personal applications can still be processed at a consulate and only postal applications are affected. The immigration in Thailand is totally confused!!!

"If something's not broken then why fix it". Tell that to the authorities!!!

[HHTel]

My mother returned to the consulate on Monday with her passport and documentation. This morning (Wednesday) she was called to collect it duly stamped with a single entry non-o visa.

That does prove that personal applications at the consulates are not affected. Approval from London took 2 days.

A result!

[benmo]

Post copy or scan to Hull and after approval from London visit Hull - "personal application", no problem and it protects Hull's income stream.

[Korkenzieher]

Which is certainly their number one concern IMHO - last time I used Hull, I still got stiffed for the £10 handling fee, in spite of receiving neither of the services it claims the charge is for! Argued the point to no avail and left the place with a pretty sour taste because of it.

[lomuamart]

Honourary consulates (such as Hull) normally have a separate business in their own right (shipping etc etc). The income from visas is theirs'.
Embassies and consulates work for the government and as such only retain some or none of the visa income.
That's why honourary consulates were always willing to bend the rules. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tightened the visa process up lately.

[HHTel]

It's my understanding that Alan Taylor's role as honorary consul is unpaid. He gets a percentage of visa fees taken, not all of them.

[HHTel]

I think I've got this sussed now although it doesn't have any reason attached. Under 50 years old, it's very difficult to get a non-o visa unless you are married to a Thai with all the necessary documentation. 'Visiting family' no longer applies. From 50 to 64, you have to show the financial requirement as you would do for a 'retirement' extension. i.e. 800,000 in the bank or monthly income of 65,000 pm. 65 and over, you only have to show that you have a pension paid regularly into your bank. THERE IS NO MINUMUM. So if you get 10 quid a month, then that will suffice.

All personal applications to consulates have not changed. Only postal applications which from now on have to be made to the embassy direct.

Nothing makes sense any more!

Is there any wonder why adjacent countries here are experiencing a boom in their tourist income!

[Korkenzieher]

Thailand is in the process of throttling the golden goose. I have said for a while that they will get their tourism markets taken by Burma and the Philippines and the inward industrial investment taken by Vietnam. No time scale, but I could see Thailand sooner or later becoming a relatively minor player in SE Asia, surrendering the 40 years of post Vietnam war 'first mover' advantage it has had in the blink of an eye.