I've just contacted my Thai Consulate in Liverpool to arrange my annual visit to get my 90 day multi-entry visa only to be informed that all 90 day visas for the under 65s have now to be processed through the London Consulate. Fortunately, they can still provide me with a 60 day multi-entry visa which makes little or no difference to me on this occasion as I return to the UK in May.
They tell me that the London Consulate are now accepting postal visa applications but have no idea of the length of time it takes them to process the visa and return the passport.
I don't think this change applies to anyone under 65 who is married to a Thai.
[i]'The ability to recognise the extent of your knowledge on any particular subject is a condition which, (unfortunately), far too few people are afflicted with'.[/i]
The Thai Embassy in Oslo mentions on their pages that an application sent via the post takes 2 weeks, but that you should apply no later than 4 weeks before planned traveling.
Might be different in the UK, but at least it should give you an estimate.
Seems that all visa applications to UK Consulates now have to be sent to Embassy for checking which has led to delays. The Hull Consulate had a reputation for efficiency and used to process and return visas within 7 days. Their website still says that it will take 7 days.
But due to the changes, and apparently a higher than usual number of visa applications for December, it has been taking up to 6 weeks to get passport with visa returned. They are saying now that visas will be returned at least 7 days before proposed departure date.
I applied for visa to Hull at end of November, and only got it back last week, 13 days before my trip. Obviously it's a bit of a worry that you will get it in time, until it actually arrives.
And they did not reply to emails, and it was impossible to get through on the phone as it was constantly engaged, so it would seem that a lot of people were in the same position.
Next trip I will do the visa application in person at the London Embassy.
I have luckily managed to renew my multi O visa from Birmingham just before the new London only rule came in. Nothing on the London website about how to apply by post as far as I can see (rubbish internet connection so did not linger long on the site). Does anyone know or has anyone tried to renew multi O visa's or similar via this method. Seems to me that it is a licence to print money for the agencies who arrange visa's in London. What alternatives are there that don't involve expensive foreign (shopping) trips for others like me who work abroad for three months then live here with their wife for the next three.
Do I understand it that over 65's can still get their visa at the consulate. The reason I ask is that my mother arrives here in February for 3 months. She's been coming for 3 months every year for the last 12 years. She's getting on for 90 and she's always got her visa in Hull (where she lives) on the same day.
HHTel wrote:Do I understand it that over 65's can still get their visa at the consulate. The reason I ask is that my mother arrives here in February for 3 months. She's been coming for 3 months every year for the last 12 years. She's getting on for 90 and she's always got her visa in Hull (where she lives) on the same day.
Terry, the website does say 'applications by post' can only be dealt with in London.
I should think that in person applications are business as usual.
Thanks, Terry2. You're absolutely right. I hadn't picked up on that. However, the consulate's web site does say that ALL non-0 visas have to be approved by the embassy so will take 5 working days to get approval. Still much shorter than applying by post to the embassy.
Seems to be a bit of a moving target. It was all non-Imm visas having to go through London. I did mine in person at Hull (and *still* got charged the fast-processing fee in spite of not getting anything like fast processing). It took 3 days. I was basically being asked for proof of funds, which a bank statement quite adequately demonstrated - but it still had to go to London.
Because the funds were in € not Baht, I was given a 1 year Multi-entry 'O' instead of the retirement visa I requested. Hull had incorrectly advised me that the funds for a retiree visa could now be held outside of Thailand.
Had enough of the trolls. Going to sleep. I may be some time....
KK,
That's strange. If you were applying for the Non Imm OA visa (long stay and quite ofter referred to as a retirement visa), your savings should not have had to be in Thailand. Anywhere will do - usually home country - as long as you can access them immediately whilst over here.
That is what Hull told me also, but the visa came back as a standard 'O' - non retiree. I checked my status with Imm here in December and they said it had to be in a Thai account, and I could not do internal reporting; but that I *could* convert it to retiree by bringing in a bankbook with 400k (with a 2 month timestamp on it) anytime. I may see if that still applies in a few months time, when the visa is about to run out :-) So, mixed messages all around - I'm not complaining - I have the visa, and prefer to make occasional trips (though occasionally internal reporting would be convenient), but it seems to be another case of the left hand and right hand being utterly oblivious to each other.
Had enough of the trolls. Going to sleep. I may be some time....
Did you supply police and medical certificates with your application? If you didn't, then your paperwork was lacking in those regards and I'm not surprised you only got the O visa. If you did supply there extra details and did make it plain that you were asking for an OA visa, then I'm still mystified.
Unless I've missed something pretty major in respect of new visa developments over the past month or so, the savings are OK in a UK account for the OA visa but you need to be over 50 and supply the extra certificates to get it.
Imm here are steering you correctly. They are talking about getting an annual extension to your O visa. The money must be in a Thai account for extensions.
There is no need to report on your O visa as you can't stay in the country for more than 90 days at a time - exit, return and get another 90 days (assuming you have the multi entry variety O visa).
Once you've got an annual extension, then you report to Imm here every 90 days, if you're here for that amount of time consecutively. Extensions can be applied for within the last 30 days of any 90 day entry stamp.
Hope that makes sense.
I haven't lived in the UK since 1993, so I have no residency on which to get police certificates. I wasn't even asked or told, and can't recall seeing the requirement listed in the paperwork. That could well explain it, but as I say, I am quite happy with what I have so I won't sweat it! LOL
The info makes sense, and I may take that extension route, since it seems to be the least painful. I am over 50, but my main residency (other than Thailand) over the last 20 years was Germany - where I am also no longer resident. Not sure how the police would feel about issuing such certificates for people who they almost de-facto have no knowledge about for such a long period.
As long as I can keep getting what I need, the classification isn't really so important to me. I have also made some use of ED and tourist visas over the last 7 years or so and would quite happily do so again if necessary. Immigration at Swampy have taken to looking quite shocked if I turn up here *without* a visa of some kind (ie, looking for a 30 day stamp).
Had enough of the trolls. Going to sleep. I may be some time....
One final thing. The 400K savings is for an extension based on marriage to a Thai. If you go the retirement option, then you need 800K or 65K a month overseas income or combination as long as the total is 800K+.
