Today, Pui and I went to one of the 100 or so offices in Pattaya that assist Thai people with getting visas to go to Farangland. Pui is specifically looking for a "K-1 visa", otherwise known as a "fianceé visa" to go to America.
Now, a K-1 fiancee visa consists of, give or take, 10 pages of forms, plus the collection of approximately 10 miscellaneous documents. Photocopies have to be made, and signatures have to be signed. All in all about 4 or 5 hours of work over a period of several days. Then, the visa application package is mailed out, and after about a 6-month wait, an appointment is made with the embassy in Bangkok. Then, a few more pages of forms are filled out, and everything should be set. (An in-depth description of exactly what needs to be done can be found here, if you are interested.)
A visa company like the one we visited will fill out all those forms, mail them for you, and will even drive your fianceé up to the embassy and back, and coach her in answering questions, if that is necessary.
Now, I'm a pretty generous spender, and I would say that in general I am not cost-sensitive. So, if they had quoted me 20,000 baht ($500) for 10 or 20 hours of work, I would have called it a steal, and if the visa company wanted 40,000 baht ($1,000), I would have grudgingly paid it, considering it a one-time cost that (a) guarantees that everything will go smoothly, and (b) that I won't be spending my time working on it.
The visa company, however, wanted 120,000 baht for their 10 or 20 hours of work. That works out to $150 to $300 per hour in my book. (The farang in charge tried to convince me that doing the visa yourself was a daunting task, and... hey, ya know... the big firms up in Bangkok charge twice that, so... hey, ya know... it's a good deal.)
Based on the gold watch and 10-baht necklace he was wearing, and the hundred photos of smiling faces holding up passports with visa stamps on them on the office wall, apparently some people believe him.
I don't.
So I'll be doing the application myself, mailing it out, and getting Pui her fianceé visa all by myself. If I screw it up, I'll admit it here on the blog. I'll do it over again until I get it right, if that is necessary. (I doubt it will be.) Regardless, I'll take that 120,000 baht I would have wasted, and buy a couple of Rai of land up in Petchabun. It will be a nice wedding present.
p.s. Just to be fair, if there are any visa companies out there who want my 40,000 baht worth of business, leave a comment. If there aren't, and there are some entrepreneuring types from Pattaya reading this, you could probably make a pretty good living filling out 10 or 20 pages of forms for a couple of hours per day.
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7 comments:
yea mate. im from oz and apparantly the us and uk and oz are about the same to get. the fiance visa is easiest to get and i went to easy visa on dolphin roundabout. it cost 45000 baht and was relativly painless.
it was worth it in my opinion.it was about 2 years ago i did it.
paul is the guys name.
also watch out of you do it yourself and they knock your missus back as the red flags will be waved and it will then be nearly immposiable to get one.
it wont hurt to have a chat with this guy as he is pretty clued up and has staff to speak thai to your girl.
dave smikmail@gmail.com
i like your blog. it keeps me intouch whilst not there at the moment
Dave, that's really interesting, as "Easy Visa" is the place that I went to, and instead of 45,000 baht, I was told it was 110,000 baht plus $175 for the visa.
Either getting a visa for America is more than twice as hard as it is for Australia, or this fellow Paul has ramped up his prices something serious.
I have been thru this process and am in pattaya
shoot me an email if you wish to talk about what I learned.
watchgeek@gmail.com
Jil,
May I be so bold to ask why you want to come back to visit?
Franky
I've got a couple of family functions to attend.
Please NEVER use these agents.
I can only speak for the UK (not the USA) but last year there were 35,000 applications from Thailand and less than 4% were declined - they will be for fraudulent applications or for lack of the correct info'. This info' is readily available on the official UK government immigration website.
These people are leeches of the worst kind, preying on the fears that it is difficult to do when the figures show quite clearly that it is NOT. Those fears are often generated by the agents themselves with their ludicrous advertising which would NEVER be allowed in other countries due to the blatant lies. They also expound the fact that we ONLY read about the failures on the web-boards and blogs which gives the (false) impression that it is difficult to do.
Worst still they will often encourage fraudulent applications but tell you to LIE on the application. There is NO problem getting a visa for a bar-girl!! If she is a bar girl and you put student on the form she has lied, the application is fraudulent and it can be legitimately declined. Fraudulent applicants are rarely viewed sympathetically at later applications. If they tell you NOT to put "bar worker" - they are assisting her to commit a criminal offence!
The British embassy in Bangkok even displays notices that if you use an agent your application will be considered unfavourably due to the high level of fraudulent applications submitted by them.
Just complete the application as per the (simple) instructions, provide ALL the evidence and paperwork requested and above all DO NOT LIE.
If the application is to be accepted there is NO more chance by using an agent than not - in fact as I have shown it is actually LESS likely to be accepted.
Out of interest it is UNLAWFUL for an officer acting on behalf of the British Embassy (Thai or British) to decline a legitimate application for a visa. They WILL however have good reason to do so if they suspect fraud!
Finally if you MUST use these parasites make sure you have the money back guarantee in HARD WRITING - I have never found anyone who has yet had their money back if the application fails.
I agree with Andy; these 'experts' are just more (of a long list) of expats squeezing money out of other farangs.
They are truely the worst type of turds. I remember the first few times I spoke with a 'lawyer' in Thailand; ha! What a joke, farang lawyers are useless there and have no power or sway in the courts.
They are just as much as an 'alien' as ALL farangs, in the Thai eyes.
Not a big deal; but it's true.
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