Thread: Applying for Uk Visas directly to the Embassy

Have obtained lots of visas for my Thai wife but find increasingly that VFS who seem to act as agents for the UK and lots of the other Embassies are more obstuctive than helpful in either requiring uneccessary documents or failing to send the right ones,or simply choosing to misinterpret the rules -- this applies particularly to free Schengen visas for wives and dependants for which Uk citizens are entitled
Bearing in mind that the biometrics have been done, is there anything to stop one from applying directly to the Embassies and will they accept the applications and deal with them in the normal way

^ I am prepared to be corrected, but as I understand it, the whole Visa service is outsourced now. Meaning I think VFS is your only option.

Correct its the same for the aussies VFS

You can see why the embassies outsourced if you attended in the good old days.

Every man and his dog was loitering inside the embassy compounds, most on an impulsive whim and tanked up from the night before.

The embassy counter staff are now free to sit around in a relative quite waiting for the next pre-arranged appointment.

Thankyou Nigel ,am having no real problem getting repeated tourist visas its just that when you know the routine a direct application would be far simpler

With regards to Schengen although the UK is not part of the system UK nationals have the same privileges as other Schengen members with regard to simplified and accelerated Schengen visas these are free to wives and dependants of all EEC nationals,I sometimes want one when we are holidaying in UK and want to visit Europe

VFS and other Embassies in Bangkok seem to try to prevent us getting them,the requirements are very much simplified and helpful when you can get this system to work,an appeal to Solvit which is a help line type website set up by the EEC is very user friendly

VFS are a pain in butt, I have 2 passports one NZ and one OZ the NZ embassy do their own passports but the OZ uses VFS so comparing the service from either is chalk and cheese.