Some Thai students have experienced slow visa approvals and a drastic increase in costs after the United Kingdom placed Thailand on a Covid-19 restriction travel list, their parents say.
The delays in visa processing have resulted in frustration among students and parents whose children are unable to return to class in the UK in time, they say.
Some are unable to get visas before their return date despite the fact they have booked their hotels for quarantine.
The mother of a first-year university student said her child has waited for VFS Global, a visa outsourcing company, to process their request for a month, without success. The normal process should take about 15 days.
Her daughter graduated from a UK high school and wants to start her university education this year. She has all the documents she needs and booked the state quarantine package before applying for a visa.
Her application was submitted about a month ago before the UK put Thailand on its travel "red list" on Aug 30.
"Her visa is still being processed," the mother said, adding that another of her daughters applied for a student visa for the United States and received a visa in one day.
VFS Global told her she could pay 45,000 baht to speed up the process and get her visa within a day, or 10,000 baht to get it done in seven days.
Meanwhile, one 18-year-old student is waiting to see if the UK government will consider making Thailand an "amber" country, so he does not need to pay the 90,000-plus baht for state quarantine. He hopes to quarantine himself at his university dormitory.
In a reply to a Bangkok Post email sent via the British Embassy in Bangkok to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the UKVI said: "The Home Office is currently experiencing high demand for visas from students meaning that, in some cases, it may take longer to process applications. We apologise for any inconvenience. VFS Global do not make visa decisions. All visa decisions are made by UK Visas and Immigration [UKVI]."
Up until June this year, over 2,100 Thais were granted a student visa to the UK.
