31 replies to this topic

[Aussie Wolf]

Easyvisa were the ones that threw me off visa agents.

Went into their office last year before my TGF's first TV for oz and met the owner Paul.

Must say as soon as i saw him the alarm bells were ringing.Call it intuition or just experience in dealing with people but IMO he didnt gain my confidence.Straight away i was made to sit with him whilst my TGF was made to sit on a separate table across from a Thai girl who immediately started conversing with her in Thai.

Paul's line of attack on me was to determine the visa i wanted, how he was connected at the oz embassy and how he could guarantee the visa.All he wanted to know was how much money i was prepared to leave as a deposit. When i told him i needed time to think about it, boy oh boy did his attitude change. he was lucky in the end i didnt break his jaw the silly old geezer.

Upon leaving his office, my TGF was nearly in tears as she had been questioned as to her bar working history and how to scam this history. When she informed the girl that she actually worked in a beauty salon, the employee basically made out she was lying.

Suffice to say they didnt get a baht off me but i could understand how someone with maybe not as strong a personality or character could get intimidated by this bloke.

Anyone else got an experience with this character?

Edited by Aussie Wolf, 22 October 2011 - 01:22 PM.

[size13shoes]

Greetings

I haven’t had any experience with this company but I would like to add my 2 cents worth!

I’m not sure where all this fear comes from about girls working in bars (I’ve had it preached to me also), is it just because foreigners are more likely to meet a girl in a bar than other places?

Is it just that a marketing tactic to put fear into foreigners so they shed out some more of their money?

I can understand if someone is not familiar with a process, the laws or have limited time and resources they might like to seek professional advice but in my opinion it is wrong to use fear as motivation to gain business in this situation.

In my limited experience with visas my GF has never been interviewed or asked questions about work and or working in bars.  

With all our applications I have always put she was unemployed and we met while I was holidaying in Thailand being introduced by mutual friends.

Surely with the hotel booking evidence (e.g. hotels booked in Pattaya, Bangkok etc) they must read between the lines and or assume what’s going on (wether they work in a bar or not) but choose not to say anything unless you give them good reason to?

[jerry]

Get in contact with your embassy , find out what they need . Do some reading on PA or Thai visa forum and do it yourself .
Will take you a few hours to figur it out but well worth the effort .

[seans]

Aussie Wolf, on 22 October 2011 - 01:12 AM, said:

Easyvisa were the ones that threw me off visa agents.

Went into their office last year before my TGF's first TV for oz and met the owner Paul.

Must say as soon as i saw him the alarm bells were ringing.Call it intuition or just experience in dealing with people but IMO he didnt get my confidence.Straight away i was made to sit with him whilst my TGF was made to sit on a separate table across from a Thai girl who immediately started conversing with he in Thai.

Paul's line of attack on me was to determine the visa i wanted, how he was connected at the oz embassy and how he could guarantee the visa.All he wanted to know was how much money i was prepared to leave as a deposit. When i told him i needed time to think about it, boy oh boy did his attitude change. he was lucky in the end i didnt break his jaw the silly old geezer.

Upon leaving his office, my TGF was nearly in tears as she had been questioned as to her bar working history and how to scam this history. When she informed the girl that she actually worked in a beauty salon, the employee basically made out she was lying.

Suffice to say they didnt get a baht off me but i could understand how someone with maybe not as strong a personality or character could get intimidated by this bloke.

Anyone else got an experience with this character?

Yes Aussie Wolf you are correct. I know someone who about 6 or 7 years ago had a Thai wife who owned a Massage shop and needed a visa to the UK
that Paul charged 50,000 bhats for basically nothing
later visas were got through the British Embassy and without paying 50,000 bhats.

[brewster]

I wouldn't use Easy Visa on the basis of their dreadful Pattaya One adverts.

And previous work as a bargirl is no barrier to getting a UK visitor's visa, although lying is.

[Ohyesuare]

I always thought that Paul guy looked dodgy from the adverts and I am not surprised you confirmed it. I guess he is doing well enough overcharging clueless foreigners. I wouldn't believe his worthless guarantee that if he doesn't get the visa you don't pay either.

[Bladefire]

Easy Visa - Easy Money!!!!!

[daycake]

I had the misfortune of dealings with this crowd!!.. I was charged around £900 payable in two payments.. At first, and once i had a meeting with this character he spent most of his time telling me how successful he was and how well connected he is in Pattaya.. At first the communications were fine and got encouraging emails.. Bare in mind at this point that it was ME who filled out the forms and submitted all the photos, copies of passport and my status in the UK and my financial situation... Then at the first minor problem the emails turned into one liners and he became difficult to get a hold of?.. Then after having to deal with his, difficult to understand staff, he got his Thai wife to tell me (when i could hear him in the background) that there was nothing they could do and that they had contacted the UK Embassy and cancelled the visa application and i was not getting a refund!!!... I went to Bangkok and met with the embassy and was told the visa had not been cancelled and it was still awaiting a response?... SO EASY VISA LIED! I was then told buy the embassy DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE!!! So i went ahead and we were successful, first time!! and married in the UK and live between the UK and Thailand.... So if you do a bit of research and can fill a form out and prove your status then you have as good a chance as anyone of being granted a visa.. This person will lead you to believe that without his help you have very little chance of success.. NOT TRUE!!.. I saw what he submitted to the embassy and all it was was what i had given him and this was stuck with glue into a cheap folder in an attempt to look professional!!! and all for the bargain price of £900..Trust me you not need a so called self promoting spiv of a so called lawyer!?!/!!..

P.S. Anyone ever checked if he studied at the bar?

[LaaMok]

Strange first post. Did you register just to attack a business?

[jerry]

LaaMok, on 24 October 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

Strange first post. Did you register just to attack a business?

If so , what's wrong with warning other boardmembers to be carefull with dodgy 'businessmen' ?
I see a lot of less usefull first posts .

Edited by jerry, 24 October 2011 - 01:03 PM.

[cableguy777]

A friend of mine was conned by this guy a year ago to the tune of 50,000 baht and still failed to get the visa ! ,Also no sign of a refund .

I believe if you can do basic form filling and a descent presentation of documents you have a good chance ,I did everything for my girls visa and when i was unsure of something i used thaivisa forum for info .Took me a week from start to getting a visa .

[Scumbag]

jerry, on 24 October 2011 - 01:02 PM, said:

If so , what's wrong with warning other boardmembers to be carefull with dodgy 'businessmen' ?
I see a lot of less usefull first posts .

How do you know that it is not a competitor sticking the boot in?

[LaaMok]

jerry, on 24 October 2011 - 01:02 PM, said:

If so , what's wrong with warning other boardmembers to be carefull with dodgy 'businessmen' ?
I see a lot of less usefull first posts .

There is a lot more credibility given to someone with a few posts or someone whos been around for a while. When someone signs up to attack a business, its normally because they don't want to use there own account or they have come from another forum.

We do not allow slander on the forum, so we have to be careful with attacks on businesses, especially from new members.

I am not saying that the poster is right or wrong, its just that he's signed up to make one negative post about a business, sounds like a vendetta.

[altec123]

I used him when I got married and was very happy with his services.

[Aussie Wolf]

LaaMok, on 24 October 2011 - 01:30 PM, said:

There is a lot more credibility given to someone with a few posts or someone whos been around for a while. When someone signs up to attack a business, its normally because they don't want to use there own account or they have come from another forum.

We do not allow slander on the forum, so we have to be careful with attacks on businesses, especially from new members.

I am not saying that the poster is right or wrong, its just that he's signed up to make one negative post about a business, sounds like a vendetta.

if he has a vendetta after being ripped off by him what's the problem?

he is spot on with his info though as i can second his claim about this Paul character making out how well connected he is both in town and the embassy. Also those folders he mentions  is true. I chuckled inside when i saw them.

I understand your point as to being his first post but when i joined if i happened on a thread mentioning easyvisa, it would have been my first post as this experience is what got me searching around for more info on visas and finding this forum.

[daycake]

Hi

First off i have no vendetta against any of the visa companies offering visa services and have no association with any companies offering these services!!.. My problem is with Mr King and his claim “If I don’t get you a visa then I do not want your money”.. This company took my money and did not deliver the visa and I feel I am not alone!… “Aussie Wolf” had the exact same experience as myself and am sure we are not alone?… The fact that he thinks that we might be impressed by his bragging about his connections and his and Thai wife and her family being connected to the police and the embassy suggests that he might have some influence in the outcome of the visa made me wary straight away. The difference also was my “Thai Girlfriend” was on to them straight away!!.. This was due to the fact that she spoke way better English than they did and was way ahead of them and exposed them as the extortionist that they are.. All they were interested in was the deposit and when the balance would be paid. And after the first small hurdle we were told that the visa had to be cancelled and they had informed the Embassy in Bkk. This also was a lie and the visa application was still awaiting a response from Easy Visa?.. As I said I went ahead and applied successfully and now live between the UK and Thailand and no thanks to Easy Visa and the self promoting Mr P King (Wonder what the “P” stands for?)…I have a few suggestions!!..

Do not encourage these people!!.. These are the words of the UK Embassy to myself and my wife... Do it yourself!!!

How did things work out Aussie Wolf?... Hope you had happy ending?

　

　

　

[castledrive]

It would be interesting to hear if any members know of anyone that has got any refund from Easyvisa after having a visa application refused, I did consider using them some years ago to get a UK visa for a BG not for marriage reasons but just simply to have a attractive fuck buddie in the UK when business did not allow me to be in Pattaya, basically the UK summer months.

I did go as far as having an interview with Paul King and I am reading some very familiar quotes here, IE, contacts in UK embassy, no visa no money,
your job does not matter/ ex BG does not matter, if your a council tenant does not matter, unemployed does not matter, no money in the bank does not matter, not that any of that applied to me but he was going to tell me anyway and all of the satisfied customers, yeah, all the classic scam bollocks to get down payment money.

Being a lazy bastard when it comes to paperwork I may well have took him up on his services if I had found a girl worth having around for 5 or 6 months in the UK, after all halve payment up front was not going to break the bank for me at that time, unfortunately several came close but none ticked all the boxes so I never got to be another satisfied customer or another mug throwing his money away.

If I could see that Mr King can and does make good on his claims I would certainly use Easyvisa as for me it would be worth every penny rather than fuck around with endless trip to the embassy and a mountain of paperwork, but then as the UK economy and my business has took such a dive sadly this has now become just a mere dream but who knows in a couple of years!

I do not think he could have survived with Easyvisa in Pattaya if it was just a scam, the word would have got out long ago and also Pattaya does attract all kinds of people not just newbies who fall in love and want to take "their" girl back home, would anyone in the right mind try to scam the likes of a certain former Aussie PA member who daily posted his conquests for us to admire, people that are scamming any old member of the public that walks through the door do not go and sit at the same desk in the same office year after year, in a town like Pattaya you would need to have balls to say the least or just a death wish.

[Hung1]

My two cents.  I have known people that used him and did not get a visa.  He states "if I don't get you a visa, I don't want your money"  He already has your money.  He never says I'll refund your money.  Just that he doesn't want your money, that he already has.  Those that I have known, never got a refund.

Now, on the upside.  I just got a visa for my lady.  It's not as hard as you think.  If you pay someone else, you will end up doing most of the work anyway.  Might as well do most of the work, and don't pay anyone.  Here is a tip a friend of mine told me, who is an attorney that charges people to do what Paul King does.  Get your application, mine was with the US embassy, and done online.  Answer every question, do not leave any blanks.  It took me two days to fill out the application.  Not that it's to hard, they just asked questions that I wasn't prepared for, and had to do some research.  The same research that YOU will have to do if you pay someone, because they won't know the answer either.  Like she worked in a hospital, they didn't just ask the name of the hospital and time she worked there.  They asked the name, address, phone number, and supervisors name.  Even when they asked about her parents, they didn't just ask their names, but birthdays also.  We had to get that information to fill it out.

We went through all of our pictures, and even pictures that our friends had, looking for pictures that documented us being together. Look for pictures on the beach, at tourist attractions, eating with the family, not pictures in a bar.  I put them all in order by dates, and printed out 4 per page, then stapled them together.  Page by page, you could see our relationship blossom. Each picture was labeled month, year, and where it was.   We lived together, she was on the lease, she had a copy of that.  I have a retirement visa, she had a copy of my passport page, and each retirement visa, with the date and the word "retirement" highlighted.  We married here, I went through the whole process of having a legal marriage that was registered at the Ampur.  I had her get her ID changed to my last name, and get a new passport with my last name.  We showed that we were serious in our relationship, and jumped through all the hoops.

After submitting the application, I went online and and found out what others had done, and the questions they were asked in their interview.  Days before her interview, I quizzed her until she could answer every question I had ever heard them asking easily, along with a few question I thought they might ask.  When she arrived for her interview, she had on a wedding ring, a new dress and shoes, nice, but conservative.  She was ready for any question that they might ask.

Hot pants and high heals won't fly at the interview.  Think about the age difference.  if you are 60, and she is 18, I know, you know, and the embassy knows that it's not going to work out.  60 and 35 works better, or 35 and 20 even.  An age difference is expected, however a huge age difference is a red flag.  My embassy had the option of an interview in Thai, or English.  My wife was scared of an English interview, even though she has a good command of English.  We asked for a Thai interview.  I made sure, and practiced with her, if they asked if she spoke English, not to say nit noi, or little bit, or yes.  She practiced saying, "Yes, I can speak English, but not very well"  They like her to speak English.  A full English sentence goes over a whole lot better than "nit noi"

If you are smart enough to read and post on this forum, you are smart enough to fill out the forms.  The only thing Paul King is going to do is review the application, and if you left any blank spaces, he is going to ask for that information, to put in that blank space.  I'll do this for free, ANSWER EVERY QUESTION, LEAVE NO BLANK SPACES ON THE APPLICATION.

People that pay Paul King are just to lazy to do it themselves, even though, they are going to end up doing most of it themselves.  Go online to your embassy website and spend a couple of hours reading about what's required.  Check out forums like Thaivisa and www.visajourney.com  This forum, and a few others.  Then start the process.  You can do it.  Don't be scared because someone else got turned down.  Many more make it, they just don't have anything to whine about on the forums  Good luck..

Edited by Hung1, 01 November 2011 - 04:15 PM.

[7-Eleven]

Hung1, on 31 October 2011 - 06:11 PM, said:

My two cents.  I have known people that used him and did not get a visa.  He states "if I don't get you a visa, I don't want your money"  He already has your money.  He never says I'll refund your money.  Just that he doesn't want your money, that he already has.  Those that I have known, never got a refund.

Now, on the upside.  I just got a visa for my lady.  It's not as hard as you think.  If you pay someone else, you will end up doing most of the work anyway.  Might as well do most of the work, and don't pay anyone.  Here is a tip a friend of mine told me, who is an attorney that charges people to do what Paul King does.  Get your application, mine was with the US embassy, and done online.  Answer every question, do not leave any blanks.  It took me two days to fill out the application.  Not that it's to hard, they just asked questions that I wasn't prepared for, and had to do some research.  The same research that YOU will have to do if you pay someone, because they won't know the answer either.  Like she worked in a hospital, they didn't just ask the name of the hospital and time she worked there.  They asked the name, address, phone number, and supervisors name.  Even when they asked about her parents, they didn't just ask their names, but birthdays also.  We had to get that information to fill it out.

We went through all of our pictures, and even pictures that our friends had, looking for pictures that documented us being together. Look for pictures on the beach, at tourist attractions, eating with the family, not pictures in a bar.  I put them all in order by dates, and printed out 4 per page, then stapled them together.  Page by page, you could see our relationship blossom.  We lived together, she was on the lease, she had a copy of that.  I have a retirement visa, she had a copy of my passport page, and each retirement visa, with the date and the word "retirement" highlighted.  We married here, I went through the whole process of having a legal marriage that was registered at the Ampur.  I had her get her ID changed to my last name, and get a new passport with my last name.  We showed that we were serious in our relationship, and jumped through all the hoops.

After submitting the application, I went online and and found out what others had done, and the questions they were asked in their interview.  Days before her interview, I quizzed her until she could answer every question I had ever heard them asking easily, along with a few question I thought they might ask.  When she arrived for her interview, she had on a wedding ring, a new dress and shoes, nice, but conservative.  She was ready for any question that they might ask.

Hot pants and high heals won't fly at the interview.  Think about the age difference.  if you are 60, and she is 18, I know, you know, and the embassy knows that it's not going to work out.  60 and 35 works better, or 35 and 20 even.  An age difference is expected, however a huge age difference is a red flag.  My embassy had the option of an interview in Thai, or English.  My wife was scared of an English interview, even though she has a good command of English.  We asked for a Thai interview.  I made sure, and practiced with her, if they asked if she spoke English, not to say nit noi, or little bit, or yes.  She practiced saying, "Yes, I can speak English, but not very well"  They like her to speak English.  A full English sentence goes over a whole lot better than "nit noi"

If you are smart enough to read and post on this forum, you are smart enough to fill out the forms.  The only thing Paul King is going to do is review the application, and if you left any blank spaces, he is going to ask for that information, to put in that blank space.  I'll do this for free, ANSWER EVERY QUESTION, LEAVE NO BLANK SPACES ON THE APPLICATION.

People that pay Paul King are just to lazy to do it themselves, even though, they are going to end up doing most of it themselves.  Go online to your embassy website and spend a couple of hours reading about what's required.  Check out forums like Thaivisa and www.visajourney.com  This forum, and a few others.  Then start the process.  You can do it.  Don't be scared because someone else got turned down.  Many more make it, they just don't have anything to whine about on the forums  Goof luck..

Good post and good advice.

Well done for putting the work in, it clearly paid off.  I did the same last time I brought my TGF over for a holiday and I will do it myself again when I need to.

I can't speak for this Paul King guy but like you I don't see the sense in paying anyone to do a visa application for you especially considering you have to do the hard work anyway.

I guess there is a general feeling that obtaining a visa to another country is difficult and therefore need a "professional" to assist with the application, some of the horror stories out there make my skin crawl (referring to bribes etc) sorry but it's the biggest load of bullshit ever!

All I can say to anyone who is considering using an agent is to try it yourself first... you may be surprised.

[EvilElvis]

I can not comment on easy visa as I have never used them, but in regards to agents in general I have used them twice to prep my girlfriends paperwork. Both times as previous posters have said, you do the footwork yourself anyway, but due to my circumstances I have relied on someone to do the application as it gave my girlfriend piece of mind to deal with another thai as I could not be present.

The particular agent we used was so impressed with the paperwork provided, making her job easier, that she gave us a substantial discount on her rate and second time round the fee was so low I could have blown it easily on a reasonable day in Patts. Small fee, and yes I would have no trouble doing it myself, but a bargain for my girlfriends piece of mind and not having to stress out.

I did get several quotes from various agents ranging from obviously farang run places, about 30k baht, to more thai oriented places for anywhere between 20k and 27k baht. These were tourist visas only. I didn't get the impression the no visa, no charge crowd would ever give a discount for making their job easier though. I figured I would be subsidising people with poor applications at the above rates.

There are traps with everything in Thailand, if an agent is giving off the wrong vibe get out of there, plenty of others around.

[no more lies]

Paul King’s EASY VISA group has seemingly been in Pattaya for ever.   I know for a fact that there was no-one before him making visas. He was the original. I am a retired immigration officer from the Australian embassy and I have known him since his own embassy days. He has kept the same business principles since this time and is a true extension of the way that embassies operate.
I once asked him, ‘how do you stay in business for so long…over 23++ years with your same famous company and same famous name’ He answered, honesty, ethics and integrity. Without these three vital ingredients in business, you simply have no business!
So; if what some people on here are saying is just even slightly true then I ask you. In a town with a reputation as Pattaya has, how would he dare to operate the same business…same name…same office style for all of these years. The answer is he would not.   This is why I do not believe these disparaging comments for one second. What does come to mind is Jealousy, Vendetta, resentment, envy.  I have studied Graphology ( the style of handwriting) and I immediately  noticed the style of some of the critics here are very similarly written!! Suggesting it could in fact be the same person. I refer you to the punctuation marks on at least three of the complaints they are the same. Writing is like a fingerprint.
Once you speak to Paul King you will immediately find him totally well read. His knowledge on immigration and immigration law is second to none. His ethics are beyond reproach and that is why he is still doing what he does after 23 years of sterling service.
I say to anyone who is thinking about making a visa for your Thai girlfriend , wife or partner go to chat to Mr King first,  it’s totally free and then make your own mind up. I guarantee you will see the utter nonsense in some of these unjustifiable posts.  There are at least four links here on this forum relating to visas to Australia and never have you chose to make your point there, instead you chose a very bitterly jealous, and unfounded attack.
My evidence: Mister Aussie wolf- I don’t think so. Australian people by nature are straight talking – no nonsense people that is their style.  An Aussie would have said what he had to say there and then. But you chose to complain about something that supposedly occurred  over a year ago and you did nothing about it. Instead complained a year later whist hiding in pseudo behind the curtained retreat of an open forum. The big give away though of your amateurish ambush was the grammar.  You used the word ‘Geezer’. This is a true British definition in every sense. It originated in London in the 50s as a slang word. I am Australian and it is most definitely NOT an Aussie word, we have our own. Many in fact.  So;  Mr Aussie wolf, or maybe ‘British Bunny’ would be more appropriate. You have been exposed and the records have been put straight.
‘LaaMok’ and ‘Scumbag’ well said.

[BluTraveller]

Got quoted $2000 AUD.... err.. umm.. pass.... Do it yourself, one of the moderators has a good template system... think will use that, when i get time..

[2dave]

I did all of the visa applications for my wife myself and she now has a permanent resident visa and lives with  me in Australia.
Visit the visa processing centre in Bangkok and they will tell you exaxtly what is needed and give you the correct forms to complete Alternatively, you can download the forms tourself from the Immigration Department web site.
When I did my applications I made sure that I gave them everything that they wanted plus more so that the process wasn't held up and the visas came through quickly -
Tourist visa 3 days to process
Defacto Spouse visa I was told could take up to 6 months. We had it in 6 weeks
The hold ups are when not enough information is supplied

[Pepe Le Pew]

Can we keep this thread civil please

[Aussie Wolf]

Pepe Le Pew, on 11 December 2011 - 07:31 AM, said:

Can we keep this thread civil please

I dont  appreciate being called a liar by a dropkick know it all.

Edited by Aussie Wolf, 11 December 2011 - 09:42 AM.