came across this from the UK Royal Photographic Society forum, on a very rare occassion ,where a malaysian photographer ( David Low ) obtained an Associate on may, 2008, and the same year, Oct 2008, proceed to obtain the Fellowship.
his Associate panel
http://205.214.76.22/showthread.php?t=14475
...the Fellowship
http://205.214.76.22/showthread.php?t=14476