Thread: New Passport

^That's not the issue booners. The question is to better to get a new passport well before the time it expires to accomodate the full length of time that the retirement visa is valid. My passport will expire about two weeks short of the full validity period of the visa in 2016.

The other question was will they even issue a visa if the passport is not valid for the full term of the visa - I think that question has been answered in the affirmative.

^Should have read my post!

I didn't have a year to run, they gave me the visa up until my passport expired.
When I took the new passport to be updated and visa transferred, they also gave me the remainder of the weeks that were originally missing.

Originally Posted by charleyboy

^Should have read my post!

Originally Posted by mykthemin

As I understand they will only give you an extension to match the life of your passport.

Originally Posted by charleyboy

^That's what they did with mine. When I got the new one, they changed everything into it and gave me the remaining days I'd lost.

Sheesh! Can someone answer my question?

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by charleyboy

^Should have read my post!

Originally Posted by mykthemin

As I understand they will only give you an extension to match the life of your passport.

Originally Posted by charleyboy

^That's what they did with mine. When I got the new one, they changed everything into it and gave me the remaining days I'd lost.

Sheesh! Can someone answer my question?

If your question is whether or not Royal Thai Immigration will issue you a new visa to a passport that's got less than a year to run probably (operative term here - probably) depends on the regional Immigration office.

You'd just have to test that out at Chang Wattana or wherever you do your Immigration stuff.

^That's the problem exactly. If they refuse I have to go through all the red tape, waiting time and special trips down to Bangkok to get a new passport. So I want to get the problem solved, if there is one, before making application for the visa in November.
I am sort of hoping that if I make the application for visa 45 days earlier they will issue a visa on the passport that will be valid for another year.

Originally Posted by Humbert

^That's the problem exactly. If they refuse I have to go through all the red tape, waiting time and special trips down to Bangkok to get a new passport. So I want to get the problem solved, if there is one, before making application for the visa in November.
I am sort of hoping that if I make the application for visa 45 days earlier they will issue a visa on the passport that will be valid for another year.

I don't see why any regional Immigration office won't issue you a visa extension whether or not the passport will expire <12 months. It's a simple procedure for said Immigration office to go ahead and install your latest visa extension in your new passport when you get it. And they don't even charge any money for the task.

Not sure it's allowable to apply for a visa extension as far as 45 days out though. Believe my Immigration office told me within 30 days but you know how it goes here...

^I got this from Tod Daniels:

Remember you can renew an extension of stay (in Bangkok 45 days early) and in most other places 30 days early without losing any time.. They just tack a year onto your expiration date..

OK, probably 30 days at Kap Cheong.

From about 8 or 9 months ago, Immigrations STOPPED giving a year's extension of stay on a passport which expires before the year's extension would.

Now you get an extension for the validity of the passport itself.. Now in the O/P's case he's talkin' about two weeks or so.. So no big deal.. He could just wisely renew his passport BEFORE he goes for this extension and then get the old stamps transferred and the new extension put into the new passport. That would cut out any of the uncertainty..

As an aside, right after they stopped giving a full years extension on an expiring passport and instead sync the extension with the expiration date of a passport, a foreigner (against my advice) went to Chaengwattana and applied for his yearly extension of stay on his passport which expired in 6 months.. They gave him a 6 month extension of stay. He was fit to be thai'd!!

When he got his new passport and went back (because you used to be able to go back and they'd tack on the rest of the year into your new passport), he not only had to pay 1900baht more (the price of ANY extension of stay) but had to get the bank letter, do all the forms etc again as well.. He was not a happy buffalo!!!

Just sayin, it's been like that at Chaengwattana comin' up on almost a year now.. You go to an Immigrations office in Nakhon Nowhere, your mileage may indeed vary..

The Bank Letter I can understand as it expires within 14 days I believe but the rest of the BS we gotta go thru sometimes sucks big-time.

I have to mull it over. I kind of hate giving up one tenth of the life of my passport in exchange for losing 16 days of visa time. I have an appointment with the embassy in a couple of weeks, maybe I'll apply for the new passport.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

The Bank Letter I can understand as it expires within 14 days I believe but the rest of the BS we gotta go thru sometimes sucks big-time.

Before they changed the policy all you had to do was show up with your new passport AND the letter from your embassy addressed to no one in particular saying you got a new passport. They'd stamp the rest of the year in with only the "transfer stamp" form, no copies, no nothing.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

The Bank Letter I can understand as it expires within 14 days I believe but the rest of the BS we gotta go thru sometimes sucks big-time.

Before they changed the policy all you had to do was show up with your new passport AND the letter from your embassy addressed to no one in particular saying you got a new passport. They'd stamp the rest of the year in with only the "transfer stamp" form, no copies, no nothing.

I've never had to show a letter from the accursed %$#@ ACS to my Immigration people at Ayuttaya. Just the bank letter and the passbook + all the related forms to get the Retirement Extension.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

I've never had to show a letter from the accursed %$#@ ACS to my Immigration people at Ayuttaya. Just the bank letter and the passbook + all the related forms to get the Retirement Extension.

I wish the embassy letter was not a requirement. It's a pain in the ass. I would be happier if I only had to furnish a bank letter. Save me a trip to Bangkok.

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

I've never had to show a letter from the accursed %$#@ ACS to my Immigration people at Ayuttaya. Just the bank letter and the passbook + all the related forms to get the Retirement Extension.

I wish the embassy letter was not a requirement. It's a pain in the ass. I would be happier if I only had to furnish a bank letter. Save me a trip to Bangkok.

I think you've got your wires crossed there Boon Mee.. I'm talking about getting a new passport and having the stamps transferred from the old one into the new one.. The US embassy automatically gives you a form letter (for free!) when you pick your new passport up informing immigrations you got a new passport..

I think you're confusing the above referenced free letter you get with a new passport with the "verification of income from abroad". People get that at their embassy when they use either the combination method (banked & foreign income) or the money from abroad only as a means to meet the financial requirement for an extension of stay. BTW: you cannot use a combination method for an extension of stay based on marriage or supporting a child..

IF you are going banked money 800K in an account in your name in thailand as the means to meet the financial requirement you never show the embassy letter.

Been a couple of months since the last post on here but I have just (yesterday) been to Lop Buri Immigration to get the stamps transfered into a new PP.

For a start It is supposed to be possible to renew a NZ PP online but I had problems with this as when I tried I kept getting a message back that they couldnt find my PP so I went the "send an application form way".

I chose to do this through the NZ Embassy in their Dip Bag because I needed some other papers from them for something else and had to go there anyway. I also got the new PP returned in the Dip Bag for I needed the letter from the Embassy to go with the application, 10 day turn around there and back, the Embassy couldnt have been more helpful, great service.

Now to immigration; I already had an application form which has a list of things on the back that they want. Something that it doesnt say is that they want a copy of every used page of the old PP. This it seems is because they transfer all entry stamps to the new PP.

I had to do a 90 day report this week and chose to do the PP at the same time, could have left it till the expiry date of the old PP or just before as the permission to stay expires at the same time and I could have done both then, but I had to go anyway yesterday.

So what they wanted :
Form filled in
Old and new PP's
Copies of all used pages in old PP, all pages signed.
Copy of new PP.
Letter from the Embassy.

Whole process took about an hour what with going through the old PP and transferring all the entry stamps the visa and 90 day report paper then getting someone else to check it was all correct.

As usual Lop Buri are great, no charge and as I get there early no waiting around.