HerewardtheWake

Connada, I got my new passport delivered to me in 33 days after they received the application. You might get lucky and get yours sooner than eight weeks.

OK, it seems that the Chinese embassy advises carrying both old and new passports. But are they reluctant to let one apply for a new 10-year visa and cancel the older visa which is still valid? It is more convenient to have everything in one passport.

Thank you, Joe. Information given is to the precise points. Much appreciated.

I just got a new US passport , as the older one, while still valid, has run out of pages. The old passport has my 10-year Chinese tourist visa. How do I get it transferred to the new passport? Do I need to go to Bangkok or can a consulate do this( Phuket, Songkla, or Chiang Mai)? Also, is there a Chinese Consulate in Phuket? When I google it, it takes me to the Songkla Consulate. Thanks.

"---folks in the BOI are just "weeding" out anything that would cause their bosses to have to figure whether or not some document or letter was valid documentation for the qualifications. Too much explanation could cause even more problems. Documentation needs to be clear and fits with their expectations. Good luck." This excerpt from Prenock's message elsewhere in this string succinctly states the way BoI officials operate. The bosses who approve the applications have a set of criteria they stick to. Permutations of the required documents and variations of different kinds impose additional work of evaluations and decisions. They do not like that. For example, they understand the American 1040's include all income sources and are very straight forward in terms of gross taxable income and taxes, thereby indicating clearly the net income. They may have similar criteria for other countries. There is also a matter of personnel dynamics in BoI. The officials one interfaces in the office are not the ones who make the final approvals, but are mere intermediaries. I found this out when I tried to get a statement next to my LTR visa stamp that I am exempted from health insurance because of the $100,000 deposit in an account. ( I felt I needed this because Immigration often ask me for health insurance proof when I arrive in Phuket). The BoI official I met was very empathetic, but after going back and forth to meet his boss four times, finally came back with a firm statement that no such statement can or need to be written because: 1) Immigration is not supposed to ask for health insurance for an LTR, and 2) the LTR regulations specify that the 100,000 deposit is sufficient in lieu of health insurance.

It seems to vary. Some correspondents on this string said that the embassy acknowledged the application. In my case, I heard nothing. I stumbled across this link eventually, which showed the status of my application by saying that the passport has been shipped. But I am not sure whether this link would report receiving the application or its status in the processing queue. https://passportstatus.state.gov/

New passport and the old one have just been delivered in a Thai Post envelope. It's taken about 32 days. The new passport seems to have elaborate security features and they are listed on a separate page. I checked the box for a larger passport in the application, so it has 43 usable pages compared to 20 usable pages in the older passport.

https://passportstatus.state.gov/ The message above is what I got when I enquired about my passport application status. You have to enter name, date of birth, and last four digits of the Social Security number. Note the bottom of the message. There is a two week transfer time from State Dept to the US Embassy in Bangkok to which I sent my application on April 5. While State has processed my passport on May 17, transfer times from State to Embassy and Embassy to me add up to 6-8 weeks. What I don't understand is why I never got any email message of acknowledgment from the Embassy or any status report, as reported by some of the correspondents on this string. May be the Embassy did that in the past and has stopped now.

Application Status: Mailed The U.S. Department of State has mailed your passport book on 05/17/2024. We sent your passport book to you using Prepaid Delivery. Your new passport and supporting documents are mailed in separate packages at different times. You should expect two separate mailings: one with your new passport and one with your supporting documents. We will provide another status update on the date we mail your supporting documents. This update will not include the tracking number for your passport. Your application locator number is xxxxxxx Please allow two weeks for your U.S. passport to arrive at the mailing address you provided on your application. If you have not received your passport after two weeks, contact the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 (or TDD/TTY 1-888-874-7793) with your application locator number. We will return your supporting documents (such as your birth certificate, previous passport, or naturalization certificate) in a separate mailing that may not arrive for eight weeks. You have 90 days from the date the passport was issued to report that you never received your passport. If you do not tell us within 90 days, you will have to reapply and pay the full passport fee. **If you submitted your passport at a U.S. embassy or consulate, the mailing date in this status update is the date we mailed your passport to the embassy or consulate not the date we mailed the passport to you. Your passport may take two weeks to arrive at the embassy or consulate. Mailing times are different for each country. Once the embassy or consulate receives the passport, they will deliver it to you based on local procedures.

Berkshire, thanks, but what tarcking number do I use on Thai Post for this purpose?

Lthai, can you please explain how to track the passport on line, as you seem to have done? Thanks.

OK, one mails the application for passport renewal and makes the $135 payment. Tracking by Thai Post shows the package containing the application, photos, and old passport has been delivered. I have done all this. Will the US Embassy at some point send me an email message advising of the status of the application and let me know if anything else is needed? Will they send me a message that the new passport has been mailed back to me? One gets the feeling the whole process can use some more transparency.

OK, one mails the application for passport renewal and makes the $135 payment. Tracking by Thai Post shows the package containing the application, photos, and old passport has been delivered. I have done all this. Will the US Embassy at some point send me an email message advising of the status of the application and let me know if anything else is needed? Will they send me a message that the new passport has been mailed back to me? One gets the feeling the whole process can use some more transparency.

Thanks, but I still get the same message with or without a VPN connection on Chrome. I will try Safari to see if that makes a difference.

When I try to log into the US Embassy passport site, I have been getting this message for the last three days: We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again in a few moments. Exception: request blocked I have tried both Chrome and Safari portals which give the same message. Anybody knows what's going on?