rwilem

With how critically important one's passport is, and especially for folks in this region with the visa and extension stamps contained in them, I'm amazed at people handing over their passports, allowing them out of their possession. At various tourist spots in Thailand, I didn't have much of a problem finding a bike rental place that would take a copy and not the real thing. I didn't and wouldn't rent a bike from ones that insisted on taking possession of the passport. OK, that may not fly in Laos, and if the rental places are demanding a deposit worth the value of the bike, that's a no go.

Occam's razor...this is the answer. Simplify things. Plan ahead? There's plenty of time starting now. Your other scenario, if I may clarify. Get new extension in October in current passport. Extension will go to late April '26, also the expiry of the passport. In the intervening period, new passport is acquired. Perhaps no need to transfer extension stamp to new passport prior to doing another extension before it expires (late April '26.) When going for the new extension, the stamp for the late April '26 extension will be transferred to the new passport, as well as the identifying details in the now-expired passport on which the extension is based. Then the new 'annual date' of extension validity will be that date in April, no more October, that's over. So one can weigh all the pros and cons of passport expiring date in relation to extension valid till date and make a decision which way to go. Do you want to have a new extension time frame, or carry on with the one you've had for years? That's a component of the decision. As is, the need to have at least six months validity left on the passport for international travel. (Returning to home country, returning to Thailand on valid visa, the six months issue need not be considered.) Good passport renewal management, last half of year 9 is the time to plan for a renewal, and have it done by early into year 10.

Well, he did say 'thanks'. The extra part though, recalls one Col. Jessup. "I would rather that you just said "thank you" and went on your way."

Was just ready to post. This is the answer. If your friend rolls into Immigration to extend on the current passport, the new extension would be valid only until the expiry of the passport, till late April '26, which is only about six months for that extension. Meaning he'd have to do another extension before then. Inform your friend to apply for a passport renewal ASAP. There've been several recent reports in the forum--take a look for them-- detailing the confusion, mess-ups, taking long time frames for the new ones to arrive back here, etc., etc., with UK passport renewals in Thailand. Your friend needs to get it in gear and start getting the new one now.

That's because the State Department sends the new passport to the embassy. The embassy then mails the passports--'old' one and the new one--to your address here. It's pretty straightforward. I've never heard of any report there having been an issue with final delivery to the recipient of the passports. Just follow the directions. As for your other question, it implies submission of a passport renewal in Thailand. And asking if it would be mailed to the U.S.? I'm gonna guess, that is not gonna fly, ie, not be possible.

Of course, the immigration officers are not going be shaking down arrivals for a bribe, that can't be done in out the open like that. The proper way is for the arrival to have arranged beforehand their 'safe entry'. The agent facilitates with immigration issue-free entry for the arriving customer, and the fee for that service is shared on the low down, not in the open. For those who might face heightened scrutiny over their entry when arriving at the airport, it's a good option.

Useful piece of info. May I ask the always pertinent question, which immigration office you are dealing with?

And when was that? When was the last time you re-entered the country and successfully did a 90-day report online? This 'do the 90-day report in person after a re-entry' became a thing about a year ago, year-and-a-half ago. Perhaps a little longer? Maybe then you might have been OK, or slipped through the cracks. These days they want it in person. The issue really came to a head some time after the paper TM6 arrival forms were scrapped. Prior to their scrapping, no problem. I wonder if the new TDAC arrival system will allow for the immigration office to better track our 90 status, so we'll be able to get back to how it was in the past, i.e. no need to do an in-person report after a re-entry. But, I'm not holding my breath.

Ah, I get it. You get some very good personalized service there in Roi Et. Come on in, you're good to go! Thanks for such a detailed and informative response.

Man, it seems that the lengths of the 'under consideration' period can vary by quite differing time frames. Some say 30 days from the extension applying date. Some say up to the current extension date if applying more than 30 days in advance of it. And your experience is an under consideration time frame lasting till 30 days after the current extension. And you were applying well in advance, that could mean a two-month time frame for the period. Hard to get a handle on how it should go, or how it's supposed to go. Just like almost all encounters with things immigration, it's a real case-by-case, 'your experience may vary' situation. By the way, you said the under review period given to you always extends to 30 days after the end of your current extension's expiry date, but that it's usually approved before that date. So a question here. Do you return to immigration on that 30th day of the period, and discover at that time that the approval date was a month prior? Or are you able to get the finalized new extension before your current one has expired, before the end of the under consideration period? Just wondering how that works. If you apply 45 days in advance, and you are supposed to return on the 30th, the last day, of the under consideration period, correct? That would be about 75 days in a limbo of some type. If that is the case, of how that works.

Personally, that's just maybe my 'too-proactive' approach to things Immigration here. Do what you can the earliest you can. However, for you in your case, if you do your extension on June 16, 17, 18, or even Monday the 21st which is a few days prior to start of your first trip, you will surely be back at the conclusion of your second trip ahead of the last day of the 30, or what ever number of days it turns out be, under consideration. But make sure about the need or not for a new re-entry permit for that first trip, or whether you will being able to use your existing one for it. And you will surely need a fresh re-entry permit for that second trip during the under consideration period. Factoring that issue, that's why I'd favor getting the new extension and new re-entry in the fold before departing on the second trip...which means going out to CW May 29 or 30 for the extension. Please do report back what happens!

You are in a situation here now where you just gotta bite the bullet and deal with not having an appointment. Dr Jack has long-standing good advice for doing extensions at CW without appointments. Just get there before they close for lunch, get your que number(s), take care of other biz during the break and go back in after they open up for the afternoon. You will get your stuff done. I would assume so, yes. But if you go on May 29 or 30 for the extension you should get under consideration for 30 days. OK, even if goes to July 2 (your current expiry) you will be here. Both of those, or either of those I should say, will work for, you will be here. Confirm with the IO while you are doing the extension, and confirm about travel out, whether your current re-entry will remain valid, etc. Yeah, it's a tad stressful, I get it. Which is why getting the extension out of the way earlier, before you take the second trip, might be the most prudent approach.

From my post above. Some guys reported they needed the re-entry permit, some reported, like the following, that they didn't. Also, note the apply date and return date. More than 30 days, but the date of the expiry of his still-in-effect extension. "I just did it last month my extension was expiring on 11th April I applied on 5th March at Cheangwattana and was give a return date of 11th April. Immigration officer said my current visa and multi entry re-entry permit remain valid. I went out 13th March and returned 6th April and was given 5 days on my stamp on entry up to my new extension date. Picked up extension on 11th April."

OK, you are dealing with CW. You can apply for extension up to 45 days in advance there. From a post in another thread. "CW starts the under consideration period from the day you apply. If you apply 45 days early you would have have your new extension done, FYI you can get a re-entry permit for the under consideration period." So in theory, if you go in and do your extension on May 29 or 30, you should be OK returning for final approval 30 days later, just after you have gotten back from the first trip. You will need to acquire a fresh re-entry permit for that first trip you would be taking during the under consideration period. Hopefully others with experience with doing their marriage extensions and travel during the under consideration period can offer their knowledge.

Yep, I just made one now, to get a preferred date and time. It's just for backup, in case something goes haywire with the online submission(s). Best case scenario is online results in APPROVED and then I just go back in to the appointment system and cancel it.

Wow, amazing story, thanks for sharing that. Yep, good call. And as you say, the rest is history. Or, as back in the day the American radio news/commentary great Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know the rest of the story."

A bit off-topic to the main point of the thread. Just wondering, how does someone have, how do you end up having two valid passports? Has to be an unusual situation. (Seems in the end they didn't allow you to keep the second one?)

There is an appointment system in place and you can book an appointment for doing the 90-day report in person. Really makes it smooth.

When is your due date? And when did you submit the report that the system shows is PENDING? And to clarify, for in-person reporting there is a 'grace period' of up to 7 days AFTER the due date, during which time you can submit it without being fined.

Had not thought of that. Seems like that would be an ideal way to go to sample localphone. Yeah, about the search, some agonizing...I hear you. Well, getting my U.S. TextNow number getting zapped, then Skype going down, you're out in the wild, U.S. number-less and no call-out ability, when things had been running on auto-pilot for years. On the True tourist Sim, the link didn't show, or maybe I missed it, what the initial outlay is for buying and funding it. And the costs for extending it, keeping it funded. But certainly 1 baht a minute calling to the U.S. is decent, and I would venture that the call quality should be better than VOIP.

Interesting.... I guess you'd have to get a 'tourist sim' and set that up. Lot of questions, though. How long is a 'tourist sim' going to be valid for? Forever, as long as it's funded? Not a lot of info at the site, but I'll look for it.

Wow, good to know. I didn't try that, just had the idea on the back burner after reading accounts of that process. I'll not pursue that method, no. After getting some call-out service, I'll be covered. I may just wait till my next trip to the U.S. to get a Voice account, get one on the up-and-up.

No, not accurate. There's no 'citizenship test' for acquiring a Voice account/number. (And it is available in some other countries in addition to the U.S.) In the U.S., to make an account you would have to be present, or fool google that you are (VPN), and have a U.S. mobile provider phone number able to receive the code to confirm the account.

So far, seems like it's tough to beat localphone's basic rate for calls to the U.S. I've contacted support at Mytello, to clarify if a purchase of a block of minutes is a one-off buy (with minutes having no short-term expiration period) or if it's based on a recurring monthly subscription model (with the minutes valid for only a month.) Received two conflicting, opposite answers from the same rep. First, he said it was a monthly subscription, the minutes do expire. Your subscription would be renewed. OK. Then I pointed out some info from the same 'U.S. rates' page on their website at the bottom, the details, which said the opposite, that your minutes don't expire. Brought that to his attention, and he changed his tune immediately. 'Yes, it's a one-time buy, not a subscription, the minutes don't expire.' So which is it? Doesn't inspire much confidence. That's for Mytello. Have contacted localphone support with a couple pre-buy queries, no response yet. If you want to make a test call with all these calling outfits seems you have to sign up first, get an account. I guess easy enough, but... Oh, well. Seems the top contenders for replacing the Skype call-out function are localphone, Mytello, Yolla and Viber. And one more that I came across yesterday, DialHard, which is web-based, no app. Want to look closer at that one. Will have to get something in the next couple days, as my Skype subscription is gone now. Ended yesterday or Sunday. No more Skype. Had a 16-17 year run with them.

Yeah, looks like your count is accurate, if counting April 4th as day 1 of the new time frame. But it doesn't matter. Could look at it this way, you got a one-day 'bonus' on your 90.😉