rwilem

7 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Agree. Here in Surin I've done it a couple of times over the years, always coinciding with 90-day report. No papers required, no request from me, just hand over the old & the new p/p. All done in 5 minutes.

Nice! That's when a more rural or outlying immigration office does have its benefit. I've done this twice now. The first time, ten years ago, it was rather chill, even at CW, and close to your experience.

The most recent one, nine-plus years later and also at CW, wasn't a 'walk in the park' thing. As I said earlier, it's not all that onerous, but the experience was of a borderline 'mini-extension' type, doing the stamp transfer and then the 90-dayer. Even had a holdup at the 90-day desk at CW, issue with the my rental agent's freshly-issued updated TM-30, which took about an hour to resolve.

37 minutes ago, ukrules said:

I am now in Cambodia and wanted to avoid any issues while over here - all seems well but I can see where it might fall apart due to expired ID documents that remain unaltered when renewed.

Right, you really want to stay up on these things, be 'pro-active' if you can. Being outside the country brings an added challenge to navigating all the bank stuff going on.

34 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Yes, I made sure everything was up to date and matched between the bank and DTAC which is my mobile provider

I edited my post before having seen that you replied. Did that because I realized you are on top of things, so I didn't need to 'ask' if you had done it!

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

But the mobile phone company definitely had the old expired passport on file for me, I wondered if that would make any difference

I assume at that time you updated the new passport number with your mobile service provider.

If one has a mobile number tied to their bank account(s), best to update the new passport number with their mobile service provider, especially these days when the banks are really tightening things up.  Just another item to add to the 'things to do' list after getting a new passport.

1 hour ago, Magictoad said:

I was going to leave it up to the Agent who is handling the new/old passport business.

But is it better to get the I/O to do it?

If your agent can do it on your behalf, and it will be an IO doing it, that's probably the easy way.

If do it yourself, basically you will submit at least both passports, copies of both passports' front/data pages, the relevant most recent extension and entry stamps from the old passport, copy of the re-entry permit (if you have a current one to transfer, and which would likely be handled by the re-entry permit counters, at least that's the case at CW),  copy of the original visa or visa information notation from the old passport, AND the completed stamps transfer request form.

You can check with your office for possible items that may/may not be required. These would include copies of the most recent 90-day report notice (which has the 'next due date'), a most recent or updated TM-30, and possibly your bankbook and copies of its front page and account activity dating back to the last extension. (CW requires the bankbook and copy of the account activity, not sure about Jomtien.)

Sounds like a lot, but you probably already have some copies of most of the things needed. It's not an onerous process, but one in my opinion that's better done separate from extension time.

Ideally, best to do it in conjunction with an in-person 90-day report.

On 6/30/2025 at 4:10 PM, Burgo1979 said:

Is there a specific time frame legally that stamps need to be transferred once new passport has been received?. For example, if you time your passport renewal so its a few months away from your next extension, is it wise to wait until then and get everything done together?.

OK, if you are not leaving the country (and if you are, using both passports is OK for that), if you are not leaving the country, at some point your 90-day report 'obligation' will be due. 

Do you do your 90-dayers online? In person? Or by mail? 

This will affect the decision when to get the extension stamp (and re-entry stamp, should you possess one in the now-expired passport) transferred to the new passport.

Doing it online and using the new passport number won't work, you'll be rejected and asked to report in person. (You might try using the expired PP number, you would probably be approved, if the online 90-day reporting system's been working for you. But you also might be discovered later for having submitted a PP number that was not valid; don't know what the repercussions might be, but maybe wouldn't want to find out.)

There has been at least one report, maybe a second, of successful first-time-after-a-new-passport 90-day reports done by mail. Imagine that is because physical copies of the stamps and new PP data page are sent to the immigration office. Online, all they are seeing is a number and not the new passport front page.

If you do a 90-day report in person, either by choice or being told to do so after a rejection notice from an online submission, you will have to have the stamps transferred to the new passport before being allowed to do the 90-day report.

That is probably the ideal time, if not mandatory, to do the stamp(s) transfer, when doing your first 90-day report--if you are obligated to do one--before your next extension.

Having done a stamps transfer at CW within the last year, doing the transfers and 90-day report independent of any extension, I'm glad it went that way. If one deals with an office not so busy or active, doing the whole hog in one go might be OK. But there's enough to do for just a stamps transfer. And it worked out good to get all that cleared before extension time.

4 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

That was all the info I could find and as of now it's accurate, but this situation is really in flux and the companies are scrambling to figure out what to do

On the ground and real-time  reporting on fast-breaking border closures and their ramifications. Top notch job. 

Everything you wanted to know, and then some, about photo requirements for folks who'll be doing a U.S. passport renewal. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/photos.html

On 6/12/2025 at 12:37 PM, LivingNThailand said:

The fee of $130.  The application form says I can pay in the form of a personal check or money order.  I have some old checks for my USA bank account.  They are still good.  Do you think I can use one of those checks, or should I get a money order?

 

 

Pay by credit card via the pay.gov portal as noted above. Can pay by credit card for the mailback envelope at Thai Post Mart.

5 hours ago, steve187 said:

don't give anyone your passport

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. 

46 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Of course - the simplest answer is just to plan ahead and get his new Passport and ensure its arrival before is current extension of stay is up (Oct 2025), and then get his new extension of stay in his new passport.

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.

5 hours ago, OJAS said:

Wow, you certainly have an attitude big time, don't you😠

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." 

2 hours ago, Brn2Trvl said:

"NOTE: The US Department of State will not mail a US passport to a private address outside the United States or Canada".

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.

7 hours ago, TaoNow said:

Nothing in OP's post indicated that the Immo officers were shaking him down for a bribe.

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. 

4 hours ago, flexomike said:

What I do is get one statement at six months and then another one on the day of extension for the second six months. No waiting involved.

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

3 hours ago, lykes2fly said:

You're saying that I need to file in person bc I left the country ?  I have filed online after reentry without any problem

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.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Regardless of the return date, my Immigration office phone me as soon as it's approved, which is usually before my existing extension has expired.

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. 

5 hours ago, Liquorice said:

 

I usually apply 45 days early, but my under consideration stamp is always dated from the expiry date of my current extension to 30 days after.
However, it is usually approved before my current extension expires.

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.

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah, if doing it without an appointment then 29th or 30th makes sense or maybe just do it later in June before my first trip. I just generally don't like cutting it too fine but as you say I can always come back in the next 1-2 days if anything else was needed.

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!

58 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Thank you. So to do it 45 days early I would have to go soon but have to resign myself to a lot of waiting as online queue is not available until 12th June at the earliest. But that's ok if that's what I need to do. A day out at CW is always a joy.

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. 

58 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

I have a multi reentry permit now, so if I get an under consideration that takes me beyond 2nd July (my current expiry) would I need to get a fresh one?

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.

45 minutes ago, rwilem said:

You will need to acquire a fresh re-entry permit for that first trip you would be taking during the under consideration period.

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."

7 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Looking at the online queue it seems my choices are somewhat limited

OK, you are dealing with CW.

You can apply for extension up to 45 days in advance there.

From a post in another thread.

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.

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Indeed, works a treat 

Just now checked for slots. Plenty available (unlike annual extensions) 

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.