Six month passpiort validity for Thai passport holder

[Tuvoc]

My wife's Thai friend is traveling from the UK to Thailand in October on her Thailand passport, for a visit of 2 weeks. The passport expires January 2018. I've read so much contradictory information on the six month rule it is unbelievable !!.

 

So two questions:

 

Can she travel to Thailand ? Surely a Thai national can visit Thailand on her Thai passport without this requirement ? (she is not a dual national)

 

Then the return journey to the UK - will she be permitted to make that ?  She has a UK Biometric residence permit valid until September 2018.

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

14 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

Can she travel to Thailand ?

Yes. No question.

 

The second question is probably better answered in the

"Visas and migration to other countries" forum.

 

Moved and left a link in the Thailand travel forum.

[theoldgit]

Yes, she can travel to Thailand on that passport, as a Thai she can actually travel on an expired passport as whilst her passport may have expired her citizenship won't have.

She could return to the UK on the passport, the UK doesn't have the six month rule, though the carrier might give her a hard time.

I assume she will renew her passport when she's back in Thailand, it takes less than a week and it's easier than doing it the UK.

[7by7]

7 hours ago, theoldgit said:

I assume she will renew her passport when she's back in Thailand, it takes less than a week and it's easier than doing it the UK.

 Indeed.

 

To renew it in the UK she will have to make an appointment to attend the Thai embassy in London in person to have a digital photograph and her biometrics taken. The fee is £25 and it takes 4 to 6 weeks to get the new passport.

 

See Thai Passport on the embassy website; English or Thai.

[theoldgit]

My wife applied for a new passport yesterday in Bangkok, the EMS tracking system indicates that it's already in transit and should be delivered tomorrow.


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[Pib]

My wife renewed her Thai passport about two weeks ago here in Bangkok.  Went to the passport office in the Southern Bus Station in western Bangkok on a Tuesday...new passport arrived via EMS on Saturday.  Cost is Bt1000 for renewal and Bt40 for EMS delivery.  She just needed her soon to expire Thai passport and Thai ID card.  Or you can go back in X-days and just pick up the passport.  

[Tuvoc]

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful.  I wasn't sure how long passport renewal took in Thailand. Now we know it is under a week in Bangkok, that should remove the potential issue for the return to the U.K.

 

In all of this it seems you are at the mercy of the airline check-in personnel, who may not be consistent.

 

[theoldgit]

Another member had the same concerns recently, I think his wife's passport had actually expired, he called the carrier who advised there would be no problem.

[digbeth]

If the UK leave to enter/remain or residence permit is on the old passport, will she need to get that transferred over to the new passport? 

[7by7]

No, it will still be valid even if the passport the vignette is in has expired.

 

She will, though, need to carry and present both passports when required; e.g. when checking in to fly to the UK and at immigration when entering the UK.

 

Alternatively, if outside the UK she can apply to transfer the vignette to her new passport which costs £169, or if in the UK apply for a biometric residence permit, if she doesn't already have one, which costs £168 by posts or an extortionate £758 in person.

 

But neither are compulsory. See Transfer your visa from your passport.

 

If she already has a BRP, then that replaces the vignette in her passport anyway.

 

 

[rasg]

The OP did say that she has a BRP until September 2018.

[Jip99]

On 05/09/2017 at 11:05 AM, theoldgit said:

Yes, she can travel to Thailand on that passport, as a Thai she can actually travel on an expired passport as whilst her passport may have expired her citizenship won't have.

She could return to the UK on the passport, the UK doesn't have the six month rule, though the carrier might give her a hard time.

I assume she will renew her passport when she's back in Thailand, it takes less than a week and it's easier than doing it the UK.

 

 

I hadn't realized that the U.K. didn't have a 6 month rule.

 

My wife's Thai passport expires on 2 October 2018. She will enter the U.K. in March but will re-enter the U.K. (after a Spanish holiday) on 30th May before flying home to Thailand in June.

 

We were going to renew but I can see now that we don't need to - unless we go somewhere else i.e. Cambodia between June and October. Unfortunately, Thailand do not credit any unexpired term.