Ed visa extension for minor children, passports to expire

[ThunderRd]

Hi, my children are Lao nationals that go to school here in Thailand.  I renew their Ed visas each year with the appropriate documents from their school.  I am ready to do that now, their current visas expire at the end of next week.

 

While looking at their documents for the last time before going to immigration tomorrow morning, I was shocked to find that their passports are scheduled to expire on December 20th of this year.  I somehow did not realize that their passports have only a 5-year expiry, and this fell through the cracks in my preparation.

 

The question is, will immigration give them visas for the period from now until December, which would give me time to get them the new passports, or will immigration tell me that they will not give them visa extensions until they have new passports?  If that is the case, they will surely lose their visas, and I will have to start over at the embassy in Vientiane.

 

I am hoping that I can get them extensions for the next three months, which will give us time to get new passports, and then extend again in the new passports.

 

Thanks for any reliable info.

[ubonjoe]

Immigration will do the extensions to the date the passports expire. Then you will have to apply for new extensions for them after they get new passports.

[ThunderRd]

Great.  Thank you for the quick answer, Joe.

[ThunderRd]

@ubonjoe

 

Just a quick check here after thinking about it; I can extend for the 3 months tomorrow, then get the kids to Laos during that time for the new passports, after getting re-entry permits for each of them, then re-enter the country on the new passports, then go to immigration and get the visa transferred into the new passport, and finally get the visa extended again?

 

Two questions; when I extend the visa the second time, it will be for 9 months, meaning the balance of a 1-year visa, correct?

 

How do I make sure, at the time they are coming back from Laos with the new passports, that the immigration officer sees they are returning on a re-entry permit?  They should be stamped back into the country with the balance of the time left on the visa [until December 20]?

 

Thanks again for the help.

[ubonjoe]

After they get the shortened extensions of stay (not a visa) they will need single re-entry permits.

Then when entering the country they will show both passports to show the re-entry permit in the old one. Immigration will then stamp them into the country in the new passports up to the date their extension ends (expiration date on re-entry permit).

Then you will need to have the stamps transferred from the old to new passports at immigration. They will do a stamp with spaces for info about the visa they used to get the entry that has been extended and their old passports. Then transfer their most recent extension and entry stamps.

Then you will apply for their new extensions. Since the extensions are based upon attending school the extension may only be only done to the end of the current school term shown on the supporting documents from the school.