Do I need to renew my passport?

[alexmerwin]

Hey Thaivisa people,

I am from the US and just arrived in Laos via Thailand (friendship bridge). When going through immigration the officer didn't want to let me in because I only have three pages left in my passport, and none are 'visa pages'. He wasn't sure I can get back to Thailand because I need another visa page to get a stamp. He ended up letting me through anyway. 

 

First question: Can I get back to Thailand with only three non-visa pages left? 

I had no idea there were different types of pages!

 

But it gets more complicated. When i go back to Thailand I need to get a Tourist visa first. Also, I want to extend my Lao visa by two weeks.

 

So, I am thinking to go to the Thai embassy in Vientiane this week to see if they will give me the Tourist visa with my current passport. If not, I guess I will need to apply to renew my passport at the US embassy. 

 

I want to minimize my time in Vientiane (I am staying with a friend in Vang Vieng) to save money. 

 

So, does anyone have any advice?

Should I go straight for passport renewal or try the Thai embassy first? 

If I renew my passport, how long does it take?

 

Ideally I can just get the tourist visa and later renew my passport in Thailand. But I'm not sure if I can.

 

Thank you!! 

Alex

[elviajero]

I think you should sort your passport out first. I doubt they’ll issue a visa in a full passport and you could have problems getting back into a Thailand too.

 

I’ve no idea of the procedure to get a passport in Laos, but I would go to the US embassy before doing anything else.

[ubonjoe]

It seems you only have the last 3 pages left that are marked as endorsements.

The Thai embassy will not put a visa sticker on one of those pages.

You will need to make an appointment to apply for the new passport at the embassy which will take about 2 weeks. Info here: https://la.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/  There are appointments available for passport services on Tuesday and then after that not until next week on Tuesday.

[JackThompson]

If you just entered Laos as a US-Citizen, you should have been given 30-days VOA.  That is plenty of time to apply for a new passport, get it (2 wks or less), then apply for an extension of permitted-stay in Laos, if desired.  

 

I would opt to return to the embassy to pick up your new passport, rather than using mail-delivery (if that is even available in Laos, as it is in Thailand via EMS), in order to hold on to your old passport in the interim.  If there were any delays, you might have the space for a Laos extension-stamp on a partially-used page (assuming it is not a full-page sticker).