Moving my visa from old to new passport - at Changwattana: how long would it take?

[NoMeAmes]

I have to move my existing visa from my old passport to my new one. 

Question 1: do I have to go to Changwattana? Can't I do it at Chamchuri?

Question 2: If I have to do it at Changwattana, which counter is responsible for it? Is it counter N, the same one that handles all visa extensions? How long should I expect to wait? 

 

Has anyone had any similar experiences?

[ubonjoe]

Visas are not transferred, immigration only does a annotation of the one you used for entry. The only transfer stamps they have done.

1. You cannot use the one stop center at Chamchuri unless you are working for a BOI company and etc that qualify to use it.

2. Not sure which counter does the stamp transfers.

How long it takes depends entirely upon how busy the are when you go. For the simple stamp transfer it should take more than a couple of hours.

 

[gaviny]

Ubonjoe so what exactly does it entail when I come through customs at Swampy with a new passport and the old one ,will I still need to go to my nearest Imm Office to stamp transfer ?

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[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, gaviny said:

Ubonjoe so what exactly does it entail when I come through customs at Swampy with a new passport and the old one ,will I still need to go to my nearest Imm Office to stamp transfer ?

If you have a valid visa or re-entry permit you will need to show both passports to immigration (not customs) on entry to use them and be stamped into the country in the new passport.

Then if you have a extension of stay you will have to go to immigration to have your stamps transferred to the new passport.

[gaviny]

Yes have both , will renew in Feb with old passport then off to Oz for a few months and will renew passport .Thanks will return with both n present to Immigration.

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[overherebc]

22 minutes ago, gaviny said:

Yes have both , will renew in Feb with old passport then off to Oz for a few months and will renew passport .Thanks will return with both n present to Immigration.

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Don't forget a re-entry permit when you leave for Oz. ????Without that your extension will be gone.

[soleddy]

I had to do this at CW about five years ago because of a full passport. It seemed that the officer wrote about half a page in longhand before she stamped the new passport with my visa (matching the old visa--the clock does not start over!). It took place at the normal row where you get your retirement ext and other visas. Chamchuri has stopped doing most of the stuff it did when it was new (i even got my visas there back when...). I had to queue at CW for a couple of hours--the same as my yearly "visa".

 

What surprised me most was the amount of ballpoint writing. Surely they could just have a big black stamp for "visa transfer"?...TIT

 

Eddy

[JackThompson]

12 minutes ago, soleddy said:

What surprised me most was the amount of ballpoint writing. Surely they could just have a big black stamp for "visa transfer"?...TIT

I believe that writing documents the "extension of stay" chain back to the Non-O stamp that is used as the initial starting-point for it.

[gaviny]

Don't forget a re-entry permit when you leave for Oz. [emoji38]Without that your extension will be gone.

Yeah thanks for heads up I will get a multi re-entry permit.

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[NoMeAmes]

so someone just told me today that they have changed things at CW. This person said that she went there yesterday around noon, and they have already finished 300+ numbers. Can someone who have recently been at CW confirm this? 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

There was a post on the Thai Visa Facebook group, that someone got to CW today at around 1pm (after lunch) and had got their Re-entry permit by 2.30.

[NoMeAmes]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

There was a post on the Thai Visa Facebook group, that someone got to CW today at around 1pm (after lunch) and had got their Re-entry permit by 2.30.

that sounds normal for re-entry. How about the N counter? 

[brewsterbudgen]

that sounds normal for re-entry. How about the N counter? 

No idea. I have to my, and my family's, extensions on Thursday, so will report back. We plan on getting there around 8.30.

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[NoMeAmes]

I'd appreciate it, thank you. 

[gjoo888]

I did it at CW a few years ago. You do the transfer at the same counters that do the extensions, counter "L" I believe. It only takes about 5-10 minutes, but depending on how far back you are in the queue, you could wait for hours for your number to be called. 

[irwinfc]

On 11/6/2018 at 10:10 AM, gaviny said:

Yeah thanks for heads up I will get a multi re-entry permit.

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afaik re-entry permit stamps don't get transferred to new passports, unlike the extension (anyone, please feel free to correct me). so if you don't see yourself entering thailand several times before you renew your passport, just get the single re-entry and save yourself 2,800 baht.

[Hayduke]

21 hours ago, NoMeAmes said:

so someone just told me today that they have changed things at CW. This person said that she went there yesterday around noon, and they have already finished 300+ numbers. Can someone who have recently been at CW confirm this? 

 

I was there for a retirement extension this morning. Don't know about passport transfers but three hundred people by noon sounds off. Maybe depends on how you count.

 

The check in process was better and they’re getting people into the system faster…but then it goes into the usual slow motion. And they’re still insisting up silly things like drawing maps and making repeated runs for copies that waste a lot of time. There were also a generous number of agents doing their typical queue-jumping…which wasted more time.

 

I saw the IO at 0915 but didn’t get my passport back until after 1100…so the overall ‘hurry up and wait’ factor was similar to last year. The staff are still very much obsessed with minutia.

 

On the bright side…the Re-Entry section was very fast…and best of all……there were “NO TIPS” signs all over the place.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by Hayduke

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, irwinfc said:

afaik re-entry permit stamps don't get transferred to new passports, unlike the extension (anyone, please feel free to correct me). so if you don't see yourself entering thailand several times before you renew your passport, just get the single re-entry and save yourself 2,800 baht.

A re-entry permit can be moved by the office that issued it.

A few people have had problems getting it done because they got it on departure from the country at an airport or border crossing.

[dotpoom]

I'm in BKK at this moment. Have had my new passport for the last 6 months but was still working on my old one up until yesterday when I did my 90 day in Jomtien. He told me I would have to get my entry stamp transferred into my new passport. When I went to the counter to have this done they told me I would have to have it "confirmed" at my Embassy in BKK. Here I am after having said completed ..will head back tomorrow.

  BKK is certainly a "horse of a different colour from Pattaya"...people wise I mean...far more self assured in their body language.

[brewsterbudgen]

I'm in BKK at this moment. Have had my new passport for the last 6 months but was still working on my old one up until yesterday when I did my 90 day in Jomtien. He told me I would have to get my entry stamp transferred into my new passport. When I went to the counter to have this done they told me I would have to have it "confirmed" at my Embassy in BKK. Here I am after having said completed ..will head back tomorrow.
  BKK is certainly a "horse of a different colour from Pattaya"...people wise I mean...far more self assured in their body language.

You should have been issued with a confirmation letter from the Embassy, when you collected the new passport (if it was collected in Thailand).

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[boonchu]

 

Yes its counter L.I did a transfer a couple of weeks ago, picked the wrong day as it took 5 hours to do the transfer and re-entry.

[NoMeAmes]

5 hours ago, Hayduke said:

 

I was there for a retirement extension this morning. Don't know about passport transfers but three hundred people by noon sounds off. Maybe depends on how you count.

 

The check in process was better and they’re getting people into the system faster…but then it goes into the usual slow motion. And they’re still insisting up silly things like drawing maps and making repeated runs for copies that waste a lot of time. There were also a generous number of agents doing their typical queue-jumping…which wasted more time.

 

I saw the IO at 0915 but didn’t get my passport back until after 1100…so the overall ‘hurry up and wait’ factor was similar to last year. The staff are still very much obsessed with minutia.

 

On the bright side…the Re-Entry section was very fast…and best of all……there were “NO TIPS” signs all over the place.

 

 

 

This is exactly what I was worried about. The lady who told me she arrived around noon and they'd already finished 300+ numbers... can't really be trusted since I trusted her words once and got sent around in circles cause SHE said "mai mi panha", but the folks at CW said "mi panha". This lady likes to give fake assurances. I don't believe that CW can change that quickly from 90 numbers until noon to 300+ numbers until noon... riiiight. 

[Suradit69]

On 11/6/2018 at 9:19 AM, soleddy said:

they could just have a big black stamp for "visa transfer"?...TIT

They don't do visa transfers, as has already been pointed out, so having a stamp for visa transfers wouldn't make a great deal of sense. Sort of shooting blanks with your rush to insert a "TIT."

 

When I had a new passport they did have the appropriate stamps to indicate the type of visa and the entry date for my original arrival and they then stamped my current extension information. Of course even with the stamps. the information specific to me was entered by hand. If I had had a re-entry permit, that too would have been stamped. 

 

On 11/6/2018 at 7:23 AM, ubonjoe said:

Visas are not transferred, immigration only does a annotation of the one you used for entry.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by Suradit69

[NoMeAmes]

Sitting at CW right now. 8:53 I was called in, counter N2 (N1 was for all the visa extensions). Now it's 9:45 and I'm still waiting for document approval in the middle back of the N counters. Takes forever for them to check the 5 sheets of documents and put 8 stamps in my old and new passport. They pay attention to every little detail. 

[brewsterbudgen]

Sitting at CW right now. 8:53 I was called in, counter N2 (N1 was for all the visa extensions). Now it's 9:45 and I'm still waiting for document approval in the middle back of the N counters. Takes forever for them to check the 5 sheets of documents and put 8 stamps in my old and new passport. They pay attention to every little detail. 

I did mine yesterday. N2 moved very slowly and needed a copy of my work permit which I hadn't expected. All in all, the transfer, then getting new extensions, then new re-entry permits took about 5 hours. Could have been worse!

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[NoMeAmes]

9 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I did mine yesterday. N2 moved very slowly and needed a copy of my work permit which I hadn't expected. All in all, the transfer, then getting new extensions, then new re-entry permits took about 5 hours. Could have been worse!

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I was actually called right after posting that, and 9:55 I was out of there. 

 

Whatever, I still find it good that they manage the lines at the counter where you need to get the queue numbers. People tend to jump lines over there. Even when outside is fine and disciplined, once you get to that counter, it turns into a zoo. 

[overt2016]

Got my new passport and would like some confirmation.

I had 2 land border crossings this year on my old passport.

Is it ok to do another one at Kanchanaburi this year using my new passport?

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, overt2016 said:

Got my new passport and would like some confirmation.

I had 2 land border crossings this year on my old passport.

Is it ok to do another one at Kanchanaburi this year using my new passport?

Thanks

Your old and new passports will be linked the first time you use your new passport for entry. That means immigration could see that you have already done  2 visa exempt countries by land this year.

Unless you have had your stamps transferred to your new passport you would have to show both passports on departure from the country. At that time is when you would have a problem since the office would see you had already done two this year.

You could try it at your own risk if you wanted to.

[overt2016]

Thanks ,Mate.

I changed from my old to new passport at Nong Khai immigration office.

I then got a tourist visa at Vientianne and then did a 1 month extension at Chang Watana.

My old passport had a notification that i had 2 land border crossings this year.

Does that make it clear?

[ubonjoe]

21 minutes ago, overt2016 said:

Thanks ,Mate.

I changed from my old to new passport at Nong Khai immigration office.

I then got a tourist visa at Vientianne and then did a 1 month extension at Chang Watana.

My old passport had a notification that i had 2 land border crossings this year.

Does that make it clear?

I did not go back through all your earlier posts. Was busy trying to clear out 2 pages of unread topics.

There is good chance you could leave the country using your new passport at a land border crossing but be denied entry if you tried to get another visa exempt entry since the immigration office would see your history from your old passport.