Hello, I have a unique situation. 

 

I have been trying to get a work visa the past couple of months at Chaengwattana in Bangkok and finally got everything approved. I was then told to come back on the 17th to get the work visa. Simple, right?

 

The problem is, after being forced to get back to back tourist visas during this process, my passport (USA) is nearly full. There is one empty page that says "Visas" at the top, then three empty pages that DO NOT say "visas". I'm under the assumption that the one empty visa page and the 3 empty pages are enough to get the work visa and a re-entry permit. If not, I have a problem, as I plan to go to Bali for new years, which will would cancel the tourist visa that I am on now and also require me to have a passport with me (I cannot mail it somewhere during that time).

 

No matter what, I will need a new passport in the very near future as I want to continue traveling. I was wondering how I should approach this. For example, if I got a new passport, would that invalidate my old one including my tourist visa that I am trying to convert into a work visa on the 17th? Should I wait until I get the three month work visa, then change passports, then get the 12 month work visa? First I would need to set an appointment with the USA embassy, I feel like I don't even know where or when to begin! Whenever I get a new passport, I think it needs to have the work visa, but if the visa is on the old passport would that be vaild for working here and re-entering?

 

I hope someone can shed some light on this process as I really don't want to spend my holidays messing everything up and having to start this process over.

I assume the 3 empty pages that do not say visas are only for endorsements and etc. Those pages cannot be used for visas and entry stamps and etc.

If you get a new passport every thing in the old one remains valid and you would show both passport to use a visa and etc.

I know this doesn’t answer everything, but you can apply for a new passport from the US embassy by mail. Check their websites for very clear details!
 

Last month I mailed it to the embassy here in Bangkok on a Saturday, it arrived Sunday and my new passport was issued on Wednesday. It did take another week to receive it back, but a quick and painless process overall. Good luck!