The wife of an expat married couple I know has just had a new passport issued after her old passport expired.

They married /after/ her old passport was issued so the new passport has a new last name (that of her husband).

Normally there should be no problem having the Non-O visa transferred from the old and expired passport to the new, but as the names are different, will that be likely to cause problems?

The issuing embassy suggested that she would run into a wall of red tape, something to do with having entered Thailand with one name and going to exit with another.

What do y'all think?

Edited April 27, 200719 yr by Phil Conners

Whatever happens she's going to have problems getting out of Thailand with a PP without an entry stamp.

Assuming she has:-

Old passport with old name

New passport with new name

Document connecting the two names (marriage certificate).

I suggest a trip to immigration, I'm quite sure they can fix the problem, probably with loads of the red stuff (both tape and tea money) but I see no alternative assuming her old PP has been cancelled.

BTW immigration cannot transfer visas, only entry/exit stamps and extensions. To get the visa transferred you have to visit the issuing consulate or just go and get a new one

Yes of course she has the supporting document, but as we both seem to suspect, that doesn't mean it ends there. TiT and all that.

Why would she want to transfer her visa anyway? Wouldn't it be sufficient to transfer the extension?

Why would she want to transfer her visa anyway? Wouldn't it be sufficient to transfer the extension?

Absolutely, but no mention was made that there is an extension in force, just covering all bases