How many days does it take Thai embassy to send your passport back?

[johnbarley]

This is USA

 

I got this which I suppose means I'm approved:
Your application is reviewed. In order to issue an appropriate visa and in compliance with relevant rules and regulations, please mail the original documents to the Royal Thai Embassy.

 

But I'm on a super tight schedule. 

 

How many days to receive your passport from the day you send?

[DrJack54]

26 minutes ago, johnbarley said:

But I'm on a super tight schedule. 

That doesn't mean a lot.

Also it's not really clear what your doing.

Think you have another thread relates to entering Thailand. There are some excellent recent threads with guidelines to whole process, including obtaining COE and quarantine process and booking flights.

[johnbarley]

12 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

That doesn't mean a lot.

Also it's not really clear what your doing.

Think you have another thread relates to entering Thailand. There are some excellent recent threads with guidelines to whole process, including obtaining COE and quarantine process and booking flights.

Couldn't find the answer in other threads. 
I have to mail my passport along with other doc to the embassy in Washington DC to get the visa. They mail it back. Do you know how many days that takes? 

I have about 10 days.

[PiMi]

@johnbarley If I were you, I would pay to overnight the docs to the Thai Embassy and include a SASE-pre-paid overnight envelope with specific instructions for them to return the passport to you in that envelope. It doesn't mean you'll receive it in time, but I imagine its your best bet. My two cents anyway.

[2 is 1]

Do they ask your passport!? Call there and ask what they really need! And ask schedule! They not prove yet nothing! They need original document's to proceed!

Edited September 10, 2020 by 2 is 1

[Tounge Thaied]

Quick answer yes... you can get it in and back within 10 days... but it is very dependent on your factors. Are you near D.C.? It looks as though, from your OP, that you have been emailed. So that is good, you now have established communications. The L.A. folks have been very responsive. 

My situation: I am in the exact process you are describing right now... I am using the the Thai Embassy in L.A. Every case is situationally dependent. I have read some guys have gotten it back in as early as 8 days. I made some flight changes mid stream on my application so my mailing went out from Seattle to L.A. on Sept. 4th and arrived on September 8th using USPS priority mail and is taking a bit longer due to the distance I am at, priority mail is a 3 day mail service one way and I made changes delaying the process. I believe there is one more faster option with USPS, which the instructions for the mailing said I needed to send by USPS. Maybe next day air, not sure on that. I don't believe they have put my VISA back into the mail to me yet. But I believe they have stamped my VISA already and I am expecting my VISA back in the next 4-5 days. So for me, the entire process is taking somewhere between 10-12 days. I would say that if you have all your documents fully prepared, you can get an expediated USPS shipping option and put a short letter in the mailing indicating you would like to have your VISA back ASAP, I think you can do it within the 10 days. Then email them with your expediate request. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Tounge Thaied
spelling and content

[johnbarley]

39 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

Do they ask your passport!? Call there and ask what they really need! And ask schedule! They not prove yet nothing! They need original document's to proceed!

Yes, have to send passport for the stamp. 

 

1. Passport

2. Two passport-size photographs (2″x 2″)

3. Visa application form (Download) or attached file with this email (if applicant doesn’t have a valid Thai visa)

4. Self-addressed return envelope and visa fee (Money order - $80 for single entry / $200 for multiple entries) if the applicant doesn’t have a valid visa

5. Other required documents that you submitted through online application.

[FritsSikkink]

"Your application is reviewed."

Doesn't mean that you are approved at all, they are having a look at it.

[Tounge Thaied]

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

"Your application is reviewed."

Doesn't mean that you are approved at all, they are having a look at it.

I'm pretty sure Johnbarley understands this. There are two approvals, first the VISA then the COE. These have two separate, overlapping, sets of documents. The VISA can be completed on its own and sent back quickly. The COE takes a bit longer as it requires additional documents and to be reviewed and approved, I believe by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

[pseudorabies]

I sent my visa application to the LA consulate two weeks ago but haven't heard back from them yet.  I've been doing the online application and when I went in to upload some docs I had to change my answer from "NO" for "Do you have a visa?" to "YES" because I got a popup message stating that my visa was approved.  Like I said, that was two weeks ago.  It used to be that you could call the consulate and actually speak to someone but that's been changed.  My schedule is getting tighter (flight is scheduled for end of the month) but not as tight as yours from the sounds of it.

Have you tried emailing them? They've emailed me in the past and sometimes actually respond to my questions.

[Tounge Thaied]

2 minutes ago, pseudorabies said:

I've been doing the online application and when I went in to upload some docs I had to change my answer from "NO" for "Do you have a visa?" to "YES" because I got a popup message stating that my visa was approved.

Have you re-submitted the entire application after this occurred? If you have submitted it, they should have contacted you by now. In addition to that yes question, you have to be sure that your ASQ and Flight confirmations have been uploaded, along of course, with all the other required documents. 

[pseudorabies]

I had to upload the flight info only as everything else was in place except for the visa.  When I got that message on the first page that I did have a visa, I replied to one of the previous emails I had gotten from the Thai consulate. I asked if they could upload the visa from their end or if I should wait until I got my passport back from them.  Of course it was the latter.  That was two weeks ago.

The online application's web page states that applications that are not completed within one week from the start date will be deleted.  However mine is still active.

[noserious]

5 days soup to nuts for me.
I overnighted my passport and myriad documents on Thursday morning to the Thai consulate in Chicago and was very pleasantly surprised to get my passport with visa the following Tuesday. I was sent the COE by email about a week later.

Now on my 10th day of quarantine trying to keep my sanity.
By the way, in the instructions on the Thai embassy's website it is quite clearly written that 15 business days should be allowed for visa processing. Good luck.

[Tounge Thaied]

3 hours ago, pseudorabies said:

However mine is still active.

Have you ever gotten the "Use the Link below to edit the shared entry" message with a green "View Entry" link button in an email from them? This is your portal back into your application. If the application is locked, meaning you can no longer edit anything, it may say at the bottom below your signature "Submitted". That means your entire application is complete and has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If your application is still open and editable, then you are still in process for some reason. You need to find out what that reason is. Here is the L.A. phone number and of course their email:
323-580-4222

[email protected]

[pseudorabies]

1 hour ago, Tounge Thaied said:

Have you ever gotten the "Use the Link below to edit the shared entry" message with a green "View Entry" link button in an email from them? This is your portal back into your application. If the application is locked, meaning you can no longer edit anything, it may say at the bottom below your signature "Submitted". That means your entire application is complete and has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If your application is still open and editable, then you are still in process for some reason. You need to find out what that reason is. Here is the L.A. phone number and of course their email:
323-580-4222

[email protected]

Yes, I've gotten a few of those including one that came in about an hour ago.  It might have something to do with me getting my e-ticket for the repatriation flight this morning.  My application is still editable.  I expect that when I get the passport-visa back it will just be a matter of scanning and uploading.

Thanks for the contact details.  Last time I had tried a number that ended with 9574 and I could not reach anyone.  I'll try yours.

 

It sounds like turn-around time is individual and site specific.  LA might have higher demand / lower bandwidth compared with Chicago.  The OP might want to call around to ask what the turn around times are at other consulates.  This is assuming that you don't have to apply only to the nearest consulate.

[FlyingThai]

Why don't you just fly to DC and do it yourself, then pick it up 1-2 days later? Or are they closed for public business and only operate via mail?

[Tounge Thaied]

1 minute ago, FlyingThai said:

Or are they closed for public business and only operate via mail?

You got it. Mail only.

[noserious]

I think the embassy that one must use depends on the return address. I applied to the Thai consulate in Chicago from my parents' house in Michigan even though I am a Florida resident.

[Max69xl]

21 hours ago, 2 is 1 said:

Do they ask your passport!? Call there and ask what they really need! And ask schedule! They not prove yet nothing! They need original document's to proceed!

Do you think the Thai embassy can issue a visa without having his passport? 

[johnbarley]

On 9/10/2020 at 12:12 PM, pseudorabies said:

I sent my visa application to the LA consulate two weeks ago but haven't heard back from them yet.  I've been doing the online application and when I went in to upload some docs I had to change my answer from "NO" for "Do you have a visa?" to "YES" because I got a popup message stating that my visa was approved.  Like I said, that was two weeks ago.  It used to be that you could call the consulate and actually speak to someone but that's been changed.  My schedule is getting tighter (flight is scheduled for end of the month) but not as tight as yours from the sounds of it.

Have you tried emailing them? They've emailed me in the past and sometimes actually respond to my questions.

Two weeks, not good. 
The website says to apply online first. How come you didn't do that?

[johnbarley]

On 9/10/2020 at 4:20 PM, noserious said:

quarantine

 

On 9/10/2020 at 4:20 PM, noserious said:

5 days soup to nuts for me.
I overnighted my passport and myriad documents on Thursday morning to the Thai consulate in Chicago and was very pleasantly surprised to get my passport with visa the following Tuesday. I was sent the COE by email about a week later.

Now on my 10th day of quarantine trying to keep my sanity.
By the way, in the instructions on the Thai embassy's website it is quite clearly written that 15 business days should be allowed for visa processing. Good luck.

What hotel are you staying? Would you recommend it?

[johnbarley]

16 hours ago, noserious said:

I think the embassy that one must use depends on the return address. I applied to the Thai consulate in Chicago from my parents' house in Michigan even though I am a Florida resident.

To complicate it, my state of residence will be different from state I want it mailed to. Plan to visit some relatives before exiting. Hope that's not a problem!

 

[Huckenfell]

On 9/11/2020 at 2:12 AM, pseudorabies said:

I sent my visa application to the LA consulate two weeks ago but haven't heard back from them yet.  I've been doing the online application and when I went in to upload some docs I had to change my answer from "NO" for "Do you have a visa?" to "YES" because I got a popup message stating that my visa was approved.  Like I said, that was two weeks ago.  It used to be that you could call the consulate and actually speak to someone but that's been changed.  My schedule is getting tighter (flight is scheduled for end of the month) but not as tight as yours from the sounds of it.

Have you tried emailing them? They've emailed me in the past and sometimes actually respond to my questions.

It probably depends on the country that you are in. Last time i sent mine from Brisbane to Canberra with return registered envelope included, it was back in a week.

[10years]

I live near a Honorary Consulate General of Thailand in the US. This is where I've been getting my past visas. They might be closed now, but could easily issue a visa anytime since they just borrow a small office at a company. Could an official consulate email me a letter authorizing a visa that I can take to the honorary consulate, or directly contact the honorary consulate and instruct them to issue the visa?

[Tanoshi]

On 9/10/2020 at 9:04 PM, johnbarley said:

I have about 10 days.

10 days to what - fly?

I was under the impression you have to have your application approved before booking and sending flight detail confirmation.

[noserious]

9 hours ago, johnbarley said:

 

What hotel are you staying? Would you recommend it?

I have 3 more nights to go in The Kinn ASQ hotel. It's a little clean. The floor under the table was dirty and there was bits of rice and a seed on the chair when I checked in. It's on the 9th floor so water pressure is so so. The air con is ok and there is a TV with 1 English-language channel, maybe 10 Thai channels and many infomercial channels. I guess this is a cheaper cable package. I have been teaching online for my school in Thailand from USA and now in quarantine for the last 5 months so the Internet speed is crucial. Because of unstable Internet connection the lessons have been interrupted or dropped out at least 10 times in the last 11 days. The connection in this hotel is unstable. This "deluxe" room has a small balcony and is 30,000 Baht so it is on the cheaper end. There is no pool nor gym. The staff and nurses are pleasant. There is a poor French lady across the hall with 2 young daughters one of whom cries and cries at various times during the day and night so I shouldn't complain. As you can see from the attached photos this hotel is down the street from The Office massage parlor. In fact my friend told me that this hotel was converted from a defunct massage parlor called Afterschool or Playskool or something like that. Some of the meals are good but often times not warm by the time the meals are placed outside the door. There is no microwave, but there is room service. If you want to save money this hotel ok.