Renewal of Retirement Visa to my new passport

[localexpat]

Hello

 

I am due to renew my Retirement Visa shortly.

 

As my old passport is nearly full I obtained a new passport.

 

Do I need any documentation for immigration to use my new passport for the renewed retirement visa.

 

I did some research on this forum and it seems the embassy should issue a letter to transfer a visa. My activity is to obtain a renewal so I hope I do not need this letter.

 

Thanks in advance for any advise.

[DrJack54]

The new passport should also have a letter that authorizes Thai imm to transfer visa information. You need letter

[IvorBiggun2]

If they ask for a fee then explain politely that there is no charge for the transfer of stamps. If they ask who told you this say the 'Immigration Help Line'.

[ubonjoe]

Your embassy should of given you the letter when you picked up your passport.

You will need to complete this form. Transfer Stamps To A New Passport

Most offices will want a copy of both passport photo pages. Copies of every page of the old passport with a visa or stamp for Thailand on it.

[localexpat]

Many thanks for your comments and assistance so far.

 

When I picked up my Second New passport last year from HM Passport Office Trendy Building Bangkok I declined the transfer letter as I was not ready to use my New passport.

 

So I need to organize the letter.

 

I found the British Government webpage for this :

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand#transferring-your-thai-visa-after-renewing-your-british-passport

 

Their WEBFORM link does not work so this was out.

 

I then phoned the British Embassy in Bangkok, Their Consular Services connection gives only a repeat message and the option to speak to an operator does not work.

 

By trying all the other options i managed eventually to speak to a man who gave me a telephone number in UK that gives 24 hour advise, Same repeat messge but it did say you have to put a credit card number in first to get a question addressed.

 

Overall regarding the British Embassy I got the impression they seem unwilling or unable to assist with any thing like this.

 

So I put this option on hold as I was not hopeful of them solving this problem.

 

Next option was to try to contact HM Passport Office Trendy Building Bangkok. Their letter only gave a UK telephone number, whilst I wanted to speak to them to ask advise.

 

So no letter so far or clarity on how to get this.

 

As I live up country best scenario for me would be to have whoever post one to me by EMS.

 

Any comments / advise appreciated.

 

[khunjeff]

15 minutes ago, localexpat said:

When I picked up my Second New passport last year from HM Passport Office Trendy Building Bangkok I declined the transfer letter as I was not ready to use my New passport.

 

16 minutes ago, localexpat said:

Overall regarding the British Embassy I got the impression they seem unwilling or unable to assist with any thing like this.

 

It sounds as though they tried to assist you by giving you the necessary transfer letter, and you declined their assistance.

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, localexpat said:

Hello

 

I am due to renew my Retirement Visa shortly.

 

As my old passport is nearly full I obtained a new passport.

 

Do I need any documentation for immigration to use my new passport for the renewed retirement visa.

 

I did some research on this forum and it seems the embassy should issue a letter to transfer a visa. My activity is to obtain a renewal so I hope I do not need this letter.

 

Thanks in advance for any advise.

When you received the new passport you should have been given an application form.

You complete that form and take it with your old/new passport to immigration to stamp your new passport.

They will transfer the details etc to the system and your new passport.

[localexpat]

I received my New Passport Last year July and was not ready to start using this New passport. Possibly a mistake on my behalf,

 

Anyway as they say you are where you are, how to go forward?

[tonray]

1 hour ago, localexpat said:

I received my New Passport Last year July and was not ready to start using this New passport. Possibly a mistake on my behalf,

 

Anyway as they say you are where you are, how to go forward?

Wasn't your old passport invalidated when they provided you a new one?  Not sure about UK but US Embassy will punch a hole in old one making it invalid from that point forward once a new one has been issued. 

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, tonray said:

Wasn't your old passport invalidated when they provided you a new one?  Not sure about UK but US Embassy will punch a hole in old one making it invalid from that point forward once a new one has been issued. 

Ditto AU.

[localexpat]

no Old passport no invalidations.

 

To cancel or invalidate a passport they usually cut the corner off

[jomtienisgood]

2 hours ago, tonray said:

Wasn't your old passport invalidated when they provided you a new one?  Not sure about UK but US Embassy will punch a hole in old one making it invalid from that point forward once a new one has been issued. 

Same in EU, Corner cut off + red stamp " Canceled " on every page. Don't understand why wave the Embassy letter as it is Standard issue... 

[OJAS]

4 hours ago, localexpat said:

Their WEBFORM link does not work so this was out.

 

After clicking on the webform link at https://www.contact-embassy.service.gov.uk/?country=Thailand&post=British Embassy Bangkok it seems to me that in the "What's your enquiry about?" box you need to enter "Visa transfer letter". Then after clicking the icon to the right of this box, you need to answer "Do the suggested pages answer your enquiry?" question by clicking on the "No, I would like to submit my enquiry" circle, whereupon you should then be able to submit an online request to the Embassy for the much hallowed visa transfer letter (basically a signed pro-forma on which you will need to enter relevant personal details yourself).

 

A bit of a convoluted procedure I know, but, hey, that's life for the typical British expat in LOS these days, I'm afraid!

 

Incidentally,  it's a "visa transfer letter" which the Embassy themselves misleadingly call this particular letter, even though you are, in fact, seeking to transfer your current extension of stay stamp into your second new passport. In any case it is not possible to transfer unexpired real genuine McCoy non-immigrant visas of the "OA" or "O" varieties (as distinct from extensions of stay masquerading as such) from old to new passports.

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by OJAS

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, localexpat said:

When I picked up my Second New passport last year from HM Passport Office Trendy Building Bangkok I declined the transfer letter as I was not ready to use my New passport.

Your new passport is the only valid passport you have (unless you are one of the very few people who have 2 current passports) , your old passport became invalid/cancelled the day your new passport was issued, so ready or not it’s the only one that is legally valid.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, tonray said:

Wasn't your old passport invalidated when they provided you a new one?  Not sure about UK but US Embassy will punch a hole in old one making it invalid from that point forward once a new one has been issued. 

UK passport issued at Trendy will cut the corner off the old passport thus making it immediately invalid, that's why they give you an application form to complete and take your new passport to the immigration office to transfer any relevant stamps and enter your new passport details to the system.

[Thingamabob]

The last time I renewed my UK passport the old passport was neither holed, cut or stamped cancelled. When I went to Immigration at CW they simply stamped my new extension into my new passport without comment, other than requiring copies of the relevant pages of my old passport.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

The last time I renewed my UK passport the old passport was neither holed, cut or stamped cancelled.

That was probably before they started issuing them a VFS when you got the new one by mail.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

The last time I renewed my UK passport the old passport was neither holed, cut or stamped cancelled. When I went to Immigration at CW they simply stamped my new extension into my new passport without comment, other than requiring copies of the relevant pages of my old passport.

The old passport was invalidated/cancelled the day the new passport was issued. That trendy/BE did not mark your old passport makes no difference to the fact that any check referring to HMPO database will show that the old one is dead. The point that not many checks like that are made doesn’t change that fact.

[Thingamabob]

16 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That was probably before they started issuing them a VFS when you got the new one by mail.

Good point.

[notrub]

On 12/1/2020 at 3:13 PM, localexpat said:

Hello

 

I am due to renew my Retirement Visa shortly.

 

As my old passport is nearly full I obtained a new passport.

 

Do I need any documentation for immigration to use my new passport for the renewed retirement visa.

 

I did some research on this forum and it seems the embassy should issue a letter to transfer a visa. My activity is to obtain a renewal so I hope I do not need this letter.

 

Thanks in advance for any advise.

I went to the Buriram immigration when my new passport was about to be applied for.  They just said to bring the new one and the old one along with all the usual proof of income, residence etc., pay a fee of ?000 baht (I forget) and they would do it.  Just like that.  For an extra ?000 baht they gave me an extension 14 or 15 months at the same time rather than the 2 or 3 months that would have been usual according to the date on my original visa.  That was important as I had a problem then with the money part of the qualifications.  I had a payment coming some months ahead but needed to spend what I had on deposit to live.  Now I just keep 1M THB on deposit in a foreign currency Thai bank account for this part of the qualification process.   I am pretty sure that there was no input required or given from the UK embassy for this transfer.  Just go in well before you need the renewal or transfer and ask what they want.  Better to be prepared than refused on the day.

[IvorBiggun2]

On 12/4/2020 at 8:36 AM, notrub said:

I went to the Buriram immigration when my new passport was about to be applied for.  They just said to bring the new one and the old one along with all the usual proof of income, residence etc., pay a fee of ?000 baht (I forget) and they would do it.  Just like that.  For an extra ?000 baht they gave me an extension 14 or 15 months at the same time rather than the 2 or 3 months that would have been usual according to the date on my original visa.  That was important as I had a problem then with the money part of the qualifications.  I had a payment coming some months ahead but needed to spend what I had on deposit to live.  Now I just keep 1M THB on deposit in a foreign currency Thai bank account for this part of the qualification process.   I am pretty sure that there was no input required or given from the UK embassy for this transfer.  Just go in well before you need the renewal or transfer and ask what they want.  Better to be prepared than refused on the day.

 

It's people like you that cause the siht that we legit's have to be put through when doing an extension. They don't want us legit folk going into their office  and leaving with out some form of tea money being paid.  It's kind of crazy in that they go out of their way to put up obstacles to catch wrong doers but willing help to bypass the law.

By the way there is no fee for changing your stamps from your old passport to your new one. <removed>

Edited December 5, 2020 by ubonjoe
baiting remark removed

[jacko45k]

6 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

It's kind of crazy in that they go out of their way to put up obstacles to catch wrong doers but willing help to bypass the law.

The obstacles might be there to persuade more of us to pay up for that bypass. 

[notrub]

22 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

 

It's people like you that cause the siht that we legit's have to be put through when doing an extension. They don't want us legit folk going into their office  and leaving with out some form of tea money being paid.  It's kind of crazy in that they go out of their way to put up obstacles to catch wrong doers but willing help to bypass the law.

By the way there is no fee for changing your stamps from your old passport to your new one. 

It was a modest fee of perhaps 1,000 or 1,500, I forget.  I got an official receipt for it.  It was not a tea money payment.  There are official fees for some government services in every country.  It cost 50 CAD to have my divorce papers certified by the CDN embassy in BKK.  The UK charges £ 25 to photocopy your passport.  I don't generally put myself in a position where a 'payoff' is required here but I don't argue about a 500 baht on the spot speeding fine is paid and no receipt given. 

 

Excuse me, but I am not a <removed>  thank you.  I research on internet, this site too, and speak to my lawyer about the best and legal way to do what needs to be done to live here in this country where I am a guest.  As difficult as it may sometimes be to jump through all the hoops here, there are far more devious governments in other 'respectable' countries, the UK & US, for example where those currently in charge are criminals and idiots to boot.

<removed>

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by ubonjoe
baiting remark removed in reply to a edited post.

[luckyluke]

4 minutes ago, notrub said:

I got an official receipt for it. 

 

Always wondered what's make a receipt, official.

 

For the yearly payment of my extension, I receive a page out of a receipt book (available everywhere) with the amount of 1900 ThB indicated, and with a signature or/and a stamp ( can be made everywhere}.

 

I really don't care if it is a genuine official, or not,

first thing I do, when I receive my passport back, is throwing away this "receipt".

 

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, notrub said:

It was a modest fee of perhaps 1,000 or 1,500, I forget.  I got an official receipt for it.

 

So how come the actual amounts involved appear to have slipped your mind? Maybe because you had given the receipt the @luckyluke "treatment"?

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, luckyluke said:

with a signature or/and a stamp ( can be made everywhere}.

 

As, arguably, can an extension stamp in a passport, of course. Even though it might have been placed in your passport in front of your eyes at your local immigration office, what's to stop an IO at BKK Arrivals, say, questioning its authenticity upon your return from a trip to foreign parts?

[luckyluke]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

what's to stop an IO at BKK Arrivals, say, questioning its authenticity upon your return from a trip to foreign parts?

Maybe there is a scanning system able to read the authenticity of the stamp.

Never heard/read about someone encountering this situation.

[garygooner]

What if you get your new passport in the UK for example. Do they give you a letter to take to imm in Thailand when you return?

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, garygooner said:

What if you get your new passport in the UK for example. Do they give you a letter to take to imm in Thailand when you return?

I expect not, but a few agents in the Pattaya area will sell you one that works.

[jomtienisgood]

3 hours ago, OJAS said:

 

As, arguably, can an extension stamp in a passport, of course. Even though it might have been placed in your passport in front of your eyes at your local immigration office, what's to stop an IO at BKK Arrivals, say, questioning its authenticity upon your return from a trip to foreign parts?

All Visa's are registered in their central computer system.....As are marriages and divorces.....