Passport through the washing machine

[STD Warehouse]

Wife just put my passport through the washing machine.

 

my visa probably is washed out and not usable.

 

im on a Non O based on marriage, with a1 year extension permitted to stay until 22nd November 2021. 
 

1) If I get a new passport I believe they won’t transfer my visa?
 

2) will they transfer my permission to stay?

 

3) come November I won’t be able to apply for another 1 yet extension if my visa is not transferred, correct?

 

4) I can’t get another Non-O visa with out leaving the country can I? 
 

5) will I be able to go onto Covid extensions in November? 

 

EDIT: I just checked and because the TM6 card was directly placed over my visa, after peeling of the TM6 card which is a little washed out the Non-O visa itself is actually in perfect condition with no visable wash out effects. So if my passport scans is the visa okay to use for another extension in Novemeber? 

Edited July 22, 2021 by STD Warehouse

[ubonjoe]

That will transfer every relevant stamp from you old passport to the new one. That includes your extension of stay stamp.

They do not transfer visas. They will do a stamp on the first page that has spaces for info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you have been extending and your old passport.

Certainly no need to get a new visa.

[STD Warehouse]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

That will transfer every relevant stamp from you old passport to the new one. That includes your extension of stay stamp.

They do not transfer visas. They will do a stamp on the first page that has spaces for info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you have been extending and your old passport.

Certainly no need to get a new visa.

and come Novemeber I cannot extend for another year as I dont have a visa correct? Can I do Covid extensions even though technically I have no visa?

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, STD Warehouse said:

and come Novemeber I cannot extend for another year as I dont have a visa correct? Can I do Covid extensions even though technically I have no visa?

Your visa is not important now since you are already in the country. A visa only allows you to enter the country and get a permit to stay in the country.

As I wrote before will put info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you got from your visa in your new passport.

[KannikaP]

6 minutes ago, STD Warehouse said:

and come Novemeber I cannot extend for another year as I dont have a visa correct? Can I do Covid extensions even though technically I have no visa?

Did you not say that your Visa stamp was perfectly OK in your edit?

[STD Warehouse]

2 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Did you not say that your Visa stamp was perfectly OK in your edit?

In my eyes it looks okay, but maybe the passport is void for some reason like the details page doesn't scan at immigration (do they even scan it or just manually enter details), so if it didnt scan then immigration cant use the passport, then have to make new passport, then visa is lost

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Did you not say that your Visa stamp was perfectly OK in your edit?

I would guess his visa is a sticker in his old passport. Embassies have not done stamps for a long time now.

His visa is irrelevant now that he is in the country.

They will transcribe his current extension of stay (it is not a visa) to his new passport.

[STD Warehouse]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Your visa is not important now since you are already in the country. A visa only allows you to enter the country and get a permit to stay in the country.

As I wrote before will put info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you got from your visa in your new passport.

Thanks Joe for your ever useful wisdom and information....

 

So if I get a new passport and they "will put info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you got from your visa in your new passport", I apply for a further 1 year extension in November?

[Smithson]

My ex did the same. The worst part was getting a new one, even though the details part was fully visible, the application was the same as a lost/stolen passport. It can be very difficult to meet the ID requirements if you've been here a long time.

[ubonjoe]

30 minutes ago, STD Warehouse said:

So if I get a new passport and they "will put info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you got from your visa in your new passport", I apply for a further 1 year extension in November?

Yes

It is the same as getting a new passport when it is expiring. They put info about the visa you used to get the permit to stay you are extending in the one.

[Thomas J]

38 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That will transfer every relevant stamp from you old passport to the new one. That includes your extension of stay stamp.

I have a neighbor from Belgium who tends to get things mixed up and is a bit paranoid about everything dealing with immigration.  He just returned from Belgium and while there got a new passport.  He has an O=A Visa from Belgium.  He was under the impression he needed to get the O-A Visa transferred to his new passport.  

He went to Jomtien immigration and they told him he needed to go to the Belgium Embassy in Bangkok to transfer.  They of course are closed due to Covid.  He mailed his new passport to them and supposedly they transferred it to the new passport.  I found this strange since I would think it would be the Thai government that would be issuing the visa.  Anyway they sent him some official paper regarding the transfer via email  He went to Jomtien immigration to "register" his new passport number.  At first they were reluctant to accept it due to the paper being a copy. 

Maybe just me, but I think he went through a lot of effort with no real purpose.  I would think that the visa in his old passport still would apply and he would just apply for another extension in November when his current one expires showing both his old passport with the visa and his new one.  Am I correct? 

[BritTim]

You need to get a new passport. Depending on your nationality, replacing a damaged passport can be more or less troublesome. Unlike with a normal passport renewal, some countries require much the same paperwork to replace a damaged passport as they require for a first passport. Other countries are more relaxed. Check with your embassy. Once you have the new passport, getting the relevant stamps transferred is not a problem.

[BritTim]

8 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I have a neighbor from Belgium who tends to get things mixed up and is a bit paranoid about everything dealing with immigration.  He just returned from Belgium and while there got a new passport.  He has an O=A Visa from Belgium.  He was under the impression he needed to get the O-A Visa transferred to his new passport.  

He went to Jomtien immigration and they told him he needed to go to the Belgium Embassy in Bangkok to transfer.  They of course are closed due to Covid.  He mailed his new passport to them and supposedly they transferred it to the new passport.  I found this strange since I would think it would be the Thai government that would be issuing the visa.  Anyway they sent him some official paper regarding the transfer via email  He went to Jomtien immigration to "register" his new passport number.  At first they were reluctant to accept it due to the paper being a copy. 

Maybe just me, but I think he went through a lot of effort with no real purpose.  I would think that the visa in his old passport still would apply and he would just apply for another extension in November when his current one expires showing both his old passport with the visa and his new one.  Am I correct? 

When he entered Thailand with a Non O-A visa, he should have shown his old and new passports at immigration, and will have received a permission to stay of one-year in the new passport, together with an appropriate annotation. As you surmise, it was stupid to go to the effort of getting the actual visa (still valid in the old passport) transferred. Indeed, it placed your friend in an illegal state as you are required always to be able to show your passport to officials on request, something he could not do with the passport out of the country.

Edited July 22, 2021 by BritTim

[Thomas J]

2 minutes ago, BritTim said:

When he entered Thailand with a Non O-A visa, he should have shown his old and new passports at immigration, and will have received a permission to stay of one-year in the new passport, together with an appropriate annotation.

Ah thank you.  Perhaps that is what he was muttering about not having a valid passport.   I know I told him that I have an old passport with a 10 year visa stamped in it for China.  Two years ago they merely asked me to show the old passport with the visa along with my current one. 

[STD Warehouse]

11 minutes ago, BritTim said:

You need to get a new passport. Depending on your nationality, replacing a damaged passport can be more or less troublesome. Unlike with a normal passport renewal, some countries require much the same paperwork to replace a damaged passport as they require for a first passport. Other countries are more relaxed. Check with your embassy. Once you have the new passport, getting the relevant stamps transferred is not a problem.

Do I need to get new passport? The details page looks normal and the visa I entered in on looks normal, some of the other pages have washed out stamps on them.

 

Is there some way to know if I need a new passport? If I go to immigration can they say if my passport is okay for them to use?

[CANSIAM]

I once gave my Passport a full 65 minute wash cycle, what a horrendous error !  To the Embassy for a new one, a damaged passport is not returned to you as well ( for me anyhow ) then to immigration to get the stamps sorted to the new PP and a TM6........ checking pockets now !!!!

[4MyEgo]

19 minutes ago, STD Warehouse said:

Do I need to get new passport? The details page looks normal and the visa I entered in on looks normal, some of the other pages have washed out stamps on them.

 

Is there some way to know if I need a new passport? If I go to immigration can they say if my passport is okay for them to use?

That would be the best way to find out and if they say you do need a new one then that will give you time to go through all the process of getting a new passport before November.

 

Hope the wife is still alive, that said, I always make a note to put my passport away in the safe as soon as I am finished doing whatever it is that I was doing with it, never leave things in my pockets because I know my wife will just throw my clothes in, with whatever is in my pockets, I recall her asking me one day what this washed condom was doing in my pocket, I said it's for emergency purposes Tiruk, emergency purposes, me giving her that what look, adding, what, you don't think I would without one do you, safety Tiruk, safety.

Edited July 22, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[rodknock]

when i got a replacement passport, the embassy  issued a letter requesting immagration transfer every thing to my new passport.

that is how it worked for my usa passport.

did your friend have a reentry when he came back to Thailand in his old passport?

 

[BritTim]

3 minutes ago, rodknock said:

when i got a replacement passport, the embassy  issued a letter requesting immagration transfer every thing to my new passport.

that is how it worked for my usa passport.

did your friend have a reentry when he came back to Thailand in his old passport?

 

When people talk about "visas", they do not always mean "visas". However, I took the report that he had a valid O-A visa at face value. That seems to be supported by the narrative about sending the passport to Belgium to have the visa transferred to the new passport (something that would never happen with either an expired visa or an extension of permission to stay from an immigration office in Thailand). Reentry permits are only used when you do not have a valid visa.

[Upnotover]

38 minutes ago, STD Warehouse said:

Do I need to get new passport? The details page looks normal and the visa I entered in on looks normal, some of the other pages have washed out stamps on them.

 

Is there some way to know if I need a new passport? If I go to immigration can they say if my passport is okay for them to use?

I have a passport very much as you have described, washed in 2016.  I have been in and out of the UK, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines on it without any comment or issue.  The only minor problem is that it wont work in the UK biometric machines so I'm always diverted to the manned counter for entry.

[STD Warehouse]

1 minute ago, Upnotover said:

I have a passport very much as you have described, washed in 2016.  I have been in and out of the UK, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines on it without any comment or issue.  The only minor problem is that it wont work in the UK biometric machines so I'm always diverted to the manned counter for entry.

that sounds encouraging, theres hope yet!

[OJAS]

4 hours ago, STD Warehouse said:

that sounds encouraging, theres hope yet!

Let's, indeed, hope so, particularly if you're a Brit since renewing a British passport is, to all intents and purposes, impossible from Thailand at the present time, thanks to the VFS office in Bangkok being closed indefinitely (which could mean anything between a couple of weeks and several months in practice). That said, you should, however, be OK if you can get to the VFS office in Chiang Mai instead since that is still open. 

Edited July 22, 2021 by OJAS

[Neeranam]

What's with blaming the wife?

 

I did this, it was totally my fault, I left my passport in my trousers and my wife picked them up for washing. 

[Dave67]

I was on leave from working in Malaysia in Thailand with the Mrs and kids . The Mrs put my passport in the same pocket in bag a with bottle of aftershave spray with no lid and it ruined my passport. I went to the embassy and when it was in there a free fire zone was declared by the army during the red shirt protests in 2010 so I could not get my passport out so I had an extra 2 weeks holiday,

[DFPhuket]

I had a friend staying with me in Thailand who ran his Indonesian passport through the washing machine. Like yours, some of the stamps were washed out. He had no difficulty leaving Thailand or entering Indonesia. His data page was fine, but the issue was his visa stamps for traveling to other countries were unusable. Because of that he did get a new passport after returning home and he had to apply for a new US visa. 

 

Assuming the data page is fine, the main issue is whether your extension stamp is still readable and acceptable to immigration. If so, and they'll give you an extension, the other faded stamps won't matter. It would be worth checking on that at your local immigration before going to the time and expense of getting a new passport and having the stamps transferred. 

 

It's also a good reminder to always keep a scan or copy of your passport immigration stamps. 

 

[thurien]

why don't you pop into IMMI way before due time of renewal and ask them what they can do about all the mess?

[Road Warrior]

well it nice and clean now !!!

[placnx]

21 hours ago, STD Warehouse said:

In my eyes it looks okay, but maybe the passport is void for some reason like the details page doesn't scan at immigration (do they even scan it or just manually enter details), so if it didnt scan then immigration cant use the passport, then have to make new passport, then visa is lost

The same thing happened to me, and I continued to use the passport for 9 years. Ink on some used visas ran a bit, but no immigration anywhere had objections. My dollar cash laundered beautifully. Looked like new.

[Thalueng]

The stamp in your passport is proove of your visa, which is recorded in the immigration database. As long as you don't leave the country you don't have any problems, and when extending or renewing you will get the extension in your new passport, but you must bring the old one along no matter what the condition. 

 

A washed out passport is invalid as soon as any page is not fully readable, not only your visa or your details page. Your embassy or representation will advise how to replace such a passport. So you should not or cannot travel before making a new passport.

 

Visas and immigration stamps usually are not transferred to a new passport, but they remain valid in the old one. You must then carry along the old passport together with the new one when travelling. If your embassy invalidates the old passport by punching holes (not all do, Thai passports for ex are not punched) you must advise them not to punch your visa page.

 

Hope this helps.

[ubonjoe]

33 minutes ago, Thalueng said:

Visas and immigration stamps usually are not transferred to a new passport, but they remain valid in the old one. You must then carry along the old passport together with the new one when travelling.

That is not correct if you are on a long stay extension of stay. Immigration will transfer all relevant stamp to the new passport and do a annotation about the visa used for entry to the country. With those and re-entry permit in the new passport you can use it for travel.

If you have a valid multiple entry visa issued by a embassy or consulate you have to use both passport to travel to use the visa in your old passport to enter the country.