USA Passport Renewal by Mail: Experience?

[RocketDog]

My passport expires in August of next year, meaning I cannot complete my next Extension of Stay in May 2022 with less than 6 months remaining on the passport.

Initial panic ensued when reports say renewal in home country takes 12-18 months.

 

The US Embassy in Bangkok says it takes 2-3 weeks from document arrival at the Embassy to return receipt to a Thai address.

Fee is $110 USD, need a new photo, DS82 form, current passport book, and receipt for payment at 'Pay.gov'. Instructions are suspiciously clear on the website, making me think this is a government scam to take my money and destroy my passport.????

 

I'm reluctant to give up my passport since it leaves me powerless for in-bank transactions, Immigration visit, etc.

I suppose it can't be helped, and am amazed and terrified that my Embassy is threatening, openly on the internet, to be effective and efficient. ????

No mention is made of returning the old passport.

 

Anybody with recent experience to boost my spirits?

 

thanks to all.

[ubonjoe]

Many people have done it by mail for a long time now.

You send both passports and when the new one is received at the embassy they mail both of them to you after canceling the old one.

Besides the online payment you also have to get a 100 baht cashiers check for the return envelope. 

The rule at immigration is if you have less than a year remaining on your passport the new extension will only be issued to the day your passport expires. There is no 6 month requirement.

 

[bbko]

" reports say renewal in home country takes 12-18 months" Whaaaat??  Where are you getting your info? 

I had to renew my US passport while living here in Thailand and it went just like it said on their website.  My new passport arrived about 2 weeks after submitting my paperwork along with my old passport with 2 holes punched in it. No government scam, no need to be terrified, just make sure your mail is registered and trackable.

As for being without your passport for 2-3 weeks, take care of any banking or immigration stuff before sending it off.

[RocketDog]

18 hours ago, bbko said:

" reports say renewal in home country takes 12-18 months" Whaaaat??  Where are you getting your info? 

I had to renew my US passport while living here in Thailand and it went just like it said on their website.  My new passport arrived about 2 weeks after submitting my paperwork along with my old passport with 2 holes punched in it. No government scam, no need to be terrified, just make sure your mail is registered and trackable.

As for being without your passport for 2-3 weeks, take care of any banking or immigration stuff before sending it off.

I wasn't clear, but I'm not sure how else you could have interpreted "home country". The US government announced several weeks ago that renewing a passport IN AMERICA by Americans is running 12-18 weeks. My friend in California is going thru the process and knows the facts.

 

Thanks for the info on your renewal in Thailand. Good to hear that they return the old passport too. I assume that you did this renewal recently, which is the news I wanted, since as we know, government functions in general all over the world, are not what they were last year even.

 

Of course I will do what needs done before surrendering my passport, and if the turnaround is, as the US Embassy says on their wit, two-three weeks then all will be well.

[Heng]

It is indeed slower back home at the moment as supposedly there is a queue of 2 million+ passports that are in process now because a lot of folks allowed them to expire during covid.  It seems like they are giving priority to overseas Americans as we just got ours done in June and it was 11 calendar days from application to receipt of our new passports.   

Edited August 4, 2021 by Heng
rechecked: took 13 calendar days

[RocketDog]

19 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Many people have done it by mail for a long time now.

You send both passports and when the new one is received at the embassy they mail both of them to you after canceling the old one.

Besides the online payment you also have to get a 100 baht cashiers check for the return envelope. 

The rule at immigration is if you have less than a year remaining on your passport the new extension will only be issued to the day your passport expires. There is no 6 month requirement.

 

Thanks Joe. Good to know the details of Immigration Policy. I was thinking about the original Visa application done in USA Non OA.  I believe you had to have at least six months remaining for the Thai consulate to issue the visa.

 

pay.gov site now allows for paying the renewal fee, but the return envelope apparently can only be purchased using a bank draft on one of three thai banks. See the screen shot photo attached. I'm posting this nuance for information of others reading these posts.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Beginning July 18, 2021, U.S. Embassy Bangkok will begin accepting online fee payments for adult U.S. passport renewal applications.  Paying online allows you to mail your application to the U.S. Embassy without the need to apply in person.  Qualifying adult passport renewal applicants may pay the $110 passport renewal fee online via U.S. or international credit or debit card, electronic funds transfer from a U.S.-based bank account, Amazon Pay, or Pay Pal. Adult passport renewal applications must be mailed only to U.S. Embassy Bangkok. See our FAQ page for more information on this new process.

 

Step 8:  Obtain a return envelope: a bank draft is required for purchasing a return envelope, please click here for Bank draft request form.

 

Q: What are the steps for paying online for my U.S. passport renewal via Pay.gov?
A:

1. Acknowledge the disclaimers and notices;
2. Verify your eligibility;
3. Visit the Pay.gov link;
4. Pay for the U.S. passport;
5. Await email confirmation for passport payment;
6. Print email confirmation of passport payment;
7. Fill out DS-82 Application including signature and photo
8. Mail email confirmation for passport payment, signed DS-82 application, prior passport, pre-paid return envelope (if applicable), and photo via mail/courier to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok 

NOTE: A return envelope is required if you are applying for a U.S. passport in Thailand.

 

 

print-bankdraft-request-form_envelopes.pdf

[RocketDog]

9 minutes ago, Heng said:

It is indeed slower back home at the moment as supposedly there is a queue of 2 million+ passports that are in process now because a lot of folks allowed them to expire during covid.  It seems like they are giving priority to overseas Americans as we just got ours done in June and it was 11 calendar days from application to receipt of our new passports.   

Yay! Good news. Thanks for the update.

[Saddic]

I renewed early this year via post to the BKK US consulate...  Follow their instructions and you'll be fine...

 

Start to finish it took 2 weeks.  Sent via DHL to the consulate, arrived back to my condo 2 weeks from start (was emailed a Thai post tracking number when they sent it...)

MUCH MUCH quicker done over here, than if I would have done it in the US...

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Saddic

[JimGant]

23 hours ago, Heng said:

as we just got ours done in June and it was 11 calendar days from application to receipt of our new passports.   

My recent experience too -- got it back in 14 days, with two weekends in between. Even got an email from the Consulate saying new passport received, expect in Thai mail in five days (it took two). Package had new passport, old passport, and an Embassy letter addressed to Immigration to please allow transfer of stamps to new passport (this letter definitely required at CM Immigration, probably most others).

 

The 12 to 18 week wait for renewal in the States is huge news on the travel websites. And there's no one to bribe to expedite! Where's corruption when you need it..... Anyway, nice, but rare, perk for being an expat vis-a-vis the Gov't.

[emily536]

It's said Consulate saying new passport received, expect in Thai mail in five days (it took two). Package had new passport, old passport, and an Embassy letter addressed to Immigration