Transfer to new US passport -- Embassy says letter is no longer required, as of April 10, 2023

[retiree]

From the US Embassy website:

As of April 10, 2023, the Embassy/Consulate will no longer issue passport linkage letters with newly issued passports. If a Thai government office requests one, your cancelled passport and your newly issued passport will suffice.

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/

Just the messenger, 

 -- Retiree 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Seems like they're slowly getting out of the business of locally doing most anything related to actual US expats living here....

 

First they did away with income verification letters... Then they ceased issuing residence certificates, lately... And now it's the passport visa stamp transfer letters.

 

And their announcement language isn't exactly reassuring when it comes to the issue of whether they've actually coordinated this with Thai Immigration.

 

" If a Thai government office requests one, your cancelled passport and your newly issued passport will suffice."

 

Well, WHY would a Thai government office be REQUESTING one (the Embassy stamp transfer letter) if they were no longer needed???

 

 

[worgeordie]

Has anybody told Thai immigration that letter is not needed .....

 

" If a Thai government office requests one, your cancelled passport and your newly issued passport will suffice."

The American Embassy says so , will Thai Immigration play ball , if they don't  and still require a letter , and US

Embassy says  you don't need one , your going to have problems.......

 

regards worgeordie

[Jingthing]

Oh fudge what next?

[Lucky Bones]

4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Has anybody told Thai immigration that letter is not needed .....

 

" If a Thai government office requests one, your cancelled passport and your newly issued passport will suffice."

The American Embassy says so , will Thai Immigration play ball , if they don't  and still require a letter , and US

Embassy says  you don't need one , your going to have problems.......

 

regards worgeordie

Same issue with newly issued Aus passport last year at Jomtien IO.

Luckily I had been clever enuff to photograph the Embassy receipt.

That got me through.????????

[foreverlomsak]

46 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Well, WHY would a Thai government office be REQUESTING one (the Embassy stamp transfer letter) if they were no longer needed???

For the same reason that (when applying for a Retirement extension with more than 1,600,000 THB in a Thai bank account), I was told I needed to provide them with an Embassy Income letter, Immigration personnel often don't understand their own requirements.

[kennw]

34 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Has anybody told Thai immigration that letter is not needed .....

 

" If a Thai government office requests one, your cancelled passport and your newly issued passport will suffice."

The American Embassy says so , will Thai Immigration play ball , if they don't  and still require a letter , and US

Embassy says  you don't need one , your going to have problems.......

 

regards worgeordie

Australia embassy also will not issue a letter the just put a stamp in your old passport and you have to write in the number of your new passport. IMO at CW accepted that but demanded I produce a bank certified statement of one years transactions.  

[Pib]

Immigration will stop "requiring" the letter for U.S. folks once they confirm/realize the U.S. Embassy stopped providing such letters.  Can't get blood from a turnip....even in LOS.

 

Expect the U.S. Embassy is signaling to Thai Immigration it's silly to require a letter saying the individual's new passport is indeed a new passport.  

[expat_4_life]

"Neanderthals", often times considered an appropriate way to describe the Immigration bureaucracy in Thailand ????

 

However, seemingly they've now been outdone by the absolute incompetence at the US State Department???? No form letter for you !

 

It's a race to the bottom, we are left to figure it all out SMDH

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Pib said:

Can't get blood from a turnip....even in LOS.

But that doesn't mean Immigration can't keep trying....

 

The Thai government does love its paperwork....

 

[CMBob]

Repeating notions posted above and also repeating a fair number of often-heard comments from US expats here in Chiangmai, it would be nice if the Consulate employees would actually earn their nice US government salaries and actually provide services that would actually be helpful to US expats.  Let's see, you quit doing passport renewals for the most part, quit doing residence certificates (which expats needed for obtaining a vehicle, etc.), you quit doing income affidavits (which made it more difficult for extensions based upon the 65k a month), and now you're even quitting providing the form letters to assist transfer of Thai stamps into a new passport.

And you're spending mega-taxpayer dollars to build a mega-building out next to Index mall.  Given we US expats pay US income taxes which help fund you're operations and palace-building here, how about actually asking the US expats what services they would prefer and, then (I'm not holding my breath), actually provide them.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 minutes ago, CMBob said:

Repeating notions posted above and also repeating a fair number of often-heard comments from US expats here in Chiangmai, it would be nice if the Consulate employees would actually earn their nice US government salaries and actually provide services that would actually be helpful to US expats.  Let's see, you quit doing passport renewals for the most part, quit doing residence certificates (which expats needed for obtaining a vehicle, etc.), you quit doing income affidavits (which made it more difficult for extensions based upon the 65k a month), and now you're even quitting providing the form letters to assist transfer of Thai stamps into a new passport.

And you're spending mega-taxpayer dollars to build a mega-building out next to Index mall.  Given we US expats pay US income taxes which help fund you're operations and palace-building here, how about actually asking the US expats what services they would prefer and, then (I'm not holding my breath), actually provide them.

 

When I was reading the link to US Embassy website page in the thread here, I noticed the advisory about Americans living in the north NOT being able to apply for passport renewals thru the CM Consulate, and instead having to send their request to Bangkok...

 

I mean really, how tough could it be for the CM Consulate to forward that kind of stuff onward.

 

"There are no appointments available to renew adult passports at U.S. Consulate General Chiang Mai. Customers who appear at U.S. Consulate General Chiang Mai requesting adult passport renewal (Form DS-82) will be required to mail their passport application to U.S. Embassy Bangkok."

 

 

[Lucky Bones]

6 minutes ago, kennw said:

Australia embassy also will not issue a letter the just put a stamp in your old passport and you have to write in the number of your new passport. IMO at CW accepted that but demanded I produce a bank certified statement of one years transactions.  

Similar problem this year @ Jomtien.

Passport was ok (15 months new) but my updated bankbook only had 11.5 months of transactions (meeting all requirements.)

Had to get old cancelled bank book & take photos of last 18 months transactions and the front page.

Haven't come across this one in 10 years.

It really does depend on the Immig Officer and the day.

Lordy knows what the IO does with all this paper.????????

 

[Lucky Bones]

22 minutes ago, Pib said:

Immigration will stop "requiring" the letter for U.S. folks once they confirm/realize the U.S. Embassy stopped providing such letters.  Can't get blood from a turnip....even in LOS.

 

Expect the U.S. Embassy is signaling to Thai Immigration it's silly to require a letter saying the individual's new passport is indeed a new passport.  

Next the IO will be asking if the GF is a new GF.

If so, need a letter from your wife.????????

[Pib]

Maybe the U.S. Embassy is following an approach used by the singer Prince who changed his entertainment name to "The Artist Formerly Known as  Prince."

 

If they do we may soon see the "American Citizen Services" section of the embassy changing their name to "The Section That Formerly Provided American Citizen Services."

[dick turpin]

Out of interest, anyone picked up a new Brit passport

at VFS in Bangkok lately and been told they no longer

need an embassy transfer letter.

[TigerandDog]

2 hours ago, Lucky Bones said:

Same issue with newly issued Aus passport last year at Jomtien IO.

Luckily I had been clever enuff to photograph the Embassy receipt.

That got me through.????????

actually the aussie embassy now only issues the letters for renewed passports that are sent in the mail. If you collect in person they put a stamp in the old passport confirming that it's a legit passport renewal. At least that's what I was advised by the aussie consulate in CM in February when I enquired, as my passport is due for renewal later this year.

[Skeptic7]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Maybe the U.S. Embassy is following an approach used by the singer Prince who changed his entertainment name to "The Artist Formerly Known as  Prince."

 

If they do we may soon see the "American Citizen Services" section of the embassy changing their name to "The Section That Formerly Provided American Citizen Services."

 Choice❗Great post. Sad but true. 

[Lucky Bones]

12 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

actually the aussie embassy now only issues the letters for renewed passports that are sent in the mail. If you collect in person they put a stamp in the new passport confirming that it's a legit passport renewal. At least that's what I was advised by the aussie consulate in CM when I enquired, as my passport is due for renewal later this year.

Fair enuff.

Yes for personal pick up.

Best to check with the Aus Embassy in Bkk for mail rather than consulate?

I rarely trust websites....usually outdated information.

It seems everyone has a slightly different story.????????

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, expat_4_life said:

"Neanderthals", often times considered an appropriate way to describe the Immigration bureaucracy in Thailand ????

Be that as it may, but it is their country, and if they ask for such things, even if silly, how can embassies refuse, thereby creating possibly huge problems for their overseas citizens?

[Jingthing]

13 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Be that as it may, but it is their country, and if they ask for such things, even if silly, how can embassies refuse, thereby creating possibly huge problems for their overseas citizens?

How?

Because they can.

Like when those #$@÷*&'s stopped income letters.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Speaking as an American, I REALLY don't know what we legitimately have to complain about here...

 

I mean, the other day, I checked the ACS BKK appointments website for notarial services and it only was a SIX WEEK wait for obtaining the first available appointment, which was going to be in late May... 

 

 

[TaoNow]

TGJ -- actually, what do you have to notarize? 

 

You've been here long enough not to need that kind of support from ACS/US Embassy.

 

As I noted in another thread, try to be as independent as you can as an ex-pat.  That is skillful.

 

Don't rely on a spouse, an agent, the consulate, the embassy, or any which way.

 

You will enjoy life more and have less need for forums like this.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Earlier this year, I needed to make a notarial services appointment at BKK ACS...  Waited an entire TWO WEEK period where they had absolutely NO available appointment slots listed any time -- no matter how far in advance -- on their website..... before one finally became available.

 

When I finally went there, I asked the consular assistant who I met about the scheduling issues. And he replied that they were short-staffed, and thus the paucity of available appointments. No word about whether that was going to be an ongoing thing, or something they were going to remedy at some point.

 

The fact that there was now a 6 week wait when I last checked the other day suggests the problem is getting worse... not better.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

29 minutes ago, TaoNow said:

TGJ -- actually, what do you have to notarize? 

You've obviously missed the boat... There's ONE and ONLY ONE way an American can legally get married to a Thai in Thailand, and that's to obtain a "freedom to marry" affidavit from the U.S. Embassy.

 

That's considered a "notarial service" in their domain. If you want to get legally married to a Thai in Thailand, absolutely no choice or alternative in the matter, and it requires making and obtaining an notarial services appointment with ACS.

 

 

[TaoNow]

I guess I did miss the boat, TGJ, as I registered the marriage to my Thai wife with ACS in 1979.

 

Sorry you are hard done by.

[John Drake]

51 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

When I finally went there, I asked the consular assistant who I met about the scheduling issues. And he replied that they were short-staffed, and thus the paucity of available appointments.

Seems they do have time to make Songkran videos.

[John Drake]

I'm going to hope this all gets settled by the time I need to renew my passport in 2029. But you never know. Absolutely not one thing has been made easier in dealing with the embassy since I got here 13 years ago.

[bronzedude]

Put me in agreement with all the posters than complain about the US embassy. They simply don't care about US citizens in Thailand. They're doing everything to do less work and complaints are going on deaf ears. Years ago, they used to do satellite visits around Thailand where you could get extra pages, letters of income, and other services during a 2 day visit. In Pattaya they used to use the Dusit Thani Hotel at the dolphin roundabout. Very good service. But times have change and their attitude about service has done a 180degree turn. It's embarrassing to be a US citizen and have this embassy as the protector of our interests.

[lungbing]

You've got a long way to go before you get down to the level of 'service' offered by the UK embassy.