switch non immigrant visa from old passport to new UK passport

[somchai jones]

Hi, my wife has just renewed her UK passport and received the new passport. What is the procedure / needed to transfer her Thai non immigrant visa from the old passport to her new one. Our local immigration office is the Petchaburi immigration office just outside Cha-am. I did this many years ago with my own passport but alas age seems to have clouded my memory! Any advice much appreciated.

[CharlieKo]

Just go to the immigration office with the old and new passport, and they will stamp the visa into the new passport.

[Crossy]

If she has an extension of stay rather than an actual visa (obtained outside Thailand) then just wander over to immigration, fill in a form and wait, should be a free service.

 

It's (usually) one of the more painless immigration processes.

[somchai jones]

Many thanks for the advice. Seems like it should be straightforward.

[bluemoon58]

11 hours ago, somchai jones said:

Many thanks for the advice. Seems like it should be straightforward.

Yes, both me and the missus have done ours in the last 12 months at Hua Hin. Completely painless.

 

[Lemsta69]

13 hours ago, CharlieKo said:

Just go to the immigration office with the old and new passport, and they will stamp the visa into the new passport.

 

Visas are not transferable and remain in the old passport. 

[bluemoon58]

4 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

 

Visas are not transferable and remain in the old passport. 

If you mean "extensions of stay" I beg to differ. They certainly do.

[Lemsta69]

Just now, bluemoon58 said:

If you mean "extensions of stay" I beg to differ. They certainly do.

 

No, I mean visas.

[bluemoon58]

1 minute ago, Lemsta69 said:

 

No, I mean visas.

Weird, so you have to constantly travel with your new passport and your expired one with the visas in it...???

[IvorBiggun2]

12 hours ago, somchai jones said:

Many thanks for the advice. Seems like it should be straightforward.

This is Thailand so don't count on it.  

[bigt3116]

12 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

Weird, so you have to constantly travel with your new passport and your expired one with the visas in it...???

 

Yes, exactly that

[Lemsta69]

4 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

Weird, so you have to constantly travel with your new passport and your expired one with the visas in it...???

 

If the visa is still valid then yes, you do have to carry both passports.

 

If the visa has been used then Immigration put a stamp in the new passport and hand-write in the details of the original visa.

 

[bluemoon58]

11 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

 

If the visa is still valid then yes, you do have to carry both passports.

 

If the visa has been used then Immigration put a stamp in the new passport and hand-write in the details of the original visa.

 

Well, every day is a school day. That's certainly not the case with Non O annual extension of stay though. They just change it over for you.

 

[Xin Loi]

it is imperative that you hang on to the old passport and keep it safe. When you transfer the visa from one book to another, the new passport will only have a stamp, not a visa. Somewhere along the way after, the IO will ask for a copy of that visa from the old passport. UD IO pulled that trick this year on me when I renewed my visa extension this year.

If you lose the original visa depending on your renewal schedule, you may be taking a trip to Laos and their Embassy there to get a NEW VISA.

[Lemsta69]

9 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

Well, every day is a school day. That's certainly not the case with Non O annual extension of stay though. They just change it over for you.

 

 

Well I only know because there have been quite a few threads on the subject in the last few months.

 

BritTim, Tod Daniels and our newest mod, DrJack54, have previously provided detailed info about the process.

 

Google "aseannow.com transfer visa to new passport" for more details if you're interested.

[Andycoops]

When I collected my new UK passport from VFS in Bangkok I asked for and was given a letter from them verifying it was my new passport.

As I had read that some immigration offices required this and I presented it at the time I had the extension stamps transferred into my new passport.

This was in January 2023.

[proton]

1 hour ago, bluemoon58 said:

Weird, so you have to constantly travel with your new passport and your expired one with the visas in it...???

 

No you don't, all they need to see is an extension based on the original visa, not the visa itself. Never been asked to show the original visa in 20 years, except for photocopies at immigration when renewing an extension of stay

[bluemoon58]

12 minutes ago, proton said:

 

No you don't, all they need to see is an extension based on the original visa, not the visa itself. Never been asked to show the original visa in 20 years, except for photocopies at immigration when renewing an extension of stay

Exactly. I've been here 11 years and some of my friends longer and I've never heard of any of them having to carry an expired passport. That's just ludicrous!

 

[Soondae]

1 hour ago, bigt3116 said:

 

Yes, exactly that

No that is not true, once the extension of stay is transferred to  new passport you need only use / carry the new passport for travel. I just returned from a trip abroad with no issue whatsoever (multi entry extension).

[bigt3116]

6 minutes ago, Soondae said:

No that is not true, once the extension of stay is transferred to  new passport you need only use / carry the new passport for travel. I just returned from a trip abroad with no issue whatsoever (multi entry extension).

 

Jeez, learn the difference between a VISA and an EXTENSION !!!!

[bigt3116]

16 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

Exactly. I've been here 11 years and some of my friends longer and I've never heard of any of them having to carry an expired passport. That's just ludicrous!

 

But that is what you do if you have a valid VISA in your old passport

[bigt3116]

27 minutes ago, proton said:

 

No you don't, all they need to see is an extension based on the original visa, not the visa itself. Never been asked to show the original visa in 20 years, except for photocopies at immigration when renewing an extension of stay

 

Not if you have a VALID VISA in the old passport, then you have to show both

[IvorBiggun2]

23 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

Not if you have a VALID VISA in the old passport, then you have to show both

Surely if the old passport has had the corner cut off by the embassy then that makes all entries in the passport invalid? And it ain't worth a salt. The only thing that's worth a salt is your new passport. IMO

[bigt3116]

27 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Surely if the old passport has had the corner cut off by the embassy then that makes all entries in the passport invalid? And it ain't worth a salt. The only thing that's worth a salt is your new passport. IMO

 

Well sorry to break it to you, but your "IMO" does not change the rules.

 

PS true the passport is invalid for travel, but the VALID VISA is just that STILL VALID

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, Andycoops said:

When I collected my new UK passport from VFS in Bangkok I asked for and was given a letter from them verifying it was my new passport.

As I had read that some immigration offices required this and I presented it at the time I had the extension stamps transferred into my new passport.

This was in January 2023.

The letter is no longer issued and is no longer required.

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

40 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Surely if the old passport has had the corner cut off by the embassy then that makes all entries in the passport invalid? And it ain't worth a salt. The only thing that's worth a salt is your new passport. IMO

 

Not if your visa is still valid; however, in practice most visas have a limited period of validity. Once the visa is no longer valid, you don't need to carry the old passport.  .Not to be confused with Extension of Stay stamps (not visas) which can and need to be transferred by Immigration to the new passport.

[bigt3116]

7 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The letter is no longer issued and is no longer required

 

Though you can print one off if you wish too

 

 

Information_Note_Visa_transfer_to_new_passport.pdf

[SunsetT]

They tried to charge me 500thb at Udon Thani for this. I didnt argue but asked for a receipt. 500thb handed back: "No problem for you".