Transfer visa to UK Passport in London - Timeframe?

[Batty]

Hi there. Can anyone tell me the turnaround time for transferring a non immigrant O visa into a renewed British passport at the Thai embassy in London? 

 

I will have my new passport, and my old expired passport with visa ready to present. 

 

Is same day possible? Also, do we still need to provide a letter from the British embassy? 

 

Apparently I also need to provide a certificate of residence for Thailand? Will I get away with simply showing my pink ID card?

 

I need to apply for a renewal at British passport office in London, and then dash over to the Thai embassy - hopefully in under 24 hours, is that too ambitious?

 

Thanks!

Edited October 16 by Batty

[Upnotover]

You certainly don't do it in London.  What do you actually have, a valid visa or an extension of stay?  Either way get your new passport and present both old and new at immigration when you return.  Anything to be transferred is done at your local immigration office.

[Batty]

Thanks for that. I'm pleasantly surprised - you mean I don't have to visit the Thai Embassy in London at all? 

 

Just for clarity - I am obviously going to be in London anyway, on route to another country for a few weeks. While I am there my passports expiration date will cross over the 6 month line, so I need to get a new passport (same day premium service). 

 

Just saying that in case it sounds like I am going to London just to transfer my Thai visa lol. 

 

So I simply travel back to Thailand with my new and old passport, and immigration will transfer the old visa into the new at the airport? I googled that and was under the impression you couldn't do that? 

[Upnotover]

No need to go to the Embassy.  They won't do anything there.

 

They won't transfer your visa at the airport on arrival but they will stamp you in with reference to your old passport.  If it is as you say a "visa" then you don't really need to do anything more.  If by some chance it is actually an extension of stay you can go to your local office and transfer it, but presumably whatever it is will need to be renewed soon anyway as it will expire the same time as your old passport.

[Batty]

By the way, I have a non immigrant O visa that does not expire untill next May. 

[Upnotover]

2 minutes ago, Batty said:

By the way, I have a non immigrant O visa that does not expire untill next May. 

Thai family visit visa presumably?  Then you'll get a 90 day entry when you come back and have to do an extension (60 days to visit wife?) or border bounce after that.  Probably no need to go to immigration until then.

[DrJack54]

15 minutes ago, Batty said:

By the way, I have a non immigrant O visa that does not expire untill next May. 

Just to clarify a non O visa that expires next May? 

Do you have an extension with reentry permit? 

If you had a Multi Entry non O visa, then I can understand the May expiry as that visa is valid for 12 months 

[Sheryl]

7 minutes ago, Batty said:

By the way, I have a non immigrant O visa that does not expire untill next May. 

If it is a single entry  O (as oppilosed to O-A) visa it doesn't expire  in May, it already expired when you first used it. More likely what you have is an extension of stay through next May.  Make sure you have a re-entry permit before leaving the country or it will be invalidated.

 

When you return give both passports to airport immigration. Assuming you gave a re-entry permit, they will stamp you in with permission to stay through May. 

 

You then go to your local immigration office to get the re-entry permit, extension of stay and reference to original visa copied into the new passport. They nay require that you (or your landlord) file a TM30 first.

[Batty]

Thanks for sticking with this - sorry if I am not being completely clear.

I am British, but I live in Thailand. I got a non immigrant visa (now expired) in 2018. Every year since then I have extended it at my local immigration office in Udon. I always thought it was classed as a non immigrant O, but just looking at it now, I may be wrong. Im not entirely sure what it is, and I appreciate that makes me sound even more clueless than I already sound lol.

Each year the wife and I visit the local immigration in Udon and get a 12 month extension.

I know i am inviting a bunch of scorn here lol but i genuinely don't know what type of visa that is. I always refer to it as a marriage visa, but i am unsure what the official term is.

Either way, you are saying I can simply turn up at Swampy, present both passports, and I am good to go - then i just visit local immigration in Udon, and they transfer over?

[Upnotover]

Finally!  You don't have a visa.  You have an extension of stay.  But nevertheless all the advice given is valid.  Entry with both passports then transfer at immigration.

 

And by the way no, you don't need any embassy letter. 

[Upnotover]

......and as mentioned above make sure you do have a re-entry permit!

[Batty]

Im so sorry for being unlear with this. To be honest, my wife organizes everything each year, and I am hazy about what it is i actually have.

It is definitely a non-immigrant 'O' visa with a 'USED' stamp on it. Each year, I visit the local immigration in Udon for an extension of stay based on that expired non-O visa. 

 

[Batty]

5 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Finally!  You don't have a visa.  You have an extension of stay.  But nevertheless all the advice given is valid.  Entry with both passports then transfer at immigration.

 

And by the way no, you don't need any embassy letter. 

Thats smashing, thanks for sticking with it, ha! I genuinely didn't know that - so its technically not a visa I have. Its an extension. Christ, how on earth did I not know that?

That makes everything so much easier though. The thought of spending an extra few days in London while i faff around at the Thai embassy. The sooner I get out of there, the better.

Really appreciate the advice, thanks so much.

[Batty]

5 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

......and as mentioned above make sure you do have a re-entry permit!

Yup, will do. Thanks!

[Upnotover]

1 minute ago, Batty said:

Im so sorry for being unlear with this. To be honest, my wife organizes everything each year, and I am hazy about what it is i actually have.

It is definitely a non-immigrant 'O' visa with a 'USED' stamp on it. Each year, I visit the local immigration in Udon for an extension of stay based on that expired non-O visa. 

 

Then make her check if you already have a re-entry permit as without one you'll be coming back starting from scratch.  You can get is at you immigration office or at the airport on departure - I'd be inclined to go along beforehand if I were you.

[Batty]

13 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

If it is a single entry  O (as oppilosed to O-A) visa it doesn't expire  in May, it already expired when you first used it. More likely what you have is an extension of stay through next May.  Make sure you have a re-entry permit before leaving the country or it will be invalidated.

 

When you return give both passports to airport immigration. Assuming you gave a re-entry permit, they will stamp you in with permission to stay through May. 

 

You then go to your local immigration office to get the re-entry permit, extension of stay and reference to original visa copied into the new passport. They nay require that you (or your landlord) file a TM30 first.

 

Thanks Sheryll... I got there eventually 🙂

Ill make sure to get get a re-entry before I go. Thanks!

[Batty]

15 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Just to clarify a non O visa that expires next May? 

Do you have an extension with reentry permit? 

If you had a Multi Entry non O visa, then I can understand the May expiry as that visa is valid for 12 months 

Yah, i was all over the place in the way I explained it. Its an extension of stay I have, not a visa. Someone else has explained it all. Cheers though :)

[Batty]

2 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Then make her check if you already have a re-entry permit as without one you'll be coming back starting from scratch.  You can get is at you immigration office or at the airport on departure - I'd be inclined to go along beforehand if I were you.

Yah ill definitley go and get it locally before I fly, just to be safe. Thanks again for your help mate, appreciate it.

[phetphet]

Travel with both old and new passports, and do it at Immigration Office here in Thailand.

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, Batty said:

Yah ill definitley go and get it locally before I fly, just to be safe. Thanks again for your help mate, appreciate it.

You can obtain reentry permit (multi or single) at airport on day of departure. 

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Batty said:

Thats smashing, thanks for sticking with it, ha! I genuinely didn't know that - so its technically not a visa I have. Its an extension. Christ, how on earth did I not know that?

That makes everything so much easier though. The thought of spending an extra few days in London while i faff around at the Thai embassy. The sooner I get out of there, the better.

Really appreciate the advice, thanks so much.

If your only reason for going is to get a new passport, you should be able to do that ftom Thailand.