Passport expired and retirement extension?

[WorriedNoodle]

I’ve heard of visa agents but do these same visa agents also arrange new passports as well? I have never tried as I do it all myself, but I came across an elderly American guy struggling with his health but still on his feet just, who has always used a retirement extension agent and now with his pp expiring waiting for the same agent to renew the pp as well as he finds the whole process too confusing to do it himself? I'm not familiar with the process as I am not from the US.

It seems the agent still holds his pp with a promise to renew it but it has now come to a time when the pp has expired and thus the extension of stay, as the agent was too busy, didn’t know what to do or something?

Can agents resolve this overstay issue, money is apparently not a problem, or is it too late for this guy to remain in Thailand who to me seems to be sleep walking into a blacklisting? He is still waiting several weeks more for a new pp by all accounts, as it takes that long, and finds the whole process too overwhelming?

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

Can agents resolve this overstay issue, money is apparently not a problem, or is it too late for this guy to remain in Thailand who to me seems to be sleep walking into a blacklisting? He is still waiting several weeks more for a new pp by all accounts, as it takes that long, and finds the whole process too overwhelming?

Good agents can do the process of passport renewal.

Seems your friend has a useless agent. 

What area is your friend located.

Was the agent a business with physical presence, meaning office.

Agents (in the main) do not/cannot help with overstay. 

Does the agent actually have the license..

USA pp renewal should have taken under 3 weeks.

I did my Oz pp renewal recently and it took 20 days from mail to Bangkok to received return mail. 

[WorriedNoodle]

The agent is apparently well established in a building shop house near Nana BTS somewhere. So perhaps this guys only hope is to get a new pp before 90 days overstay to avoid a blacklisting but needs to fly out/in. That's my take. I would never go near an agent or lose sight of my pp. But old age gets some of us I suppose.

[DrJack54]

19 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

The agent is apparently well established in a building shop house near Nana BTS somewhere.

Did not expect that reply.

Thinking his first step is to find out where the pp is currently.

If it's lost fine....contact agent to confirm situation with location of pp.

Ascertain that for next steps. 

 

[bamnutsak]

48 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

He is still waiting several weeks more for a new pp by all accounts

 

"by all accounts"?

 

What is the status of his passport renewal?

 

Did he get photos? Complete a DS-82? Pay $130 USD on pay.gov? Purchase a Thai Post 100 THB service, mail in his package with 'old' passport?

 

If so, when did the package get mailed?

 

Recent reports are 35 - 45 days end-to-end service times.

 

 

 

[WorriedNoodle]

20 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

Did he get photos? Complete a DS-82? Pay $130 USD on pay.gov? Purchase a Thai Post 100 THB service, mail in his package with 'old' passport?

 

If so, when did the package get mailed?

 

Recent reports are 35 - 45 days end-to-end service times.

The account was all from him, and I think he expects the agent to do all the above for him as he struggles with the web sites/process himself. Your 35-45 days seems to tally with what he said the wait time was so he'll be getting close to the 90 day overstay mark by then and risk of blacklisting is my guess if the agent or he himself does not gets a new pp within that time frame.

Edited October 20 by WorriedNoodle

[zzzzz]

If his passport is expired he is on overstay

Did my US passport renewal last Dec  , Its all done online an not difficult to do ( unlike the UK one) 
took 41 days from the day i sent it in, till i got it back
if it has been submitted there is a link to check status

https://passportstatus.state.gov/

I have seen agents advertising to arrange the passport for around 20,000 baht

a total waste of money in my eyes

once he gets new one back, buy a ticket out of thailand, pay the overstay  and return on a visa exempt and start the non o over.  WITH a Different agent!!!

Edited October 20 by zzzzz

[rwilem]

15 hours ago, WorriedNoodle said:

It seems the agent still holds his pp with a promise to renew it but it has now come to a time when the pp has expired and thus the extension of stay, as the agent was too busy, didn’t know what to do or something?

This is what you really need to get clarity on.

 

As noted in one of the replies, there are a number of steps to renewing a U.S. passport, and if your friend hasn't specifically said he's filled out those forms, have photos made, paid, etc., I'd be concerned. Even if an agent undertakes handling the process, the applicant has to be involved at points, at the start for sure.

 

Bottom line, find out for a fact if the renewal has or has not been initiated. If not, your friend should take possession of his passport ASAP and do the renewal process himself.  Yes, he might need some help, as you describe he's older, and while not overly complicated, there are a lot of steps to complete and it could be challenging for some older applicants. I renewed my passport a few months ago, and it went pretty smooth. 

 

The embassy would like everything done by mail and online payments for the renewal and the post return service. (Thai Post is what I used.) 

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/instructions-for-ds-82-processing-by-mail-and-online-fee-payment-for-u-s-citizens-residing-in-thailand/

 

Embassy info, phone number is there.

https://th.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulate/

 

 

Edited October 20 by rwilem