Renewal of USA passport by mail in Thailand (current details of the process once begun)

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

I think my renewal application is going to take awhile:

 

1. Thai Post confirms the application pacakge was recieved at the US Embassy BKK on May 28.

2.  State Department confrims they recieved the pacakge on June 10 and they have started to review the documents.

3.  State estimates another 4 to 8 weeks to complete the renewal application.  

 

I guess I will see my passport sometime in July? 

 

 

Probably first week of July or last days of June.

[sqwakvfr]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Probably first week of July or last days of June.

I hope so.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

I hope so.

State inflates the estimates to cover their butts.

Unless there is an issue with your application, you can probably bank on early July.

[Dante99]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:46 PM, 1FinickyOne said:

As someone who dislikes both pain and paperwork, I assigned the task to my visa agent, who called me when it was completed...  and I went to his office and picked it up

How much was the fee for the agent?

[EVENKEEL]

On 5/16/2025 at 5:14 PM, HappyExpat57 said:

I've only had to renew mine once from Thailand. I used this outfit:

 

https://thaivisa-express.com/

 

They caught a mistake made by the idiots at the photo shop - I had told them I needed US-sized photos, they gave me UK, and to the untrained eye they look very similar. That alone saved my months of wondering where in the world (literally) my passport was. They appear to do UK passports according to their website but they do US as well, maybe other countries. And the gals at the desk are very easy on the eyes. WELL worth the price.

They replied back to me cost is 10,000 Baht. I'm considering that option.

[HappyExpat57]

15 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

They replied back to me cost is 10,000 Baht. I'm considering that option.

I tried doing it myself, then thought I'd give them a shot. They noticed a mistake right away (wrong sized photo) which in itself made the cost worth it. I would have sent the package off, and it would have been sent back - who knows HOW long THAT would have taken - and I'd have to start all over again.

 

Add to that the girls at the front are very easy on the eyes and it's just off Soi Buakhao, to me it was a win win win.

[1FinickyOne]

11 hours ago, Dante99 said:

How much was the fee for the agent?

good question but sorry, I don't remember. For me, it was nominal and well worth the money. 

[jerrymahoney]

I got this a week or so after mailing the package to Bangkok consulate DEC2023:

 

[Jingthing]

I can conclude the report of my own passport renewal by mail saga.

Short version -- it wasn't fun. 

 

Total time from sending from Jomtien and back to me -- 35 days

If not including in Thailand transport -- 31 days

 

This is in line with many reports this year. Some dramatically shorter but the majority seems to be about a month. Which is quite good!

 

Also consider higher and lower travel seasons and possibly state department staff cuts which as far as renewals from abroad does NOT seem to have been a problem.

 

Some picks and nits.

 

I think the weakest link in this process is the Thai Post thing.

 

First of all I had trouble actually paying for it online.

 

Secondly I found their web interface which I could get in English quite confusing especially when I started looking at after I knew my new passport was in Bangkok.

 

I knew I had paid for it and sent the confirmation but I wasn't 100 percent sure that the embassy actually had it. Yes I could have contacted them and asked but I hoped if it was missing they would contact me.

 

Well it wasn't missing.

 

Then there's the TRACKING.

 

The Bangkok embassy instructions clearly says that Thai Post will email you the tracking number once it's in their system (to get sent to you).

 

That is not true. There is no such email with tracking number. There is the initial email with payment confirmation and order number. The order number is NOT the tracking number.

 

So when state informs you that they have sent the new passport to the embassy you're then in limbo. You have no idea when it will get there and actually get sent so you can start to track it with the tracking number that is on the Thai Post website by this time (no email).

 

It won't see anything with that tracking number until the package gets entered in their system when Thai Post picks it up at the embassy.

 

BTW -- the embassy does not email to tell you when they sent it. I guess they still believe that Thai Post sends an email, which they don't.

 

So then how to track it.

 

Well after a number of days have gone by you can start checking the tracking number on the Thai Post website showing your order.

 

It will show nothing UNTIL the time that it gets picked up at the embassy.

 

But wait, there's more.

 

Often even after the package is finally in the system, it STILL shows nothing when tracking. You need to track it again and then it will show up if it's there. You may even need to restart your device.

 

So the package is finally coming. You can see that by tracking.

 

In my case contrary to another report Thai Post actually called me to announce it's arrival. I was definitely waiting.

 

Is there more, you ask?  Some kind of issue with the new passport? Yes, unfortunately there is. At a later time I will start a new topic about that. I'm passported out at this time!