Full Passport Replacement ...

[asiaworld]

Just replaced my full passport.. First dissapointment was to see it has 32 pages (used to be 48), than the sh*t hit the fan with the trip to friendly immi.. . They are genuinely nice guys, but what it took to transfer the residency was appaling ..

First they do waste the whole page with history of previous visa.extention..Than the second page goes for the permission to stay until ... than the THIRD one goes whoof with the re-entry permit + some extra signatures... All in all damage is 3 !! pages..

The reason i'm sad is because i usually go throu one full passport in less than a year a lot of SEAsian countries are trigger happy with stamps/visas..(and that was 48pages)..Now i beleive a lot of europeans have introduced same 32 pages standard,with NO extra pages option, so how do business travellers do it ?!? Change passports every few months?!? Now it's all more insulting, because Thailand is unique in this aspect.. HK,Macau,S'pore,UAE & to some extend Malaysia never even stamp residents passports( like EU)& surely nowhere in the world it takes 3 pages for simple "stamp transfer" Amazing ........

[torrenova]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

[astral]

The UK does still issue 48 page passports.

I don't know about the rest of the EU.

Yes three pages is about par for the course,

especially as you wanted a re-entry permit.

In Malaysia an extension takes a whole page as it is a sticker.

[asiaworld]

Well one page is fair , but 3 !! Anyways the only countries, that i know add extra pages, are US & Thailand(well they ahve to, cos they stamp their own citisens in & out .. I'm not from Uk, but seems like this 32 pages thingy becomes weapon of choice in many countries.. Ah Sillypore is best for it gives 64 pages passport as standard , well they have to, because of Malaysians, which find pleasure in mutilating half page with just an entry/exit stamps ..

[ProThaiExpat]

What about entry stamps put just about anywhere the entry immigration officer chooses to stamp, middle of the page of instance, disregard for squares, etc.

Australia was one that was the most careless on repeated visits. Look for a blank page and then bang.

[astral]

I have complained about that practice in Australia.

[naka]

What about entry stamps put just about anywhere the entry immigration officer chooses to stamp, middle of the page of instance, disregard for squares, etc.

Australia was one that was the most careless on repeated visits. Look for a blank page and then bang.

And the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok put a visa on the second last page of my one year old passport

What dipstick's.

Naka.

[Gimbo]

You should try Eritrea. One page for the visa, one for the entry stamp, one for the exit stamp and in addition wrote down every item of electronics in the pass port. HAd to show them on exit, also declare how much money I brought into the country, and show reciets on every dollar spent. I lacked a 1 dollar receipt, and the same dollar was missing. So the friend who drove me to the airport had to lend me a dollar so they would let me out of the country.

[luumak]

If you are US citizen you must ask independantly for 48. There is no where on the form in last last pp's applied for that has box or question. I always include a note in big letters 48 PAGES PLEASE

[asiaworld]

Just a quick update on the stamping part., Residency for Cambodia was extremely civilised:) .. Entry stamp(unlimited stay,not like thai piss out by next year!), next day got 1year extention 1 visa stamp,including valid until,multiple reentry, remark on previous assport all the same thais needed to screw 3 pages on ONE beautiful sticker . Civilization !!

[tropo]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

Offering the option of a 32 or a 48 page passport is a sound business practice. Australia do this and charge about 3000 baht extra for 48 pages. Some people don't require a lot of pages, so why waste the paper and production costs?

They also don't give extra pages which forces the passport holder to pay for a new one...another good business practice.

New Zealand give 48 pages as standard, but they only give a 5-year passport whereas Australia gives 10 years.

Each to their own.

[Rumpole]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

I think they can add pages to the new biometric UK passports.

[LivinginKata]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

I think they can add pages to the new biometric UK passports.

??? I doubt it

[Manchester]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

I think they can add pages to the new biometric UK passports.

No. Not allowed

[jbaldwin]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

I think they can add pages to the new biometric UK passports.

No. Not allowed

The UK's position has always been that adding pages allows an unacceptable risk of fraud. It is too easy to remove added pages or move them into another passport. I do not think that this view will change.

[keemapoot]

As far as I know the US allows almost unlimted page adds. My passport is as thick as a brick, from at least 3-4 additions. And, you're right, many countries are abusive with taking up entire pages for visas, including Thailand, Indonesia, India, China, Vietnam, etc.. I think they must all buy the visa printing machines from the same vendor or something. Each country is a waste of two pages. If you travel a lot and can't get page additions, it must be tough.

[A_Traveller]

Once the move was made to the EU 'standard', the Burgundy paperback, as opposed to the hardcover blue & gold, tipping in was no longer permitted. I seem to recall there was a limit though. One of the arguments made was that as cross-border within the EU would increasingly become stamp free, the passport size could be reduced {Nothing to do with revenue, naturally} to the, now maximum, 48 pages, {less 5 for texts and 2 for ID}. Therefore I'm left with 38 clear pages!

Have to agree that I don't see why 3 pages are needed to 'not' transfer a visa.

Regards

PS I had a blue & gold leather cover made for mine, years ago, at least it stops the gilt shedding off in a few months.

Edited November 18, 2007 by A_Traveller

[astral]

And the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok put a visa on the second last page of my one year old passport

Arab countries always work from the back of the passport............

Yes, I do know China is not Arabic, just adding to the fount of knowledge.

[cooL_guY_corY]

i had a near full passport 1 page left and then 1 spot left on an almost full page.. traveling thru US to get back to canada... i wanted him to stamp the small entry stamp on the near full page, I asked him " hey can you stamp this page cause its almost full and i .. " and he interrupted with "THIS PAGE? hahahah sure !" and smashed it down on the fresh page and laughed at my face and threw my passport at me.. ugh i still remember choking back the bile i almost spit in his face. Oh well ! Now i dont travel through America anymore

[Thefinn]

Hi,

The Aussies have a "business travellers" option for a passport and it has 64 useable pages for visa stamps.

71 pages total inside the covers, never seen a 48 page Aussie one.

Harry the Finn

[monty]

As Belgian nationals we still can get 64 page business passports.

However the Belgian government must be of the notion that traveling business persons must be quite wealthy looking at the price they charge for the extra 32 pages.

A regular passport is 71 Euro's (79 if in an embassy), while the 64 page version is 240 Euro's! That's almost 12,000 Thai Baht for a bloody passport, a whopping 338 % increase over the normal one for the privilege of not having to visit the embassy as quick...

[Rumpole]

The UK has a 48 page option and I know the USA guys can get pages added (UK cannot). I find the more backward a country the more paperwork they need to get anything done.

I think they can add pages to the new biometric UK passports.

No. Not allowed

I have been informed by the British Embassy in Phnom Penh that they can.