Changing A Thai Passport

[DWALDO]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this in the forum but can anyone tell me the best way to change my wife's one year old passport from her Thai name to her married name. We will be back in Thailand in April bearing in mind her settlement Visa is in her current passport and I've booked air tickets in her passport name.

Thanks

Dave

[pointofview]

Hi, when she changes to her married name they will simply endorse the passport - in othere words the main page of her passport will still have her maiden name and the endorsment will state the change. If you are in the UK then the only place to do this is the embassy in London, however they have to send passport back to Bangkok - takes about a month.

Since you have bought tickets in her passport name then you will have to wait till you return to thailand. This will actually work to your advantage - assuming your in the Uk - as you wont have to change the settlement visa to a new passport. Which is now a right pain in the butt - it used to be free and simple but from Dec 2007 a new application must be made to do the transfer, it is a simple process but costs approx £300.

As an after thought: things could be tricky when you leave thailand as her passport - if changed - would be officialy endorsed to her married name. I would wait till you return to your country and go through the embassy.

Edited December 5, 2007 by pointofview

[Mahout Angrit]

As her passport is only a year old it will be the biometric passport, AFAIK Biometric passports cannot be endorsed with a name change as they would no longer be able to be machine read correctly. Your wife will have to get a new one.

To apply for a new passport she will need to submit her ID card showing the name required in the passport so while in Thailand she should definitely get her ID card changed to the new name. You could then return to UK with the current passport matching the names on the tickets and apply for a new passport in London. Unfortunately for you (as I believe you live on an island!) she must attend in person at the Thai Embassy to apply but the passport can be sent to her by post.( it takes about 6 weeks).

Other than that she will have to apply for the new passport (again in person) at a passport office in Thailand. When she returns she will have to show old and new passports and her marriage certificate at check in and immigration and again on arrival in UK.

[DWALDO]

Thanks,

I do live in Guernsey so coming to London is a bit of a pain but I do plan to take my wife there later in the year so that will probably be our best bet. We are going up to Ubon to spend some time with her family so she can change her ID card then. I'm a bit worried about doing it in Thailand because if her passport didn't come back in time or they messed it up it would put us in a real mess.

Thanks again,

Dave

[Mahout Angrit]

I do live in Guernsey so coming to London is a bit of a pain but I do plan to take my wife there later in the year so that will probably be our best bet. We are going up to Ubon to spend some time with her family so she can change her ID card then. I'm a bit worried about doing it in Thailand because if her passport didn't come back in time or they messed it up it would put us in a real mess.

There is a passport office in Ubon Ratchathani. A new passport takes about 3 days to process. If she applies in UK it is by appointment.

[DWALDO]

I do live in Guernsey so coming to London is a bit of a pain but I do plan to take my wife there later in the year so that will probably be our best bet. We are going up to Ubon to spend some time with her family so she can change her ID card then. I'm a bit worried about doing it in Thailand because if her passport didn't come back in time or they messed it up it would put us in a real mess.

There is a passport office in Ubon Ratchathani. A new passport takes about 3 days to process. If she applies in UK it is by appointment.

Thanks Mahout,

If she changes her passport in Ubon how would that affect her British settlement visa would that automatically be transfered to her new passport? She would have to change her ID card first do you know how long that would take?

Would she get her old passport back because that is the name I have booked her flight using

[Mahout Angrit]

If she changes her passport in Ubon how would that affect her British settlement visa would that automatically be transfered to her new passport? She would have to change her ID card first do you know how long that would take?

Would she get her old passport back because that is the name I have booked her flight using

If she gets a new passport, the old passport will be marked cancelled and returned to her. Any visa, including settlement visa or LTR that is valid remains valid even though the passport is no longer. When required she just presents both old and new passports and her marriage certificate to prove the link (although the new passport will probably reference the old passport used as well)

She can have the visa transferred to the new passport at a cost of, I think, £140 but it really is not necessary. When she later applies for ILR or FLR that will be put in her new passport anyway.

Changing an ID card should only take a couple of hours but may depend on the Amphur and how busy they are.