Passport And Visa Question

[cneuy3]

I'm a US citizen living in Thailand. I will be heading back to the US on November 18th of this year and staying until after the New Year returning back to Thailand the first week of January.

While in the US I would like to try and get a One year Non Immigrant B Visa from the Thai Embassy/Consulate in New York. I would also possibly like to get a new US passport. My current one does not expire until 2016 but it is loaded with tourist Visas and was accidentally sent through the wash one time. Rather than adding more pages I thought I would try and just get a new one.

My questions are:

What is the most efficient way to get a new Passport along with a Non Immigrant B Visa from the states? Will the one and a half month I spend in the states be enough time to get both a new passport and Visa? Do I have to be present in New York to obtain the Non Immigrant B? Anything I can do from here in Thailand to get the ball rolling?

Thanks in advance.

~cneuy3

[lopburi3]

You need the paperwork to qualify for such a visa but do not have time to obtain a passport here. Am not sure how much times it takes in US - you may have to pay for an expedited service. You should be able to obtain visa by mail at many Consulates but not sure about New York.

[whatchamacallit]

If you're going to be in the state for 1.5 month - you should have enough time to get the new passport.

Go to this US Govt website and print the application form - and you can overnite it and ask for Expedited Service (extra money) - processing time between 2 to 3 weeks. So you must get on this as soon as you arrive.

Here is the site: http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds82/ds82_843.html

good luck.

[thaitero]

Go to this US Govt website and print the application form - and you can overnite it and ask for Expedited Service (extra money) - processing time between 2 to 3 weeks.

Really takes so long time to get a new passport in Usa

In my country (Finland) normal processing time is one week, fast 2-3 days, express 1 day

[whatchamacallit]

Go to this US Govt website and print the application form - and you can overnite it and ask for Expedited Service (extra money) - processing time between 2 to 3 weeks.

Really takes so long time to get a new passport in Usa

In my country (Finland) normal processing time is one week, fast 2-3 days, express 1 day

hmmm let me see... maybe it's because there are 304 million of us in comparison to 5.3 milllion of you?

Edited November 12, 2009 by whatchamacallit

[cneuy3]

I am now back in the US. My current situation has me sitting on a valid US passport with 1 and 1/2 empty pages left in it. Rather than apply for a new US passport I am probably going to submit the valid form for extra Visa pages paying the fees to have the process expedited.

A couple questions.........

1) My passport has multiple Tourist Visas issued in it from overseas(Thailand). It has 5 Tourist Visas within a 2 year period along with some 30 day stamps. Basically to sum it up I have been living in Thailand on Tourist Visas and a combination of 30 day stamps for close to 3 years. I'm now back in the US looking to return and live in Thailand again within 2 months.

I'm asking for your opinions on whether I should apply for a Non Immigrant B Visa from the US or should I apply for a Tourist Visa.(Which gives me the greatest chance of success considering the above)

If I choose to apply for a Tourist Visa, which I do not mind, what are my chances of obtaining a single entry/double entry/triple entry from a Thai Embassy/Consulate in the US?

If I would choose to apply for a Non immigrant B Visa, which I have never done before, what are my chances of obtaining the Non Imm B with the proper paperwork?

I guess to sum it up I have no problems applying for additional Tourist Visas as I have done this before. I realize the all cases are different but I just want to go for the option that allows me the greatest chance of getting returned a successful Visa to Thailand.

Thanks.

[Mario2008]

I you have al the relevant paperwork a multiple non-B would be best, as it would give you almost 15 months of stay in Thailand with leaving the country every 90 days. At least within Asia they are getting stricter with giving back to back tourist visas at soem consulates.

The best place to get is always a honorary consulate, as they tend to be the least strict.

[lopburi3]

You can have pages inserted in Bangkok at no charge while you wait. Just make an appointment online and go to the ACSU at the Consulate/old Embassy building.

[languageexpress]

Go to this US Govt website and print the application form - and you can overnite it and ask for Expedited Service (extra money) - processing time between 2 to 3 weeks.

Really takes so long time to get a new passport in Usa

In my country (Finland) normal processing time is one week, fast 2-3 days, express 1 day

hmmm let me see... maybe it's because there are 304 million of us in comparison to 5.3 milllion of you?

Fair point. Still, the US authorities should employ more people to cope with the extra demand. They’ve got a bigger population, but they’ve also got a bigger tax/resources base to work with. US citizens cop a raw deal on these sorts of issues- there’s no real reason why Americans should wait longer or jump through more hoops than other countries for basic government services.

My brother married an Oregon girl and the bureaucratic hoops they had to jump through when they moved there to live were numerous, petty and pointless. (E.g. list every address you have EVER lived at for more than 6 months……although it’s kind of touching the paper pushers believe evil doers are too honest/stupid to omit the time they spent drug running, terrorist training, death squad organizing from their bio’s).