Need Help: Applying For New German Passport From Bangkok

[ZTscherman]

Hi everyone,

I have quite the epic visa & passport situation :S....

I need a new German passport, as my current passport has only got 12 months validity left (expires 3rd May 2011) and that wont be enough to get a Non-Immigrant Visa.

I am currently living in Bangkok (since 2 years) and have been working here under a work permit, but I quit my job and my visa expires this Monday (3rd May 2010), so I will go get a 60 day tourist visa from Singapore next week.

The German embassy is closed over the weekend so I will have to wait to contact them on Monday, but could anybody tell me if it is possible to apply for a new passport while being here on a Tourist Visa? (Or does a new passport application from within Thailand require you to have a Non-Immigrant visa already?)

I don't want to go to Germany to get a new passport because they might want to hold me there and put me in the army as I'm 21 and have so far avoided conscription, so I'd prefer applying for a new passport from abroad...

Also, does anyone know of any other visa I could get with <12 months passport validity? Maybe one that's valid for 6 months instead of 1 year? Maybe if I can get any visa other than tourist it might help when I apply for a new passport from Bangkok, and then I could transfer the visa to the new passport.

Please let me know if anyone has any ideas about what I should do…

Thanks ,

ZTscherman

[Herm]

No problem applying for a new German passport with any visa type - will take about 6 weeks or if you pay extras 3 weeks

[fredlk]

Your embassy is there to issue you a new passport if necessary. They do not look at the type of Visa you have received from the Thai Immigration.

[Mario2008]

Are you talking about a visa or an extension of stay?

There is no need to have at least 12 month validity left, 6 months is the rule. For an extension of stay it doesn't matter at all, you just get the extension till your passport expires and once you have a new passport get the rest of the 1 year extension.

Do you currently have a multiple non-immgrant or are you on an extension of stay? If on an extension of stay based on work you have to leave the country the same day your job finishes, or get 7 day extension from immigration.

[beano2274]

Monday and Wednesdays are Thai Holidays, Embassies might be closed.

Also Consulates outside of Thailand would normally be closed too.

[beano2274]

If your name has come up for conscription, and not attended, or defied the rules regarding Conscription, then the Embassy MIGHT not issue you a new passport and inform Immigration. Which would mean a return back home.

However, I am not sure about that is why I used Capitals for the word Might.

Would be best to google it and find out.

[beano2274]

From wiki

Draft dodgers (Totalverweigerung)

If a conscripted man refuses to serve in the military and do any alternative service, this man will be subject to legal prosecution and may be sentenced to confinement in prison. In 2007 a 20 year old was arrested by the Bundeswehr for AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave)[5]. The sentence is dependent upon the way the conscripted man refuses to serve. In the military it is dealt under military law [6]. In the civilian service it is AWOL [7]. The court is never a court-martial. The accused is often dealt by juvenile law and can be punished by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years or fined, often 3 months (3 months are not recorded in the "certificate of good conduct" Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis).

[ronthai]

Try looking at this:

httx://xxxx.prolanguage.co.th/courses/thai-courses/

Students who register for 180 lessons and pay the full tuition fee of 25,000 baht/course will be eligible for a 1 year ED Visa. First, students will get a Non-immigrant ED Visa for 3 months and then a 9 month Student Visa by extending it every 3 months and paying a Government fee of 1,900 baht. The school will prepare all the documents from the Ministry of Education for the students to have the Visa issued from a Thai Embassy and to get it extended at the Immigration on Chaengwattana road in Bangkok or at another Immigration office.

[ZTscherman]

Wow thanks to everyone for all the answers ...

Its good news that I can get a new passport from here ... Conscription (hopefully) shouldn't be a problem as long as I don't return to Germany to apply for a passport, because I havent been a registered citizen there for +11 years. I'll go to the embassy on Monday and then I plan to get a tourist visa from Singapore to bridge the time while the new passport is being processed.

Just one more question about the Tourist visa (applying from SG):

How much time do I need there, if I fly there on Tuesday evening and hand in my passport to the Thai embassy on Wednesday morning?

Also in the visa requirements it asks for an onwards ticket as proof that I am leaving Thailand. Since I'm booking my ticket from BKK I won't have any exit ticket out of Thailand.. so does that mean I have to book another overseas ticket just to show them that I'm leaving at the end of the visa?

Thanks again for all the help, very much appreciated!!

ZTscherman

[walter@kirz]

How much time do I need there, if I fly there on Tuesday evening and hand in my passport to the Thai embassy on Wednesday morning?

As said before, there is a bank holiday in Thailand on Wednesday. So Thai embassy/consulate in S'pore might be closed. Vientiane is closed.

[Naam]

"I don't want to go to Germany to get a new passport because they might want to hold me there and put me in the army as I'm 21 and have so far avoided conscription, so I'd prefer applying for a new passport from abroad..."

nobody will hold you and put you in the army! the reasons are obvious. as your are 21 years old and have not been registered in the "Vaterland" for 11 years no Kreiswehrersatzamt has any file on you. even if you'd register now to facilitate the issue of a new passport it would take months or perhaps a couple of years till you are called for "Musterung", a medical check-up which determines your health and "grades" you for service in the Bundeswehr.

[thaiphoon]

How much time do I need there, if I fly there on Tuesday evening and hand in my passport to the Thai embassy on Wednesday morning?

Also in the visa requirements it asks for an onwards ticket as proof that I am leaving Thailand. Since I'm booking my ticket from BKK I won't have any exit ticket out of Thailand.. so does that mean I have to book another overseas ticket just to show them that I'm leaving at the end of the visa?

Apply morning Day 1: 09:15am - 11:30am

Collect afternoon Day 2: 02:00pm - 4:30pm

Last report in Nov 2009 advised air ticket not required, but information on embassy website indicates otherwise (and may not be up to date). The requirements for visa issue often change without notice in Singapore, so would check with embassy before travelling. Link to embassy website here.

[ZTscherman]

Ok I will do that and give the Thai embassy in sg a call before ... thanks again everybody for your replies, you've helped me a lot!