Immigaration - Uk Passport

[Wally4]

What is the minimum amount of time left on a UK passport to gain re-entry into Thailand.

I am on a retirement visa and need to go to UK mid August for a few days. My passport expires end of October.

[lopburi3]

For the period of your intended stay.

[Tafia]

Get a new one while you are there less hassle and cheaper by far.

[Maestro]

How long does it take in the UK to get a new passport?

[Colabamumbai]

Most countries want to see a passport valid for another six months, I think Thailand is the same.

[Mario2008]

Yes, Thailand wants to see 6 month valdity for entry. So you need to get a new passport while in the UK and show it together with the old passport when you return to Thailand.

Don't forget the re-entry permit.

[lopburi3]

There is no such requirement for six month passport validity on current IATA data base as listed on the Delta web site.

"valid for the period of

intended stay"

/ 25JUL11 / 0412 UTC

National United Kingdom (GB) /Destination Thailand (TH)

Thailand (TH)

Passport required.

- Nationals of United Kingdom can enter with passports and/or

passport replacing documents valid for the period of

intended stay.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp

[Mario2008]

I stand corrected. Seems they changed the requirements.

[jpinx]

I would so not trust that.....

[lopburi3]

You would not trust the airlines to know the requirements for entry? It is they who will be paying for errors so they have every reason to know what is required.

[Lite Beer]

That must be a recent change.

[jpinx]

You would not trust the airlines to know the requirements for entry? It is they who will be paying for errors so they have every reason to know what is required.

Correct

Some years ago I was flown by a South American country's national airline into their own country only to find that they had made a rather serious error and had not checked my passport. When confronted with their error they went all and told me it is up to me to check the requirements. I managed to stay out of the pokey, but it was a very salutory lesson :jap:

[IMA_FARANG]

Normally the Thais want a passport valid for a minimum of 6 months after entry.

So if your passport has less than that time left when you plan to re-enter Thailand, you should get a new passport before you re-enter Thailand. I don't know how long that process takes in the U.K. because I am an American...but I'm prety sure it can be done by mail and returned to you by express mail, overnight devilery, or what ever you call the equivalent in the U.K. In the U.S. if you get a new passort by mail they often tell you it will take up to 2 weeks...but in my experience unless there is a problem with your records the actual mail time is often 2 or 3 days. What takes time in the U.S. is that now any passport application, including renewals, has to go through a database check for security purposes since the 9/11 World Trade Center events. Not sure if that is the same in the UK., but I presume there is something similar for security reasons.

You say you are on a retirement visa? I presume you mean you are on an extension here in Thailand based on retirement. If so, you would be strongly advised to get an exit and rentry visa before you leave to keep ypur current extension...your retirement visa...active.

I believe you may be able to get your current retirement visa transferred to your new passport at a Thai consulate in the U.K., but again I'm not certain of that. If you can do that get it done there.

Either way, when you re-enter Thailand bring both your new passport and your old passport. You may have to go through a process of seeing a immigration supervisor on entry...simply because the immigration officer you happen to get may never have seen that particular situation before, and won't know exactly what to do.

So be prepared for that as you enter.

[JohnC]

It would also make more sense to renew whilst in the UK, turn around I think is under one week but check their website, plus it is half the price and you are not relying on a delivery from Hong Kong. In addition if you try to renew your Retirement Extension when you return with the old passport it will only be extended up to the date of that passport!

[aneliane]

3 months is the minimum - just got mine redone.