Irish Passport Renewal In Thailand

[mrireland]

Hi,

I messed up and didn't realise until the last minute my passport was expiring in just over 6 months, this meant i could only get a single entry tourist visa instead of a triple entry.

I came into the country on 18th November so i presume that the visa ends on 18th January? Normally you can extend for another month but will i be allowed to because from next week on i have less than 6 months on my passport.

I'm going to renew my Irish passport and then apply for a education visa while over here as im interested in learning thai however looking here: http://www.irelandinthailand.com/10yrstdpp.html it says it will take 6-8 weeks.

So what happens if my passport isnt returned before its renewed? Will they even renew it giving my visa runs out in 8 weeks. If it doesn't return before my visa expires then will I be able to still apply for the visa, or will i be refused because i overstayed?

Finally im in Chiang Mai, will i be required to visit Bangkok to do the paperwork or can i get forms here and post to bangkok.

So my main questions are:

1 - Can you extend your single entry if your passport has less than 10 months?

2 - What happens if i apply for it and my passport isnt returned in time and im forced to overstay?

3 - How does the application process work for the education visa, what forms etc do i need and can i apply while my passport is sent for renewal or is a copy of the passport sufficent?

4 - Will i have to go to Bangkok or can i post the information?

5 - Cant i just ship the passport back to Ireland and get the 10 day express done or is that not allowed when im already out of the country?

6 - What happens when i renew it, will my visa just be transferred to the new passport?

Really appreciate any help as time is not on my side. If worst comes to worst and i have to leave, go home renew my passport and return with new visa is there any issues in returning on a 2nd visa so quickly?

[Mario2008]

You can get the extension without any problem, as long as your passort is valid for the duration of your stay. Thailand now requires the passport to be valid for the intended stay and not for at least 6 months. (Thai consulates will have different rules in issueing a visa)

The stamp in your passport tells you how long you can stay.

For the ED-visa you will have to wait till yu have the new passport, as you will need to travel to a neighbouring country and they have different rules regarding validity.

When you have the new passport go to immirgation to have the details transferred and leave Thailand on the new passport.

[mrireland]

Thanks Marco,

as you will need to travel to a neighbouring country and they have different rules regarding validity.

Not sure what ed visa and travelling to a neighbouring country come into play or are they 2 separate comments.

Thats great news i can extend it, will give me some time to get the passport back which is a huge huge relief

How long does it usually take to organise an ed visa or could i simply extend my single entry to a triple entry to get more time and get the ed visa later (my girlfriend has triple entry already) now that my passport is valid again?

Both our visa say were admitted until Jan 16th 2012, how soon can i extend my visa for the extra month, the problem is if i send the passport away now and it doesnt get back before 16th January then i have no passport to get it extended with and no way to avoid overstaying. If i could get it extended now and then send the passport for renewal that would be great.

Anyway thanks so much for your help

[mrireland]

ok so thinking about this i might be able to solve this issue with the answer of 3 questions:

1 - I have a single entry visa right now, can i go tomorrow and extend this and get my extra 30 days to give me 90 days total or do you have to wait until your 60 days run out first?

2 - Once i get my passport renewed and bring it to the immigration office can i leave the country and add a double entry to make it a triple entry all together even though i originally just got a single entry?

3 - If i want to renew my passport can i just get the documents posted and fill them out and return them or do i need to visit Bangkok in person?

So if 1 above works out i will plenty of time to renew my passport and then i can get a new double entry visa added, is this possible?

[lopburi3]

1. Normally they would expect you do do with about a week remaining but if you explain the need for new passport suspect they will do now (if now is really early).

2. Nothing preventing getting a new visa but will be up to the Consulate involved - but should not be a problem anywhere if they will provide two entry to anyone.

3. You need to check with your Embassy as different for different nationalities. Brits send to Hong Kong - Americans present to Embassy, etc.

[Mario2008]

Not sure what ed visa and travelling to a neighbouring country come into play or are they 2 separate comments.

You will have to apply for the ED-visa outside of Thailand, in a neighbouring country. You will in all likelyhood not be able to convert to an ED-visa in Thailand. So travelling to another country will be necesarry and that other coutnry will require a minimum validity of your passport, as will the Thai consulate in that country.

[mrireland]

Hi, just to update this for anyone in the same boat. I rang the Irish Consulate in Bangkok and they said there is an express passport renewal which takes 2-3 weeks.

So this is my plan, i would greatly appreciate if you can tell me im on track or not.

Get my passport renewed, visit the immigration centre and get my visa details transferred to the new passport. Return a week before my visa expires on the 16th January and extend it for a further month.

Now that passport will be valid for 10 years i can leave the country and apply for a double entry on a border run (on top of my single entry) and ill get another 6 months

Is there any flaws/issues with my plan?

Anyway thanks everyone for the help, this is a great site....

[lopburi3]

Do not believe you need to visit immigration at all on a visa entry - they will take care of it on exit from recent reports.

Scratch that - you want to extend stay so use of new passport will be required for that so in your case you will have to have details transferred prior to departure.

[mrireland]

Ok cool, things looking up so

Do not believe you need to visit immigration at all on a visa entry - they will take care of it on exit from recent reports.

Scratch that - you want to extend stay so use of new passport will be required for that so in your case you will have to have details transferred prior to departure.