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"Nationality Change" At Land Crossing


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If a person has dual nationality, eg Thai and another, can they change their nationality in Thailand by exiting on the Thai passport, and re-entering on the other passport?

I know the 15-day rule will apply on re-entering, but that's not a problem.

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Only possible at an air border.

(Unless you change from foreign passport to Thai passport, as a Thai passport holder cannot be refused entry into Thailand).

Entering Thailand on a foreign passport while also holding a Thai passport doesn't give any advantage that I'm aware of.

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Only possible at an air border.

(Unless you change from foreign passport to Thai passport, as a Thai passport holder cannot be refused entry into Thailand).

Entering Thailand on a foreign passport while also holding a Thai passport doesn't give any advantage that I'm aware of.

Exactly what would be the advantage.

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If a person has dual nationality, eg Thai and another, can they change their nationality in Thailand by exiting on the Thai passport, and re-entering on the other passport?

Very doubtful. If it were the other way around, leaving on the foreign passport and entering on the Thai passport, it should work; I have seen posts to that effect, the reason being that, it has been said, a Thai cannot be refused entry into Thailand on his Thai passport under any circumstances.

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To Seaeagle - the OP

NO you cannot 'swap' passports at a land border.

Each country will expect to see entry and exit stamps from the other country.

Can be done by air.

Fly out of Thailand on original entry passport.

Arrive in Thailand and present other passport to immigration.

(When coming in by air it is not immediately obvious which country you have come from, unlike a land border.)

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I have two passports and have got away with both. But in general I concur with other posters. By land same passport. By airport can swap. i.e. depart BKK on X passport and enter KUL on Z passport

For me with luxury of two it helps to share out the stamps and full page visas.

But there are always illogical things. When I applied in Thai Embassy, Tokyo to work here on the second passport [more empty pages] they said 'No. You can only apply with the passport being used in present residence country.' So not always flexible. Although Thai lady in Tokyo Thai Embassy was charming about it all.

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I have two passports of the same nationality. I don't want the main one to fill up too fast and need renewal long before expiry, so use the secondary one for visas whenever possible, particularly for full page visas. I was refused a visa in my secondary passport going to Laos overland the Friendship Bridge from Nong Khai due to lack of Thai exit stamp and had to switch back to my main passport. Some time later I flew from Bkk to Luang Prabang and entered Laos using secondary passport with no Thai exit stamp no problem and no questions asked. I believe the same would apply to Cambodia and Malaysia and the Thai immigration officers will also refuse entry overland, if there is no exit stamp from the other country.

Embassies in Bangkok may also refuse to issue visas in passports without Thai entry stamp. I have been refused by the Burmese and Chinese embassies but had no problem with this in the Vietnamese and Russian embassies.

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After being chucked in the Chonburie pokey for a while I had "This guy has been jailed in Thailand" or words to that effect hand written in my Australian passport.

So, I left via train crossing to George town and at the border, was stamped out of Thailand in my Aussie passport.

I then went to tthe Malaysian counter and, showing them my Aussie passport stamped out of Thailand, asked if they could stamp me into Malaysia on my British passport, which they did.

I then got a new Thai visa in my Brit' passport in Georgetown, threw away my "contaminated" Aussie passport and re entered Thailand with my fresh clean Brit' passport.

Contacted the Oz embassy in BKK who issued me a nice new Aussie passport.

So yes, it can be done.

KennyF

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I have dual nationality, Canadian and EU. I've changed nationalites a few times while crossing land borders before. Got some strange stares when they looked through my passport and did not see the exit stamp from the previous country, but no questions asked. BUT, these were countries that did not care about exit stamps. I tried once on a visa run going from Thailand to Cambodia, and it did not work. In fact, I got held up for 2 hours while they took both my passports to the chief in the next town to check that both were not fake!

A bit off topic, but they told me that a week earlier a Brit tried crossing with two British passports. (He had reported one lost, and got another one). That is highly illegal, and the guy got nailed. In my case I was let go, but I had to complete the visa run on the same passport I left Thailand with. I was lucky, since I had not hit my 6 month limit, so I was let back in to Thailand.

Thailand and neighbouring countries all check and insist on an exit stamp from the country you are coming from. Mario2008 is correct: You can only change nationalities if you are flying in. That way they don't know which country you are coming from, since you are "falling from the sky". Trust me on this, I have first-hand experience.

Edited by TungnaaTom
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I thought I'd done this successfully at the Cambodian border.

Three weeks back at my job, the HR department called me to the office, where an Immigration Officer politely but firmly interrogated me until he was satisfied that I wasn't up to anything nefarious.

At the time the land crossings weren't online with their computerization, hence the delay - I was caught by automated cross-referencing once the paper-based information was entered into their databases back in Bangkok.

Quite embarassing.

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Should not as change of passport is a requirement for some countries (the USA being an example - if you have a US passport you are required to use it for entry).

I was most interested what Thailand will do for inbound flights for say dual australan/Uk passport holders.

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Only possible at an air border.

(Unless you change from foreign passport to Thai passport, as a Thai passport holder cannot be refused entry into Thailand).

Entering Thailand on a foreign passport while also holding a Thai passport doesn't give any advantage that I'm aware of.

Exactly what would be the advantage.

Avoiding military service would be a good reason I presume.

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I have dual nationality, Canadian and EU...

Lest somebody should misunderstand: there is no "EU nationality", but one can be a national of an EU country.

Officially there is, but it does not seem to mean anything beyond being a National of an EU country. Even Greenlanders and Manxmen have 'EU nationality'!

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My friend (and former work colleague) Michelle has dual nationality for the USA and Spain. Her American passport was almost full up so she tried to use her Spanish passport to do what you suggest. She exited Thailand on her US passport and tried to enter Lao on her Spanish passport. The Lao authorities refused her entry on the basis that she had no exit stamp from Thailand. She had to use her US passport to enter Lao and once back in Thailand apply for a new passport from the US embassy (an expense she was trying to avoid).

Despite the fact that Thailand and Lao are separate countries, the immigration authorities seem to work together on visa stamps.

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Only possible at an air border.

(Unless you change from foreign passport to Thai passport, as a Thai passport holder cannot be refused entry into Thailand).

Entering Thailand on a foreign passport while also holding a Thai passport doesn't give any advantage that I'm aware of.

Exactly what would be the advantage.

Avoiding military service would be a good reason I presume.

Entering Thailand on another nationality doesn't change the fact that one is Thai and thus can be drafted, even when in Thailand on the passport of another country.

Besides that if one enteres Thailand on a foreign passport one is subject to immigration controls, the foreign passport is irrelevant for Thai law. You are Thai.

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  • 1 month later...

Thailand and neighbouring countries all check and insist on an exit stamp from the country you are coming from. Mario2008 is correct: You can only change nationalities if you are flying in. That way they don't know which country you are coming from, since you are "falling from the sky". Trust me on this, I have first-hand experience.

BUT, that exit stamp can be in another passport.

I did it from Thailand into Malaysia on a visa run to Georgetown.

Trust me on this, I have first-hand experience.

Kenny

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As a dual Thai Australian passport holder, I am always a bit perplexed by why you'd want to enter Thailand on a non-Thai passport.

No advantages and plenty of disadvantages.

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I think it is up to the discretion of the head of the shift of immigration at your point of entry.

Similarly I have changed nationality at Aranyaprathet but it was a problem and the head of shift was called to confirm that all the details in both passport where the same. There also has to be a valid reason for a change!

So it is possible but is never easy!

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  • 1 month later...

So, I left via train crossing to George town and at the border, was stamped out of Thailand in my Aussie passport.

I then went to the Malaysian counter and, showing them my Aussie passport stamped out of Thailand, asked if they could stamp me into Malaysia on my British passport, which they did.

I then got a new Thai visa in my Brit' passport in Georgetown,

So yes, it can be done.

KennyF

Where did you take the train from, and how long ago was this? Where exactly did they stamp you out of your Aussie PP , and where did they stamp you in your Brit PP. How much seperation time was between the two? Did they not ask you any questions? Have you tried do do this anywhere else beside Malaysia?

Got some strange stares when they looked through my passport and did not see the exit stamp from the previous country, but no questions asked. BUT, these were countries that did not care about exit stamps.

Thailand and neighbouring countries all check and insist on an exit stamp from the country you are coming from. Mario2008 is correct: You can only change nationalities if you are flying in. That way they don't know which country you are coming from, since you are "falling from the sky". Trust me on this, I have first-hand experience.

"BUT, these were countries that did not care about exit stamps."

Which were the countries where you successfully managed to get this done?

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Thailand is introducing a system where the boarding airline staff send all your information for pre approval. Is that going to affect the change of passports?

At least some airlines are already doing this. I know that from a recent experience.

However, I think that information is transferred before check-in so the arrival country may not be aware of which passport was used for embarkation.

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