Replacing Damaged Uk Passport And Obtaining Emergency Travel Document

[gerryBScot]

I have accidentally destroyed my British passport this morning - washing machine, water, virtually everything erased. I will need to replace it with a new one. I am due to fly to Cebu, Philippines, Sunday 17th March 2013 for a six week family holiday.

Will I be able to do this trip on an emergency travel document and if so, what do I have to do? If I go to the embassy I'll arrange to get a new passport but will they be able to send it to me in the Philippines?

I am currently on a Non-B which I am due to extend for a further year this Friday. Any idea how I can get round this?

Nightmare. Any advice gratefully received.

[pontious]

The Brit Embassy in Bangkok website has all the details,

I think you will have to delay your travel untill you get a new passport - they are not issued in Bangkok - that can take 4 weeks.

The emergency passport will be for one trip only to the UK

Dont know about your non b

[Crossy]

Have a look here http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/2855621/etd.pdf but you will need to talk to the embassy as to the ETDs validity in the Philippines.

[Ginkas]

An Emergency Travel Document (aka Emergency Passport):

"...is valid for a specific journey within a specified time."

"When you apply for an Emergency Travel Document you will be asked to provide an itinerary for your journey.

Your Emergency Travel Document will show the countries you intend to travel to, or through."

If you need it to return to Thailand it will need to show this.

If you had a Non-Immigrant 'B' Visa, this is lost.

If you had an extension of stay this can be placed in the new passport by the immigration office that issued it.

Whether the new passport could be sent to the Philippines is uncertain, but you wouldn't be able to use it there anyway as you would be on the Emergency Passport.

[pontious]

Have a look here http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/2855621/etd.pdf but you will need to talk to the embassy as to the ETDs validity in the Philippines.

Oops -sorry about one trip to uk -misread embassy page- no glasses!

If you look at www.fco.gov.uk/travel that is mentioned in Crossy's reply pdf it looks like you should be ok.

[gerryBScot]

Thank you for your assistance and advice. If I can get an ETD then everything should be ok apart from the costs. I'll find out Monday if I the FCO will be able to send a new passport to the Philippines. They should as they use couriers but we shall find out soon. The passport application form does allow for a delivery address different to the normal residential address so maybe that should be ok. Will let you know. Thanks again.

[agogohome]

Thank you for your assistance and advice. If I can get an ETD then everything should be ok apart from the costs. I'll find out Monday if I the FCO will be able to send a new passport to the Philippines. They should as they use couriers but we shall find out soon. The passport application form does allow for a delivery address different to the normal residential address so maybe that should be ok. Will let you know. Thanks again.

Form C1 has a separate space to enter details of the delivery address, if different from your residential one. You might also need to get the form countersigned by someone that's known you for a couple of years. Then it's a trip to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to advise them of the missing visa and work permit. What a nightmare :-)

[ubonjoe]

I hope you have copies of your destroyed passport pages especially your extensions (not a visa) and original visa (long expired I am sure) you used for the entry you extended.

If you get an emergency passport immigration might do you your extension of stay (it is not a visa) and re-entry permit in it and then when you get new passport move everything over and give you the remainder of your extension.

When does your work permit expire? That could be another issue.

Edited March 10, 2013 by ubonjoe

[gerryBScot]

Thanks ubonjoe and agoghome. My current extension of stay expires on 15th April 2013 and I am still scheduled to be away then. I am scheduled to go to imigration this Friday to renew the visa, aka extend it for another year and get a re-entry permit. In a worst case scenario I can apply for another Non-B on my return which will involve a trip to Laos or somewhere nearby. My biggest concern is not to balls up the family holiday.....will let you know how it goes at the embassy tomorrow.......could be a busy week!

[gerryBScot]

An update: I went to the British Embassy in BKK this afternoon and, after some b*****x at the gatehouse (more later), left with a nice yellow Emergency Passport which cost 4560 THB. I will take this to Imigration tomorrow to get my stamps transferred. My current non-B extension expires 15th April 2013 so I am hoping to return this Friday to get another extension and hopefully a re-entry permit.

The Embassy advised they could not accept a passport application here in Thailand and deliver it to the Philippines where I shall be for 6 weeks with effect from 18th March. They suggested applying for a new passport in the Philippines. With the Emergency Passport valid until Dec 2113 I think I'll wait until I return to Thailand at the end of April and then apply for a new passport. I'd need to go to Manila if I apply in the Philippines and that's a distance away from where I shall be staying with my family.

The consular staff were really helpful and strongly suggested I should contact the Philippine Embassy to ensure that I can travel on the Emergency Passport and to check visa requirements. So I went down to the Phil EMbassy and they told me I can travel but I should apply for a visa due to the length of my trip. I am going to do this once I have sorted out my business tomorrow at Thai imigration. I am, however, a wee bit suspicious of this as I normally get a one year stay when I enter the Phils with my wife on production of our Phil. embassy issued wedding certificate. This is for the relatives of filipino overseas workers - a nice touch as this is one of the few countries anywhere that gives spouses and relatives easy entry. Anyhow I'll apply for it regardless as I don't want to take any more chances.

Back to the gatehouse at the British Embassy in BKK. I could easily have gone away empty-handed today had I not got a bit stroppy with the receptionist. I got there at 1:00 pm and told her I had damaged my passport and wanted to apply for a new one and at the same time to apply for an Emergency Travel Document; I was told I needed to come back in the morning as this could only be done in the morning. I told her there was no mention of this on the website and that this was highly inconvenient as I had travelled in from out of town and that it was kinda of urgent. I asked if I could not leave the documents for later collection. I got this "sorry, I am only doing my job" line. I told her I wanted to see someone in charge as this couldn't be right. I was told to wait and a few minutes later she called me over. Before she spoke I asked her for her name or an ID card; I senses this spooked her as her attitude changed. I explained I had identified myself to her and the least she could do was to do likewise and explained to her that this was the British Embassy and that as far as I understood we do things slightly differently here. She gave me her name and then she said I could "go in" at 2:00 pm...... I don't understand what that was all that about. Loss of face or what? I don't know but a real pain in the ...... .

Whatever thanks for the advice to date and I feel I am making progress!

[Mario2008]

Why not do transfer and extension at the same time?

[gerryBScot]

Why not do transfer and extension at the same time?

Mario the current visa expires 15.04.13. The admin people where I work, who know very little and have little ability to learn from their mistakes (they mess up most of the visas), advise that the earliest I can extend is this Friday. And that's that, so to speak. So will go with it especially, not an awful lot of choice, especially as they pay for it and provide a driver. The good news is I successfully transferred current extension this afternoon and so am legal and in a worst case scenario, if unable to extend this Friday, I'll re-enter on a 30 day waiver and start from scratch. I'm off to the Philippine Embassy tomorrow to apply for a tourist visa as a belts and braces measure. Thank goodness I am on holiday this week.

[pontious]

Gerry, the website I mentioned in post 5 says you must contact the main immigration office when you leave for the 'stamps'. Will that be Manilla? I remember you saying you do not want to travel there.

Have a nice holiday.

P

[gerryBScot]

Gerry, the website I mentioned in post 5 says you must contact the main immigration office when you leave for the 'stamps'. Will that be Manilla? I remember you saying you do not want to travel there.

Have a nice holiday.

P

Pontious I'm not planning on going to Manila on this trip. As far as I understand my documents in respect of the trip to the Philippines are now in order and I am good to go......and then to come back here to LOS. I don't think I need to do anything in the Phils apart from have a holiday and take good care of my emergency passport! I'll let you know how it goes on arrival.

[gerryBScot]

Just to say I am good to go. Got my Non-B visa and extension transferred into my emergency passport; renewed until mid-December, the same date when my emergency document expires; Immigration wrote a note that when this extension is transferred into the new passport it should be extended up to 15.04.2014. Re-entry permit. Also visa for the Philippines. Worth flagging this up - the Philippines require a visa if you are planning to enter on an emergency travel document and that takes 24 hours to process. So it was time consuming and cost a few baht ( significantly less than the costs incurred already on flights,hotels and insurance) but the family holiday is on and we're off to Cebu on Sunday evening. I'll update on any issues leaving Thailand and entering the Philippines. Thanks and chokkers

[Crossy]

Worth flagging this up - the Philippines require a visa if you are planning to enter on an emergency travel document and that takes 24 hours to process.

This is certainly useful information, thanks for sharing.

[gerryBScot]

A final update. My exit and entry into the Philippines went very smoothly and indeed the Immigration Officer in Cebu on entry stamped me in for 1 year on production of our wedding certificate. Of course my emergency passport expires in December but that's not the point - a nice thing this "balikbayan" thing in the Philippines" whereby spouses and kids of overseas workers get 1 year automatically on entry to the Philippines. Terribly long queues leaving Swampy and,for once, no preferential treatment by virtue of having small kids with us; plane late and a long walk from the point where the plane parked to the terminal building in Cebu. A bit of a problem with two exhausted kids and a pile of hand baggage, no trolleys, no porters. They were also really being thorough at Customs and asking lots of folks people to open bags which surprised me as it was 2:00 am when we went through. Anyhow we made it. Thanks to all for the help.

[lacoe74]

Hi Gerry

thanks to share your experience...just a question as I am the same situation how long does it take to transfer your non B on your emergency Passport? Is it done on the day? where did you go Changwattana?

thanks

[Mario2008]

transfer of the permission to stay is done on the spot and doesn't take long. The visa itself is not transferred.

[lacoe74]

transfer of the permission to stay is done on the spot and doesn't take long. The visa itself is not transferred.

hi mario

thank you. so what about the visa? i have non b. it has to be transfered on the new passport right?

[lopburi3]

A visa can not be transferred - if still valid you can present both passports to use it. If you are actually talking about an immigration extension of stay that is transferred with the information of original visa and you travel using re-entry permits. And if you do not have an extension of stay you just take care of this during next exit of country - if you have an extension of stay you visit that office to transfer.

[lacoe74]

actually i have reported my passport lost, my embassy gave me an emergency passport as i have to fly overseas. Till this morning i thought i had to go to the immigration office to report my loss and to transfer my non-imm re-entry permit together with the extension of stay from my loss passport (i have copies) to the emergency one. but one hour ago i have found my passport! Even if that one has been cancelled i was wondering if my non-imm and my extension of stay are still valid or if i have to go anyway to the immigration...

[lopburi3]

Yes you need to visit immigration as anyone with a replacement passport and on an extension of stay has to do. Only those on visa entry can do at border.