Transfer Visa To New Passport - Cm Immigration

[Kellynch]

I've just got my new UK passport and wondering what the paperwork or procedure is? I've been a good boy and searched in this section as well as the CM Immigration website. Both only have references to a lost passport, including the 54 FAQs on the CMI website. Duty rumour tells me that I need to get a validity letter from the British Consulate.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone that's been in the same situation fairly recently.

[dutchmagnum]

I went to immigration about 6 weeks ago to do change my non-immigration B visa to my new UK passport.

They will give you a form to fill in and you can bring a photocopy of your old passport (photo page and all previous Thailand visa's).

Make sure you get there early. They told me they don't give many tickets for this each day.

Hope that helps.

[Kellynch]

Many thanks. Did you have to get a letter from the British Consulate?

[Sophon]

Are you talking about a visa or an extension of stay? Visas are never transferred to a new passport but extensions are.

Sophon

[hml367]

Are you talking about a visa or an extension of stay? Visas are never transferred to a new passport but extensions are.

Sophon

They transferred the visa information from my old passport to my new one in 2008 when I renewed my US passport. Doesn't a foreigner need visa information in their passport?

MSPain

[chiang mai]

Yes, as we are reminded constantly the correct terminology is extention and not visa, regardless! I posted on this subject yesterday but the reponse was more confusing than my question, here's the scenario, again, and I think the OP's answer is buried in here somewhere:

I took a holiday in the UK last month and in doing so I got a new passport because my old one was due to expire, when I arrived back in Thailand I presented my old and my new passports and my new passport was duly stamped with an entry into Thailand, valid up until the expiration date of my O-A visa EXTENTION (sorry to yell) which was in my old passport and due for renewal a month later.

Last week, one month after my return, I went to CM Immigration to EXTEND my O-A visa using my old and my new passports as evidence, my new extention was duly stamped into my new passport - job done I think.

But then Immigration gave me a transfer form and told me to come back later to transfer the stamp from the old to the new passport (but wasn't that just done when the new EXTENTION was issued, the visa EXTENTION stamp appears complete by comparison to previous stamps)?

I think this transfer business, under the circumstances described above, is merely a housekeeping exersise on the part of the Immigration folks although I could be wrong.

[hml367]

^{Chiang Mai,}

^{Your scenario is different than an expiring passport. If a passport would expire before the length of the normal permission to stay length, then permission to stay is only granted until the passport expiration date. Then when a person gets their new passport, they can get (I think) the balance of the normal length in their new passport.}

^{In my case, my visa information was stamped into my new passport on 10 Jan 2008. The permission to stay was then stamped in until 20 May 2008, which was the expiration of my 1 year from the last permission to stay date.}

^MSPain

Edited May 3, 2013 by hml367

[Kellynch]

For the record - it's my extension that needs to be transferred/moved or whatever to my new passport, which itself had run out of pages. Old passport due to expire Jul 14 and my visa extension ends in Nov 13.

[hellodolly]

For the record - it's my extension that needs to be transferred/moved or whatever to my new passport, which itself had run out of pages. Old passport due to expire Jul 14 and my visa extension ends in Nov 13.

My understanding as an American is that they will issue me a new passport. They will then punch a hole in my old one and upon receiving my new one I am to take both to immigration fill in a form and they will transfer the retirement visa into my new passport. Of course there will be paper work involved. The expiration date will not change.

I was told by assist that they can perform this service for me for 1,000 baht which with my paper work ability looks pretty good.

Edit

It was mentioned that they do very few of those a day, I think that is because there is very few a day to do, My passport will be good for 10 years. If I go in for all the other visits required I will have seen them about 50 times by the time I redo it.

Edited May 3, 2013 by hellodolly

[LomSak27]

Hello dolly

You are absolutely correct - your visa is transferred to the new passport - old passport clipped - hole punched.

Embassy issue that letter but its a formality, immigration doesn't pay attention to it -IF they have done this before! The letter is if you had to go to some Immigration office that had never done this before, most every office in Thailand has done it.

As I recall my local immigration office did it free. I timed it to coincide with the renewal of my year visa so it was done at the same time. The officer had a sore wrist from all the stamping he did I did read most of the previous info (looking up TV posts) and I am left to conclude that US passports are handled differently - I still have no clue what this "extension of stay" thing is - my visa and the renewal are in my new passport. The old passport is clipped dead and put away

Edited May 3, 2013 by LomSak27

[Joop50]

Early means before 8 o'clock, 7 is better. Fill in the form, give a passphoto and bring a copy of all the relevant pages from old and new passport (which is usualy one page).

Edited May 3, 2013 by Joop50

[hml367]

In my passport there is actually a stamp with reference to my old passport number, where the visa was issued, and the dates. See the attached picture. The permit to stay on the right end is May, when my old passport would have expired. My 1 year permissions are dated in June. When I made my next extension they put the date back to June.

Also attached are the procedures for transferring. As you see in the requirements, the letter from the embassy (consulate) is required. Of course if they don't ask for anything, then it obviously is not required. If you show up without it, you may get surprised.

MSPain

Transfer of visa to new passport in case of expired or full passport.pdf

Edited May 3, 2013 by hml367

[hml367]

Kellynch,

When you look through the CM Immigration site for something, I would suggest also looking at the Royal Thai Police Immigration Bureau web site also. I have found it to contain more information. http://www.immigration.go.th/ the FAQ on this site are much better than what I have found on the CM site.

MSPain

[Mapguy]

Kellynch,

When you look through the CM Immigration site for something, I would suggest also looking at the Royal Thai Police Immigration Bureau web site also. I have found it to contain more information. http://www.immigration.go.th/ the FAQ on this site are much better than what I have found on the CM site.

MSPain

Here's the FAQ page in English: http://immigration.go.th/FAQs/index_en.html

However, it is not always possible, it seems, to open all pages in English, for example, under "Other Services," on this Immigration web site.

[Mapguy]

In my passport there is actually a stamp with reference to my old passport number, where the visa was issued, and the dates. See the attached picture. The permit to stay on the right end is May, when my old passport would have expired. My 1 year permissions are dated in June. When I made my next extension they put the date back to June.

Also attached are the procedures for transferring. As you see in the requirements, the letter from the embassy (consulate) is required. Of course if they don't ask for anything, then it obviously is not required. If you show up without it, you may get surprised.

MSPain

hml367/MSPain of course makes reference to the Thai CM office replacement notice stamp in his passport, not to his home country's notice.

There might be one or two problems in limited cases to consider about replacement books.

It seems that not all countries return an old passport when issuing a replacement for a full one. There might only be a notice on an 'observation page" of the old passport being replaced and its number. The question is will CM Immigration accept such a passport (with the note) in lieu of seeing the old passport? Commonsense would be that there would be no problem. If a passport is lost or stolen, you certainly can't produce that, but one is left to wonder.

Another requirement at extension time in Chiang Mai is often (apparently not always) the demand for photocopies of the original NI-O visa and copies of all annual extensions. So, perhaps retaining copies of the old passport ID pages (and replacement notation pages) AND visa and extension stamp pages will suffice. One would think so.

Any personal experience to offer on either case above with the CM Immigration Office? I do keep making reference to the Chiang Mai office, specifically, because practices may differ from office to office.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Mapguy

[hml367]

In my passport there is actually a stamp with reference to my old passport number, where the visa was issued, and the dates. See the attached picture. The permit to stay on the right end is May, when my old passport would have expired. My 1 year permissions are dated in June. When I made my next extension they put the date back to June.

Also attached are the procedures for transferring. As you see in the requirements, the letter from the embassy (consulate) is required. Of course if they don't ask for anything, then it obviously is not required. If you show up without it, you may get surprised.

MSPain

hml367/MSPain of course makes reference to the Thai CM office replacement notice stamp in his passport, not to his home country's notice.

There might be one or two problems in limited cases to consider about replacement books.

It seems that not all countries return an old passport when issuing a replacement for a full one. There might only be a notice on an 'observation page" of the old passport being replaced and its number. The question is will CM Immigration accept such a passport (with the note) in lieu of seeing the old passport? Commonsense would be that there would be no problem. If a passport is lost or stolen, you certainly can't produce that, but one is left to wonder.

Another requirement at extension time in Chiang Mai is often (apparently not always) the demand for photocopies of the original NI-O visa and copies of all annual extensions. So, perhaps retaining copies of the old passport ID pages (and replacement notation pages) AND visa and extension stamp pages will suffice. One would think so.

Any personal experience to offer on either case above with the CM Immigration Office? I do keep making reference to the Chiang Mai office, specifically, because practices may differ from office to office.

I was not asked for my previous passport since changing in January, 2008. Of course they could ask anytime.

MSPain

[Kellynch]

Just an update. Much appreciation for all your help and advice.

I got a message back from the British Consulate in Chiang Mai to say that I didn't need a validity letter, as my old passport had run out of pages. However, they do issue a letter if passports are lost or stolen.

I went to CM Immigration today and all went very well. There was no mention of any validity letter. As a precaution I gave them a copy of every single page in the old passport along with Arrival card and 90 Day Report - It might have been overkill, but beats waiting in the photocopy queue outside. They accepted it and didn't say anything and I didn't get handed anything back. As someone kindly mentioned, I had to fill out a form.

I went back in the afternoon and they put stamps in for the present and previous visas (Tourist and Non Imm 'O') that I had prior to getting my Marriage Visa, showing my last entry into Thailand. Also a reference to the old passport.

Despite everything the staff have to put up with, they were very good to me and I think that they probably have higher stress levels than we do. A pleasant and rewarding trip to Immigration - All's right with the world.

[ZABA]

Lots of good info here.

I have a 0-A retirement visa, Multiple Entry. I will be renewing my US passport soon.

I understand that that I can get the stamp transferred at CM immigration and that I need to carry the old passport with me when traveling out of Thailand.

Q: Do does this old passport with original visa take care of the "Multiple Entry" when I try to re-enter the country? And if not, what to do?

Sorry I am new here, maybe this needs to be a new post...?

Edited May 26, 2013 by ZABA

[chiang mai]

I posted earlier that I was very confused by this transfer of stamp business, I now know why:

I got my initial O-A visa for Thailand ten years ago and I have dutifully extended it every year since. One year after I got the visa my passport was stolen and a new one was duly issued and it has been into that passport that all my subsequent extention stamps have gone. Earlier this year my faithful long standing passport expired and I got yet another one, shortly after I got it I extended my visa yet again and it was placed into the latest passport with instructions for me to make sure that my stamp was transfered as soon as possible and this was very confusing to me, what stamp are they actually talking about, nobody seemed to be able to tell me!

Well last week I went to see a visa agent and tasked him with getting this mythical stamp transfered, it seems however that I was never given a stamp in the first place and the instructions now are, don't worry about it and carry on as normal. This can't be bad advice I'm sure, after all, Immigration has seen my passport sans stamp for the past nine years and never utered a word, personally I think this stamp transfer business is a bunch of nonesence.

[hellodolly]

Just an update. Much appreciation for all your help and advice.

I got a message back from the British Consulate in Chiang Mai to say that I didn't need a validity letter, as my old passport had run out of pages. However, they do issue a letter if passports are lost or stolen.

I went to CM Immigration today and all went very well. There was no mention of any validity letter. As a precaution I gave them a copy of every single page in the old passport along with Arrival card and 90 Day Report - It might have been overkill, but beats waiting in the photocopy queue outside. They accepted it and didn't say anything and I didn't get handed anything back. As someone kindly mentioned, I had to fill out a form.

I went back in the afternoon and they put stamps in for the present and previous visas (Tourist and Non Imm 'O') that I had prior to getting my Marriage Visa, showing my last entry into Thailand. Also a reference to the old passport.

Despite everything the staff have to put up with, they were very good to me and I think that they probably have higher stress levels than we do. A pleasant and rewarding trip to Immigration - All's right with the world.

Thanks for your experience. I am looking at doing it some time. I have until October they will do it 6 months earlier for you in the states.

Can you give us an idea of the time involved at immigration?

[Kellynch]

I got to Immigration at about 11am and they told me to come back after 1:30pm as it was so close to lunch. They told me it doesn't take very long, so I think if you go early enough they will do it quite quickly. We told them we weren't in a hurry and asked them if 3pm or later was alright and they were happy with that. We went back around 4pm and it was all good.

[NancyL]

Be sure to hold onto your old passport. You may be asked to produce it if you want to close a bank account that you opened using your old passport. Sometimes the banks can make you jump thru multiple hoops to close an account, especially a large one.

[chiang mai]

I never thought I would use one but last week I went to see a visa agent and paid him to take care of all my visits to Immigration for the next year and I have to say that it all worked out really really well and was not expensive. Within a week I had my stamp transfered to my new passport, a re-entry permit and my 90 day report and I never had to set foot inside the Immigration building. The agent in question has quite large offices on Chiang Mai Land and is run by a Brit named Rhys, the more people I talk to about this company the more I realise how many people use them sucessfully and nobody has a bad word to say about them, please feel free to PM me if you require contact details (I'd post them here but it may look like advertising).