Passport renew USA

[BB1955]

I have to renew my passport in the next few months ,,,,,,, the website says 14 days. Sounds nice but ............ Lets get real this is the government ...........Has anyone done it and can tell me the turn around time .

[hml367]

I did mine in 2008 and it was returned in just a few days.

I think they may be a bit more busy now, however, I believe outside the US it is done much faster than if you are in the US unless you pay extra for expedited service.

MSPain

[CMSteve]

Did it last year in Chiang Mai. It was under 1 week

[mesquite]

Three business day turnaround time for me at the US Consulate in CM in 2011. OP, sorry to spoil the stereotypical view of the US government, but it's fast.

Edited July 8, 2013 by mesquite

[ThePunPun]

Gonzo here.......Put it in on a appointment made for a Tuesday, was notified it was ready to pick up on Friday. However the next citizen services day was the following week. Surely less than the 15 days mentioned. I have now done it twice with the previous time some 10 years back, being the same quick time.

[L&J]

I had appointment and dropped it off on June 4th- got notified on June 14th that it could be picked up. However you can only pick them

up on Tuesday or Thursday so I picked it up the next Tuesday June 18th-so effectively two weeks. NOTE: Make sure your passport

photo fits the template on the form exactly and make sure you check the box for the extra page passport.

[hellodolly]

I had appointment and dropped it off on June 4th- got notified on June 14th that it could be picked up. However you can only pick them

up on Tuesday or Thursday so I picked it up the next Tuesday June 18th-so effectively two weeks. NOTE: Make sure your passport

photo fits the template on the form exactly and make sure you check the box for the extra page passport.

I was told that the new passports have a lot more pages than the old ones. Was there a price for the extra pages?

[hml367]

I had appointment and dropped it off on June 4th- got notified on June 14th that it could be picked up. However you can only pick them

up on Tuesday or Thursday so I picked it up the next Tuesday June 18th-so effectively two weeks. NOTE: Make sure your passport

photo fits the template on the form exactly and make sure you check the box for the extra page passport.

I was told that the new passports have a lot more pages than the old ones. Was there a price for the extra pages?

If you ask for the pages when you apply for the new passport there is no extra charge. You do have to ask for the extra pages if you want them. http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/passports/

If you apply to add pages, whether you get 1 set or 2 (1 set has 24 pages), the price is $84.00 US as of June, 2013, when I did mine. http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/additional-passport-pages.html

The prices are listed in links on the US Consulate Chiang Mai web site.

Edited July 8, 2013 by hml367

[hellodolly]

I had appointment and dropped it off on June 4th- got notified on June 14th that it could be picked up. However you can only pick them

up on Tuesday or Thursday so I picked it up the next Tuesday June 18th-so effectively two weeks. NOTE: Make sure your passport

photo fits the template on the form exactly and make sure you check the box for the extra page passport.

I was told that the new passports have a lot more pages than the old ones. Was there a price for the extra pages?

If you ask for the pages when you apply for the new passport there is no extra charge. You do have to ask for the extra pages if you want them. http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/passports/

If you apply to add pages, whether you get 1 set or 2 (1 set has 24 pages), the price is $84.00 US as of June, 2013, when I did mine. http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/additional-passport-pages.html

The prices are listed in links on the US Consulate Chiang Mai web site.

Thanks for the info.

I have to renew mine in the next 4 months. At my age I might not need them but if they are free with the original application I might as well get them. I got lucky on my last passport and got them just before they started charging for them.

[Slappz]

Can someone tell me how this would affect current visas in the old passport?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

You go to Immigration, then they transfer the visa. (They put in a stamp where they write the original visa and entry details, and state that the new passport is a replacement for the old one.)

[BB1955]

I emailed the consulate and got a fast responce . They said 14 days .. I was very amused at the email . Very poorly worded . I can assume it was written by someone whos first language was not english .......

[Mapguy]

Well, , ring the gong and rack up one more cheap shot!

Now, for the business at hand:

How many pages for the large economy size US passport ? 52.

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DS-11.pdf?

How long does it take? Never heard of anything outside of two weeks. I have heard faster. Extra pages in Chiang Mai used to be really fast! Sewed them in by hand here, I think! Wonder if they still do! Certainly, of course, would depend on the accuracy of the submission, and the "season." The consular official who did mine was very careful reviewing the application. New international tourist demand might well be higher just before and during the US summer season, especially given the unpaid work furloughs being handed out to US federal employees nowadays thanks to the legislatively-constipated US Congress.

Does a new passport require transference of visas from the old to the new one? It does in Thailand. (Most likely elsewhere, unless they accept travelers with both old and new passports in hand. See another appropriate TV Chiang Mai thread. Not hard to do. No appointment necessary in Chiang Mai as of this date.

How many "empty" pages do you need in your passport to get a visa from another country? For some: two to four pages. Check ahead! And normally, six months left to expiration date, I believe.

Getting interested? LOTS of web sites available. Best to stick with .gov urls.

Happy traveling!

Edited July 8, 2013 by Mapguy

[Longtooth]

Well, , ring the gong and rack up one more cheap shot!

Now, for the business at hand:

How many pages for the large economy size US passport ? 52.

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DS-11.pdf?

How long does it take? Never heard of anything outside of two weeks. I have heard faster. Extra pages in Chiang Mai used to be really fast! Sewed them in by hand here, I think! Wonder if they still do! Certainly, of course, would depend on the accuracy of the submission, and the "season." The consular official who did mine was very careful reviewing the application. New international tourist demand might well be higher just before and during the US summer season, especially given the unpaid work furloughs being handed out to US federal employees nowadays thanks to the legislatively-constipated US Congress.

Does a new passport require transference of visas from the old to the new one? It does in Thailand. (Most likely elsewhere, unless they accept travelers with both old and new passports in hand. See another appropriate TV Chiang Mai thread. Not hard to do. No appointment necessary in Chiang Mai as of this date.

How many "empty" pages do you need in your passport to get a visa from another country? For some: two to four pages. Check ahead! And normally, six months left to expiration date, I believe.

Getting interested? LOTS of web sites available. Best to stick with .gov urls.

Happy traveling!

Now I think that there are two ways to go. Have the old passport stamped on the visa page by Thai immigration to refer to the new passport, and carry both, OR physically transfer the visa to the new passport at the American Consulate or Embasy. Is that correct?

[Mapguy]

Not to my knowledge or in my experience. Thailand notes existing visas for Thailand in the new passport. I do not believe that one country can do such a thing with another country's visas.

[hml367]

To transfer the visa you will probably need a letter from your consulate requesting Thai Immigration to transfer the visa to a new passport, which should be identified in the letter. You then take the letter and the passports to Thai Immigration and they will stamp the new passport.

There used to be instructions on the Thai Immigration web site.

This is the form for Bangkok. I downloaded it from the link on the CNX Immigration web site. Notice it refers to the BKK district of Immigration, so not sure if it will work in CNX. The US Consulate does this, so they should be aware of what you need. They may even just give you the letter when you get the new passport.

transferstamp.doc

Edited July 9, 2013 by hml367

[L&J]

The American Consulate here in Chiang Mai gives you a letter for the visa transfer along with your new passport.

[NancyL]

You've got to transfer the visa to the new passport before the old one expires. Typically when they do retirement extensions in CM, they'll notice if your passport expires before the extension. If so, they'll put a stamp in your passport (in Thai) that says you do have permission to stay until XX-XX-XX date, but you must come to Immigration to transfer your permission before XX-XX-XX -- the date of expiration of your passport. You simply can't carry two passports until the time of doing your next extension. You'll be on overstay, with all the problems associated with being on overstay.

Unlike the Brits, when you receive your new U.S. passport here in CM, you'll also get a letter to take t CM Immigration requesting transfer of your visa/extension/re-entry permit.

Yes, the process is very quick. Hubby applied on Tuesday, Sept 4, 2012 and received an email saying the new passport was ready on Friday, Sept 7. He went on-line to schedule an appointment to pick it up. As noted above, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days for American Citizen Services. He was amazed to see openings in the schedule for the next ACS day -- normally they book up about a 7-10 days in advance. It wasn't until he showed up at the Consulate on Tuesday and saw that no one else came for citizen services that he realized he was in an American Consulate on September 11, 2012. The staff was really relaxed and bored because no one had scheduled appointments for that day. Everyone else was smart enough to realize you don't want to go to an American consulate on that date unless you really have to.

Yes, he got the jumbo passport, too, just because it's the same price. Frankly, we don't travel out of Thailand often and I carry my passport with me at all times because I often have to show it during my daily activities. I might just get the smaller version when I have to get a new passport in a few years to cut down on the weight in my handbag.

[L&J]

Some Comments on Nancy L 's posting:

1. You do NOT need to make an appointment at the USA Consulate to pick-up your new passport-you go any Tuesday or Thursday and get it..

2. I feel it is really pathetic if there are Americans who feels the need to avoid the USA Consulate on a September 11th. That is the kind of

stupidity that plays directly into the hands of the miscreants that think they can intimidate and frighten people to their ends. Why not just

emigrate to Canada and have a maple leaf tattooed to your forehead?

3. I carry my Passport to the Bank, to Immigration and when driving out of region- the rest of the time there is absolutely no need to have it on your person.

In six years we have never been asked to show it anywhere except on official business. Carry a good photocopy if you really think you'll need it

Carrying it around is a great way to find out the holy mountain of S*** you'll be in if you lose it.

4. The "jumbo" USA passport (it is hardly jumbo) costs absolutely nothing more than the smaller one. However if the "jumbo" is too heavy to carry and if you

do decide to get extra pages in the next 10 years the extra weight will be balanced off by the $84 that will be coming out out your wallet.