Changes To British Passport Services In Thailand

[Zonka]

I submitted my passport to Trendy On 3rd of July and picked it up on Friday 25 July! So they CAN get their finger out when required. 22 days is not bad in this current situation.

World Record, surely? I would settle for double that. Lucky boy!

I did talk to someone I know in the Embassy, who talked to someone they know in UK! Even so it was still quick!

[GoonDizzy]

I submitted my passport to Trendy On 3rd of July and picked it up on Friday 25 July! So they CAN get their finger out when required. 22 days is not bad in this current situation.

World Record, surely? I would settle for double that. Lucky boy!

I did talk to someone I know in the Embassy, who talked to someone they know in UK! Even so it was still quick!

You could make a few bob as an agent. I'm sure there are plenty willing to offer a couple of thousand baht to get their passports back within 4 weeks (or your money back etc)

[laolover88]

This will improve matters

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/28/passport-office-staff-strike-staff-shortages-backlog

Passport Staff go on strike

[OJAS]

This will improve matters

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/28/passport-office-staff-strike-staff-shortages-backlog

Passport Staff go on strike

All the more reason for this clown, Paul Pugh, to be given his marching orders, I think.

[RHCP]

Just when this thread was starting to tail off.................................

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28519085

Bloody hell! Just as I make an appointment. If they do strike over poor pay and under staffing, then Pugh and May must resign. Or perhaps bring in a gang of chimps and see if they can do a better job.

Enough is enough. This is getting beyond a joke now.

I will be getting my second passport when i am back i Glasgow next month. I'll do the walk in one day service to stop any hang ups

Planning to do this myself next month in Durham. Will there be any issues when returning to BKK airport with a cancelled old passport containing visa extension and re-entry permit when stamping in the new passport?

[ubonjoe]

Planning to do this myself next month in Durham. Will there be any issues when returning to BKK airport with a cancelled old passport containing visa extension and re-entry permit when stamping in the new passport?

No problem. Just show both passports on entry to show re-entry permit in your old passport and they will stamp you into the country in your new passport.

Then go to immigration to have your stamps transferred to your new passport.

[delboy]

Despite me sending Trendy an E-mail saying that I shall collect my passport this coming Wednesday, I have just received a call from them asking when I shall be calling to collect my passport. The right hand.....

So, I noted the phone number they used. If it's helpful to someone, the number was 021-687394

[personchester]

Despite me sending Trendy an E-mail saying that I shall collect my passport this coming Wednesday, I have just received a call from them asking when I shall be calling to collect my passport. The right hand.....

So, I noted the phone number they used. If it's helpful to someone, the number was 021-687394

When Trendy called you to ask when you will collect your passport seams to indicate that they did not receive the email, or not read the email.

On the other hand, for security reason they might not accept an email about collecting the passport and want to receive a phone call instead.

A bit negative, are the passport employees at Trendy British or Thai.

[delboy]

Despite me sending Trendy an E-mail saying that I shall collect my passport this coming Wednesday, I have just received a call from them asking when I shall be calling to collect my passport. The right hand.....

So, I noted the phone number they used. If it's helpful to someone, the number was 021-687394

When Trendy called you to ask when you will collect your passport seams to indicate that they did not receive the email, or not read the email.

On the other hand, for security reason they might not accept an email about collecting the passport and want to receive a phone call instead.

A bit negative, are the passport employees at Trendy British or Thai.

Their email to inform me that the passport is ready for collection contained the line

"Please send an email to HMPO Bangkok Centre to confirm collection of the passport."

This I did, so they didn't bother to read it. Not unexpected.

[digitalchromakey]

Despite me sending Trendy an E-mail saying that I shall collect my passport this coming Wednesday, I have just received a call from them asking when I shall be calling to collect my passport. The right hand.....

So, I noted the phone number they used. If it's helpful to someone, the number was 021-687394

When Trendy called you to ask when you will collect your passport seams to indicate that they did not receive the email, or not read the email.

On the other hand, for security reason they might not accept an email about collecting the passport and want to receive a phone call instead.

A bit negative, are the passport employees at Trendy British or Thai.

Bit tricky, them expecting a phone call, since trendy don't publish any phone numbers.

I can however confirm that they use that BKK number above to call out.

The only way of communicating with trendy is by email and most of the time, to date, they haven't responded correctly.

Third class service for third class citizens, that's what we have.

Paul Pugh for the chop!

[parryhandy]

agree so why bother with the courtesy of telling them when you can collect your passport as if they are doing you some kind of favour. they are nothing but parasitic unnecessary middle men

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 7.5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited July 28, 2014 by parryhandy

[personchester]

The passport application time-factor will be improved and therefor will get quicker to receive for the applicants both at home (UK) and abroad.

This is due to the fact that > Home Secretary Theresa May < has stated in parliament that 100 additional new staff will be engaged and employed in due course at HMPO in Liverpool.

Currently, HMPO have the highest demands for passports and have so far issued over 3 Million passports during 2014.

As a result of the above, passport application matters will time-wise improve, no doubt about it now.

[OJAS]

The passport application time-factor will be improved and therefor will get quicker to receive for the applicants both at home (UK) and abroad.

This is due to the fact that > Home Secretary Theresa May < has stated in parliament that 100 additional new staff will be engaged and employed in due course at HMPO in Liverpool.

Currently, HMPO have the highest demands for passports and have so far issued over 3 Million passports during 2014.

As a result of the above, passport application matters will time-wise improve, no doubt about it now.

I strongly suspect that HMPO currently having the highest demand for passports is probably not unconnected to their now being responsible for handling applications from British expats living anywhere on this great planet of ours, which were previously handled by the FCO (in the form of the Hong Kong Consulate-General in our case).

Anyway HMPO will presumably need to go through the processes of recruiting and training these additional 100 pairs of hands before they can make any significant inroads into the contents of all those orange boxes which are rapidly gathering dust in an ex-conference room in their Liverpool office. So I am, personally, not holding my breath for any dramatic improvement in the current dire situation in the short term at any rate.

And, there again, there is the question of whether an extra 100 pairs of hands will, in practice, make much difference in the longer term in any event.

Edited July 29, 2014 by OJAS

[soap]

The passport application time-factor will be improved and therefor will get quicker to receive for the applicants both at home (UK) and abroad.

This is due to the fact that > Home Secretary Theresa May < has stated in parliament that 100 additional new staff will be engaged and employed in due course at HMPO in Liverpool.

Currently, HMPO have the highest demands for passports and have so far issued over 3 Million passports during 2014.

As a result of the above, passport application matters will time-wise improve, no doubt about it now.

I would have thought Theresa May was getting paid for making sure the door was locked

Before the horse bolted.

[digitalchromakey]

The passport application time-factor will be improved and therefor will get quicker to receive for the applicants both at home (UK) and abroad.

This is due to the fact that > Home Secretary Theresa May < has stated in parliament that 100 additional new staff will be engaged and employed in due course at HMPO in Liverpool.

Currently, HMPO have the highest demands for passports and have so far issued over 3 Million passports during 2014.

As a result of the above, passport application matters will time-wise improve, no doubt about it now.

Any chance of a link to this report? - can't see anything on the wires.

Or perhaps you are referring to the nett 189 'extra' staff recruited to deal with the overseas applications work taken over from the FCO during fiscal year 2013?

Or perhaps the 'extra' staff temporarily transferred to applications following the Guardian 'orange mountain ' leak in June?

Total HMPO staff at 31st March 2014 was 3,353 permanently employed.

[digitalchromakey]

Picked up may passport yesterday, 2 days short of 9 weeks (applied as late as I dared on May 22) and that turned out to be almost certainly less than it could have been, probably due to some behind the scenes string pulling work by the British Embassy (thank you, thank you).

From the DHL package that I insisted on keeping, which trendy were very keen to throw away, I can now see that trendy waited 6 days after getting my passport before they could be bothered to phone me, if I then had to make an appointment by email, at a time that suited trendy, maybe this would further delay collection by days, or like application appointments, maybe weeks.

When I arrived to collect I had already travelled overnight 16 hours by bus/bus/bus/tube to get there to pick up a single DHL couriered DOX package, in my name, but addressed to Trendy Towers Bangkok.

It took all of five minutes to complete formalities, I then had an 8 hour wait in BKK, followed by a further 16 hour journey home, but at least my 'identity' remains un-stolen, or does it?

Thought for the day, I noticed on close examination that my DHL package had already been re-opened (no customs reseal marks) and the passport envelope inside had ben slit open at the side, the DHL package had then been re-sealed with sellotape.

So much for secure channels of delivery, already someone has been sniffing around my new passport.

Perhaps even as we speak there is (heavens forbid) already a second 'dark' digitalchromakey waiting for their new passport to get back fresh from the forgers.

I quote HMPO

In order to guarantee public protection and so that the passport once replaced cannot be reused for illegal purposes should it be intercepted by a third party it is important that the replaced passport is physically cancelled. To ensure this takes place, the new passport is returned to the UK Visa Application Centre in Bangkok where the customer must present their “old” passport for it to be physically cancelled at which time they will then be presented with their new passport

Secure?

My DHL passport package had already been tampered with, before I even received it, this through the government specified channel.

In its aim, the new service is a complete joke from beginning to end, third class service indeed.

To remind readers of what the OP posted as the very first item on this thread on the 26th March.

The goal is to ensure that all British nationals living overseas receive a consistent, trusted, secure and efficient service whilst keeping the costs as low as possible.

In order to do that, on 10 December 2013, responsibility for handling passport applications in Thailand passed from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Her Majestys Passport Office.

Well HMPO, you promised that the goal was to ensure that all British nationals living overseas received a consistent, trusted, secure and efficient service whilst keeping the costs as low as possible.

What we have is that all British nationals living overseas are receiving an inconsistent, untrustworthy, insecure and inefficient service whilst costs have been kept as low as possible.

Applied to the British Embassy by email for the stamp transfer authorization letter. Got an email reply the next day, asking for details which I supplied (copy new/old ID Page, details of extension date, last visa and entry date to Thailand). Received a reply same day that the letter would be EMS'ed the next day, it was and it arrived the following day.

Planned the run around on Monday to collect all the remaining necessary papers for a further One Year Extension of Permission to Stay based on Thai Family (Spouse).

5 hours at Phuket Immigration today (29 July) achieved the following - relevant stamps transferred to new passport (Phuket Immigration in the end never asked for the transfer authorisation letter (but knowing my luck they would have done if I didn't posses said item). One month conditional approval extension - back in a month hopefully for the balance of 11 months).

This was the busiest I had found Phuket Immigration to be in a long time.

Had to sign the new 'Acknowledgement of Penalty for Overstay' form along with a form stating that I was not currently subject to criminal charges within Thailand or convicted of such in the past.

End result - one day before my old extension and passport were destined to expire, I am there and safe from overstay - but only just.

Very happy that this particular stress is now behind for me, but not happy about what I have experienced.

I will never forgive the British Government and HMPO for some of the most unpleasant days I have spent in Thailand to date over the last 14 years - I won't ever forget this.

My thoughts are now with those unfortunate UK Citizens who are still caught in this train wreck of a fiasco, here's hoping that things can improve and not get even worse still.

Match summary: trendy - confusing and mainly taciturn, HMPO Help Line - mostly morons, Paul 'No Problem' Pugh - fire him now before he resigns and gets that golden parachute, Teresa May - promise 100% I won't ever vote for you (if I ever could that is), HMPO, must try harder, else you will be relegated this season, British Embassy - thanks guys you are the one organization that could have said, "well sorry we would love to help, but it's been taken out of our hands now ", but instead you ended up being the folks who maybe saved my personal (and others') bacon by scoring the only goal of the match.

Excuse me, but I decided to treat myself to a large bottle of Leo this evening.

[soihok]

Go for it mate.

No reply to my last letter complaining of the system by the way (why am I not surprised).

[parryhandy]

Go for it mate.

No reply to my last letter complaining of the system by the way (why am I not surprised).

if I lived in Bangkok I would happily sort your daughter`s passport for you.

Come on you Brits in Bangkok help this guy out.

Currently waiting for Trendy to open.

Oh and well done digital.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 7.5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited July 30, 2014 by parryhandy

[watso63]

So much for having to keep our passports as ID. My ThaiDriving Licence is sufficient, or a certified passport copy just as I suspected all along. An email to the"authorities"will be winging its way from me.

Immigration: Foreigners must now carry valid ID at all times, report within 24 hours

1.jpg

Representatives from the expat community, thaivisa.com and from local hotels was today Tuesday informed by Thai Immigration

and Hua Hin Municipality.

HUA HIN: -- [thaivisa.com] Hua Hin Immigration is from today enforcing the existing rule that foreigners are required to carry a valid photo ID at all times.

At a meeting with Hua Hin Immigration and municipality, Thaivisa.com was informed of the news about the immediate enforcement regarding the requirements for foreigners - both tourists and expats - to carry valid photo ID at all times. Thaivisa has learned that Immigration is likely to enforce this nationwide.

Valid ID's are:

- Thai Drivers Licence

- Passport original

- Copy of passport verified and stamped by Hua Hin Immigration

Penalty:

Failure to carry valid ID as above is 2,000 Baht.

24-hour reporting

Hua Hin Immigration is from today also enforcing the requirements that you and your landlord (condominium owner, house owner etc) must report to Immigration within 24 hours of moving in to a new address. On your arrival card you already reported your place of stay, and if that changes you need to visit Immigration and report your new address. This applies to both tourists and expats.

Edited July 30, 2014 by watso63

[OJAS]

So much for having to keep our passports as ID. My ThaiDriving Licence is sufficient, or a certified passport copy just as I suspected all along. An email to the"authorities"will be winging its way from me.

Immigration: Foreigners must now carry valid ID at all times, report within 24 hours

1.jpg

Representatives from the expat community, thaivisa.com and from local hotels was today Tuesday informed by Thai Immigration

and Hua Hin Municipality.

HUA HIN: -- [thaivisa.com] Hua Hin Immigration is from today enforcing the existing rule that foreigners are required to carry a valid photo ID at all times.

At a meeting with Hua Hin Immigration and municipality, Thaivisa.com was informed of the news about the immediate enforcement regarding the requirements for foreigners - both tourists and expats - to carry valid photo ID at all times. Thaivisa has learned that Immigration is likely to enforce this nationwide.

Valid ID's are:

- Thai Drivers Licence

- Passport original

- Copy of passport verified and stamped by Hua Hin Immigration

Penalty:

Failure to carry valid ID as above is 2,000 Baht.

24-hour reporting

Hua Hin Immigration is from today also enforcing the requirements that you and your landlord (condominium owner, house owner etc) must report to Immigration within 24 hours of moving in to a new address. On your arrival card you already reported your place of stay, and if that changes you need to visit Immigration and report your new address. This applies to both tourists and expats.

This requirement would only appear to apply in Hua Hin at the present time. Therefore as a matter of tactics I think that it would be better to await an official announcement from the Immigration Bureau (if/when forthcoming) that it is being applied nationwide before pressing HMPO to modify their passport renewal procedures accordingly.

[personchester]

The passport application time-factor will be improved and therefor will get quicker to receive for the applicants both at home (UK) and abroad.

This is due to the fact that > Home Secretary Theresa May < has stated in parliament that 100 additional new staff will be engaged and employed in due course at HMPO in Liverpool.

Currently, HMPO have the highest demands for passports and have so far issued over 3 Million passports during 2014.

As a result of the above, passport application matters will time-wise improve, no doubt about it now.

I strongly suspect that HMPO currently having the highest demand for passports is probably not unconnected to their now being responsible for handling applications from British expats living anywhere on this great planet of ours, which were previously handled by the FCO (in the form of the Hong Kong Consulate-General in our case).

Anyway HMPO will presumably need to go through the processes of recruiting and training these additional 100 pairs of hands before they can make any significant inroads into the contents of all those orange boxes which are rapidly gathering dust in an ex-conference room in their Liverpool office. So I am, personally, not holding my breath for any dramatic improvement in the current dire situation in the short term at any rate.

And, there again, there is the question of whether an extra 100 pairs of hands will, in practice, make much difference in the longer term in any event.

Prior to the passport applications via Hong Kong in was done entirely at the UK Embassy in Bangkok and applicants could / would go to their regional UK Consulate and the application form was given there, and applicants completed it there.

Then the old passport together with two photo's and the requested payment was then send by the Consulate to the UK Embassy in Bangkok, and the new passport was produced by the UK Embassy in Bangkok and returned to the Consulate within 7 to 10 days.

When received the Consulate would phone the applicant to collect it.

This was a good application procedure, unfortunately it was abandoned and the current application procedure is very messy.

Next year will be a general election in the UK, should the Labour Party win then those current messy passport application procedures might be changed, and applications for Brits in Thailand might be made again via the UK Consulate to the US Embassy in Bangkok.

[sandyf]

Yesterday, after 12 days I finally received an answer from Newport regarding my passport enquiry. They said it had been printed on the 22nd and I could expect to receive it in 7 - 10 days. Last Friday I had the call from Trendy to say it was available for collection, it had in fact been dispatched 5 days before they sent the email.

My wife picked it up this morning, I am not fit to travel at the moment, The passport is dated the 22nd and appears to have been dispatched on the 23rd and arriving at Trendy on the 25th.

Just need to get the letter now and I will be ready to report back to immigration next week.

[sandyf]

Was the round trip definitely 2000 km's? Just that you have never mentioned it before!

Glad you got the damned thing anwyay, but what are you going to talk about all day now??

Btw, did you not hve to go to the Brit embassy to get that letter for immigration before they transfer the visas?

Embassy was shut by the time I got there, only open until 11:00 for consular services, understand that it is possible to do this by email.

btw you can't transfer visas, only extensions/re-entry permits and entry stamps; for visas you show the old passport.

Just to confirm, the British Embassy will take the transfer authorization request by email, so you definitely don't need to go to the British Embassy in person, but it would of course be quicker.

Emailed asking, got a reply the next specifying required info, which I emailed straight back. they then replied that they would send the Transfer Authorisation Letter by EMS the next day, sure enough, it came the following day (to Phuket)..

For reference:

From: [email protected] 23 Jul (4 days ago)

Dear .............,

Would you mind scan your old and new passport ( photo page only) and email to us, please. We also need to know type of your visa as well ( e.g . retirement, Non- immigrant, tourist etc) and the last date you entered Thailand.

Thank you very much

Consular Bangkok

Thanks for the info. Sent the email and had an answer within half an hour to say the letter would be sent in the morning.

Can't fault that service.

[parryhandy]

well finally home from Bangkok after collecting the passport.

VFS have definitely had a rollicking because all the staff were being over polite.

You now get taken into a cubicle to collect and like digital said the dhl package has already been discreetly opened. I queried this and was told that VFS do this to "check".

It is now also safe to mention that the address I gave as proof of residence was wrong on at least 2 counts. I only found out after I had got the residence certificate translated into English and showed both versions to my daughter. I used an internet bill to get the certificate which apparently has 1 mistake in the address but still gets to us every month. Then immigration made another error when using that to make the certificate. Seeing as I had already spent 1400 baht on this pointless exercise and knew damn well Liverpool cant actually check a damn thing in Thailand I sent it anyway.

So there you are people, as long as you give them something which looks like a real address and its official looking ....

good luck everyone it cant get any worse than it has been.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 7.5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited July 30, 2014 by parryhandy

[delboy]

I too collected my passport today. Flew from Chiang Mai yesterday and was diverted to U-tapao due to severe storm at Swampy. Flew back today.

Agree, interview conducted in cubicle, and girl spoke very good English. She had no objections to me taking the DHL envelopes. Passport was applied for on 7th May, it was issued on 14th July and arrived at Trendy on 18th July. Trendy notified me on 22nd July. My submitted documents arrived back at Trendy yesterday, 29th July even though I had told them at the application that I didn't want them returned.

My proof of address was a Residence Certificate issued at Thai Immigration and English translation.

Approximate cost:

Translation 400 baht

Return flight to Bangkok for application 3,200 baht

Return flight to collect passport 3,200 baht

Taxis/train/MRT fares 1,350 baht

Hotel for 1 night 1,600 baht

2 phone calls at normal rate & skype call 620 baht

Passport cost 5560 baht

Total nearly 11,000 baht

Not including meals, as I have to eat no matter where I am, or the added cost of taking my wife on the journey to collect the passport.

It's not really about the money for me, as it is for a lot of people, or getting time off work, as I am retired. It's mainly about all the ****ing hassle, stress, and inconvenience the UK government puts its citizens through to save a few bob.

Edited July 30, 2014 by delboy

[parryhandy]

Not really about saving money though is it as it has probably cost the taxpayer more. It's about steering taxpayer money into certain private hands under the guise of cost cutting.

[soap]

I too collected my passport today. Flew from Chiang Mai yesterday and was diverted to U-tapao due to severe storm at Swampy. Flew back today.

Agree, interview conducted in cubicle, and girl spoke very good English. She had no objections to me taking the DHL envelopes. Passport was applied for on 7th May, it was issued on 14th July and arrived at Trendy on 18th July. Trendy notified me on 22nd July. My submitted documents arrived back at Trendy yesterday, 29th July even though I had told them at the application that I didn't want them returned.

My proof of address was a Residence Certificate issued at Thai Immigration and English translation.

Approximate cost:

Translation 400 baht

Return flight to Bangkok for application 3,200 baht

Return flight to collect passport 3,200 baht

Taxis/train/MRT fares 1,350 baht

Hotel for 1 night 1,600 baht

2 phone calls at normal rate & skype call 620 baht

Passport cost 5560 baht

Total nearly 11,000 baht

Not including meals, as I have to eat no matter where I am, or the added cost of taking my wife on the journey to collect the passport.

It's not really about the money for me, as it is for a lot of people, or getting time off work, as I am retired. It's mainly about all the ****ing hassle, stress, and inconvenience the UK government puts its citizens through to save a few bob.

Once again another disgrace .

The only thing I can think of to cause people so much hassle and inconvenience, is that when the VFS tendered and won this contract off the HMPO it was on the understanding that they get paid per appointment,and the VFS not giving two monkeys what hassle anyone goes through decided that two appointments to present and collect your passport in person are better for the balance sheet.

Then you have the instigater of this shambles Paul Pugh who as proved on this thread that he does not know his rectum from his elbow and thinks Thailand is about the same size as Hong Kong or Singapore.

My passport is not due for another 5 years but my sons passport is due August 2015,he will be 16 then but there is no way I will let him go down to Bangkok on is own and I'm not taking him down there.

I will make sure I have the correct documents and EMS them down to a friend who lives ten minutes from the Trendy to hand them in and pick them up when the passport arrives back.

What the VFS and the HMPO are telling you to do is the same as telling you to put your hand in the fire because for those living in the vicinity of Bangkok,good luck to you its easy and no problem but there are many many living in the north and south of Thailand and as far as I am concerned its a liberty that in this day and age they don't want to come up with a better option than to travel up to 4,000 kilometres to renew a passport.

It's the principle of the matter,the HMPO and the VFS from the start of this thread have fine tuned these rules to suit themselves,without giving any regard to common sense or logic.And it's only thanks to the Whingers on this thread that the HMPO and the VFS are starting to get some kind of act together.

[sandyf]

well finally home from Bangkok after collecting the passport.

VFS have definitely had a rollicking because all the staff were being over polite.

You now get taken into a cubicle to collect and like digital said the dhl package has already been discreetly opened. I queried this and was told that VFS do this to "check".

It is now also safe to mention that the address I gave as proof of residence was wrong on at least 2 counts. I only found out after I had got the residence certificate translated into English and showed both versions to my daughter. I used an internet bill to get the certificate which apparently has 1 mistake in the address but still gets to us every month. Then immigration made another error when using that to make the certificate. Seeing as I had already spent 1400 baht on this pointless exercise and knew damn well Liverpool cant actually check a damn thing in Thailand I sent it anyway.

So there you are people, as long as you give them something which looks like a real address and its official looking ....

good luck everyone it cant get any worse than it has been.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 7.5 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

That is a bit strange. My wife collected mine today and when she got back she said she had been asked to open it and check the contents before she left.

[parryhandy]

there's an easy peel strip that runs down one side of the DHL envelope. They peel back just enough from one end only so they can get the white envelope inside.It's then been cello taped over.The white envelope contains your passport which has also been opened neatly with a pair of scissors at one end. Its like a credit card envelope. If your not looking closely you wouldn't notice it.

Its very dodgy IMO and I cannot believe they are supposed to do this because what would they need to check and for what reason ? and the way she handed it to me, it was like open it in our presence so you can check it. I said "its been opened already" and she quickly mumbled "for check" Its been done so neatly its alarming. Add that to the fact that some passports have been there for longer than they should have ... maybe the passports did a .... best stop there eh

Edited July 30, 2014 by parryhandy

[digitalchromakey]

there's an easy peel strip that runs down one side of the DHL envelope. They peel back just enough from one end only so they can get the white envelope inside.It's then been cello taped over.The white envelope contains your passport which has also been opened neatly with a pair of scissors at one end. Its like a credit card envelope. If your not looking closely you wouldn't notice it.

Its very dodgy IMO and I cannot believe they are supposed to do this because what would they need to check and for what reason ? and the way she handed it to me, it was like open it in our presence so you can check it. I said "its been opened already" and she quickly mumbled "for check" Its been done so neatly its alarming. Add that to the fact that some passports have been there for longer than they should have ... maybe the passports did a .... best stop there eh

Yes, this is exactly how my DHL package and the inner envelope inside had also been opened.

It stinks, we pay all that money for a personally couriered package sent to the handling agent to 'prevent ID theft' who then sneakily opens the package and does god knows what with our passports.

This added to the cost and inconvenience of travelling to BKK to collect our new passports to prevent ID theft (and admittedly to cancel the old passport), they then sniff around inside on the quiet, it's just laughing in our faces.

Yet again we see that this is a third class service for us patentlyThird Class British Citizens.

I will definitely formally complain about this through the correct channels and demand that the courier fee that was extorted from me be returned in full.