Applying For A Thai Passport In The Uk

[kelv23]

Has anyone applied for a Thai passport in the UK in the last 6 months or so?

My sons passport has been stolen, the Embassy in London say they need a Police report. The Police are saying that they no longer issue reports for lost or stolen passports. Ive phoned everyone from UK Immigration to the Home Office and just keep getting fobbed off. Im just getting played off one another saying we need a report and the other saying sorry we dont do them.

Thanks

[GU22]

I cannot understand why the police wont give you a report. Surrey Police were more than happy to do this for my wife when her handbag, containing her ID card, was stolen.

This was last year, but I can't see why they would change. Especially as it is natural for the embassy to want such a report to replace a stolen passport. Indeed, when we claimed for the bag and it's contents on our insurance, the insurance company wanted a copy of it as well.

If they wont give you a report, they should at least give you a crime referance number. Maybe this will be enough for the embassy?

[Rinrada]

Same here....but over a year ago..

Our local "finest" in Enfield had no hangups about given us a report when our bags /passports went missing at Heathrow -presumed nicked.(following day)...on the way back from LOS... (long story)

In fact they proved most sympathetic,considerate and understanding....

Then it was down to the Thai Embassy with the usual other bits of info (actually think only needed wifes ID card)paid a couple of quid extra special delivery to them and got the new PP sent from Bangkok via Embassy to the house in about 3-4 weeks.

[vinny]

Has anyone applied for a Thai passport in the UK in the last 6 months or so?

My sons passport has been stolen, the Embassy in London say they need a Police report. The Police are saying that they no longer issue reports for lost or stolen passports. Ive phoned everyone from UK Immigration to the Home Office and just keep getting fobbed off. Im just getting played off one another saying we need a report and the other saying sorry we dont do them.

Thanks

The police should file a report and give you a reference number, else they are acting against UK Government policy. See Lost or stolen passport:

If your passport was lost or stolen in the UK, you must report this to us. All cases of theft must also be reported to your local police station. You must insert the crime reference details in the relevant section of the declaration of loss/theft form (LS01), which you will need to complete and return to us.

The loss/theft form (LS01) also repeats:

The police must be notified of passport loss or theft in the UK.

See also Don't be a loser this summer! over 250,000 UK passports lost or stolen each year.

Edited August 31, 2006 by vinny

[samran]

We had some stuff nicked in London. The police, like in your case, didn't give us a report as they didn't do them anymore, but they gave us something with a ref number.

This was good enough for the insurance company, so it should be good enough for the Thai emabssy. Remember, the embassy just want a piece of paper so they can tick the relevant box.

[Charma]

If the passport was stolen, the police MUST allocate a crime reference number to your case. If they will not give you this, then file a complaint. This will have to be investigated. I can only think that this reluctance can be down to someone too lazy to help you out. Are you sure it was recorded as a theft and not as lost property?

[kelv23]

Has anyone applied for a Thai passport in the UK in the last 6 months or so?

My sons passport has been stolen, the Embassy in London say they need a Police report. The Police are saying that they no longer issue reports for lost or stolen passports. Ive phoned everyone from UK Immigration to the Home Office and just keep getting fobbed off. Im just getting played off one another saying we need a report and the other saying sorry we dont do them.

Thanks

The police should file a report and give you a reference number, else they are acting against UK Government policy. See Lost or stolen passport:

If your passport was lost or stolen in the UK, you must report this to us. All cases of theft must also be reported to your local police station. You must insert the crime reference details in the relevant section of the declaration of loss/theft form (LS01), which you will need to complete and return to us.

The loss/theft form (LS01) also repeats:

The police must be notified of passport loss or theft in the UK.

See also Don't be a loser this summer! over 250,000 UK passports lost or stolen each year.

Im assuming this only applies to UK passports, the passport that was stolen was Thai BTW

[vinny]

Yes, the loss/theft form (LS01) is only applicable to UK passports. However, the procedure of reporting loss/stolen passports to the police and obtaining a reference number should apply to all passports, irrespective of origin and nationality. For example, see also Avon and Somerset Constabulary's Reporting lost or stolen passports:

Any passport which is either lost or stolen should be reported to the police in order that appropriate investigations can be undertaken.

Any foreign national reporting the loss or theft of their passport or national identity card must also report that loss/theft to their embassy/consulate in the UK without delay.

Failure by the police to file such a report and issue a reference number is unacceptable:

DATABASE ON LOST AND STOLEN PASSPORTS

71. One of Interpol's databases that could contribute directly to the counter-terrorism effort is that on lost and stolen passports. Terrorists—and international criminals generally—rely heavily on false documentation to assist their movement around the world. Mr Noble told us that in every serious terrorist incident a fraudulent passport has been used.[103] The database contains some 5.6 million items, but we were surprised to learn from Mr Noble that the Schengen Information System (SIS) contains far more, over ten million.[104] This indicates that many Member States are not notifying relevant information to the Interpol database and probably not consulting it on a regular basis. This is unacceptable. Every effort must be made to ensure that the Interpol database is as comprehensive as possible. Indeed we question whether there is a need to maintain a separate EU database. The Home Office told us that Europol uses the SIS information for analytical purposes as well as for checks on individual passengers, but as Europol has access to the Interpol database, it would still be able to undertake its analytical work without the need to maintain a separate database. If there were a single global database, it would be in everyone's interest to ensure that it was kept up to date and consulted whenever necessary. At present authorities in the EU may rely instead only on the passport data in the SIS database, which by definition does not have global coverage.

Edited September 1, 2006 by vinny