Send passport out of Thailand

[kilt]

A friend (yes seriously) has spoken to an honorary consulate in his home country who says he can send his passport to them while he is in Thailand and they will issue a 1 year non Imm visa and send it back to him in Thailand. I can see all sorts of issues with that but some informed information would be much appreciated. Cheers!

[Crossy]

Sending from within Thailand is not permitted.

There are a small number of posts where members have done the above, and then the visa has been spotted when they exited Thailand and been cancelled on the spot.

IF you have multiple passports then sending one which does not appear to be in Thailand may not be an issue, but it's certainly outside the spirit of the law.

[elviajero]

Bad advice from the Consulate if true. It's against the MFA rules for issuing visas.

5. To apply for a visa, a foreigner must possess a valid passport or travel document that is recognised by the Royal Thai Government and comply with the conditions set forth in the Immigration Act of Thailand B.E.2522 (1979) and its relevant regulations. In addition, the visa applicant must be outside of Thailand at the time of application. The applicant will be issued with a type of visa in accordance to his or her purpose of visit. For more information on types of visas and general requirements for each type of visa, please see Types of Visa and Issuance of Visa

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15405-General-information.html

Your friend could have big problems with the police/immigration if he can't produce his passport on demand and he may have problems using the visa if an IO notices that he was issued when in Thailand.

[steve187]

bad idea

maybe an ajoining country if he is willing to take a chance, maybe a nearby country that wouldn't be so hot on not carrying passport. but either way a big risk

[inbangkok]

Horrible, horrible idea....

[Eclipse]

Illegal

[worgeordie]

Used to do this many ,many years ago,but the agent had them

stamped out and in through Malaysia,before been posted to

whatever Thai embassy was involved in stamping the visa,it

was very worrying waiting for passport to be returned.things

were not so strict as they are now,and my advice would be

don't even think about it.

regards Worgeordie

[Ace of Pop]

No TM card with correct date,explain that.

[darrendsd]

Did this myself many many years ago, got out/in stamps in the Passport to

Took a very long time and I always wondered if the stamps were legit, got a new Passport now so no problem but would never do it again, to much worry waiting for the PP to come back

I would advise your friend not to do it OP

[Jip99]

So your friend believed what he heard at a Thai consulate ?

This sort of misinformation does nobody any favours.

[MYKTHEMIN]

Many just go to Laos, post to relative at home, they send for new visa and then post back to Laos address, very easy, but not really legal?

[darrendsd]

How would they get to Laos with no PP to pick it up? If it is posted back to Thailand there is no entry stamp

If there is no entry stamp it will be spotted by Immigration straight away

[elviajero]

How would they get to Laos with no PP to pick it up? If it is posted back to Thailand there is no entry stamp

If there is no entry stamp it will be spotted by Immigration straight away

They would exit Thailand so the passport shows a Thai exit stamp. Once in Laos they post the passport to home, which eventually gets returned to them in Laos. They re-enter Thailand with a passport in order. Still very dodgy and potentially breaking visa rules. I don't know what the legal position is regarding someone sending a passport, in use, out of the country they are in, but it must break rules/laws at some level.

There is nothing wrong with sending a passport, not in use, to another country for a visa as long as the embassy/consulate allow it. It's done by many people that have two passports from the same country or dual nationality. Especially those that travel for work and need to apply for visas whilst traveling.

[bkkcanuck8]

How would they get to Laos with no PP to pick it up? If it is posted back to Thailand there is no entry stamp

If there is no entry stamp it will be spotted by Immigration straight away

They would exit Thailand so the passport shows a Thai exit stamp. Once in Laos they post the passport to home, which eventually gets returned to them in Laos. They re-enter Thailand with a passport in order. Still very dodgy and potentially breaking visa rules. I don't know what the legal position is regarding someone sending a passport, in use, out of the country they are in, but it must break rules/laws at some level.

There is nothing wrong with sending a passport, not in use, to another country for a visa as long as the embassy/consulate allow it. It's done by many people that have two passports from the same country or dual nationality. Especially those that travel for work and need to apply for visas whilst traveling.

I sent my passport (in use) out of the country for 3 weeks.... it was of course my expiring passport and getting a new one from the government.... There of course is always a risk that during that period you won't have a passport to show (though you can get a letter with a photo embossed on it indicating where your passport is if you want to cover yourself). It is an official party, but sometimes you have to part with it. I think you might be stretching things there.

That said - it is dodgy -- and very definitely against the intent of the law (or more). I would NEVER send my passport to anyone, I will only hand mine directly to the consulate or embassy I am at for visa processing..... I would never give my passport to anyone that is not official (that includes honourary) to have things taken care of.... too many things can go wrong.... and if something is wrong it is you the holder of the passport that is held accountable. It is a state document and you own it, you are only allowed the use of it for official purposes.

The only exception I have to not "handing" it to anyone (other than direct) -- is when I am visiting my sister and she has her and my passport sent over via Embassy staff for visas (hers is a diplomatic passport and it is permitted to have staff act on your behalf, and if mine goes with hers then I get the feeling they don't ask any questions).

[IMA_FARANG]

Mailing your passport out of country will cause big problems when he tries to re-enter Thailand.

Since he is obviously here in Thailand now he will have a big problem because he will not show an exit stamp in his passport that shows he legally exited Thailand. from his current visa.

When he tries to re-enter Thailand with his new visa and no legal exit stamp from his current Thai visa.....they will know his new visa was not obtained legally.

Big problems will occur.

If you enter Thailand legally on a valid visa you MUST also exit on that same visa.

That us why you must have a valid exit stamp in your passport from exiting Thailand.

You are stamped into Thailand when you enter legally....you are required to show a exit stamp to correspond with that entrance when you leave legally.

[MYKTHEMIN]

How would they get to Laos with no PP to pick it up? If it is posted back to Thailand there is no entry stamp

If there is no entry stamp it will be spotted by Immigration straight away

They holiday there and wait, one week maybe 2.

[The traveler]

Is it still illegal to do it?  since I can’t get a METV in a nearby country.

[The traveler]

1 minute ago, The traveler said:

Is it still illegal to do it?  since I can’t get a METV in a nearby country.

I guess it’s still illegal, but mailing my passport to my family member with the required documents etc and then my family member mails it further to the thai embassy waiting a week, then the Thai embassy mail it to my family member and then further to here, seems possible to me,  but a risk of losing it in the post, and I also probably need to exit on current visa before getting a new one ?

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, The traveler said:

Is it still illegal to do it?  since I can’t get a METV in a nearby country.

Yes it is still illegal.

 

Just now, The traveler said:

I guess it’s still illegal, but mailing my passport to my family member with the required documents etc and then my family member mails it further to the thai embassy waiting a week, then the Thai embassy mail it to my family member and then further to here, seems possible to me,  but a risk of losing it in the post, and I also probably need to exit on current visa before getting a new one ?

There is good chance that the embassy would deny the application if they checked for a departure stamp from Thailand which your passport would not have in it. Another problem is that most embassies want to see a ticket to here when you do the application. 

[The traveler]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes it is still illegal.

 

There is good chance that the embassy would deny the application if they checked for a departure stamp from Thailand which your passport would not have in it. Another problem is that most embassies want to see a ticket to here when you do the application. 

Yes That’s right and I understand.

[JackThompson]

As to mailing-out from within Thailand - consider also, your entry/exit history is in the Immigration database.  If the visa-date shows "issued" while you are in Thailand, you are busted - even if you used a 2nd passport for the visa.  Don't do this - it is written in the law as not permitted.

 

On 2/29/2016 at 11:53 AM, MYKTHEMIN said:

Many just go to Laos, post to relative at home, they send for new visa and then post back to Laos address, very easy, but not really legal?

That way is legal, because the applicant is outside Thailand when applying.

 

On 11/3/2018 at 11:32 AM, The traveler said:

Is it still illegal to do it?  since I can’t get a METV in a nearby country.

It is only legal if you do the entire process - mail-out, get visa, mail-back - while outside Thailand.

Another consideration:  If your home-consulate demands you be in your home country to apply (would be their rule - not Thai law).  They could look at your latest entry/exit stamps to determine this.  Some suggested staying in Hong Kong for the process, where no entry/exit stamps are given, but you are then violating the consulate's rules (not Thai law), which could cause problems if you needed their services in the future.