TR Visa + Extension + New Passport

[PREM-R]

I will be traveling to Savannakhet in a week or so with a guy who has just renewed his UK passport. He showed me a letter that was given to him when he received his new passport, asking for immigration to transfer his visa to the new passport.

While he was waiting for the arrival of his new passport he extended his TR visa at the local immigration office for 30 days using his old passport. My question is: should he go to the same local immigration office where he got the extension and present his old/new passports and the letter in order to get the extension transferred to his new passport before heading to Laos?

My experience with the immigration at the Friendship Bridge II at Mukdahan has not always been pleasant and I would hate for us to arrive there only for him to be told to go to the immigration office. Also, is there a charge for transferring the Visa/extension stamp from the old to the new passport? Thanks

[elviajero]

• He does not need to get the extension transferred at immigration.

He just needs to show both passports on exit and the IO will transfer the extension stamp from the old to new passport, and stamp him out of the country in his new passport.

No charge.

[PREM-R]

WOW, that was a fast reply. Thank you very much

[clairerosemont]

hi!

i will soon go to chaengwattana to extend my tourist visa. will the extension be valid from the last day of the original visa (so makes it sense to go there right away even if the visa is still valid for another month)?

or will it be extended for another 30 days the day i go there and get the stamp?

Thank you!

[ubonjoe]

hi!

i will soon go to chaengwattana to extend my tourist visa. will the extension be valid from the last day of the original visa (so makes it sense to go there right away even if the visa is still valid for another month)?

or will it be extended for another 30 days the day i go there and get the stamp?

Thank you!

You will be extending the 60 day entry your tourist visa allowed. You can do it a couple of weeks before the date shown on your entry stamp. The 30 day extension will start from your admitted until date not the date you do it.

[elviajero]

hi!

i will soon go to chaengwattana to extend my tourist visa. will the extension be valid from the last day of the original visa (so makes it sense to go there right away even if the visa is still valid for another month)?

or will it be extended for another 30 days the day i go there and get the stamp?

Thank you!

• Day 1 of the 30 day extension starts from the day after your current permission to stay ends regardless of how early you apply. e.g. If your permission is until the 9th, day 1 of the 30 would be the 10th even if you applied on the 2nd.
• You should have no problem extending within the last 7/14 days. They might do it 30 days early, but there is no guarantee.

[Suradit69]

hi!

i will soon go to chaengwattana to extend my tourist visa. will the extension be valid from the last day of the original visa (so makes it sense to go there right away even if the visa is still valid for another month)?

or will it be extended for another 30 days the day i go there and get the stamp?

Thank you!

"i will soon go to chaengwattana to extend my tourist visa. will the extension be valid from the last day of the original visa (so makes it sense to go there right away even if the visa is still valid for another month)?"

You're extending your permission to stay, not the visa. The 30 day extension will be added onto your current permission to stay (the stamp you got when you passed through immigrations on arrival). At this point the visa is largely irrelevant, it's the immigration stamp(s) that matter.

You lose nothing by going in early, but as others have said, immigrations would likely only give you the extension during the last week or two before your current permission expires.

Annual extensions of stay can usually be done 30 to 45 days early, but 30 day extensions of tourist or visa exempt permissions to stay cannot be done that far in advance.

[PREM-R]

OP UPDATE

We arrived at the Friendship Bridge II in Mukdahan and the new and old passports were handed to the lady in the immigration booth, she took a look and said "you go office" and pointed to the place where overstay fees are paid. We went in there and the lady looked at the two passports and said "you go immigration office". As luck would have it, the immigration office in Mukdahan is just outside the bridge compound, it was a few minutes walk. The immigration officer was very efficient, we were in and out in about 10 minutes, there were no other people there.

We returned to the immigration booth at the bridge and were both stamped out without a problem. Unfortunately, we had by then missed the bus over the bridge and had to wait about 45 minutes for the next one. As we waited my friend decided to check his passport and noticed that the change of passport details had taken one whole page of his new passport and the 30 day extension he had got from his local immigration office was also transferred which took up a further whole page. On arrival in Laos we got our visa on arrival, another full page in his passport gone. He got his new TR visa on Wednesday afternoon, another full page gone and we returned to Thailand with him having used up 4 and a half pages in his new passport.

It does seem that, at least at Mukdahan, it is necessary to get a new passport 'authorized' and visa, extensions etc moved over by an immigration office before leaving the country, they will not/cannot do the paperwork and stamps actually at the bridge.

[ubonjoe]

The do the same thing at other border crossings where there is a immigration office close to the crossings (Nong Khai is one). I think they don't want to take the time to do it a the crossings is the reason they do it. If you cross when the immigration office is closed they will do it at the crossing.

Two pages for a complete stamp transfer is about normal.