Thai Retirement Visa Rules

[Thunderbirds20]

I have lived in Thailand 11 years and every year I get my new Retirement visa in August. I have a Canadian Passport that will expire in May 2017. This will be my third passport renewal while living here. Before, they issued the visa for one year, even though the passport expires before that year is complete. You simply took your old passport with the one year visa and your new passport to Immigration and had the Visa transferred to the new passport.

For some reason, they stopped doing that and will only issue a visa until the expiry date of the existing passport. An alternative is to get a new passport before the current visa expires and get it transferred to the new passport, ....... why will they transfer this way but not the way they used to?

Seems to me they just want to make our lives more difficult, ..like requiring us to carry passports at all times, when in the past a Thai Driver's license and a photocopy of your passport and visa was enough. No passport means you go to jail until you can produce your passport, ..how can you do that when you are in jail? ... not to mention the increased wear and tear on a passport that is constantly being carried or the increased risk of loss or theft

[Eclipse]

I think you have an extension of stay and not a Visa.

[Jingthing]

Yes this change was made a few years ago.

Previously you could get a full year on your new extension on a passport with less than one year left on it, and transfer the balance to your new passport.

Now, no.

You can only get your new extension until the expiry date of your passport.

My solution was to get my new passport BEFORE that became an issue.

Cheers.

[Colabamumbai]

In over five years here I have never carried my passport, only a drivers license,been stopped many times, never been to jail, or asked to produce my passport.

[johnatong]

You do not have a visa.

Extensions of stay are issued to the expiry date of the passport.

In your case apply for a new passport prior to seeking a new extension of stay or apply for an extension which will be valid to the date the passport expires, in which case a new application for an extension will be needed when you get the new passport.

[ubonjoe]

If you apply for a new extension (not a visa) the extension will only be valid until May 2017 when your passport expires. You would then need to apply for a new extension.

[Bernard Flint]

I do not believe for a moment that the Government are trying to make our lives more difficult. However i do believe they have been enforcing old laws that have not been applied, and with more threat of terror attacks, i for one, are happy tighter controls are in place.

BTW

Y

[ubonjoe]

I do not believe for a moment that the Government are trying to make our lives more difficult. However i do believe they have been enforcing old laws that have not been applied, and with more threat of terror attacks, i for one, are happy tighter controls are in place.

BTW

Y

The rule changed in August of 2013 long before any of what you wrote about happened.

[elviajero]

Why do people like you have the mindset that every change/rule applied by immigration is to "make our lives more difficult"!

It make perfect sense to only issue permission to stay for the duration of the passport. Otherwise if someone were not to renew the passport, and wanted to leave after the permission to stay expired, they would have problems travelling with an invalid passport. The old way was wrong.

I've been here 21 years and never been asked to produce my passport. I've been stopped countless times at police check points and my drivers licence has always been good enough. I believe that although it is law that we carry a passport at all times the official line is that a copy will do. I would have thought that after 11 years you would know someone you could call to get your passport and take it to a police station!

[phutoie2]

Why do people like you have the mindset that every change/rule applied by immigration is to "make our lives more difficult"!

It make perfect sense to only issue permission to stay for the duration of the passport. Otherwise if someone were not to renew the passport, and wanted to leave after the permission to stay expired, they would have problems travelling with an invalid passport. The old way was wrong.

I've been here 21 years and never been asked to produce my passport. I've been stopped countless times at police check points and my drivers licence has always been good enough. I believe that although it is law that we carry a passport at all times the official line is that a copy will do. I would have thought that after 11 years you would know someone you could call to get your passport and take it to a police station!

Not half as irritating as people like you who have to include the phrase " I have been here ____years" in every reply. Apart from your passport number the Thai DL does not include any other details about how you are staying here etc. Immigration Police are not confined to their desks, I was asked at a service station on R33 to show my passport by two female uniformed Imm Police. They even checked my 90 day report. The black Isuzu pickup truck they left in had Immigration Police in white lettering on the rear window.

When the coup started nearly two years ago now inter province buses were stopped at check points and Thais showed ID cards and foreigners their passports. I always make a point of carrying my passport when out of province.

[elviajero]

Why do people like you have the mindset that every change/rule applied by immigration is to "make our lives more difficult"!

It make perfect sense to only issue permission to stay for the duration of the passport. Otherwise if someone were not to renew the passport, and wanted to leave after the permission to stay expired, they would have problems travelling with an invalid passport. The old way was wrong.

I've been here 21 years and never been asked to produce my passport. I've been stopped countless times at police check points and my drivers licence has always been good enough. I believe that although it is law that we carry a passport at all times the official line is that a copy will do. I would have thought that after 11 years you would know someone you could call to get your passport and take it to a police station!

Not half as irritating as people like you who have to include the phrase " I have been here ____years" in every reply. Apart from your passport number the Thai DL does not include any other details about how you are staying here etc. Immigration Police are not confined to their desks, I was asked at a service station on R33 to show my passport by two female uniformed Imm Police. They even checked my 90 day report. The black Isuzu pickup truck they left in had Immigration Police in white lettering on the rear window.

When the coup started nearly two years ago now inter province buses were stopped at check points and Thais showed ID cards and foreigners their passports. I always make a point of carrying my passport when out of province.

Every reply? Are you prone to exaggeration by chance! I mentioned my time here as it is relevant to the OP's concerns about passport checks, and because he mentioned his 11 years!

I went through many check points following the last 2 coups and only ever showed my drivers licence. In most cases when they see I'm a foreigner they just wave me through.

I too take my passport when away from home. That's just common sense. But it is not necessary to carry it at all times which is what the OP was complaining about.

[Thunderbirds20]

In Pattaya,the police were checking people and taking them to jail if they could not produce their passport. I belong to the Expat Club in Pattaya and this was a topic of conversation two weeks in a row, ..... there was even an item in this very forum about it, ...so there you go!

[TSF]

In Pattaya,the police were checking people and taking them to jail if they could not produce their passport. I belong to the Expat Club in Pattaya and this was a topic of conversation two weeks in a row, ..... there was even an item in this very forum about it, ...so there you go!

Dumbest bloody regulation under the sun, you could walk out your hotel/apartment and cross the road to buy a can of coke at the 7-11 and get checked & arrested because you left your passport in your room. I read they were pulling up farang in the Walking Street and arresting those who were not carrying a passport. That's real smart...forced to carry a highly valuable and important item like a passport with you when your out on the tiles surrounded by pickpockets and snatch & grab thieves.

[johnatong]

In Pattaya,the police were checking people and taking them to jail if they could not produce their passport. I belong to the Expat Club in Pattaya and this was a topic of conversation two weeks in a row, ..... there was even an item in this very forum about it, ...so there you go!

Dumbest bloody regulation under the sun, you could walk out your hotel/apartment and cross the road to buy a can of coke at the 7-11 and get checked & arrested because you left your passport in your room. I read they were pulling up farang in the Walking Street and arresting those who were not carrying a passport. That's real smart...forced to carry a highly valuable and important item like a passport with you when your out on the tiles surrounded by pickpockets and snatch & grab thieves.

It is your choice to frequent places where you claim to be "surrounded by pickpockets and snatch & grab thieves"

Thailand really does need better "quality" expats.