Confusion over "passport book number" request for U.S. Tourist Visa

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There seems to be a lot of confusion in past threads and posts here (all of which now seem to be archived) about the request made of applicants for a U.S. Tourist Visa to enter what's called a "passport book number" (also referred to as an "inventory control number") on the DS-160 online application form.

 

In the prior threads, a lot of posters seemed to be confusing the term "passport book number" with either the actual passport number and/or the Thai national ID number, which are both printed on the main photo ID page of the Thai passport. But that is not the case. In the DS-160 online application form that my wife just completed today, there are THREE SEPARATE entry fields requested for that information: 1) passport number, 2) national ID number and 3) passport book number, the latter of which also has the option of checking "Does Not Apply." (Apparently some countries use them on their passports, and others do not).

 

Here's a screen cap that I saw elsewhere online of what the DS-160 application page pertaining to the passport book number section looks like:

 

 

So, I'm going to have my wife call the Thai MFA tomorrow to confirm on this subject. But for the moment, I believe what others have posted previously about the "passport book number" being the same as the passport number or Thai ID number is simply wrong. And I wouldn't advise entering either of those two numbers into the passport book number field.

 

My guess is, that Thai passports simply don't have a passport book number, so the correct choice for that field is "does not apply." That seems to be the general guessing conclusion of various Thai posters on a couple of Pantip forum threads, but nothing was resolved authoritatively there either.

 

But, there also is a different barcode number printed on the bottom rear cover of Thai passports, and I don't know what that number is or what it's called. But it's the only other kind of number I can see on Thai passports, beyond the passport number or the national ID number. So, that back cover might be a passport book number, or it might not be. Hopefully the MFA can clarify on that point.

 

Here are some of the prior threads on this subject, and it's unfortunate that AFAICT, in none of them, is the issue of whether Thai passports have a passport control number clearly or reliably resolved.

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

At one time a Thai passport had a punched in book number on them  but those have not been issued for many years (2005 I think).

I would tick does not apply.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Joe, FWIW, my wife got her most recent Thai passports in 2008 and then again in 2015.

 

In both cases, both passports had what I assume you mean by a "punched in" number across the top of each passport page, by punched in I mean actual small perforations of each page.

 

However, that number that's punched in on both her 2008 and 2015 Thai passports is the actual passport number itself -- not any different number.

 

So, #1, Thai MFA at least as of last year was still doing that kind of perforations on their Thai passports, and #2, it's not a "passport book number," unless the Thai MFA considers the passport number to be the same as the differently titled "passport book number."

 

[lopburi3]

45 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

At one time a Thai passport had a punched in book number on them  but those have not been issued for many years (2005 I think).

I would tick does not apply.

 

 

The punched number is and has been the normal passport number on a red Thai passport for at least the last 30 years from a current check.  The only change I see is they stopped also printing the number on bottom of each page when they reduced to current size about 20 years ago.  

[Tony M]

The passports for some countries have a book number, or a booklet number. Not all countries have them  Attached is an example of a (old style) South African passport book number (which appears in the middle pages only).

 

The book number is useful in identifying where blank passports were actually issued, and, more importantly, for identifying stolen blank passports.  Stolen blanks can be completed with any "personal" details, of course, but many immigration authorities carry the details of stolen blanks, and the book number can often identify them (if the forger doesn't change the book number !).

 

 

Doc3.docx

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So in that South African example, the passport book number isn't appearing on the main passport photo and info page, but instead on one or more of the inside visa stamp pages.

 

 

In my wife's Thai passport, there are no numbers printed on the inside visa pages at all -- just the actual passport number itself done as a stamped perforation at the top of each page in the book.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Fyi, my wife called the Thai MFA this morning and talked to their passport office at Chaengwattana re the issue of passport book numbers and whether Thai passports have one.

 

According to MFA, the passport book number is the bar code number on the lower back cover of the Thai passport, which is different from the passport number itself that's printed on the main passport face page and perforated on every page.

 

That said, lots of folks here apparently have been submitting U.S. visa applications apparently without knowing what the passport book number is, and presumably not entering it on their applications. So who knows how much, if at all, the U.S. Consulate cares whether you enter that number properly on your DS-160 application.

 

But in light of the MFA's guidance, I'll be using that passport book number entry on my wife's upcoming DS-160 application.

 

[lopburi3]

In that case it must be something new rather than old as no passport up to 2004 appear to have any barcode or number on back cover.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yes... although not so new. Both my wife's 2008 and 2015-edition Thai passports have that barcode sticker and number on the outside rear cover.