Get a new passport and/or visa considering past visa history?

[Pierre Quiroule]

Hello there, I hope everybody is doing good !

 

I came here before and always received valuable advice, and I hope you can give me an insight on my new questions. Here is some context first, I'm a 24 year-old caucasian French national, I will finish studying soon and I'm planning to go back to Thailand where I already spent some time before, but I'm concerned about my visa history (since immigration officers can ask question and take decisions at their own discretion as I noticed in the past, even though I never had any problems).

 

In the past I took a gap-year in my studies and spent the period August 2015 to September 2016 in Thailand on different visas and exemptions (13 months total and 11 pages filled in my passeport): 3 months from Thai embassy in France, then 2 months exemption thanks to trips to Ho Chi Minh and Kuala Lumpur (at this point I got questioned about what I was doing and answered I was a tourist), then got 3 month ED visa in Singapore for internship (at this point I got asked where I study and I had to explain I study in France but do an internship in Thailand) , then 3 month Business visa obtained in Vientiane (still for the same internship), then 2 last months thanks to trip to Vang Vien and extension. 

 

Now it's been 7 months that I'm in France to study, and I want to go back to Thailand in April 2017 before Songkran but I'm not sure if it's safe considering my visa history. My plan is to stay there as a tourist a little bit and find a decent job (software development) with work permit and visa in less than a few months. So I have two questions, considering my plan should I renew my passport to get an empty one or keep the same one? And about the visa, should I get a 3 month (2+1) visa from Thai embassy in Paris, or should I come without anything (exemption 1+1) ? If I haven't a job and business visa by then, I might have to get another tourist visa in a neighbor SEA country to give me more time. If I have to renew my passport and get a visa I'm not sure to be there before Songkran unfortunately, but maybe that's better to be safe and arrive later than to be refused entry?

 

Thanks in advance for your insights and I'd be happy to provide more details,

 

Pierre Quiroule

 

Edit: I forgot a small detail, I can get a new passport for free but the expiration date will remain 2025, or I can get a new one with new expiration date (2027) but it's 80€, I don't know if anyone will pay attention to that?

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by Pierre Quiroule

[elviajero]

7 minutes ago, Pierre Quiroule said:

So I have two questions, considering my plan should I renew my passport to get an empty one or keep the same one? And about the visa, should I get a 3 month (2+1) visa from Thai embassy in Paris, or should I come without anything (exemption 1+1) ?

Getting a new passport probably won't make any difference when entering the country as immigration has access to your past history. Having a clean passport might help if applying for visas in SE Asia as the embassies/consulates seem to go by what they can see in the passport, and don't seem to have access to your previous visa history.

 

It would be better to get a SETV before leaving France.

[Pierre Quiroule]

3 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Getting a new passport probably won't make any difference when entering the country as immigration has access to your past history. Having a clean passport might help if applying for visas in SE Asia as the embassies/consulates seem to go by what they can see in the passport, and don't seem to have access to your previous visa history.

 

It would be better to get a SETV before leaving France.

 

Okay thanks for your answer, this sounds good to me, as the process will be quicker. Is there a risk Thai embassy in Paris doesn't accept to give a tourist visa considering the history in the passport?

 

And I didn't know the history would show up to the immigration, as they have so many tourists coming in and not time to check thoroughly, but that's probably a false idea I have

 

 

[elviajero]

8 minutes ago, Pierre Quiroule said:

Is there a risk Thai embassy in Paris doesn't accept to give a tourist visa considering the history in the passport?

I believe they will only issue a new Tourist Visa if you have been in France for at least 3 months. As you've been in the country for over 7 months you should be ok.

[Pierre Quiroule]

2 minutes ago, elviajero said:

I believe they will only issue a new Tourist Visa if you have been in France for at least 3 months. As you've been in the country for over 7 months you should be ok.

 

Okay thanks for your fast and clear answers, hopefully I'll get the SETV and enjoy Songkran in Thailand

[JackThompson]

If you can get a new passport for free, I don't see why not to do it.  EV is correct - your full history is available at Immigration, but there are a few other potential upsides to a new passport:

• It is not clear what detail IOs see on the entries (type of entry - exempt, visa-type, etc)
• Some IOs examine every used page (possibly due to lack of detail on their computer?), so entry may be quicker with a new passport. 
• An IO's general perception may differ if they have not visually-examined all those stamps. 
• If getting a Tourist-Visa in the region later, you might avoid the dreaded, "this person enters on Tourist Visas frequently" stamp, by using a new passport - I received that stamp on a new tourist-visa after 7 months out of Thailand - based on old stamps. 

The rule for new visas from the Thai consulate in France was 90-days out, last I heard - but you could call and ask to be sure. 

Edited March 25, 2017 by JackThompson

[Pierre Quiroule]

6 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

If you can get a new passport for free, I don't see why not to do it.  EV is correct - your full history is available at Immigration, but there are a few other potential upsides to a new passport:

• It is not clear what detail IOs see on the entries (type of entry - exempt, visa-type, etc)
• Some IOs examine every used page (possibly due to lack of detail on their computer?), so entry may be quicker with a new passport. 
• An IO's general perception may differ if they have not visually-examined all those stamps. 
• If getting a Tourist-Visa in the region later, you might avoid the dreaded, "this person enters on Tourist Visas frequently" stamp, by using a new passport - I received that stamp on a passport after 7 months out of Thailand - based on old stamps. 

The rule for new visas from the Thai consulate in France was 90-days out, last I heard - but you could call and ask to be sure. 

 

Thanks for these additional thoughts. I can get a new passport for free but it takes some time so I might miss Songkran by a few days. And I understand the first SETV should be okay in either case, but you're right, if I don't obtain a job and visa during this period I will have to get another SETV and having a filled passport might be a burden

Edited March 25, 2017 by Pierre Quiroule

[howard ashoul]

I was staying in Thailand for 3 years in a row on a tourist visa. Basically I was every 2 months going to Laos to get a new visa. After 3 years I did a visa run as ussual. But this time I got my passport back with a red stamp which basically said "you are abusing visa runs, do it once more and you're risking you will not be given visa". But I still got that visa.

 

So after this visa expired I went back to my country. I obtained a new passport. Asked for multiple entry visa (6 months) in my country. Got them without any problem. Went to Thailand. No problem. Since then I never had a single problem (~3 years).

 

So even if you get a warning there's no problem. You didn't even went so far.

Edited March 25, 2017 by howard ashoul

[Pierre Quiroule]

2 hours ago, howard ashoul said:

I was staying in Thailand for 3 years in a row on a tourist visa. Basically I was every 2 months going to Laos to get a new visa. After 3 years I did a visa run as ussual. But this time I got my passport back with a red stamp which basically said "you are abusing visa runs, do it once more and you're risking you will not be given visa". But I still got that visa.

 

So after this visa expired I went back to my country. I obtained a new passport. Asked for multiple entry visa (6 months) in my country. Got them without any problem. Went to Thailand. No problem. Since then I never had a single problem (~3 years).

 

So even if you get a warning there's no problem. You didn't even went so far.

 

Yes I haven't reached that point, and I'm not sure if this would still work today, but I get your point. Thanks all for the answers, I'll just get the tourist visa here in France and it should be fine.

[alocacoc]

16 hours ago, elviajero said:

Getting a new passport probably won't make any difference when entering the country as immigration has access to your past history.

How is this possible?

 

 

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, alocacoc said:

How is this possible?

 

 

That would be records of entries, departures extensions and etc.

When entering the country with a new passport the history from the old passport will be linked to the new one. The system will do a name, date of birth and nationality search for a match.

[lkv]

33 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That would be records of entries, departures extensions and etc.

When entering the country with a new passport the history from the old passport will be linked to the new one. The system will do a name, date of birth and nationality search for a match.

Probably, but every single time I enter they seem to just scan the passport, they type something in, then they do a quick (or longer) visual of the passport. So either that info does not show up on a primary screen, or they don't look too much at it.