# new passport



## hutchings1909

i have just received my new passport from hong kong,but my visa is in old passport,ive been to mai sai today the immergration wasnt going to let me re enter thailand,im on a retirement visa in the end instead of 90 days i only got 60 days thats when my old passport was supposed to finish, they would not even look at my new passport, does any body know any thing about this please.


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## Mweiga

*Passport quandary*



hutchings1909 said:


> i have just received my new passport from hong kong,but my visa is in old passport,ive been to mai sai today the immergration wasnt going to let me re enter thailand,im on a retirement visa in the end instead of 90 days i only got 60 days thats when my old passport was supposed to finish, they would not even look at my new passport, does any body know any thing about this please.


So where is your old passport ? 

If it was retained in HK you may likely have to apply for a new one year non-immigrant visa ("retirement visa") for stamping in your new passport.

If you got your old passport back with the new passport but the old one has been cancelled , then this invalidates any current visa stamps it has in it and , again , you will likely need to apply for a new one year non-immigrant visa.

If you got your old passport back with the new one and it has been left uncancelled then you should have been OK. There used to be an official process for "attaching" old passports that were full but had not expired to the new passport if there were valid visas still in it but you had to request this on the passport renewal application.


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## hutchings1909

i still have my old passport but it has the visa in it i have a 1 year over 50 visa ,i went to mai sai on sunday and they said they cant put a stamp in the new one with out a letter from the british embassy,the new passport started on the 5 th of jan it is bio metric i went to the immegration office but it was closed but a official told me to go to the check point and they will sought it out for me but they never,


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## hutchings1909

im sorry i should have said they stamped the old passport but the new one stated on the 5 th of jan


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## Mweiga

*Passport dilemma*

It sounds like you are caught in some catch 22 situation. Normally your old passport should have been officially attached to the new one by the issuing authority in HK - this process in effect combines the two passports into one with valid visa stamps still in place. Maybe they can't do this with the new biometric passport. If Thai immigration will not transfer your valid one year visa stamp to your new passport then probably your best option is to get the letter from the Brtitish Embassy as they request. Good luck !


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## martin R

I recently got new UK passport and letter to Immigration asking to transfer my Non Immigrant visa (Permanent Resident) to new passport. I took letter and both passports to immigration at Chaeng Wattana but they declined the transfer. They said do it at the airport when next leaving Thailand.
Is this correct as I don't want my overseas trip (or return) jeopardised?


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## Asian Spirit

martin R said:


> I recently got new UK passport and letter to Immigration asking to transfer my Non Immigrant visa (Permanent Resident) to new passport. I took letter and both passports to immigration at Chaeng Wattana but they declined the transfer. They said do it at the airport when next leaving Thailand.
> Is this correct as I don't want my overseas trip (or return) jeopardized?


Hi Martin and welcome to the forum,

I'm not in Thailand so am unable to be much help. Was thinking though, if you don't get solid info here it might be a good idea to pay your embassy there a visit to get accurate information.



Best of luck,

Jet Lag


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## martin R

Thanks for reply. I contacted British Embassy with same details and all they did was issue (another) pro forma letter requesting Immigration Dept transfer valid visa from old to new passport. As I mentioned, Chaeng Wattana declined and told me to deal with this at airport and to bring old passport with valid visa and the blank new one. I am not confident with this, unless others confirm this is correct.


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## tod-daniels

martin R said:


> I recently got new UK passport and letter to Immigration asking to transfer my Non Immigrant visa (Permanent Resident) to new passport. I took letter and both passports to immigration at Chaeng Wattana but they declined the transfer. They said do it at the airport when next leaving Thailand.
> Is this correct as I don't want my overseas trip (or return) jeopardised?


Okay, FIRST off let's get some terminology straight. Are you sure you have "Permanent Residency"? By that I mean did you work here for 5 years, pay thai tax, file income tax, apply, pay the 191K baht fee (if you're single) or 91K baht (if you're married to a thai), wait the years it takes to get your PR status approved, get you own Permanent Residence book, work permit AND your foreigner with PR status ID card?
*OR*
Are you on a yearly extension of stay based on;1) being married to a thai, 2) being over 50, 3) supporting thai children, 4)work, 5) volunteer. 

Immigration's will NEVER EVER transfer a "visa" to a new passport. They transfer into your new passport, the relevant information about when you got your first Non-O visa, when you got your yearly extension and they do transfer your current "permission to stay until stamp". They also don't transfer re-entry permits. 

The big question IS; where did you get your current yearly extension of stay? As in what Immigration Office in Thailand? Ever since Thai Immigration went to zone immigration's you can't do stuff like transfer permission to stay stamps, change passports at any office except where you got your yearly extension. So the question is, did you get your current yearly extension of stay AT Chaengwattana or somewhere else

Remember, you're not going to get a re-entry permit transferred to your new passport. This means you're going to have to take BOTH passports with you every time you leave the country until you apply for your next yearly extension of stay. 

About the only thing that's correct in your post is what Immigration's told you; by taking both passports to the airport you'll be fine even if you haven't transferred the permission to stay stamp. 

Answer back with the information I requested and I can better steer you where you need to go.. 

Hope that helps...


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## Thai Bigfoot

When I got my new U.S. passport last year, I went to the Phuket immigration with both and they transferred the visa to the new passport. Wasn't even a fee.


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## Asian Spirit

Thai Bigfoot said:


> When I got my new U.S. passport last year, I went to the Phuket immigration with both and they transferred the visa to the new passport. Wasn't even a fee.


When I renewed my US passport here in the Philippines about 5 years ago, they simply returned the old passport without transferring anything to the new one. Good to see they are making things better for us.
Either way, I've had good luck and fast service for any dealings I've had with the embassy.


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