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U.S passport renewal at the embassy in Bangkok


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A question for anyone here that may have renewed their passport in Bangkok. In the United States when you renew a passport they send the old one back separate post. my friend was told by the passport agency they would come separately not together. If anyone here has renewed in Bangkok could you please let me know if that's the same case here or if they send both the new and the old together since it's out of the country. It could be potential disaster if they send the old one that gets lost in the post with all your visa extension stamps and reentry permits in it.

 

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

 

 

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36 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

When you apply at the embassy in Bangkok your old passport never leaves the country. They electronically send to the application to the states for processing and the new one is sent to the embassy.

When you apply by mail they send both passports to you at the same time.

Info for doing it by mail to the embassy is here. https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/

Thanks very much happy to know that since they keep the old one here at the embassy i am guessing it will be returned to me with the new one 

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Do they hold your passport while new one is in process? Or you return with your 'old' ppt and they punch the old one and give you the letter? I've read here it's 3 weeks and 48 pages. Additional pages can no longer be added. 

 

Correct?

 

Thanks in advance anyone

Edited by Number 6
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15 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It appears there is no option to do the application in person if you qualify for the mailed in report or at least that is how it appears on the page I posted a link to earlier. Which means they hold your old passport until the new one arrives cancel it and send it to you with the new one..

For about a year now when you applied in person they canceled you old passport and gave it back to you when you did the application and they would mail the new one to you. See: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/

I have seen recent reports of it taking about 2 weeks by mail.

I live in Bangkok and I applied last month in person at USA embassy and as you said they cancelled my old passport and gave it back to me when I did the application. They will mail the new passport to you as there is now not an option to pick up your passport at the embassy except in case of emergency or express application which is an additional charge and if expediting you will need proof you will be leaving the country before your new passport could be mailed to you. 

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2 hours ago, 5633572526 said:

I live in Bangkok and I applied last month in person at USA embassy and as you said they cancelled my old passport and gave it back to me when I did the application.

That may of been true last month. On the adult passport application page it only mentions a mailed in applications now.

See:  https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/

 

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I had to renew my Passport in 2017, because I only had 6 months left on my Passport and they told me I could not renew my Marriage Visa . So I found a phone # for BKK Embassy and spoke with a very nice man. A bit of a extra cost for an expedited VISA..but, all in all, maybe 1500tb (don't quote me) and I asked if I could have my old Passport back (for memories) and included "extra pages"..got it back in about 5 days!  What a deal!

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6 minutes ago, tweedledee2 said:

I think your interpretation of the passport renewal process is incorrect. Mail service is an "option" for those who do not want to travel to the Embassy. It is also listed as an option on the "make an appointment page". It states that "mail service" is  meant to save you time and travel expenses. Nowhere does it say you can't still apply in person. 

Yeap....that's how I read it also.

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32 minutes ago, tweedledee2 said:

I think your interpretation of the passport renewal process is incorrect. Mail service is an "option" for those who do not want to travel to the Embassy.

I wrote earlier it appears. I never wrote it was not allowed.

It just seems odd that they do not mention applying in person on that page of the website.

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I did mine by EMS mail from Udon Thani, and included an extra fee for them to "fast it" back to me by EMS. Took 5 days, from here to there and back again. No traffic or waiting in lines or airline tickets. Yes, its scary to throw your Passport in the mail..(I insured it for alot of money too), but have never had any problems with mail, in 9 yrs.

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2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That may of been true last month. On the adult passport application page it only mentions a mailed in applications now.

See:  https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/

 

This is your response to a poster who applied in person last month. "They" was probably meant to be "That", but it appears you believe mail is the only option to renew a passport now.   

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12 minutes ago, tweedledee2 said:

This is your response to a poster who applied in person last month. "They" was probably meant to be "That", but it appears you believe mail is the only option to renew a passport now.   

I wrote this prior to his post and assumed he had read it already.

 

Quote

It appears there is no option to do the application in person if you qualify for the mailed in report or at least that is how it appears on the page I posted a link to earlier. 

 

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1 hour ago, smilemaker said:

I did mine by EMS mail from Udon Thani, and included an extra fee for them to "fast it" back to me by EMS. Took 5 days, from here to there and back again. No traffic or waiting in lines or airline tickets. Yes, its scary to throw your Passport in the mail..(I insured it for alot of money too), but have never had any problems with mail, in 9 yrs.

 Mailed from Udon to the Embassy in Bangkok, electronically sent by the Embassy to the Passport Processing Center, then the new passport sent back to the Embassy and re-mailed back to you in 5 days. Wow, that's unbelievable fast and really unbelievable. 

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Does sound unbelievable.    Maybe he meant the EMS mailing time to and from the Bangkok US Embassy only....didn't include the time it took between the Embassy and Passport Processing Center.    

 

The wife and I have renewed our US passports over the last few years....we went to the Bangkok embassy since we live in Bangkok.  Took us about 10 calendar days from the application date until the embassy sent us an email saying we could come pick-up the new passport.

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Germane to this topic, when I renewed my US pp last year, I opted to pay an extra $25 for the additional passport card figuring it would simply be a reduced version of the original pp face page and sufficient to meet the requirement of having your pp on your person at all times.

Well, not exactly.

Though it is a reduction of the face page, the all important  passport number on the card is entirely different from my actual passport and nowhere on this card does my passport number appear. 

I can see this causing some real confusion and difficulty as this card though supposedly valid for id purposes,, does not agree with the Immigration pp data base.

Just to be clear, the card is not valid to use for international travel except between the US and Canada/Mexico. 

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50 minutes ago, dddave said:

 

Just to be clear, the card is not valid to use for international travel except between the US and Canada/Mexico. 

Yeap....don't get the card if thinking it's a mini-me of your passport.   It can also be used for sea travel between the US and The Caribbean and Bermuda.

 

However, the main reason the wife and I also got the card when renewing our passports was to have another form of U.S. identification.....only $30 for an ID good for 10 years.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/card.html

 

 

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8 hours ago, smilemaker said:

I did mine by EMS mail from Udon Thani, and included an extra fee for them to "fast it" back to me by EMS. Took 5 days, from here to there and back again. No traffic or waiting in lines or airline tickets. Yes, its scary to throw your Passport in the mail..(I insured it for alot of money too), but have never had any problems with mail, in 9 yrs.

You didn't have to leave Udon Thani to apply and receive a new passport? Can you or someone confirm this to be possible? What about with regard to a replacement of lost passport? What about a passport with a couple of blank pages left (admittedly, I want to replace my passport because it has a too-many-times-entered-Thailand stamp)?

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I renewed my passport in Chiang Mai in September 2018.  I read through CM Consulate website and it talked extensively about renewing by mail, but there was no obvious mention of renewing in person.  I came away with the impression that perhaps it was no longer possible to renew in person, but by chance I had to go in that week to notarize something pertaining to another matter and I was able to ask them if I could renew in person. The answer was yes, so that's how I did it.  It seems that they may favor renewal by mail now, so they may be trying to channel people into using that service.  

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19 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

 Mailed from Udon to the Embassy in Bangkok, electronically sent by the Embassy to the Passport Processing Center, then the new passport sent back to the Embassy and re-mailed back to you in 5 days. Wow, that's unbelievable fast and really unbelievable. 

Unbelievable? No, 5 days. EMS to BKK is next day from Udon...3 days to process (I paid for the Fast Process, about 500tb more), returned next day to Udon. 5 days.

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I want to renew in person.  It seems that option is open.  Silly question.  I am ASSuming I can pay in American dollars when I submit my application in person.  The emphasis on the by mail option states you need to submit two bank drafts to pay for the passport and for mailing it to you.  I/we will be going to Bangkok in August from our home near Hua Hin and that is when I intend to apply for my new passport.

 

Terry

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2 hours ago, smilemaker said:

Unbelievable? No, 5 days. EMS to BKK is next day from Udon...3 days to process (I paid for the Fast Process, about 500tb more), returned next day to Udon. 5 days.

Was that a normal passport applied for by mail to the US embassy in Bangkok?

The only way you could get a passport that fast would be if you were applying for a emergency passport that they can issue there.

It would take longer than 3 days for a normal passport to be done in the states and then be sent to here after the application was sent to passport center in the states electronically.

There is no fast process available at the US embassy for any passport.

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Honest to God's truth. I had finished all paperwork ready to renew Marriage VISA, then Immigration tells me I only have 6 Months remaining on my Passport and have to get a  new one. I went into a panic, then also realized I had not filed the Tax e-file either (what a joke) and was late. I local friend gave me a link and phone # to a American Embassy and ask for a certain man. he was very nice and also told me I had another month on the E=File for IRS. for some reason. The Embassy sent me a link, I filled it out, requested addional pages (also), and expidited EMS return (at additional fee) paid , sent my Passport (requested the old one returned for "memories", and thats about it. Got it back in time to get my Marriage VISA completed.  True story........ain't no wiskey in my coffee. 555

Maybe it wasn't a "fast process", but a Fast ship back...I think I includes a self addresses envelope also. If you do the process, all the details will be presented to you. Regardess..5 days.

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    My grandfather liked to tell me stories and brag about the fish he had caught. One time my grandmother interrupted his story and said "Johnnie that's not correct".  My grandfather replied, "Martha, it's my story and I can tell it any way I want".   That's a true story and there ain't no whiskey in my coffee, because I don't drink either of them.

     I also remember him saying that "when fisherman get together and start bragging about the biggest fish they ever caught, the first liar doesn't stand I chance".  

 

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