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Passport pages down to 3


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I have been living in Thailand for over 13 years,  and married to a Thai for over ten years as well. My multiple entry Non O visa based on marriage , expired on August 30th. I had gone to Local immigration for a 60 day extension based on marriage which will expire on September 22nd. I had planned on getting a new passport since I only have enough room for an exit stamp at border, which will then leave me with exactly three pages left in my passport. I did not make trip to Bangkok as my chronic back injury became so bad recently that I can barely walk. Is it possible to do a border in and out at the Surin border(with the limited pages left) , and still be allowed to re enter?  If yes, I will  then go to Bangkok U.S Embassy to request new passport. I am planning on going to Savannakhet to get a new 1 year multiple entry non O if this scenario is possible. Thanks.

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5 minutes ago, billyburi said:

I had planned on getting a new passport since I only have enough room for an exit stamp at border, which will then leave me with exactly three pages left in my passport.

Is it possible to do a border in and out at the Surin border(with the limited pages left) , and still be allowed to re enter? If yes, I will then go to Bangkok U.S Embassy to request new passport. I am planning on going to Savannakhet to get a new 1 year multiple entry non O if this scenario is possible. Thanks.

No problem, if you have three spare pages left it will be more than enough. 

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I am planning on using the last three pages only to go to Surin/Cambodian border to do a quick in and out return Thailand same day , so I have an additional 30 days to then go to U.S Embassy and order a brand new passport. Is it Ok to use those last three pages for the Surin/Cambodia trip , or you are saying they can't be used ?

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10 minutes ago, billyburi said:

Hi Ubon Joe. Yes, the last three pages do say endorsements . I'm guessing you are going to tell me that is problem. Hopefully not.

Those 3 pages are not valid for departure or entry to the country.

You might get lucky and a immigration officer would use one of the pages.

The problem you have is that you need a empty page for the Cambodia visa on arrival. If you have a page for it then I would guess you would have room for departure and entry stamps on some other pages.

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How about if I were to get an e Visa online for Cambodia? I have never tried. And yes there is a space here and there in the earlier pages of the passport. But on the fourth to last page there is one space for a departure stamp. Then three last pages. Page 22 has room for an entry and exit, as well as page 28, room for an entry, and exit. Otherwise there is pages 49, 50, and 51 completely empty.

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6 minutes ago, billyburi said:

How about if I were to get an e Visa online for Cambodia?

You could but there are only 2 land border crossings where they can be used. Those 2 crossings are Poi Pet and Hat Lek.

 

It seems your best option now is to get a your new passport applied for now.

You can do it it by mail. See: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/

To get a little more time you could apply for a 7 day extension, pay 1900 baht and be granted 7 days to leave the country incase you do not have the new passport before the 22nd.

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I would like to consider every option you have mentioned. If I were to go to one of those 2 borders with the E visa can I go anytime between now and the 22nd when my extension expires . Also will those borders allow me to re enter Thailand the same day I exit Thailand? I would probably go directly to Bangkok once I am back in Thailand, and apply for new passport in person. It takes about 2/3 weeks to receive in mail once Ihave applied. I would prefer to cross in Surin as it is much closer. Thanks.

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Make sure when you get the new passport to also get a notarized letter from your embassy that the new passport is for the same person the old one was for. This is required so that your visa can be transferred from the old passport to the new. I got a new passport in my home country, not knowing it was required, had a big clusterf*ck when trying to get a reentry stamp for my retirement visa. In the end I left Thailand without the reentry and restarted the visa when I returned. It was cheaper than going to Bangkok, paying the embassy for the letter, etc.

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8 minutes ago, billyburi said:

I would like to consider every option you have mentioned. If I were to go to one of those 2 borders with the E visa can I go anytime between now and the 22nd when my extension expires . Also will those borders allow me to re enter Thailand the same day I exit Thailand? I would probably go directly to Bangkok once I am back in Thailand, and apply for new passport in person. It takes about 2/3 weeks to receive in mail once Ihave applied. I would prefer to cross in Surin as it is much closer. Thanks.

Since you will be doing a crossing for a 30 day visa exempt entry the Poi Pet crossing would probably insist you stay overnight. They have a reputation for making it difficult to do a crossing.

If you wanted to be a bit adventurous you could enter Cambodia at Poi Pet and depart from the Chong Chom crossing in Surin.

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28 minutes ago, billyburi said:

I want to be clear about the pages I found with some existing space from pages 20, 22, and 28, . Those pages have in and outs 3 times(3 rows of 2 stamps each). Each of those pages have enough space at bottom for 2 more stamps. I hope that is allowed.

Those pages could be used for the departure/entry stamps.

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I dont want to take up any more of your time but since I have all of these extra spaces for stamps in my earlier pages is it possible if I bring a proof of Embassy letter with me on the 22nd for passport app reservation,  to the Surin border , that there is a chance the Cambodian side would use one of those last 3 pages for the big 30 day visa which would then get me in just under the wire with all the exta space for in and outs. Otherwise Poi pet is about 4 hrs. bus ride from Surin. I would opt to just stay over a night if that is all that is required using the E visa, and then re enter Thailand the next day. Have a great day. Thanks again.

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I was just at the Embassy yesterday and they have posted that you can now get a new passport 100% by mail. Don't even have to go to the Embassy any more. Check it out on their website! This was new information for me at least...

Edited by paulbrow
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1. The embassy no longer adds pages. This is more than annoying and there is no good reason for it. It’s just an added expense for U S citizens just like the $50 a page rip off to notarize anything.

2. You do not need to go to the embassy to renew your passport. On the embassy website there is a step by step explanation  on how to renew by mail.

3. Three pages is more than enough. I only had one left and the moron immigration officer at the airport put the entry stamp right in the middle of the page rendering it useless for anything else. This after I asked him not to!

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Thanks for your response Gentlemen. I dont know how to directly reply to any one response to my situation , I apologize for that. I don't believe doing it by mail at this current date would be a good idea , as my stamp is up on the 22nd. So I am almost out of time. I believe back in the day our new passports were made inside Thailand , so it took very little time to arrive in the post. I ordered my new passport in Pattaya almost 9 years ago when the Embassy team came down for a visit at The Dusit Hotel. I received that passport 5 days later in my mailbox. The good ole days....

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Unfortunately my only  blank pages are pages 49, 50, 51. Which are for endorsements , not for visas. Although I did check by just googling a little while ago and read that they will use them if their are no other space available. That sometimes they will stamp on top of an old stamp if need be....

Edited by billyburi
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1 hour ago, billyburi said:

Unfortunately my only  blank pages are pages 49, 50, 51. Which are for endorsements , not for visas. Although I did check by just googling a little while ago and read that they will use them if their are no other space available. That sometimes they will stamp on top of an old stamp if need be....

I wouldn't count on stamps on top of stamps anymore. ????

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     This may not be relevant to the original poster (OP) whose permission to remain legally in Thailand might be expiring soon. 

 

     But at this morning's (6 September 2019) "Town Hall" hosted by the U.S. Consulate in Chiang Mai for American residents in northern Thailand, one topic discussed was that expatriate adult Americans in Thailand need not physically travel to the Embassy or Consulate to apply for a replacement passport.  

     

     Our diplomats said that using the Thai Post express-mail service (EMS) was highly reliable for mailing in the application and one's current expiring passport, and receiving back the new one at one's mailing address in Thailand by the same EMS delivery.  One attendee verified that his was submitted and the new passport returned within a week or so, even shorter than the two-to-three weeks estimated by the US Mission's webpage on the topic:

 

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

 

There was no discussion on what xerox copies to keep on hand while the old passport is not in possession. (I would suggest color copies of one's picture page, and at least any pages with one's current visa, permission-to-stay stamp, and current TM.6 slip and number.  Plus a copy of one's application if one needs to convince an official why one's passport is unavailable.)

 

Also, with the new banking regulations (mentioned elsewhere on ThaiVisa today) requiring in-person transactions by foreigners to require showing one's passport to the teller or clerk, one had better plan not to need such while the old and new passport are unavailable.  

 

    PS. As the State Department will no longer glue in additional passport pages as they once did, it's a good idea to conserve pages.  For example, when at Immigration offices or ports of entry, I will mention that I do not have very many empty pages left, and point out places on half-used pages and request the officer kindly to stamp there. 

    Indeed, I did that the other day at Chiang Mai Immigration for both a 1-year extension of permission to stay and re-entry permit.   Both officers were kind enough carefully to stamp in the vacant spots I requested.  Indeed, the tall re-entry permit was stamped horizontally (his idea) to allow more clearance from the prior stamps on the page.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Bruce404
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On 9/5/2019 at 11:15 AM, ubonjoe said:

Those 3 pages are not valid for departure or entry to the country.

You might get lucky and a immigration officer would use one of the pages.

The problem you have is that you need a empty page for the Cambodia visa on arrival. If you have a page for it then I would guess you would have room for departure and entry stamps on some other pages.

Or use the electronic visa

 

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