Thailand visa question No. 154/23: How long should my passport be valid for an annual extension?

Questioner: John

I got a visa for 3 months. I want to extend this to a year visa in Thailand. I read that my passport must be valid for 18 months. So now I have to apply for a new passport.

Is my 3-month visa still valid if I want to enter Thailand with a different (new) passport?

Reaction RonnyLatYa

You say you have been given a visa for 3 months. I assume you mean a Non-immigrant O visa? If so, you will receive a residence period of 90 days upon arrival. You can then extend those 90 days by one year and repeat the extension annually.

To obtain a full year extension at immigration, your passport must be valid for at least another year when you apply for your annual extension, not 18 months.

If less than a year, you will only receive an extension until the expiry date of your passport. Suppose your passport is only valid for 7 months when you apply for an annual extension, then you will only receive an extension of 7 months.

I don't know how long your passport is valid because you don't say that either.

For example, if this is still 15 months upon entry, you will normally still be able to obtain everything, i.e. 90 days upon entry and a 1-year extension. It is then not necessary to apply for a new passport now. You can also do this next time, for your next annual extension.

The 18 months you speak of is required for a Non-immigrant O Multiple Entry and also for a Non-immigrant OA visa, for example, but that concerns applying for the visa at the embassy. Not for extending your period of stay in Thailand.

If your passport only has a limited validity, it would have been better to first apply for a new passport and then apply for your visa and then extend your period of stay. But that in itself is not a problem. You can still travel with both passports. Everyone is careful that your visa is not invalidated together with your old passport when applying for a new passport and then there is no problem. Show both passports upon arrival and also at the time of annual renewal. When you renew your year, everything will be transferred to your new passport and you will no longer need that old passport.

 – Do you have a visa question for Ronny? Use it contact form.! -