Thailand visa question: Year extension and new passport

Dear Ronnie,

In January I have to request/extend my year extension (Non-O based on marriage) again. My passport has not yet expired, but the pages in it are almost full. I'm going to the Netherlands in April and I want to apply for a new passport at my municipality. Shortly after that I will go back to Thailand.

Now my question is what is the best thing to do, the annual extension in January but not apply for a single re-entry permit before departure?

Then I will enter Thailand about two months later on a 30 day visa exemption and then I want to go to my local immigration office in the hope that they will transfer my year extension from the old to the new passport.

What is your experience in this?

PS. I live in the Netherlands but I am in Thailand 7 months a year and travel back and forth regularly.

Regards,

Casper

Dear Casper,

You can do it in different ways.

1. Before you leave Thailand, you request a “Re-entry”. Is important here. You then request a new passport in the Netherlands. In addition, you must ask that if they invalidate the old passport, they will not do so on the pages containing your last visa and year extension.

You then leave for Thailand with both passports. Upon entry, hand over the old and new passport to Immigration. In your new passport they will put an “entry” stamp based on your last year extension and “Re-entry” that is in your old passport.

Afterwards you have to go to your local immigration office again with both passports and ask to convert the data from your old passport into your new passport. Normally that is free.

Be careful. Some immigration offices require proof (stamp/document) that the new passport replaces the old one. However, I understand from previous responses that Dutch passports are stamped to confirm this. Check if this is the case though.

2. You leave for the Netherlands without “Re-entry”. Doesn't make sense this way. When you leave Thailand, your annual extension will expire, but you will no longer need it. In the Netherlands you apply for a new passport. You then also apply for a new Non-immigrant O Single entry visa with the new passport. So you start from the beginning, with a residence period of 90 days that you will later extend by a year, etc.

3. You leave for the Netherlands without “Re-entry”. It makes no sense here either. You apply for a new passport and leave on the basis of "Visa Exemption" back to Thailand. Pay attention here with your airline, because you leave without a visa. You may be required to provide proof that you will be leaving Thailand within 30 days. Get information in advance here at your airline.

You will then receive a 30-day stay upon arrival. You can then request a conversion from that tourist status to a Non-immigrant status through your immigration office. This is necessary to obtain an annual extension.

Make sure that there are at least 15 days of stay left when applying for that conversion. The conversion costs 2000 Baht, ie the price of a Non-immigrant O Single entry visa. The proofs they ask for are about the same as for a year extension. If allowed, you will receive 90 days of residence. Just like if you came in with a Non-immigrant O. You can then extend those 90 days in the usual way.

4. This option, if possible, might also be worth considering.

First apply for a new passport at the embassy. Do this before requesting the extension. Afterwards, go to immigration with both passports. Everything is immediately included in your new passport. Again, don't forget to say that they are not allowed to destroy certain pages, but normally they know that at the embassy. Also see here that a stamp or proof is included that replaces the new, the old passport.

5. The way you envisioned won't work.

– Since you would not take a “re-entry” your year extension expires when you leave Thailand.

– You can also not have a previously obtained year extension connected to a new period of stay obtained with a “Visa Exemption”.

That year extension has expired and that year extension was also obtained on the basis of a previous period of residence.

6. Perhaps there are readers who would like to share their experiences with applying for a new Dutch passport in the Netherlands or Thailand.

Regards,

RonnyLatYa