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Now Told My Visa Too Old To Transfer


gawguy
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That was a blind side, that's for sure.

 

I arrived yesterday and got stamped through at immi by a guy who had no time to answer questions. But I spotted another immi officer walking along and he was willing to talk. He looked at the visa I have been using for extensions for a number of years. It is from Thai Consulate, Los Angeles and dated 2011. He said it's too old and I have to immigration office.

 

This was just an officer walking by so I don't know how knowledgeable he is. I don't even know if there is one, official right answer, or it just depends who you talk to at immi. TIT.

 

This never occurred to me and I haven't seen anything about age of visa and transferring it from one passport book to another. No one hinted at it in any responses to similar thread. So I'm in the dark and will be heading to Jomtien in the morning. My current Non O-A extension runs out in 8 days which is why I come back at just this time every year.

 

Has anyone encountered this and can anyone tell me or take a guess at what my options will be? I want to stay for about 80 days. When I go back to US I can get another visa, although I would prefer to wrap it all up here and now.

 

(I suppose it might have been better to not have used my visa and extension when I entered and just taken a 30 day stamp and then dealt with the next steps. But I was expecting to go to US Embassy, get letter and then to Jomtien to transfer from one book to the other. Since i didn't do it at the time it is probably too late for a 30 day, yes?)

 

Thanks,

GG

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Now I have found info on "Thai Visa" website that you don't have to transfer the visa at all. You can use both passports.

 

"Immigration no longer provides this service (transfer from old pp to new pp) at office locations unless on an extension of stay or perhaps lost passport. If a simple visa entry you just present both passports at border when you leave and any notation will be made then. This was not an announced change but from all reporting I have seen in recent months is effective everywhere...If here on an extension of stay (like many of us) you continue to do upon receipt of new passport at your local immigration office."

 

"I've had my stamps transferred from cancelled passport to valid passport a number of times at immigration. No fee required."

 

So I'll go see.

 

GG

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For the record:

 

A VISA is a paste-in decal, inserted into your passport at a Thai diplomatic post outside of Thailand, by an official of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A VISA cannot be extended - ever. It has a fixed "use by" date - which is the last date that it can be used.

 

An ENTRY PERMIT is an ink-stamp placed into your passport by an Immigration Officer who works for the Royal Thai Police. It has an "admitted until" date, which is its normal expiration date. An ENTRY PERMIT can be extended - for the rest of your life, in many cases. You initial ENTRY PERMIT is issued in a Class that is dependent upon the Class of the VISA you used to enter the country. Subsequent extensions of that ENTRY PERMIT may be in that same class, or in another class. The class of many (but not all) ENTRY PERMITS can be converted (the ones that cannot be converted are Class ED and Class O - Retirement).

 

If you get a new passport, a currently active ENTRY PERMIT can be transferred to the new passport at an Immigration office. VISAS will not be transferred - they expect you to carry the old passport, and show the still valid visa from that booklet, to receive the resulting ENTRY PERMIT in your new passport.

 

Cheers!

SS

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TIT. Every time someone speak me I hear something not same before. Chai mai?

 

And it ain't over til the fat lady sings - I hope she is warming up back stage. At this point the prize for best answer seems go to Coss who wrote: "Good luck."

 

Got all my papers together and went to Jomtien prepared to come away with Extension of Stay for one year. Uh-uh! Was told, "First must transfer visa to new passport. Do you have letter from Embassy?"

 

Today is Friday so Monday I go to BKK. On Tuesday I hope to hear the fat lady sing.

 

Still and all, I always really appreciate the responses.

 

Gaw Guy

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Hi,

 

"Do you have letter from Embassy?"

 

Yep, new requirement. And the Netherlands embassy decided that this is a good opportunity to rip off their citizens by charging them 1000 Baht for this paper which takes them less than 2 minutes to create. :angry:

 

Sanuk!

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SS: A VISA is a paste-in decal, inserted into your passport at a Thai diplomatic post outside of Thailand, by an official of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A VISA cannot be extended - ever. It has a fixed "use by" date - which is the last date that it can be used.

 

--GG: So this VISA paste-in decal is not what is transferred into your new passport. I was confused because the normal way of talking about this is "transferring visa into new passport." I thought they meant I needed to get a new decal / VISA.

 

 

SS: An ENTRY PERMIT is an ink-stamp placed into your passport by an Immigration Officer who works for the Royal Thai Police. It has an "admitted until" date, which is its normal expiration date. An ENTRY PERMIT can be extended - for the rest of your life, in many cases.

 

If you get a new passport, a currently active ENTRY PERMIT can be transferred to the new passport at an Immigration office.

 

--GG: I think my misunderstanding created my own problem at Jomtien Immigration. I showed both of my passports and when talking about my visa I showed them an old Decal that I thought was the VISA that was being extended. But that decal was expired and meaningless except for the class of VISA it shows, which is on all the entry stamps anyway.

 

I was told by Immigration and various posters that my VISA needed to be transferred into the new passport, which I thought meant a decal.

 

However today after going to US Embassy (and not really seeing anyone and being told they would not give me a letter because my new passport was not issued by them, so I was told on their phone while I was outside)...after coming back to Pattaya beat down I talked to a lady I know who works for a consulate. She's the one that writes the letters and does most everything else - 8 years and going strong. I told her my sad story and showed her my passports and the VISA decal and she said, "That's not your VISA. Where is your last VISA?" and she went looking thru my passports. Anyway, in my new passport is a rectangular stamp from when I entered on 31 March that says "Visa Class - non R-O" which she says means Retirement. "Admitted Until 9 April 2016 ..." and at the bottom is hand written "Visa OC/" and something illegible, maybe in Thai which I can read, but not this. I can't tell if it's Thai or English. It's in tiny writing under the box.

 

She said, "This is it. You just get this extended for one year."

 

She said that since my old passport had holes punched in it is was completely dead / out of service / don't need it for anything. She said my VISA is in my new passport (she's calling it a VISA and SS is calling it and Entry Permit.) Whatever it is she says it is all that needs to be in my new passport, everything is done. I don't need to take my old passport to immigration and should not have taken it when I went the first time. It just confused the issue. There would have been no problem without it.

 

Just take my new passport, paperwork, proof of bank balance letter, rental agreement, etc. I'll be doing that tomorrow and my god I hope that's true. I was on the bus for 8 hours today and thinking I am going to have to do visa runs.

 

?? What say you SS ??

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I don't have any decals in my passport, just rubber stamps. (I did in the old one though.)

 

p.s. When I renewed my visa last year, I had to provide proof of my residency. Never had to do that before, had to drive home and get my rental contract. (That was in Jomtien, but I presume it's everywhere.)

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