Transferring stamps to a new passport

[Jellybean]

This topic will probably be of limited interest to most members, but it may assist one or two expat members or members and readers with future plans to settle in Thailand either full-time or, as in my case, part of the year.

Renewal of Extension of Stay permit and my Multiple Re-entry permit

The most dreaded day of the year for me, while in Thailand, is the day I renew my Extension of Stay permit and my Multiple Re-entry permit. It was never like this when I lived in Hua Hin and dealt with the immigration office there. It is only since I moved up to Bangkok that I have developed this irrational fear. That day usually falls in March, but in the lead up to the renewal I must write to the British Embassy submitting an application, my P60 [certificate of earnings in the UK form] and payment for a confirmation of earnings letter. This is done around 10 days prior to my visit to the Thai immigration office in Chaeng Wattana in Bangkok.

But last year I noted that my then passport ended in March 2018, during my intended three month, January to April 2018 visit to Thailand and would therefore have to be renewed in advance of my current Thai trip. It can be renewed 9 months in advance with no loss of expiry date, which remains March 2028.

New passport no longer contains the visa and permit stamps

Renewing my passport meant that my Extension of Stay and Multiple Re-entry permits would be in my old passport and would need transferring to my new passport. I was not familiar with this process and could not find much information on the subject. An American friend living in Thailand advised me I might need a letter from my Government in support of my application. Crikey! I had not thought to submit an application to Her Britannic Majesty’s Government prior to leaving the UK! I hoped his advice might not be relevant in my case (see below).

During the first week of my stay in Thailand I am invariably plagued by jet-lag and find it difficult to get up early in the morning, which is usually a must for any intended visit to Bangkok’s immigration office. But another friend informed me that he found it was less busy in the afternoons. So I set off for BTS Mo Chit on the sky train around 11:30am and on arrival looked for a taxi to take me to the immigration office. I found a line of taxis and a helpful chap directed me to a sign indicating that the cost of transporting me to Chaeng Wattana was 200 Baht. Blimey! I thought that was a bit steep and decided against using the service and flagged down a passing cab.

Previous trip to the Immigration Office in March 2017

My experience of taking a cab to the immigration office back in March 2017 was not a happy one. The idiot of a driver did not seem to know where the immigration office was and we seemed to endlessly circle the huge government complex, which housed the immigration office, other government departments and agencies. After complaints from me, he eventually entered the site and pulled up outside building ‘A’. This was the wrong building, it is actually building ‘B’ that we required and by the time we actually got there I deemed the cost to be excessive, caused by his indecisiveness and inability to find the appropriate building. In my opinion, such an important location should have been common knowledge to a taxi driver working in that area. I therefore reduced his fare to a figure commensurate with a journey from Mo Chit. And I made a file note of building ‘B’ for future use.

Visit to the Bangkok Immigration Office in January 2018 – Part 1

This time my taxi driver seemed to know his way into the government complex and that it was building ‘B’ he should take me to. However, the building is enormous and he took me to the wrong entrance, but was easily directed to the correct entrance by a helpful security guard. Despite this short detour the fare was only 117 Baht, well short of the 200 baht requested by the Mo Chit taxi cartel. I paid the driver 120 Baht.

At the entrance, I was asked for my passport, which was scanned and my rucksack was put through an airport style X-ray security screening conveyor belt. I arrived around 12:30pm, 30 minutes ahead of the one o’clock opening, following their one hour lunch break. The sign stated that they closed at 4:30pm.

Prior to my arrival I had copied all the pages of my old passport containing visa and permit stamps and the photo page. I had also copied the photo page of my new passport, the new, shorter, form TM6 [departure card] and the page showing my arrival stamp. Hopefully, this would be sufficient for their purposes. While waiting I wondered if there would be a specific section dealing with the transfer of stamps to new passports. From my experience of working in a Government Department in the UK this would have made sense to have an officer specialise in this process, either full-time or as part of some other duties. I was to be quickly disabused of this idea.

I joined the short queue around 12:50 pm and once the doors opened I approached an officer at the information desk. On being told the purpose of my visit, she handed me a form headed, Transfer Stamp To New Passport Form. It did not have a TM number. It basically asked me for my old and new passport details, together with the reason for the request. The final paragraph ended with the sentence, Please do it for me I appreciate, which I truly did. On the back of the form it listed the 8 requirements, which included the completion of the form and providing all the passport copies, which I had with me. Ah-ha! It mentioned that one of the requirements was a “Certificate from embassy (If it available)”. This must be the government letter my American friend was referring to. I assume such a letter would be issued by the embassy if the applicant had recourse to apply to his/her embassy for a new passport, or if it was lost or stolen while in Thailand.

After completing the form, I went inside to the larger area containing the various sections and made my way to the ticket allocation desk, where again I outlined the purpose of my visit and handed over the completed transfer form and passport copies . The helpful officer said that I would first have to attend section ‘L’ and have my Extension of Stay visa transferred first and once that was done I was to return to the ticket allocation desk and would be given a second ticket for section ‘C2’ to have my Multiple Re-Entry Permit transferred. This is exactly what is done when renewing my annual visa and permit, so no special or priority process had been set up for stamp transfers. I asked if I needed to complete another transfer form, thankfully I did not, the one application form was sufficient. The officer then handed me a ticket – oh, my God! The ticket showed the time as 13:08 and that there were 69 people ahead of me in the queue! In March 2017, at a similar stage, but in the morning, there were just 21 people ahead of me and it took around an hour to be seen. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Indeed it was, I was not called until 4:00pm and by this time I was starting to get worried that the transfers would not be completed before the office closed. My meeting with the officer was a short one. After noting the purpose of my visit, she told me to return to the seating area and wait to be called at booth L40. Ten minutes later I was called in to see the officer at L40. She browsed my old passport and made several grumpy noises and called a more senior colleague for advice. Having received this advice she processed my paperwork, which appeared to be in order after all. The senior officer kindly offered me a free pen, which I duly accepted. After around 15 minutes of watching the immigration officer she told me to return to the seating area and wait to be called. By now it was 4:25pm and I grudgingly accepted that a return visit the next day was now inevitable.

At 4:55pm I was called and handed both my passports back and told to return the next day and go to section ‘C2’. I checked my passports; both had new stamps indicating the transfer of the Extension of Stay permit.

Once outside I discovered the usual line of taxis was not there, no doubt due to the late hour. There was however two taxis and their drivers were busily chatting to each other. I approached them and asked if I could be taken back to BTS Mo Chit. I was told that it would cost me 300 baht. What? But there seemed little alternative, I did not know how to exit the huge government compound and I knew the traffic at 5:00pm would be horrendous. I offered to pay 200 Baht and the deliciously handsome cab driver said he would take me for 250 Baht, which I agreed to, otherwise I was never going to get back home.

The traffic was indeed horrendous, near gridlock. It took us 45 minutes to get to Mo Chit. By this time I felt exhausted and I appreciated that the driver had earned his money driving in such awful traffic. I therefore handed him the 300 Baht he had initially asked for.

Now I had to repeat the whole bloody process the next day.
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Visit to the Bangkok Immigration Office in January 2018 – Part 2

Based on my previous experience I was now determined to push myself to wake up early and try and get to the immigration office as close to their opening time of 8:30am as possible.

Once again I took the sky train to Mo Chit and this time I decided to make use of the taxi cartel, figuring they, at least, would get me to the immigration office without delay or detour. This time however they wanted 300 Baht, not the 200 Baht as indicated on their sign. The reason for the increase was the heavy early morning traffic, which again looked to be near gridlock. I offered 200 baht and one very talkative and resourceful taxi driver accepted and got me to the immigration office in double quick time at 8:40am.

This time I joined a longer queue, but reached the ticket allocation desk at 8:50am. I was concerned that I did not have any paperwork, only my two passports. Others without paperwork were being referred back to the information desk. I told the officer about my visit the previous day and showed her the new stamps and mentioned I had been told to go to section ‘C2’. The officer accepted this without further explanation and handed me a ticket for section ‘C2’. Hurrah! The ticket indicated that there were only 11 people ahead of me in the queue!

Wow! Only 8 minutes later I was called. I explained my requirements and showed the officer the previous day’s stamps. She told me to wait outside in the seated area to be called. At 9:35am, only 55 minutes after I arrived, I was called and handed both my passports back with the new transferred Multiple Re-Entry Permit.

There was no charge for making the stamp transfers, but I shall have to go through the whole ghastly process again in March when I renew my permits. Apologies for the length of this post, but I hope that some members or readers have found the detail in my report helpful.

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