Quick Summary: Can I make a new passport in Thailand, and then leave Thailand without going to immigration (Chaeng Wattana), *and*, without airport immigration notating something in my new passport? Longer: Situation: – My USA passport expires in early 2020. – The passport has a history (3-5 years) of Tourist Visas and Edu Visas. – I am currently in Thailand. – I have a Tourist Visa, which ends (I already extended for 30 more days) in October. Goals: – Get a new passport that has ***no prior record of my Thai Visas/entries***. Options?: – Make a new passport in Bangkok. – Make a new passport in some nearby country that allows entry on a passport with only a few months of validity. (Hong Kong?) – Make a new passport back in the USA. My preference, is that I just make a new passport in Bangkok. *However*, it seems this is tricky. I have a friend who had a work permit + Visa… he made a new passport at the US Embassy recently. Upon getting his Visa transferred to his new passport – they (the staff at Chaeng Wattana?) *also* included a big list of his previous Visas/entries/etc on the first pages of his new passport. I have another friend, who had *no* Visa at all – he was just here on a 30-day Arrival. He made a new passport also – and said he had *nothing* added to his passport when he left Thailand. (could that be true?) I don’t have any information about what happens with a Tourist Visa. If I make a new passport in Bangkok… what will happen if I don’t bother going to Chaeng Wattana (to move the Visa), and just show up at the airport with- my old passport, my new passport, and my letter from the Embassy. Someone told me, that they think airport immigration will notate something in my new passport – thus, rendering my new passport not ‘clean’. This would defeat the purpose of getting a new passport. If leaving the country, on a new passport with *no* Visa actually works (works = they don’t notate anything in your new passport), then that presents a 4th option: – Hop out of Thailand in November, hop back in with *no* Visa. Make a new Passport. Leave on that passport. Voila(?)! The potential issue being – can I be sure airport immigration will allow me back into Thailand, in November, when my passport has less than 6 months of validity? If this is, potentially, a problem – would having a copy of my appointment/reservation at the US Embassy solve that? Thank You for any help.
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