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Is a US emergency passport valid for a short stay in Thailand accepted by immigration?

Visa Rules Thailand Immigration US Emergency Passport Visa Exempt Scheme Travel Documentation

Mar 20, 2023

3 years ago

Heinrieke *****

ORIGINAL POSTER

Hello! 

Asking for a friend, please: would any of you know if a US emergency passport valid for 12 months is accepted for a 6 day stay by Thai immigration authorities? We cannot find any information in this regard online. 

TIA!

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TLDR : Answer Summary

A US emergency passport is generally accepted by Thai immigration for short stays, such as a 6-day visit. It functions similarly to a regular passport, but travelers should ensure that it is valid for at least six months upon returning to their home country. Specific experiences indicate that emergency passports have been accepted at airports, hotels, and immigration in Thailand. Furthermore, some travelers have reported successfully extending their stay beyond the initial 30-day entry stamp, but this may vary.

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Shaun ******

Does anyone know if you can get a 30 day extension on an emergency passport once the 30 day stamp is up? I'm getting conflicting information online. Seems like you should be able to just like a regular passport but some are saying there are limitations

3 years ago

Bennett ********

@Shaun *****

I don’t know for sure - but my emergency US passport was accepted at Thai immigration when I arrived. Is your emergency passport expiring before the extension ends?

3 years ago

Reply to

Bennett ********

Heinrieke *****

ORIGINAL POSTER

***************************************************

It indeed appears that Thailand does accept emergency/ temporary passports as long as they are issued by a country within the visa exempt scheme. See point 3.

We will know for sure tonight.

Thanks for all input!

3 years ago

Bennett ********

I got an emergency replacement US passport at US consulate in Hong Kong before moving to Thailand a bit over a year ago - my old passport had no pages left for Thai visa. The 12-month replacement passport was accepted everywhere, airports, hotels, immigration in Thailand, etc. I had never heard of it but apparently it’s common to those in travel industry. it’s a fully valid passport but expires in 12 months. (Also, if you apply for a new, regular passport before it expires, it’s free of charge. The fees for the emergency passport cover it.)

3 years ago

Jorge ****

@Bennett *******

the USA embassy/consulate used to add pages to a passport. That was years ago. Did they stop doing that?

3 years ago

Bennett ********

@Jorge ***

I believe they stopped adding pages a while ago. I emailed local US embassy in a panic, we were moving to Thailand in less than a week, & they told me to come in the next day for a replacement passport, issued the same day. It was fully accepted everywhere. I’ve since replaced that with a regular 10-year passport at US embassy in Thailand.

3 years ago

Jorge ****

@Bennett *******

ah, ok. Times are a changin'

3 years ago

Reply to

Jorge ****

Mike ******

Temporary passport / provisional passport/emergency passport of nationals exexempted from the Visa Scheme for 45 days is accepted by the Immigration Bureau in Thailand. However, the passport must have a validity of not less than six months upon returning to the residence country.

3 years ago

Stuart *********

I will be happy to be corrected if there’s any US people that can confirm if that is or isn’t the case.

3 years ago

Stuart *********

Seemingly a emergency passport is valid for 12 months and works just like a normal passport. You can use as you would a normal one.

An emergency travel document (I didn’t know that existed) allows you to travel back home to the US only.

3 years ago

Jeffrey *********

@Stuart ********

The first part of your statement is accurate - from the US perspective, the emergency passport is just a smaller, shorter validity version of a regular passport. Most countries, including Thailand, are fine with that, but I did see a YouTube video in which a guy was refused a visa to India because they wouldn't put it in an emergency passport.

The second part of your post isn't really accurate, though that's not important to the OP. In almost every case where a US citizen is limited to direct return to the US (e.g., an extradited prisoner, or someone given a repatriation loan), that's done with a limitation endorsement in a regular passport. I've seen travel letters issued for prisoners under escort, but that's rare (since many countries won't accept them for exit or transit).

3 years ago

Reply to

Jeffrey *********

Stuart *********

Wow. Don’t know that one. Normally an emergency passport allows you to travel home from wherever you are. Will wait and see what others post.

3 years ago

Reply to

Stuart *********

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