Hi,
I am in Cambodia. I entered using an Emergency Passport (UK citizen, passport stolen in vietnam).
I now have new British Passport.
So: I will exit Cambodia using emergency passport (which contains Cambodia visa & entry-stamp).
And enter Thailand with new passport.
Q: will Thailand land-border immigration allow entrance using an empty new passport? Or might it be complicated?
I will show Thailand immigration the old Emergency Passport containing Cambodia entry/exit stamps.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Possibly the concern was that an invalidated travel document would also invalidate anything it contained (exit stamps/visas etc). As far as I know, this is not the case -- stamps/visas etc remain valid as proof of permissions etc. You can use a new (empty) document along with the old document that it replaces, which also would include anything of interest to immigration.
The point, of course, is that you still need both old and new documents.
Or might it be complicated?
:-) I'd never discount the possibility of "complications" when it comes to immigration .. if only because a newbie who isn't quite sure of acceptable procedure, or an old-timer looking to top up his pension. But you should be safe on legal grounds if you have patience to explain.
Thanks so much.
Having had problems entering Cambodia on the emergency passport (with a valid Cambodia visa already issued by the Cambodia embassy), I thought it prudent to ask here.
Of course there's the possibility of delays/baksheesh, but I'm used to that!
Thanks again!
There is no problem and no risk of problems or bribes. They will just give the stamp to the new passport after seeing the old one.
Your problem entering Cambodia may depending where you entered have been more a function of the border and not the passport. The Thais will give you a 30 visa exemption without any problems as long as if you are crossing by land you have not already crossed the border by land twice in 2017
If you have a return flight back from Asia to UK (booked online and including your old passport details), you might want to plan ahead for that, too. It shouldn't be a problem, but you might want to send an email to the airline in advance, explaining the situation and asking whether it will be a problem. Print out their response and then you can wave that under the nose of any UCG at the airport.
I had a passport stolen in Vietnam once. I had to go to the british embassy to get a new one and they wrote a letter for me to give to Vietnam immigration to ask for a replacement visa. The letter said that the old passport had been stolen. Don't you have something similar? That would be useful to wave around when needed.
Update:
I exited Cambodia using the emergency passport (which has my Cambodian visa & entry-stamp).
Thailand refused entry: they require an exit-stamp in the New passport from the country of departure.
So I returned to Phnom Penh. Got a new visa in my New passport ($30; 3 day wait); then crossed into Thailand.
"So I returned to Phnom Penh. Got a new visa in my New passport ($30; 3 day wait); then crossed into Thailand."
Thanks for the update, but can you explain this a bit more. I don't understand why you went all the way back to PP and what was the visa you paid for?
Couldn't you have just crossed back into Cambodia (visa on arrival) and got new Cambodian entry and exit stamps in your new passport?