Passport stamps, visa for Cambodia

Old Dec 18th, 2004, 06:16 AM
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Passport stamps, visa for Cambodia

Am running out of space in my U.S. passport for entry/exit stamps and visas and will be visiting several countries (leaving in 8 days!). Every page has at least one stamp on it. There are 11 boxes that don't have stamps and there is space for squeezing in two more stamps.

Flying to Thailand, Cambodia, back to Thailand, then to S. Korea, and Japan. That's 5 entries and 5 exits. Plus one for the U.S. admission on return.

Am 99.99% sure that I don't get a stamp at PEK where I am connecting from U.S. to Thailand and that I don't get a stamp at NRT when connecting from Thailand to Korea.

If a Cambodia visa requires a full page, then there is not enough room for it on pages 8-21 of my passport. If it would help, I could go to the embassy of Cambodia in the U.S. next week.

I assume that the empty pages 22 to 24 which are for "Ammendments and Endorsement" can't be used for visas.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 07:37 AM
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You MUST have a full page for a Cambodian visa, not matter where you get it. They won't allow you on the plane to Siem Reap if you don't have a full page empty.

You will not get stamps for transiting an airport, and they haven't stamped my passport upon return to the US for years (though some ports of enrty do).

Your only choice is to get pages added to your passport. I can't remember where you are located in the US, but there are passport offices that can expidite this process. (Obviously, you won't be mailing your passport anywhere!). The other option is that US embassies in foreign countries can add passport pages, sometimes much more quickly than at home.

Good Luck!!
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 07:51 AM
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I agree with Kathie. I think you should just go to the US Embassy while in Bangkok to get the added pages. Shouldn't take long.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 08:04 AM
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Thanks, Kathie. I made an appointment for late Monday morning at the Passport Agency in D.C. (not sure if the appointment is necessary for adding pages). Will get additional pages then and may go to the embassy to get the visa while I am in town. And might try picking up a voucher for a JR Pass while I am at it.

United said I didn't need a visa for my connection in Beijing (about a 2 hour connection between United and Thai flights). I checked china-embassy.org and they say a transit visa is necessary , thought it doesn't say specifically that a "plane-side" transit visa is required.

I will call UA back to verify, but not sure I can trust them on this. Could try at U.S. State Dept, I guess. The Chinese embassy was not helpful by phone, in past experience.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 08:38 AM
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And thank you, rkkwan. I did miss the point that Kathie made about getting the pages added in Bangkok. Was planning to get the JR Pass voucher at one of the agencies on Silom Road, and add this errand to the same day.

Saw the TV show "Airport" last night and part of it was about a guy from Nigeria who got arrested because the folks at Heathrow thought his Nigerian passport was fake. It wasn't, but it made me take one more look at my passport and it finally clicked that I probably needed a free page.

The only question I have, then, is about plane-side transit in PEK.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 09:33 AM
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I've never heard of needing an air-side transit visa. On the other hand, the Chinese do many things differently.

On a question like this, I'd trust the airlines, as they are responsible for making sure you have the required documentation (a visa in advance if needed). If the airline flies you somewhere and you aren't allowed into the country, they are required to fly you back, no charge. I actually know someone this happened to.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 08:06 PM
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adding pages through the mail takes about 2 weeks....hope you can get it done in one day??? you are in dc so a week should be sufficient....transit will require no stamps...sometimes they can even stamp two places in one square...
cambodia visa is a whole page as kathie has said...they may also stamp too...i've forgotten and have just taken my passport back to the safe deposit box yesterday...so i can't check..
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 10:13 PM
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I'll have to get a new page for the visa so will have plenty of space for stamps.
It was the following page that got me concerned about an airside transit visa:
http://www.britainusa.com/consular/visas/yestransit.asp
and I imagine the US also the same requirements as UK for PRC passport holders. The china-embassy.org seemed to say it might be reciprocal:
"Visas are not required of aliens (except citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom), who hold final destination tickets and have booked seats on international airliners flying directly through China, and will stay in a transit city for less than 24 hours without leaving the airport."

Now, that seems pretty clear. USAir, who issued the tickets, says I do need a visa. I think that travel.state.gov refers to this as a "landing visa" requirement. Guess I will be going into the District on Monday.
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Old Dec 20th, 2004, 04:13 PM
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At the passport agency today I picked up a US State Dept. brochure that was explicit about the visa requirement: "Visas are required to transit China, even if one is only changing flights at an airport".
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Old Dec 20th, 2004, 06:27 PM
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When I went to Cambodia I needed two facing blank pages...I did not have them. I had one blank page and the facing page had blank spaces, but it was partly used. Big problem at the entrance airport. They let everybody else on the plane thru except me. Then they passed my passport back and forth thru the line of passport officials. Finally a nice young official, spoke to the others and they finally agreed to use the space I had. Don't risk it...get the extra pages.
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Old Dec 20th, 2004, 07:51 PM
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did you get pages??
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Old Dec 21st, 2004, 04:32 PM
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i ran out of visa pages when entering sing from jb, so they stamped the amend page. the same in jp.

i took my pp for addl pages to the pp office here in hono on 12/8. still no pp back. i was told it took about 6 wks. if you pay the special rush fee, you would get it back in 3 days.

good luck in getting those pgs in dc, or in bkk. if rk is correct, then what the heck am i doing it here? i should just wait for the speedy service in bkk. maybe they don't have the demand, so service is quick.

to repeat bob, did you get the pages? you are leaving soon, so hope everything works out.
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Old Dec 21st, 2004, 06:09 PM
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Hoping to reply affirmatively tomorrow. I dropped my pp at the pp office in D.C. on Monday. They said three days & that I can pick it up on Wednesday the 22nd after 11:30A. So, I hope to be holding my larger pp in my hands tomorrow at 1PM.

Important note about the above: pp = passport.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2004, 04:32 AM
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for those going too Cambodia by land (Poppet)..
In the last 2 months Cambodian imigration "HUT" has installed new computerers with picture CAM. the lines are crazy now since the officers don't seem too know how too type yet, they just poke at the keys with one finger, And today I went for a run and the bar code on my passport almost didn t get read by the new system the officer had to keep on rubbing the possport with his fingers and against his pants too either get some moistere off or take some creases off..
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Old Dec 22nd, 2004, 02:42 PM
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mrwunrfl; with all this last minute exercise, did your pp get any larger? lol.

orgy, thought you went back to ct?
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Old Dec 22nd, 2004, 03:25 PM
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It's twice as thick now! No problem getting it back today. You did it the right way, Oishi-san, by mail. Adding the pages is free but it costs $60 for the expedited service. I felt like a duma$$ going into the pp office on Monday morning, but there were quite a few people who were worse off. I got kind of lazy about my pp and visas since I knew that I could take advantage of the fact that the State Dept and all the embassies are nearby.

So, I've had a bit of excitement on this trip and haven't even left home yet!
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Old Dec 22nd, 2004, 05:04 PM
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I'm glad it all worked out! When it's time to renew your passport, you can ask for one with twice as many pages, and they will do it for free.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2004, 11:25 PM
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kathie; thanks for the info on the additional pages when renewing youe pp.
mrwunrfl, happy for the successful resolution. you are leaving in a few days. enjoy your white xams there in dc, and enjoy for fc trip to asai. don't forget to post your report.
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