British Passport. Who Can Afford To Be British Anymore?

[PhilHarries]

To me, if you can't afford 119 quid for a passport you can't afford to travel - period.

If you are living in Thailand, or any other "non-home" country for that matter on a tight budget that won't stretch to that extent you are best going back and claiming social security as you'll be better off.

Don't forget a passport is not mandatory, you could always stay in Southend where you don't need one.

I do sympathise with the likes of Neeranam, having to shell out for separate passports for children is rediculous.

[paragon1]

An absolute rip off, pure and simple like everything else in the UK. How the f..k can they charge a hundred and odd quid for a little maroon book with a photo in? And we [myself included] go apeshit about being overcharged by 30 baht in a restaraunt!

Just wait until the ID card wheeze starts up. By Christ we will be paying dearly for that.

Hopefully there will be so many refusing to get an ID card that we will soon see the back of that latest government attempt to spy on us

[Neeranam]

To me, if you can't afford 119 quid for a passport you can't afford to travel - period.

If you are living in Thailand, or any other "non-home" country for that matter on a tight budget that won't stretch to that extent you are best going back and claiming social security as you'll be better off.

Now that's ridiculous. 30,000 a month is plenty for my family. It's when there are silly charges like 119 quid x2, it is hard. I guess I won't be travelling this year.

I've been twice to UK with one daughter already and twice to Oz in the last 3 years.

It's possible but hard. Maybe I can travel with my daughters on their Thai passport, in fact I think I will. Maggie Thatcher, or whoever is in charge ow can get stuffed.

How on earth would I be better off claiming Social Security?

Edited May 30, 2007 by Neeranam

[kratindaeng]

...anyway back to the OP, 8000baht for a passport is OK, hardly breaks the bank on an average UK salary. It gives us freedom to travel anywhere in the world, for 8000b I think is an OK price. Consider yourself lucky to have the choice and freedom of international travel, many people do not have this luxury in life.

Edited May 30, 2007 by kratindaeng

[Moonfruit]

Absolte madness to be complaining about a couple hundred quid for a passport.

I dont earn a fortune here (never will will me spelling and grammar!) but the first thing i did when my daughter was born (Mother expat also, NOt british) was head to the Brit embassy and apply for citizenship and passport. About 15,000thb later we have both with the minimum of fuss.

Now, for that 15,000 baht there has probably (im guessing) been a days work for someone following through with checks made on my application form. theres also the cost of printing that passport which isnt gonna be cheap. Other admin costs, such as overhead etc etc. Its just business.

I see it as reasonably, and the value of a Brit passport, as one of the free-ist in the world still in incalculable.

For those who dont have a Brit nationality and kids, should you want to visit the UK, wouldnt the cost of Visas negate that few thousand baht after a couple visits anyway?!?!

[gordonbennett]

Even on a very basic salary as an American you have to be sending more than 119 pound (~$210) back to the States in taxes each year?

(Let alone 10 years of taxes seeing as the 119 quid passport does last for 10 years)

So being American costs you significantly more than being British.

-----------------------------

What are some of you reading about paying taxes to the US?

If you live outside the US and earn money outside the US you DON'T pay ANY taxes on the first $85,000 earned per year. So if some of you are paying taxes on your Thai salary, you must be making a hel_l of a lot more money than I was???

And no, I don't work menial jobs in the US. I have a Masters Degree in Engineering - my job offer back in Texas is almost $90,000 a year.

I've been a US citizen for more than 10 years. My salary has always been higher than any salary I could make in the UK. Every time I go back to the UK, people look poor and underpaid.

Well, the Brits over here in Thailand pretty much look the same way. Every Brit I've worked with at schools in Thailand has looked unkempt, shabby and unbathed. It's always made me ashamed to be British lumped in with that manky looking lot :-(

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

I've been here 6 years and finally realized that the only guys who stay in Thailand long-term (with VERY few exceptions) are the ones who either couldn't get a job anywhere else or are too lazy to work.

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

Y'all keep paying your exorbitant fees for your British passport, from a government that's charging you to breath - Me, I'll keep my US one, thanks!

[gordonbennett]

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

Whoops, sorry, that SHOULD read Masters Degree in ENGINEERING - nope, don't have a Masters Degree in Education (thank the Lord!)

[PhilHarries]

To me, if you can't afford 119 quid for a passport you can't afford to travel - period.

If you are living in Thailand, or any other "non-home" country for that matter on a tight budget that won't stretch to that extent you are best going back and claiming social security as you'll be better off.

Now that's ridiculous. 30,000 a month is plenty for my family. It's when there are silly charges like 119 quid x2, it is hard. I guess I won't be travelling this year.

I've been twice to UK with one daughter already and twice to Oz in the last 3 years.

It's possible but hard. Maybe I can travel with my daughters on their Thai passport, in fact I think I will. Maggie Thatcher, or whoever is in charge ow can get stuffed.

How on earth would I be better off claiming Social Security?

I did agree that separate pp's for kids is a blatant ripoff and, as it came in while I was overseas, I have no idea as to the basis.

The budget thing still holds though. 2 x 119 quid over five years is around 300 Baht per month or around 1.0% of your salary, assuming 30,000 is after tax, so should be affordable. The point is that, as an expat we have to make allowances for the expected and unexpected expenses of our life abroad. This means that we should be saving far more percentage wise of our pay than we would back home.

The social security bit was tongue in cheek, I've been there and can tell you 55 quid a week jobseekers allowance gets you sweet FA in the UK.

btw good news bad news time. Good news : Maggie is gone a long while back. Bad news : The lot that follwed are worse. That's the trouble with "democracy", whoever you vote for it's the government that always wins.

[smartecosse]

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

get the broad brush out why dont you!!

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

close the door behind you when you leave, theres a good fellow

Oh, and by the way there are plenty of people that earn far more that 90k, so I wouldn't puff up your chest too much about that. I had unqualified salesman working for me that earned in excess of that

[bhoona]

Jesus, I just checked the British Embassy website and they're wanting 119 quid for a British passport!!!!!!!!!!! That's over 8,000 baht!!!

Thank God I have an American passport too cause I certainly won't be spending that kind of money to get another British passport. Guess I'm definitely officially American now.

No great loss! Last time I went to England last year, couldn't afford anything - it's now one of the most expensive countries in the world.

Sign me,

Glad to be American - Britain can go to hel_l

Agree that the cost is far too much, it is not that we cannot afford it, but the fact that the governing bodies hike the prices up using the excuse of the 'war against terror' I have also heard that the Iraqi government seem to have noticed this and are making there residents purchase new passports for the price of $500 obviously this will include a 'bonus' for the local militia.

[rgs2001uk]

Even on a very basic salary as an American you have to be sending more than 119 pound (~$210) back to the States in taxes each year?

(Let alone 10 years of taxes seeing as the 119 quid passport does last for 10 years)

So being American costs you significantly more than being British.

-----------------------------

What are some of you reading about paying taxes to the US?

If you live outside the US and earn money outside the US you DON'T pay ANY taxes on the first $85,000 earned per year. So if some of you are paying taxes on your Thai salary, you must be making a hel_l of a lot more money than I was???

And no, I don't work menial jobs in the US. I have a Masters Degree in Engineering - my job offer back in Texas is almost $90,000 a year.

my last job was paying over $100k a year

I've been a US citizen for more than 10 years. My salary has always been higher than any salary I could make in the UK. Every time I go back to the UK, people look poor and underpaid.

Well, the Brits over here in Thailand pretty much look the same way. Every Brit I've worked with at schools in Thailand has looked unkempt, shabby and unbathed. It's always made me ashamed to be British lumped in with that manky looking lot :-(

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

I've been here 6 years and finally realized that the only guys who stay in Thailand long-term (with VERY few exceptions) are the ones who either couldn't get a job anywhere else or are too lazy to work.

i stopped working the day i had enough money to tell my boss to poke it (sometimes referred to as <deleted> money), i am quite happy knowing i make more money before i get out of bed than some people actually make by working for a living. i dont want a job anywhere else, and no i am not too lazy to work, but i worked and sacrificed to enjoy the life i have now.

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

agree with you, but i dont see the point in being in the uk and paying taxes, i get some sort of perverse satisfaction knowing i contribute nothing to the uk that will be squandered (eg 20 million pounds to mugabe in zimbabwe)

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

Y'all keep paying your exorbitant fees for your British passport, from a government that's charging you to breath - Me, I'll keep my US one, thanks!

[LivinLOS]

Even on a very basic salary as an American you have to be sending more than 119 pound (~$210) back to the States in taxes each year?

(Let alone 10 years of taxes seeing as the 119 quid passport does last for 10 years)

So being American costs you significantly more than being British.

-----------------------------

What are some of you reading about paying taxes to the US?

If you live outside the US and earn money outside the US you DON'T pay ANY taxes on the first $85,000 earned per year. So if some of you are paying taxes on your Thai salary, you must be making a hel_l of a lot more money than I was???

And no, I don't work menial jobs in the US. I have a Masters Degree in Engineering - my job offer back in Texas is almost $90,000 a year.

I've been a US citizen for more than 10 years. My salary has always been higher than any salary I could make in the UK. Every time I go back to the UK, people look poor and underpaid.

Well, the Brits over here in Thailand pretty much look the same way. Every Brit I've worked with at schools in Thailand has looked unkempt, shabby and unbathed. It's always made me ashamed to be British lumped in with that manky looking lot :-(

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

I've been here 6 years and finally realized that the only guys who stay in Thailand long-term (with VERY few exceptions) are the ones who either couldn't get a job anywhere else or are too lazy to work.

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

Y'all keep paying your exorbitant fees for your British passport, from a government that's charging you to breath - Me, I'll keep my US one, thanks!

OK so what about the people who make more than 80k ??

What about the people who reside in countries and cannot prove thier tax payments ?? They still have to remit it back in the USA correct ??

What about people who are in a country that doesnt have US dual tax agreement.. Again they also have to remit I believe ??

What about the people who have retired and are living off assets ?? My investments net me multiple 6 figures per annum.. The UK doesnt get a cent.. Try that with the USA ?? Being American and retiring on your investments would cost me 10's of 1000's USD per year. As a brit I just register not resident for tax purposes.

Then again if your really worried about a 100 something pound charge for a passport I guess your not going to be talking about retiring on large assets !!

[Digitalbanana]

A Thai passport lasts ONLY 5 years and costs 1,500 baht I believe….inside Thailand.

So what’s the problem paying 180 quid for a 10 year passport issued outside the UK …..?

These 10 YEAR 32 page pp's don't last anywhere near that time in reality. Mine is usually full in 3-4 years of stamps.

I always smile and grit my teeth at the same time when the kind immigration official untidily stamps half the page wasting a lot of space around the small rubber stamp mark and money when I pass through. I only get 25 usable pages in the new 32 page bio passport as the rest is full of pp jargon. I wonder also how the UK embassy justifies the large price mark up for additional 16 pages for the 48 page version at 10,368baht? Is the paper that expensive or are there any extra expenses involved in giving me a larger pp that I might manage to fill over 5 years out of the 10? I miss the days of my 2 old 90 page black passports, I couldn't fill those bstrds :-)

Edited May 31, 2007 by Digitalbanana

[pgs]

Recently I looked at getting the French spouse visa for TW (Yes, I have both pp's). It is a complicated process. My heritage also allows a UK passport - which the consular lass suggested I get as it would be easier to get TWs entry to Europe. Her response to 'would you rather be French or British' was just a smile.

Really, it doesn't matter much to me - both countries have good & bad beers.

Froggie PP is only 5 years also.

[Rinrada]

According to the Russian guy on the BBC today he recons dissa-ds from Moscow will pay up to 1,000,000. quid....nice little earner..init.....

Wonder what Mr T paid for his?........

[The Dan Sai Kid]

pgs, do you want to be french?

Have you got a body odour problem or sommething?

[dave111223]

Ohhh i get it ! your a troll!

Using the 119 pound passport fee as a spring board for Brit and Expat bashing, well done.

Even on a very basic salary as an American you have to be sending more than 119 pound (~$210) back to the States in taxes each year?

(Let alone 10 years of taxes seeing as the 119 quid passport does last for 10 years)

So being American costs you significantly more than being British.

-----------------------------

What are some of you reading about paying taxes to the US?

If you live outside the US and earn money outside the US you DON'T pay ANY taxes on the first $85,000 earned per year. So if some of you are paying taxes on your Thai salary, you must be making a hel_l of a lot more money than I was???

And no, I don't work menial jobs in the US. I have a Masters Degree in Engineering - my job offer back in Texas is almost $90,000 a year.

I've been a US citizen for more than 10 years. My salary has always been higher than any salary I could make in the UK. Every time I go back to the UK, people look poor and underpaid.

Well, the Brits over here in Thailand pretty much look the same way. Every Brit I've worked with at schools in Thailand has looked unkempt, shabby and unbathed. It's always made me ashamed to be British lumped in with that manky looking lot :-(

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

I've been here 6 years and finally realized that the only guys who stay in Thailand long-term (with VERY few exceptions) are the ones who either couldn't get a job anywhere else or are too lazy to work.

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

Y'all keep paying your exorbitant fees for your British passport, from a government that's charging you to breath - Me, I'll keep my US one, thanks!

[KhunG]

A Thai passport lasts ONLY 5 years and costs 1,500 baht I believe….inside Thailand.

And very expensive outside Thailand. Last year my wife's expired and due to the new biometrics requirements we had to fly to one of the only four locations in the US that could issue the new passport. 119 pounds would have been cheap

[bkk_mike]

UK passport prices are a ripoff. For the money, they should be leather-bound with hand-stitching...

Admittedly, pretty much everything in the UK is a ripoff these days...

(I have 3 kids, and their passports only last 5 years - and thinking about it, the youngest's Thai and UK passports run out soon, so both need renewing... The Thai one is cheaper, quicker, and closer to where we live than the embassy... )

I really do wish they were better made though. Last time I went through Heathrow, immigration suggested I get a new passport as my current one is starting to peel.

I declined, not because of the cost of the passport, but because of the hassle of replacing the multi-entry visas I have in the existing passport.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I solved the problem of the pealing by getting a Thai passport cover!

[pgs]

pgs, do you want to be french?

Have you got a body odour problem or sommething?

Aussie + French / UK. Froggie grandfather was in the French Resistance.

The BO is is from garlic, chilli & Guinness - although not together. ;-)

We also have family ties to Luxemburg, Germany, Wales, Korea, Japan, Viet Nam & Canada.

[marginline]

Ohhh i get it ! your a troll!

Using the 119 pound passport fee as a spring board for Brit and Expat bashing, well done.

Even on a very basic salary as an American you have to be sending more than 119 pound (~$210) back to the States in taxes each year?

(Let alone 10 years of taxes seeing as the 119 quid passport does last for 10 years)

So being American costs you significantly more than being British.

-----------------------------

What are some of you reading about paying taxes to the US?

If you live outside the US and earn money outside the US you DON'T pay ANY taxes on the first $85,000 earned per year. So if some of you are paying taxes on your Thai salary, you must be making a hel_l of a lot more money than I was???

And no, I don't work menial jobs in the US. I have a Masters Degree in Engineering - my job offer back in Texas is almost $90,000 a year.

I've been a US citizen for more than 10 years. My salary has always been higher than any salary I could make in the UK. Every time I go back to the UK, people look poor and underpaid.

Well, the Brits over here in Thailand pretty much look the same way. Every Brit I've worked with at schools in Thailand has looked unkempt, shabby and unbathed. It's always made me ashamed to be British lumped in with that manky looking lot :-(

Even with a Masters Degree in Education here, the schools are lacking. My last school was a mid-tier International School - still poor standard compared to schools in Western countries and still dealing with much of the Thai mentality and lack of common sense.

I've been here 6 years and finally realized that the only guys who stay in Thailand long-term (with VERY few exceptions) are the ones who either couldn't get a job anywhere else or are too lazy to work.

I don't see the appeal of wasting the rest of my life just to sit in a country drinking cheap beer (not THAT cheap compared to the US) and nailing Thai girls - especially when most of 'em only want your money and laugh at you behind your back. What a life, eh?

No thanks - States bound and looking forward to it.

Y'all keep paying your exorbitant fees for your British passport, from a government that's charging you to breath - Me, I'll keep my US one, thanks!

Hey kudos to you Dave for outing this Brit-bashing hater .

FWIW I so enjoyed what he wrote I really hope he'll bless us some more with his true feelings next time (c'mon, don't hold back) about the British and Thais in general. Also I pray on such occasion he'll expand a little more so that we (the unworthy, neigh the "poor", "unbathed" beer chugging masses) can learn from a vastly superior acumen his opinion on other topics, such as politics and/or religion perhaps? It's riveting stuff gordonbennett...please; I bait my breath in anticipation of imbibing your next over generalized instalment.

[Farma]

This guy didn’t think they were expensive.

Multiple IDs Get You Multiple Passports

Sky News has uncovered worrying shortcomings within the Identity and Passport Service which prove how easy it is to obtain multiple passports, under different names, without being questioned.

The revelations come on the day the Government introduces tougher safeguards to crackdown on ID fraud.

Sky's undercover reporter changed his identity by deed-poll on three separate occasions over recent months.

No documentation was required to do this and you can even pay by cash.

The investigation found there were no systems in place for alerting the authorities when someone changes their name.

Our investigator then used his certificates to obtain passports under his new identities.

In less than a year, he held four passports under different names.

He also travelled to Yemen, Morocco, Egypt and the Indian subcontinent, all areas on the Government's terror watch list.

ID fraud expert Tom Craig told Sky News he was shocked at how easy it was to create multiple identities without anyone at the Identity and Passport Service appearing to take any interest.

Continued here http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1268478,00.html

[lopburi3]

Believe it is time to put this thread to bed as it never did have much to do with visas to Thailand - closed.