Passport renewal.

[Andycoops]

Have you informed the Thai authorities that expats here are having to wait several months to obtain a new passport?

In a case I know it was 5 months.

 

[Thailand]

Surely  the responsibility is to the passport owner to ensure they renew well ahead of time?

[OJAS]

11 hours ago, Thailand said:

Surely  the responsibility is to the passport owner to ensure they renew well ahead of time?

IMHO it is also the responsibility of those issuing replacement passports back in our home countries to ensure that we are in receipt of these with the minimum delay - a basic task in which those incompetent clowns in HMPO appear to be sadly lacking in fulfilling  in the case of UK passports, which, I think, is what the OP is alluding to.

 

[Andycoops]

4 hours ago, OJAS said:

IMHO it is also the responsibility of those issuing replacement passports back in our home countries to ensure that we are in receipt of these with the minimum delay - a basic task in which those incompetent clowns in HMPO appear to be sadly lacking in fulfilling  in the case of UK passports, which, I think, is what the OP is alluding to.

 

Correct.

[Andycoops]

15 hours ago, Thailand said:

Surely  the responsibility is to the passport owner to ensure they renew well ahead of time?

So you consider 5 months a reasonable period ahead of time then.

I don't and consider it a disgrace.

BTW my passport doesn't expire for another 2 years. 

I was asking a legitimate question of the consul/embassy on behalf of others whom I have discussed the subject with as we fund the so called service through our income taxes.

[yang123]

Have you informed the Thai authorities that expats here are having to wait several months to obtain a new passport?

 

???? No answer came .......

[Eff1n2ret]

14 hours ago, yang123 said:

Have you informed the Thai authorities that expats here are having to wait several months to obtain a new passport?

 

???? No answer came .......

I'm no great defender of the Consulate and its service level, but in this case I can't see what would be the purpose in passing on such information to the Thai authorities, whose response to the news that a British Government department can't get its Rse in gear would probably be the same as the Sergeant-Major in 'It ain't half hot, Mum' - "Oh dear, how sad, never mind." The notion that the Thais should start making special arrangements for individual countries with self-inflicted minor administrative problems is nonsense.

[Tofer]

On 6/29/2022 at 7:50 AM, Andycoops said:

So you consider 5 months a reasonable period ahead of time then.

I don't and consider it a disgrace.

BTW my passport doesn't expire for another 2 years. 

I was asking a legitimate question of the consul/embassy on behalf of others whom I have discussed the subject with as we fund the so called service through our income taxes.

Just received mine after exactly 4 months of HMPO inefficiency and intransigence, regarding it being a second passport, despite a promise of a 4 week turn around for a digital application.

 

They've also withdrawn 2 other applications stating "documents not sent", except that I have emails from them confirming receipt of documents. They sent repeated / automated requests for documents, with the note at the bottom saying, "ignore if already sent".

 

I finally received a phone call from them, following my critical complaints, wherein they said they require the second passports be sent, or colour copies of every page of them. This absolutely was NOT identified as a requirement in their repeated standard / automated document requests.

 

I now have to send paper applications if I wish to request they reconsider the original applications without further charge for new applications. By the way, you cannot download paper applications from the website, so my sister has to pick them up in a UK post office and send them to me in Thailand.

 

They would not reverse their misguided and incorrect withdrawal, to enable me to add the passport copies simply by PDF online. It all smacks of jobsworths power mongering to me, by people incapable of functioning outside of an automated / tick box system. Perhaps we'd be better served by a bunch of acknowledged robots, or trained monkeys...!!

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, Tofer said:

It all smacks of jobsworths power mongering to me, by people incapable of functioning outside of an automated / tick box system.

This.....   totally agree. 

 

If HMPO were a business it would have failed as people move to the competition... They would be forced to get rid of the half-wits hiding behind covid to continue their self entitled laziness. 

 

When government business models operate without consideration for making improvements and pushing the weakest common denominators, those weakest common denominators; the lazy slow and ineffective people stagnated or even get promoted to positions beyond their ability and those who were effective have moved on elsewhere. 

 

It's an utter embarrassment. 

 

 

 

[problemfarang]

On 6/29/2022 at 7:50 AM, Andycoops said:

So you consider 5 months a reasonable period ahead of time then.

I don't and consider it a disgrace.

BTW my passport doesn't expire for another 2 years. 

I was asking a legitimate question of the consul/embassy on behalf of others whom I have discussed the subject with as we fund the so called service through our income taxes.

well if you consider many country wants you have a min 6 month valid passport.. i wouldnt say its a stupid idea as you think... 

[problemfarang]

On 6/29/2022 at 3:26 AM, OJAS said:

IMHO it is also the responsibility of those issuing replacement passports back in our home countries to ensure that we are in receipt of these with the minimum delay - a basic task in which those incompetent clowns in HMPO appear to be sadly lacking in fulfilling  in the case of UK passports, which, I think, is what the OP is alluding to.

 

with all respect to your opinion i dont agree. its your passport, your responsibility. Why other people must do their normal work harder or in a rush just because someone is lazy to do things on time? Then everyone would change their passport on the last day..  can you imagine the confusion! Imagine you are at working a office and someone comes in (almost everyday) and says ohh im in a hurry please stop what you are doing and do mine pls.. 

[OJAS]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:31 PM, problemfarang said:

with all respect to your opinion i dont agree. its your passport, your responsibility. Why other people must do their normal work harder or in a rush just because someone is lazy to do things on time? Then everyone would change their passport on the last day..  can you imagine the confusion! Imagine you are at working a office and someone comes in (almost everyday) and says ohh im in a hurry please stop what you are doing and do mine pls.. 

As I thought that I had made clear I regard it as a dual responsibility on the part of both the passport holder and the passport issuer. I hope that you are not seriously suggesting by implication that HMPO's bungling incompetence and ineptitude in the timely issue of replacement passports at the present time is thoroughly understandable and, indeed, praiseworthy to the highest heavens as being the best thing since sliced bread! To fulfil my own responsibillity in this matter I am planning to renew my passport in a few months time a whole year ahead of its expiry date - rather than 6 months as would have been the case if HMPO had been up to the task of issuing replacement passports promptly and efficiently. And what riles me even more is that, thanks apparently to some typically pointless EU rule specifically requiring passports used to enter the Schengen Area to be no older than 10 years from the date of issue, I won't be credited with 9 months of this unused period in my replacement passport!

 

[Tofer]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:21 PM, richard_smith237 said:

This.....   totally agree. 

 

If HMPO were a business it would have failed as people move to the competition... They would be forced to get rid of the half-wits hiding behind covid to continue their self entitled laziness. 

 

When government business models operate without consideration for making improvements and pushing the weakest common denominators, those weakest common denominators; the lazy slow and ineffective people stagnated or even get promoted to positions beyond their ability and those who were effective have moved on elsewhere. 

 

It's an utter embarrassment. 

 

 

 

Unfortunately it is a business, since HMPO have outsourced the service to a private company, and they appear more interested in achieving their required performance targets to retain their agency for the gov. than actually performing. Hence they spend, probably, as much time justifying the missed performance target dates by finding spurious reasons / excuses to delay / withdraw applications.

 

An extremely sad and pathetic state of affairs, which appears all too common in this day and age. All these fancy computer programmes, thought to make the processes of business more efficient, have created a workforce incapable of independent thought and / or prevented from using common sense and logic to solve problems outside of the tick box systems.

[brewsterbudgen]

2 hours ago, Tofer said:

Unfortunately it is a business, since HMPO have outsourced the service to a private company, and they appear more interested in achieving their required performance targets to retain their agency for the gov. than actually performing. Hence they spend, probably, as much time justifying the missed performance target dates by finding spurious reasons / excuses to delay / withdraw applications.

 

An extremely sad and pathetic state of affairs, which appears all too common in this day and age. All these fancy computer programmes, thought to make the processes of business more efficient, have created a workforce incapable of independent thought and / or prevented from using common sense and logic to solve problems outside of the tick box systems.

The actual issuing of new passports is still done by HMPO in Liverpool.  They've only outsourced the admin procedure for submitting the documentation overseas. VFS merely check the documents and forward them to Liverpool.

[CNXBKKMAN]

I have just skimmed this thread. The UK Consulate dont seem to reply to any queries. Does anybody have the latest turn around times for a renewing a UK passport with VFS?

[howerde]

Seen a few reports about 3-4 weeks, did mine mid may and was 6 weeks, the site still says allow 11weeks

[lungbing]

Passport renewal is nothing to do with the British Embassy anymore.  (nothing much else is, either.)

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

I have just skimmed this thread. The UK Consulate dont seem to reply to any queries. Does anybody have the latest turn around times for a renewing a UK passport with VFS?

Back in April it took 7 weeks from application (at VFS) to receipt of Passport. 

At the same time the e-mail advised it could take up to 11 weeks. 

[CNXBKKMAN]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Back in April it took 7 weeks from application (at VFS) to receipt of Passport. 

At the same time the e-mail advised it could take up to 11 weeks. 

I visited the Chiang Mai VFS office today and asked the question. They said at the moment some people get a passport in 3 or 4 weeks but other people it can take months. Fast or slow you only find out after making the application.