UK Passport renewal - email received 'send us your passport' 2 weeks after applying?

[rwilem]

13 hours ago, Batty said:

I remember the .gov website saying (I am paraphrasing) "you will keep your passport while the applications going through, although you will not be able to travel on it"

Man, seems like you and some others have really been put through the wringer with these passport renewals. With extra layers of outsourcing and bureaucracy the chances for a cluster arising goes up.

 

What you quoted above, I don't get. So does your HMPO put out notice to all governments that they've made a new passport for a UK national (which is not yet in the person's possession) and they are 'cancelling' the valid status of the one that person is currently in possession of? Thus the 'you won't be able to travel' using the one the person possesses. And throw in the lengthy times for many of these renewals--someone's posted waiting ten weeks--that is a tough restriction.

 

Seems it'd just be better to cancel the validity of he current one, cancel the passport, when one is able to take personal possession of the new one. OR, is that how it happens anyway, and they just giving you a line of BS about not traveling? 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

On 4/2/2025 at 9:16 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

"EU countries (except Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland)..."

 

I know my facts; Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland are not EU countries!  I'm surprised that you did not know that.

I am surprised you don't know the 10 year ruling is in respect of the Schengen area, not EU countries, but laid down by the EU.

My comment did not relate to EU/Schengen legislation.    The only thing that I was commenting about was that a poster who tried to justify his post by stating that he "knows his facts" included non-EU countries in his list of "EU countries", demonstrating his lack of knowledge of that "fact".   I am surprised that you couldn't see that!

[Upnotover]

55 minutes ago, rwilem said:

Man, seems like you and some others have really been put through the wringer with these passport renewals. With extra layers of outsourcing and bureaucracy the chances for a cluster arising goes up.

 

What you quoted above, I don't get. So does your HMPO put out notice to all governments that they've made a new passport for a UK national (which is not yet in the person's possession) and they are 'cancelling' the valid status of the one that person is currently in possession of? Thus the 'you won't be able to travel' using the one the person possesses. And throw in the lengthy times for many of these renewals--someone's posted waiting ten weeks--that is a tough restriction.

 

Seems it'd just be better to cancel the validity of he current one, cancel the passport, when one is able to take personal possession of the new one. OR, is that how it happens anyway, and they just giving you a line of BS about not traveling? 

 

 

 

The old passport is cancelled in the UK database as soon as the application is received.  No they do not communicate this to all governments, there is not way of doing that.  So whilst it is no longer actually valid for travel  the only place where the passport would show as cancelled would be entering the UK on it.  The old passport is physically cancelled when collecting the replacement.

[rwilem]

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

So whilst it is no longer actually valid for travel  the only place where the passport would show as cancelled would be entering the UK on it.

Thanks. So there's really nothing to stop a person, say here in Thailand, from travel to one of the countries in the region. Or actually to anywhere except back to the UK. Maybe an EU country might not be a good idea. But overseas travel really couldn't be restricted while one is waiting for the new passport. 

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

In reality it ended before then.

When I renewed in 2014 I was 6 years early as passport was full up and only got the 10 years on the new one.

 

I renewed both my full but not close to expiration UK passports at VFS Trendy in Jan and Feb 2015, and both renewals came back in less than two weeks with Oct and Nov 2025 expiration dates respectively, so credit was still available.

 

YMMV(FS)

TiT(rendy)

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

 

I renewed both my full but not close to expiration UK passports at VFS Trendy in Jan and Feb 2015, and both renewals came back in less than two weeks with Oct and Nov 2025 expiration dates respectively, so credit was still available.

 

YMMV(FS)

TiT(rendy)

 

The UK stopped extending passport expiration dates by carrying over unspent time from old passports to new ones in September 2018. 

 

Giyf

[Upnotover]

7 hours ago, rwilem said:

Thanks. So there's really nothing to stop a person, say here in Thailand, from travel to one of the countries in the region. Or actually to anywhere except back to the UK. Maybe an EU country might not be a good idea. But overseas travel really couldn't be restricted while one is waiting for the new passport. 

Correct.  The cancellation of passports by the issuing country is not automatically shared.  However, in the case of passports reported lost or stolen there is an international database maintained by Interpol,  but of course in that case you wouldn't (shouldn't) have the original passport to try to travel with.

[kidneyw]

14 hours ago, Upnotover said:

Did your card get charged?  That's a sign that it at least reached the UK.

Yes, after a few days. They were quick off the mark in that respect.

[OJAS]

16 hours ago, Thai Visa Express said:

Just a quick update — the passport office has recently transferred processing from Liverpool to Corby, and we're encountering some issues as a result. It appears the new team is unfamiliar with certain Thai documents. For example, a TM30, which we submitted to confirm the applicant’s address, was not recognised or accepted as valid evidence. We're currently facing several challenges regarding proof of address in Thailand. I’ve submitted a formal complaint to HM Passport Office to address this issue.

 

Beats me as to why HMPO insist on proof of our Thai address in any event, given that they don't send our replacement passports to us direct. Typical pointless bureaucracy for purely typical pointless bureaucracy's sake, I think!

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

17 hours ago, sandyf said:

In reality it ended before then.

When I renewed in 2014 I was 6 years early as passport was full up and only got the 10 years on the new one.

Nope in reality it didn’t.

 

I renewed in 2015 and got 10 years and 9 months ( not ten months as i stated earlier, miscalculated )

 

Issued : 1st April 2015

Expiry : 1st Jan 2026

[OJAS]

16 hours ago, Thai Visa Express said:

I’ve submitted a formal complaint to HM Passport Office to address this issue.

 

Fingers firmly crossed that you receive a reply from someone who actually knows what they (and, more importantly, you) are talking about - as opposed to HMPO's resident clueless idiot who has always seemed to reply to my complaints over the years about various aspects of the whole antiquated bureacratic nonsense we Brits are subject to when renewing our passports from Thailand.

 

[OJAS]

10 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

The UK stopped extending passport expiration dates by carrying over unspent time from old passports to new ones in September 2018. 

 

Giyf

 

In any event I believe that we Brits were always alone in being able to have the validity period of our new passports extended by a max of 9 months to cover unexpired periods on our old passports. I was informed by an American on here some years ago who renewed his passport way ahead of time that his new one wasn't extended beyond 10 years from the date of issue. @DrJack54 - also true of Aussie passports?

[sandyf]

21 hours ago, Batty said:

Do you think it is safe to assume, given that I received an email a few days ago saying my application is now successful and my passport is being printed, that I should be good? 

Yes. Think about 10 days from that point.

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

My comment did not relate to EU/Schengen legislation.    The only thing that I was commenting about was that a poster who tried to justify his post by stating that he "knows his facts" included non-EU countries in his list of "EU countries", demonstrating his lack of knowledge of that "fact".   I am surprised that you couldn't see that!

I could see the thread was about the 10 year ruling, in other words the Schengen legislation.

Rightly or wrongly it appeared the poster in question was "quoting" from another source, but you felt you had to make an issue out of it.

[sandyf]

17 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

I renewed both my full but not close to expiration UK passports at VFS Trendy in Jan and Feb 2015, and both renewals came back in less than two weeks with Oct and Nov 2025 expiration dates respectively, so credit was still available.

 

YMMV(FS)

TiT(rendy)

Maybe a postcode lottery.

[sandyf]

6 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Nope in reality it didn’t.

 

I renewed in 2015 and got 10 years and 9 months ( not ten months as i stated earlier, miscalculated )

 

Issued : 1st April 2015

Expiry : 1st Jan 2026

Mine was issued on 22nd July 2014 with expiry date 22nd July 2024.

Previous passport was issued on 12th April 2010 with expiry date 12 Jan 2021.

 

Application was made first week April 2014, I hadn' t been aware of the impending change and absolute chaos came about. 

Wouldn't be out of the question for processing errors to have occurred, may well have been the reality for a period of time.

[rwilem]

8 hours ago, OJAS said:

I was informed by an American on here some years ago who renewed his passport way ahead of time that his new one wasn't extended beyond 10 years from the date of issue.

U.S. passports, 10 years from the date of issue. Concept for us of getting 'extra time' for an early renewal doesn't come into play.

 

Again, for folks living overseas maybe it's better to think about passports being good for 9 years plus change. That takes into account a few issues. The '6 months validity' for international travel, and the time frames these days for hoops-jumping renewals. And for those living here and are inclined to remain on their annual 'extension schedule', thus getting the full year, a new passport ahead of going into year 10 on the current is a good idea. (But you could also plan the renewal to change the date of your annual extension, if you find doing that to be advantageous.)

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, sandyf said:

Rightly or wrongly it appeared the poster in question was "quoting" from another source, but you felt you had to make an issue out of it.

This is a discussion forum, there is no other reason for it to exist, why shouldn't I make a comment about inaccurate information?   I did not "make an issue" about it, the other posters who continued after my comment are the ones who made an issue out of it, just as you are doing!

[DrJack54]

10 hours ago, OJAS said:

. I was informed by an American on here some years ago who renewed his passport way ahead of time that his new one wasn't extended beyond 10 years from the date of issue. @DrJack54 - also true of Aussie passports?

When you renew an Oz pp (also most others) the issue date is from when you apply and validity is 10 yrs from that date.

 

Last year I renewed my Oz pp and it still had two years validity. 

The expiry is 10 yrs from issue.

Vague recollection that in years gone by some countries passport (USA?) you could obtain extra pages.

That is no longer possible. 

[crazykopite]

Better call VFS get clarification 

[WDSmart]

On 3/31/2025 at 7:08 PM, Batty said:

Hi there. So, I applied at VFS Global a couple of weeks ago to renew my passport, which expires in May.

I made an appointment and successfully submitted all the documents. They said it would take 3 or 4 weeks and that they would call me when it arrived.

Payment was taken one week later.

Today, I received an email from the UK passport office saying I need to send them my passport. To do so, I need to revisit VFS global and hand it over. I also need to submit a form of ID from a list they provided.

 

Is this an error, do you think? The lady at VFS checked all my documents and handed my passport back to me. Everything was in perfect order. I had official ID from the Amphur and a Thai driving licence with my Thai address on it. I can't think of a reason why they would need me to fly back to Bangkok and hand it over again? Moreover, I don't have any 'new' form of ID to give them, other than what I already have. 

 

This feels like some kind of auto-email error, but I can't be sure. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

I renewed my US passport online, but I ultimately had to send my current passport by mail to the US Embassy in Bangkok. There, they voided it and sent it back to me with a new passport. 

[sungod]

On 4/2/2025 at 11:08 AM, NanLaew said:

Not quite. You were always allowed to provide a nominee for the collection process after the new passport had arrived back at VFS. However, applying was initially an "applicant only" option until Key Visa were officially allowed to handle the entire process. I understand that there's only one other officially approved full-service that is only contactable via the Facebook platform. It's called "xxxx" sending machine (I forget the guy's name, hence the xxxx).

I’ve dropped applications off for 3 different people over the years. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

So, after the ordeal of passport renewal changing the stamps was a breeze.

Your IO might have different ideas but in Ayutthaya it went like this:

 

Signed photocopy of new passport photo page.

Signed photocopies of every stamped page, + photo page, of old passport.

Application form.

 

Waited around 20 minutes while the io’s had the usual game of pass the parcel with my paperwork !

 

90 days report date stays the same ( June 17th )  1st report to be done in person.

[Batty]

Sorry I am late updating this, but just to let everyone know my application was eventually approved. I complained through the government website explaining that it is impossible to only submit copies through VFS global, politely suggesting that the examiner is talking out of his arse. 

 

The next day I got an email to say it had been approved. I collected my passport last Thursday. In total it was 4 weeks. I guess without the examiner causing a delay it would have been more like 3. 

 

As another poster said, the passport office has recently relocated to Corby and many of the examiners are unfamiliar with the VFS process and paperwork. In my case it was the document checklist that has a checkbox saying 'copies submitted' that obviously caused the examiner to think I only submitted copies and not originals. 

 

So if you are using VFS global there is a chance that may be some cock up like this until they become accustomed to VFS ways. 

 

And the grand scheme of things my cock up was only small and comparison to one or two others on here. 

 

Cheers

[Andrew Dwyer]

Just to complete my saga:

 

On March 31st I received an email from HMPO stating that the “2nd” passport I had sent to them for cancellation ( to further my renewal ) had been cancelled and was being returned to VFS for my pick up, if I so wished, and to await an email from VFS.

 

On April 11th i sent a reply to HMPO stating i had heard nothing from VFS, an hour later got an email from VFS stating my returned/cancelled passport was ready for pick up in Bangkok.

 

So communication issues are still ongoing and usually requires a reminder email to remind them to do their job !!

 

Note: i didn’t request the return of the passport and expected them to cancel and dispose of, am still deciding whether or not to bother going but probably will if only to use the opportunity to complain face to face about their service.

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

i didn’t request the return of the passport and expected them to cancel and dispose of, am still deciding whether or not to bother going but probably will if only to use the opportunity to complain face to face about their service

Personally I would collect cancelled pp if possible. 

[johng]

10 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Note: i didn’t request the return of the passport and expected them to cancel and dispose of,

I would keep the expired passport as the Thai bureaucracy may require you to produce it in certain circumstances.

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Personally I would collect cancelled pp if possible. 

Yeah, probably gonna go tomorrow.

[kidneyw]

I submitted my documents to VFS Global exactly nine weeks ago and still waiting for new passport to be approved. Multiple emails asking for more documentation from me; filling in a form to say my passport is lost; dealing with seven different teams at passport renewal in UK.

The list goes on and on.

What a shambles.

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, kidneyw said:

I submitted my documents to VFS Global exactly nine weeks ago and still waiting for new passport to be approved. Multiple emails asking for more documentation from me; filling in a form to say my passport is lost; dealing with seven different teams at passport renewal in UK.

The list goes on and on.

What a shambles.

I agree it is a shambles !

Blamed partly on the move from Liverpool to Corby but it goes deeper than that, losing your passport has to be the ultimate f### up !!

 

What next ?

Presumably they are fast tracking a new passport for you ?