New Arrangements For British Passport Services Overseas

[siggie2]

The brirish embassy should come up with a system so we dont have to keep having stamps in the passport then maybe they will last a few years longer.

[jesimps]

Nice of them to give us so much notice! Or has this been kicking around for a while and I just haven't come across it? I was planning a trip to Bangkok at the end of March to renew mine, now I have to make some smart rearrangements. I don't give much for the chances of my passort making a return trip to HK by post. The times I've cursed Thai immigration for bringing in new rules at the drop of a hat and now we're doing the same thing.

[Artamus]

reduce administration, centralise excellence and deliver beneficial economies of scale.

aka slash jobs, collect the few useful brains together ... what on earth does the last bit mean ???!!!

Bullshit baffles brains.

They've probably been using this

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/examples/gob...-generator.html

[brianb1944]

I got my last GB passport thru Hon Con, Chiang Mai, very painless and great service. Fortunately I mostly travel on my Oz passport so GB one will last its full term.

[Farma]

That web address for further information is again? Or did I miss something?

Not a bad article, provided good balance. So much so that I have no idea what it's saying.

Should my country, Australia, also be doing something like this?

Back in 2004 when Oz changed passport styles to one more secure they reduced the number of issuing offices worldwide to 3. I applied to renew my passport while in the middle east. My new passport was issued in London. It took 7 days from application to me receiving the new London issued passport.

The Brit passport renewal process has generally taken longer from what I've seen so if they can do it in 10 days with this new method it won't be too bad.

[personchester]

Anything more than this? What will the price rise to now? How many extra days will it take to process? What additional informatrion will need to be provided (if any)?

One's passport expires every ten years, so the renewal fees are not a central issue here, and the process will be completed within ten days, provided the application forms obtained from the Embassy in Bangkok are completed as requested.

The new UK passport office in Hong Kong will be specializing in passport renewal, thus one can expect increased efficiency compared to the previous renewal service provided by the British Embassy in BBK.

[tingtongfarang]

Last november i had to renew my passport yet again ...i run out of pages every 18 months on a 48 page passport, The last two times i did this i traveled to hk ...its a very efficient service but i,m not sure i would trust the post in thailand or many other countrys, Without these one page visas ( china,indonesia,cambodia,laos ) taking so many pages i,m sure i could make 48 pages last 3-4 years, Why cant they just add pages the same as many european countrys?

To make matters even worse after the very friendly hong kong imigration noticed i had a nice new passport they stamped correctly in the corner of the first page but on arriving in bkk the bitch just gave a blank stare with her mask on and opened it in the middle somewhere and stamped in the middle of the page

Edited January 28, 2010 by tingtongfarang

[Apothecary]

What's the chance of them lowering the costs now they are saving extra 'quids'...

[tingtongfarang]

Anything more than this? What will the price rise to now? How many extra days will it take to process? What additional informatrion will need to be provided (if any)?

One's passport expires every ten years, so the renewal fees are not a central issue here, and the process will be completed within ten days, provided the application forms obtained from the Embassy in Bangkok are completed as requested.

The new UK passport office in Hong Kong will be specializing in passport renewal, thus one can expect increased efficiency compared to the previous renewal service provided by the British Embassy in BBK.

The renewal fees are a very big issue when your passport needs renewing every 18 months and they wont add extra pages!

[Pui]

i've had 2 British passports from the wireless Rd passport office. Both times the staff where brilliant. They even allowed me a second passport because i travel a lot in Asia (you need a letter from your company). This helps when I'm having a visa processed by one embassy I can still travel. Its great.

The cost is slightly more abroad but they have to cover their cost and the service was fantastic. I really didn't mind the extra cost because the service was so much better than in the UK. It was 2 - 3 days in both cases.

If they are moving to HK it will probably not be that disruptive. HK have a very good postal service.

Edited January 28, 2010 by Pui

[chiang mai]

It all makes perfect sense, the various Embassies throughout the region are able to reduce existing staff involved in the process thus saving money, the change also becomes a good reason to increase the cost of passport renewal, plus, it's yet another excuse to piss off the expat community, it's all perfectly logical, way to go The Treasury. As for the security and customer service aspects, well, er, I'm sure they've considered these point!!!

Edited January 28, 2010 by chiang mai

[pkrv]

This seems a strange tactic.

The Passport office in the UK very specifically states that passports cannot be sent overseas.

They do not even use the UK postal service as too many passports are lost.

Now we have a new system where we are going to have to send passports to a regional centre..............

I think someone has lost the plot.......

No they have not. It a centralised mechanism for monitoring and defaulting on UK State pensions - If you are in Thailand your UK pension will not increase, I doubt after 20 years it will be worth diddly squat. It is in all probability a long term attempt at a cost reduction exercise, perhaps UK MP’s expenses and gold plated pensions can no longer be funded unless everyone leaves the country which they are doing in droves. Interesting I wonder if the postal vote will soon be withdrawn?

[PhilHarries]

Hey George, it's a bit f**kin' early for April Fools innit?

What's the chance of them lowering the costs now they are saving extra 'quids'...

Two chances, none and <deleted> all.

[Foggy Bottom]

I can see the headlines now -

"Diplomatic satchel of due-to-expire UK passports found on BTS seat"

"Lost passports were being taken to post office says consular source"

"Crackdown on foreigners without passports announced by Thai Immigration"

"Barbed wire and chain-link fencing sales boom in border provinces"

[edwinchester]

The brirish embassy should come up with a system so we dont have to keep having stamps in the passport then maybe they will last a few years longer.

I think you'll find that it's all of Thailands surrounding neighbours that love putting in full page visas and oversized stamps not the British Government.

I have never received a stamp on arrival back in the UK.

[david555]

Having just gone through the usual nightmare, of trying to get a new second passport, and having to deal with the usual 'civil' (oxymoron..?) servant-type over the phone, any changes they make one hopes will be for the better..?

Forget about 10 working days. They held the passport for almost 3 weeks, even though I paid 'double' postage to get it sent EMS to my home. They said there was a 'mis-understanding', and they thought I was going to pick it up..

And then when they did finally post it, they forgot to include my surname in the address on the envelope, and the local postman understandably became a little confused, and it took a couple more days. before I finally received it..!

I have had similar problems in the past, and not just in Thailand. My other passport was issued in Indonesia, and there were similar delays there. The cost is another matter - 150 gbp for a new passport which still has 7 years left..!

European passports are, I believe, extended by simply adding more pages, and if a replacement is needed, they're issued for about 50 euros, or thereabouts. But not the UK. We pay full price, every time. How do they justify this..?

There, I've got that off my chest..!

That's what you get if keeping 1 leg in European community and keep the other in good old British system

[rgs2001uk]

i've had 2 British passports from the wireless Rd passport office. Both times the staff where brilliant. They even allowed me a second passport because i travel a lot in Asia (you need a letter from your company). This helps when I'm having a visa processed by one embassy I can still travel. Its great.

The cost is slightly more abroad but they have to cover their cost and the service was fantastic. I really didn't mind the extra cost because the service was so much better than in the UK. It was 2 - 3 days in both cases.

If they are moving to HK it will probably not be that disruptive. HK have a very good postal service.

Well its reassuring to know HK have a very good postal service, my concern is more with the Thai postal service.

[davee58]

One thing is for certain.

This has no benefit for the passport holder.

[Stjohnm]

Just over a year ago i had my passport stolen from my house in Samui.

With my Non immigrant B expiring some 8 days later i had to jump on a plane to Bangkok and make a very fast submission for a new Passport which i received on the 30th December at 16.00 hours and had it stamped by immigration for an extension of 7 days about 30 minutes before they all left for New Year. I then went down to Malaysia to renew my non-immigrant B in the first week of January.

It was a difficult, very stressful and expensive process.

What would someone in that situation do if the Passport Office is in Hong Kong? Absolute nightmare i should think.

If its any consolation the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong are staffed by nice people and very efficent, Plus theres are a few decent expat pubs up the road in Wan Chai to while away the hours, & if it takes time don't forget we get 6 months in HK & Macau so there's no danger of an overstay there

[Stjohnm]

Nahh B llacks better to get it done bacxk in the UK if you ever get to go back I think some offices still operate a same day service if you pay for it.

[davee58]

If its any consolation the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong are staffed by nice people and very efficent, Plus theres are a few decent expat pubs up the road in Wan Chai to while away the hours, & if it takes time don't forget we get 6 months in HK & Macau so there's no danger of an overstay there

What has the Royal Thai Consulate got to do with renewing a British passport?

I assume that you mean the British Consulate.

I dont think that they provide an express service which means that you need at least a two weeks stay in HK in order to renew your passport.

Things can only get . . . . .

[Soutpeel]

Maybe this has been addressed somewhere else, but isnt it illegal to be in another country without a passport ??

Threfore some one who resides in Thailand and renews their passport will have the old one sent to HK, therefore you are unable to prove who you are in Thailand ??.....Way to go

Seeing as passports are going to be renewed in HK and British Visa's issues in Thailand are farmed out to a sub-contracting agency, and the British Embassy does F All for British tourists in "trouble" in Thailand, maybe they should consider shutting the embassy down completely and flogging the land ???....or maybe this is Flash Gordons plan to get some cash back in the coffers...LOL

[xenomorph]

So Britons are no longer citizens. They are simply customers to their government. How does that feel...?

[tingtongfarang]

Maybe this has been addressed somewhere else, but isnt it illegal to be in another country without a passport ??

Therefore some one who resides in Thailand and renews their passport will have the old one sent to HK, therefore you are unable to prove who you are in Thailand ??.....Way to go

Yes...what happens when thailands finest asks for your passport? Do we get locked up in immigration and prey it is,nt lost or stolen in the thai postal service?

[Pui]

i've had 2 British passports from the wireless Rd passport office. Both times the staff where brilliant. They even allowed me a second passport because i travel a lot in Asia (you need a letter from your company). This helps when I'm having a visa processed by one embassy I can still travel. Its great.

The cost is slightly more abroad but they have to cover their cost and the service was fantastic. I really didn't mind the extra cost because the service was so much better than in the UK. It was 2 - 3 days in both cases.

If they are moving to HK it will probably not be that disruptive. HK have a very good postal service.

Well its reassuring to know HK have a very good postal service, my concern is more with the Thai postal service.

Yes I see what you mean. Perhaps the passport is being processed in HK then sent to the British Consulate/Embassy in Bangkok for collection.

Sending out passports to individuals internationally is a bit dangerous.

[moe666]

Reading what you guys have to say, glad I am from US. Passport stolen in Bangkok went to embassy filled out paper work, he says will take about two weeks, I say I am scheluded to leave next week, he says let me change this then and pick up temporary passport day after tomorrow, I say thak you.

Get back to states send off temporary passport and application 4 weeks later new passport no cost.

We are excepting application for the citizens of the former empire who are now customers.

[Steveyddr]

Hi,

Do they think the Thai postal service is secure, this is stupid why do we need an embassy in BKK it should just be shut down and sack all the over payed workers there that do nothing.

Unbelievable

Steveyd

[bkk_mike]

This beggars belief.

I've cancelled magazine subscriptions simply because so many issues didn't turn up in the post here, and we're supposed to rely on the Thai postal service for our passports being delivered. And when you've got to send your old passport in with the application, what exactly can you do if it gets lost? You can't reapply as you no longer have the old passport...

Add in that, one time, at the Wireless road embassy, I had my daughter's passport renewed, and they made a mistake and had her sex down as 'M'. I immediately pointed this out, they took it back and I got a corrected passport the next day. (The 10 days is a bureaucratic thing - they were always able to issue a passport faster, but made a point of making you wait 10 days - then finding that the passport issue date was 9 days earlier...).

What do you do if there's a screwup like that from a postal service? I'm sure they're not going to have a form for it - with the application fee waived because THEY screwed up? You'll end up having to pay all over again, then try and reclaim the 2nd fee and the postal costs (good luck with that).

We already have one of the most expensive passports in the world. Why do they have to screw around with the system to make it more likely that you will have problems.

[phrae]

I am Sorry, but i was under the impression that Hong Kong is a region of China.

So we are going to let the Chinese renew our U.K. Passports ? ?

Well thats another 20 Million heading towards to the U.K. then !

[nobber9999]

Just had a thought..... to "streamline" things even more, why doesn't everyone just hop on a cheap return flight to the UK or maybe another EEC member Country and just wander in and renew your passport there? I am sure social services would be delighted to assist with accommodation and spending money if they assumed you were no longer a non-resident! I would never take the chance of using local post or courier to send my passport complete with visas from Thailand to Hong Kong where of course there is no corruption. Having just returned from a short break there I do not think it would be more expensive than travelling back to Europe.

A better and more secure way of doing this would be to keep the helpful civil servants in a job at the local Embassies but issue a 3 year passport? This way, we could all get a "I'm backing Britain" badge, the price of the passport would reduce proportionally, there would be almost no chance of losing your passport and you could even spend a few days in BKK sight seeing or is this another pipe dream?

That reminds me... why does my passport say "the United Kingdom" ? Should this just read.... ENGLAND?