UK Passport Applications :

[bkk_mike]

What I don't understand is...

If a photocopy is acceptable (because in Thailand, foreigners are required to have a valid ID with them), why are we having to post anything? Has the passport service never heard of scanners and digital cameras?

And if they require someone to check the old passport, they can send the new one to the embassy, and you produce your old one (so they can cut off the corner) when you collect the new one.

[grahamhc]

So you don't actually have to go to the UK you just have to send your application and soon to be expired passport there with some cash and they'll post you a new one. Is that correct? I recently renewed mine in BKK so I'm good for the next 9 years but I can't see how they're loosing 8 million a year as my renewal cost me about 150 quid (if I remember well?) which I thought was a lot of money for some clerk at the consular to simply tap into a UK central database online and update my info. How can they be loosing money as all you get for your money is 20 odd sheets of paper in a cheap cardboard cover, an online connection to a central database and 30 minutes of staff member time to process the application and on top of that you have to pay the postage. Makes no sense?

I know it is Off Topic, or is it, as we are talking about cost.

Rememeber that Blockbuster - was it Independance Day? - when "The Presodent" was taken into a secret binker and asked "Where did you get the funding for this", to which his aide replied "You never really thought a bolt for a chair cost $2,500, did you".

I wonder what is the REAL COST, and not the CLAIMED cost.

[prakhonchai nick]

Send the application to HK, and wait the suggested 6 weeks. if it still hasn't arrived, you have no idea whether they received the application unless you can see whether your credit card has been debited.

If you want to chase it up, you have to call the UK, pay 60bt a minute+ VAT and be in possession of a credit card to do so. Not every expat has a credit card!

Most unsatisfactory!!!

[hansnl]

I am not British, so it really is not my business.

But, sorry to say, in the new system so much can go wrong, it is really frightening.

A typical case of bookkeepers taking things in control without any idea of security.

[jmccarty]

Seems fine with me, apply online and get it sent to the Brit embassy here.

at twice the price of ordinary application - extortion & you do not apply online, you download form, send it to Hong Kong & they send it to uk if they do not loose it

Bloody hey! No UK income tax when non-resident but complaining about an occasional fee to keep you that way? How much worse could it be? Same as the Yanks and taxed on world-wide income regardless of where they live!

[terak69]

Seems fine with me, apply online and get it sent to the Brit embassy here.

at twice the price of ordinary application - extortion & you do not apply online, you download form, send it to Hong Kong & they send it to uk if they do not loose it

Bloody hey! No UK income tax when non-resident but complaining about an occasional fee to keep you that way? How much worse could it be? Same as the Yanks and taxed on world-wide income regardless of where they live!

I still pay income tax so I am allowed to complain - As it was said earlier the Thais produce similar passport and sell it for 1000 baht, says it all really

Edited June 15, 2011 by terak69

[chonburi]

From Thailand you can send photocopies in lieu of passport - why it goes via Hong Kong, maybe keeps 2 mp's in expenses somewhere in the uk until they actually think of sending them directly to uk. That might be next years directive

The application doesn't go via Hong Kong, it goes to Hong Kong where the passport is produced.

As I read it, that at some time in the future you will apply directly to the UK, they will produce your new passport and send back. I renew mine in the UK when I'm there, almost half the price.

Of course Thailand can produce a 50 page passport, complete with a biometric chip in a few days, doe 1000 Baht - Amazing Thailand.

Unless of course you happen to be a Thai national living in Australia. There you will have to wait for the mobile renewal service to visit your area perhaps twice a year, instead of travelling across the country to Canberra or Sydney. After attending an appointment with the service, say in Perth, you may wait up to seven weeks(this year, five last time) for the new passport to arrive. The chip is in the passport sure, but the holder is provided with no instructions on how to use it in the manner intended. Has BKK airport got the required machines installed yet to allow usage of the chipped passport?

[Hornell]

I don't know why everyone is getting so excited about the ridiculous teletubbies video now, as it has been on the Embassy website for a month or so. Agreed the system is shot full of holes and vastly more expensive than it should be. The main point at the moment is when (?) in 2011 is the passport printing service being transferred to the UK. I sent my passport off to Hong Kong for renewal this week and heaven knows when I'll get it back if the service is 'on the move'. If anyone in the British Embassy reads this Forum it would be good to know when in "mid 2011" the printing service is moving to the UK and what, if any, changes need to be made to our applications.

[terak69]

I don't know why everyone is getting so excited about the ridiculous teletubbies video now, as it has been on the Embassy website for a month or so. Agreed the system is shot full of holes and vastly more expensive than it should be. The main point at the moment is when (?) in 2011 is the passport printing service being transferred to the UK. I sent my passport off to Hong Kong for renewal this week and heaven knows when I'll get it back if the service is 'on the move'. If anyone in the British Embassy reads this Forum it would be good to know when in "mid 2011" the printing service is moving to the UK and what, if any, changes need to be made to our applications.

Even if someone from embassy read the forum, which I think they might do, would you really expect them to be informative ??? I personally think not. I am just glad I renewed my last December

[Pattaya46]

Hi. I am not British but I am very surprise that UK guys can still get a Passport by mail!??

It seems to me that most countries now have new "electronic" or "biometric" passport and then, when you live abroad, you need to go to your consulate or embassy for a specific numeric picture, for fingers print, ...

Do UK still use old system passports?

[Konini]

Does anyone know of another country that charges more than the UK for passports?

Most other foreigners I know get charged a lot less for their passports, and get more pages too.

"Rip off Britain" really earns it's reputation nowadays doesn't it?

We have dual UK and Aus passports, and last time we renewed them (in Australia) I remember thinking it strange that the Australian passport cost a lot more and took a longer to receive back in the mail than the British one. Can't remember the costs, but it must have been significant difference for me to have noticed.

(The Australian one was issued in our home town of Melbourne and the UK one issued in Canberra).

Edited June 15, 2011 by Konini

[Arkady]

Can't see this is going to result in a better service for British expats. No doubt it will take longer, cost more in courier fees and increase the chance of things getting lost.

In London it used to be possible to apply for a passport at the passport office in Petty France and pick it up a few days later, just like the service at Embassies until last year. The first time I applied by post after they closed that service, they lost my birth certificate which I had to enclose as I was born overseas. When I called them to try to get it back they gave me the run around to different people and then tried to deny they had ever received it. Eventually I forced the woman to admit that they wouldn't have issued the passport without it and she just said, "Well, you'll have to apply for a new one, won't you?" and hung up. The original was very neatly hand written and the duplicate I eventually got at my own expense looked as if it had been written by a virtual illiterate.

I am not sure why they can't look up the records of birth certificates online themselves. Anyone can order a duplicate of some one else's, just like Robert Amsterdam did to get a duplicate of Abhisit's, and the duplicate is good enough to get a passport. I also don't understand why they stopped producing the old jumbo 94 page passports that at least gave you a sporting chance of making it last the full 10 years.

Edited June 15, 2011 by Arkady

[Arkady]

So you don't actually have to go to the UK you just have to send your application and soon to be expired passport there with some cash and they'll post you a new one. Is that correct? I recently renewed mine in BKK so I'm good for the next 9 years but I can't see how they're loosing 8 million a year as my renewal cost me about 150 quid (if I remember well?) which I thought was a lot of money for some clerk at the consular to simply tap into a UK central database online and update my info. How can they be loosing money as all you get for your money is 20 odd sheets of paper in a cheap cardboard cover, an online connection to a central database and 30 minutes of staff member time to process the application and on top of that you have to pay the postage. Makes no sense?

What they are trying to say is that they want to increase they profits they make from the passport operations.

[theoldgit]

Does anyone know of another country that charges more than the UK for passports?

Most other foreigners I know get charged a lot less for their passports, and get more pages too.

"Rip off Britain" really earns it's reputation nowadays doesn't it?

We have dual UK and Aus passports, and last time we renewed them (in Australia) I remember thinking it strange that the Australian passport cost a lot more and took a longer to receive back in the mail than the British one. Can't remember the costs, but it must have been significant difference for me to have noticed.

Certainly the Australian Passport seems expensive, A$226 (roughly £148) for a passport with 32 pages, and A$340 (£222) for a passport with 64 pages. The charge is the same if you apply overseas. https://www.passports.gov.au/web/Queries/Fees.aspx

The UK Passport is £77.50 for the standard 32 page passport or £90.50 for the 48 page version, you pay more if you want it quickly. If applying overseas, it costs £128 and £154.50 respectively.

I suppose us Brits should stop moaning, but it's what we do best

[james24]

So you don't actually have to go to the UK you just have to send your application and soon to be expired passport there with some cash and they'll post you a new one. Is that correct? I recently renewed mine in BKK so I'm good for the next 9 years but I can't see how they're loosing 8 million a year as my renewal cost me about 150 quid (if I remember well?) which I thought was a lot of money for some clerk at the consular to simply tap into a UK central database online and update my info. How can they be loosing money as all you get for your money is 20 odd sheets of paper in a cheap cardboard cover, an online connection to a central database and 30 minutes of staff member time to process the application and on top of that you have to pay the postage. Makes no sense?

Im a bit confused too, can you send photocopies of your old one instead...? I can seriously see alot going missing. Money and a passport in an envelope being sent to what will soon be familiar addresses, surely thats risky... what can we do if we have to send our old passport and it goes missing, that leaves us with bugger all.... ?

Edited June 15, 2011 by james24

[Mr_Pedantic]

Hi. I am not British but I am very surprise that UK guys can still get a Passport by mail!??

It seems to me that most countries now have new "electronic" or "biometric" passport and then, when you live abroad, you need to go to your consulate or embassy for a specific numeric picture, for fingers print, ...

Do UK still use old system passports?

Chang Wattana in Bangkok have a very good system. 62 desks,62 photo booths with 62 digital cameras with 62 scanners to copy your documents. The only 'delay' is that because of the biometric stuff you now pick your passport up two days later. All for 1000 baht.

The Emergency passport from British Embassy is a thin beige passport with no biometrics, costs £100 and is valid for day of use only (although)it is valid for 9 months which is unusual as you could get a new one within 9 months. The passport is kept when handed in at immigration UK. One thing not mentioned anywhere is that you need to have an itinerary of your flight before the application will be accepted. Emirates were very helpful and faxed my itinerary straight to British Embassy in Bangkok before I had even paid a penny for the ticket. But the date of travel is entered into the Emergency passport so no deviation possible I guess.

UK passports still need two photos for every application one of them needs to be signed, ridiculous old fashioned system especially as they are very picky on which photos will be accepted.

[terak69]

Does anyone know of another country that charges more than the UK for passports?

Most other foreigners I know get charged a lot less for their passports, and get more pages too.

"Rip off Britain" really earns it's reputation nowadays doesn't it?

We have dual UK and Aus passports, and last time we renewed them (in Australia) I remember thinking it strange that the Australian passport cost a lot more and took a longer to receive back in the mail than the British one. Can't remember the costs, but it must have been significant difference for me to have noticed.

Certainly the Australian Passport seems expensive, A$226 (roughly £148) for a passport with 32 pages, and A$340 (£222) for a passport with 64 pages. The charge is the same if you apply overseas. https://www.passport...eries/Fees.aspx

The UK Passport is £77.50 for the standard 32 page passport or £90.50 for the 48 page version, you pay more if you want it quickly. If applying overseas, it costs £128 and £154.50 respectively.

I suppose us Brits should stop moaning, but it's what we do best

Why should we stop moaning at the inflated prices for a person not currently residing the over immigrant populated uk. If we sit back and accept all the shit that is thrown at us what might they over price next ?? plus the fact I do not want an Aussie passport !!

I want a fair price for passport and a non-idiotic system of getting one. Transparency of pricing might be a good idea but.............................................

[theoldgit]

Im a bit confused too, can you send photocopies of your old one instead...? I can seriously see alot going missing. Money and a passport in an envelope being sent to what will soon be familiar addresses, surely thats risky... what can we do if we have to send our old passport and it goes missing, that leaves us with bugger all.... ?

Nobody knows when the new procedure will be implemented, or what it will be, at the moment it's just a proposal which will come in at some time in the future.

[NanLaew]

Nice video, presumably made by the Teletubbies team. Not so nice is the 150 knickers punch up the froat for pensioners renewing old 40-quid passport - for the enormous privilege of not having to live in the UK.

Ah, but our shiny new passports will be more 'secure'? Presumably that means we pay the (very wonderful) UK secret police to put all our personal data on an embedded passport microchip, & if the Vogons are still not happy, they can grope in our underpants, or force us to strip in the airport. Believe, work, obey. B******s. OGT

Is this the ENGLISH secret police?

Didn't see any STASI north of the border. If you retire to Scotland, you can always pop over the border to renew your passport when it expires EVERY TEN YEARS OR SO. They may even grant citizenship to Sassenachs.... provided they learn to play the bagpipes, wear a kilt every day, recite 'Tae a Haggis' and eat one at least once a week. Then you can get a Scottish passport which will open the doors to many, many wonderful things. Like living in exile in Thailand.

[MAJIC]

Seems fine with me, apply online and get it sent to the Brit embassy here.

at twice the price of ordinary application - extortion & you do not apply online, you download form, send it to Hong Kong & they send it to uk if they do not loose it

Bloody hey! No UK income tax when non-resident but complaining about an occasional fee to keep you that way? How much worse could it be? Same as the Yanks and taxed on world-wide income regardless of where they live!

I still pay income tax so I am allowed to complain - As it was said earlier the Thais produce similar passport and sell it for 1000 baht, says it all really

Yes: Cheap labour in Thailand!

[terak69]

I still pay income tax so I am allowed to complain - As it was said earlier the Thais produce similar passport and sell it for 1000 baht, says it all really

Yes: Cheap labour in Thailand!

or VERY expensive in the uk !

Edited June 15, 2011 by terak69

[personchester]

So you don't actually have to go to the UK you just have to send your application and soon to be expired passport there with some cash and they'll post you a new one. Is that correct? I recently renewed mine in BKK so I'm good for the next 9 years but I can't see how they're loosing 8 million a year as my renewal cost me about 150 quid (if I remember well?) which I thought was a lot of money for some clerk at the consular to simply tap into a UK central database online and update my info. How can they be loosing money as all you get for your money is 20 odd sheets of paper in a cheap cardboard cover, an online connection to a central database and 30 minutes of staff member time to process the application and on top of that you have to pay the postage. Makes no sense?

After joining the EU (via Ted Heath) the appearance of our passport has gone down hill, cheap cardboard and poor colour,

prior to this our passport was made of strong material, had a bigger size, and a nice black colour with two openings on the front cover (top and bottom) showing one's name (top) and the passport number (bottom) on white pages, thus it had a nice black and white front page, with the large golden coloured state logo in the centre, it carried kudos in terms of appearance and we were greatly respected across the globe, unfortunately that is no longer the case.

At the time when the change took place British people were very unhappy with the poor appearance of the new passport, but it could not be changed, it was an EU instruction, nevertheless Whitehall could have objected to it but didn't.

Maybe in years to come British Expats may have to renew their passports elsewhere again, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania ... perhaps.

Edited June 15, 2011 by personchester

[ESB7]

Now I know what "nanny state" really means: they must have employed the Play School production team to produce that video, which seemed to be aimed specifically at 3 year olds.

"Can you count to 5? Let's count together! And then let's go through the round window to collect your passport. Yippee!"

Another GBP20 on the cost of a passport.

May I suggest, on arrival at Heathrow, Gatwick etc, befor going through immigration, visit the little boys room, dispose of existing passport down lavortory, join immigration queue at 'other nationals' (always the quickest to get through) on being asked for passport just shout 'ASYLUM'............sorted mate, free food, roof, spending money and a shiney new British Passport after a few years with any name you want in it....

[NanLaew]

If this minor 'change' upsets so many people, what on earth will they do when they request that all passport applications and renewals require a face-to-face interview with the applicant?

In the UK!

It's not the 'minor changes' that upset me - it's the idiotic system they intend to use & the inevitable price increases. Face to face interviews, I do not think could ever happen unless uk becomes a dictatorship, maybe next year then

But the last Labour government already set the wheels in motion for exactly that; a face-to-face application and renewal process for all passports no matter where you live.

Personally, having gone through almost twenty passports since I became as expat over 30 years ago, the ease of renewing has always taken precedent over the cost. Even when I had two stolen in the US, it wasn't a major event. Last one I renewed in the UK while I was offshore Vietnam. Easy peasy.... apart from them rejecting the first and second passport picture attempts. Thank Buddha for the internet and email!

You retired and whingeing buggers have got it easy if the only complaint is the cost every what... ten years or so?

[Tanlic]

8 million she said it costs them using the Embassies abroad? Yeah right!!!

How they get to the amount is simple

They currently make 8 million a year but if they put the price up and centralize it in the Uk they'll make 16 million a year

So to their minds it's costing them 8 million per year :jap: or at least it was.

[terak69]

If this minor 'change' upsets so many people, what on earth will they do when they request that all passport applications and renewals require a face-to-face interview with the applicant?

In the UK!

It's not the 'minor changes' that upset me - it's the idiotic system they intend to use & the inevitable price increases. Face to face interviews, I do not think could ever happen unless uk becomes a dictatorship, maybe next year then

But the last Labour government already set the wheels in motion for exactly that; a face-to-face application and renewal process for all passports no matter where you live.

Personally, having gone through almost twenty passports since I became as expat over 30 years ago, the ease of renewing has always taken precedent over the cost. Even when I had two stolen in the US, it wasn't a major event. Last one I renewed in the UK while I was offshore Vietnam. Easy peasy.... apart from them rejecting the first and second passport picture attempts. Thank Buddha for the internet and email!

You retired and whingeing buggers have got it easy if the only complaint is the cost every what... ten years or so?

1 - I am not retired

2 - I still have to pay uk taxes

3 - my application last December also had wrong wrong sized photos (by 1 mm) - Hong Kong would not let me sort by email, I had to resend

4 - If you salary is good enough not to worry about costs - then lucky you

So 'as a retired & whingeing bugger' - my second word to you is 'off' - pick your 1st

[transam]

see attached - similar propaganda of thieving uk government

http://www.thaivisa....72#entry4484672

it's all the same rob the uk's give to mp's & immigrants

Yep your right and they don't need a passport, roll up, roll up, free council house and all the trimmings. Come on down.

[leedstony]

Bluddy 'ell - wot a loada wanke_rs!

Used to be proud to be English British, nowadays it's more a pain in the arse. No wonder people tend to guffaw when they learn where I'm from...

Is this yet ANOTHER remains of the New Labour fiasco, I wonder, or are the Tories going just as bleedin' bonkers as Gordon B. and his mob were?

Time to and , methinks......

no your right these tossers are as bad and mad as satan Brown

[Foggy Bottom]

Nice video, presumably made by the Teletubbies team. Not so nice is the 150 knickers punch up the froat for pensioners renewing old 40-quid passport - for the enormous privilege of not having to live in the UK.

Ah, but our shiny new passports will be more 'secure'? Presumably that means we pay the (very wonderful) UK secret police to put all our personal data on an embedded passport microchip, & if the Vogons are still not happy, they can grope in our underpants, or force us to strip in the airport. Believe, work, obey. B******s. OGT

Is this the ENGLISH secret police?

Didn't see any STASI north of the border. If you retire to Scotland, you can always pop over the border to renew your passport when it expires EVERY TEN YEARS OR SO. They may even grant citizenship to Sassenachs.... provided they learn to play the bagpipes, wear a kilt every day, recite 'Tae a Haggis' and eat one at least once a week. Then you can get a Scottish passport which will open the doors to many, many wonderful things. Like living in exile in Thailand.

You forgot some of the other requirements for issuance of a Scottish passport to a non-Scot

- Ownership, and photographic evidence of wearing, at least three different but near-identical creamy-white Arran sweaters.

- Ability to accurately describe the difference between single malt, blended malt, and non-malt, whiskies, plus name at least 20 different minor distilleries and provide convincing argument as to why your favourite is the best of them all.

- If tertiary educated, it must have been at a university where you did not pay fees (i.e. Scotland or Wales, but not England).

- Ability to name all of the Scottish major league football clubs, from memory.

- Ability to relate the story of the Glencoe Massacre, passionately, from the point of view of either the McDonald or Campbell side.

- Ability to state, chronologically, all the historical inaccuracies in the Mel Gibson film "Braveheart" and state the correct versions.

Once you are able to do all that, you move on to the oral exam where you have to demonstrate mastery of the Glaswegian drunken mumble - both spoken and heard.

Regarding the OP - I've just recently renewed my passport here in the UK by post - very fast turnaround (7 days) with all supporting documents AND the old passport returned within 10 days of application, therefore the handling and processing system seems to have improved greatly from the last time I used it (1991).

[WilliaminBKK]

I decided while back in Canada i would renew my passport, sent it off April 26th, arrived in Washington April 28th .................. still waiting and waiting and waiting. I called the .69p a minute hotline and was told it was signed for April 28th, well dahhhhhhhh I can see that with the courier. Said it normailly takes 4 weeks ------------ now in my 7th week I must have been caught in the storm.