rinteln Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Hi guys, During this month I was planning to actually fly to Hong Kong and renew my passport at the consulate in person as opposed to sending the renewal paperwork off which takes 4 weeks. I need a new passport fairly quickly in order to start a work permit application here in Thailand. Without paying their stupid 4 GBP fee for webchat or 1 GBP per minute phone calls I was hoping someone might of had a recent experience of this and could advise. How long did the application take in person ? Is there an express service where I can pick the new passport up perhaps 1-2 days later after submitting ? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolsti Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 No is the short answer I'm afraid. Hong Kong is the collection centre and they are actually issued in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onionluke Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 They have stopped the service and now send everything back to the UK . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinteln Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Thanks for the quick answers. Blimey, service for us Brits is really getting worse by the year isn't it !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upnotover Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 But I've seen recent reports of passports being delivered 10-14 days after the application reaches in HK, in which case its a pretty good service I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinteln Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) But I've seen recent reports of passports being delivered 10-14 days after the application reaches in HK, in which case its a pretty good service I'd say. If that is the case then thats better than I expected. Still wouldn't say its a good service though. Put into context, 14 days to issue a document that they already have all the information for and presumably all the materials for also. 7000 baht, plus the courier fees. Might aswell call it 10,000 baht Compare to the American Embassy for example. My friend here is renewing his next week. 5000 baht in Bangkok, ready in 7 days !! As I said, seems us Brits are getting worse service every year. Edited June 5, 2013 by rinteln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryLH Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 "Compare to the American Embassy for example. My friend here is renewing his next week. 5000 baht in Bangkok, ready in 7 days !!" US passports are issued in the US. I think it's less than 5K baht. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinteln Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 "Compare to the American Embassy for example. My friend here is renewing his next week. 5000 baht in Bangkok, ready in 7 days !!" US passports are issued in the US. I think it's less than 5K baht. Terry Proves my point even more then. Cheaper and quicker than the British Passport office. Plus you guys can have pages added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldgit Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Mine was delivered ten days after my card was processed last month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
personchester Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Mine was delivered ten days after my card was processed last month. Good news, please outline your procedure, so that we know exactly how to apply for the p/port renewal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldgit Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Mine was delivered ten days after my card was processed last month. Good news, please outline your procedure, so that we know exactly how to apply for the p/port renewal. Pretty simple procedure, you go onto their website which walks you through the process https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports Basically you fill in your details on the form, print it off and send it off to Hong Kong with a copies of your bio page and your visa/extention page, I sent mine by EMS and, as I say, ten days after my card was debited there was a DHL guy ringing my door bell, clutching my new passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukgae Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I think it may depend on how busy they are at any given time. But definitely no quicker if you apply in person - I tried two years ago at the consulate in HK and was told 21 working days to process, which I couldn't do at the time as I was travelling. Very fast in the UK though, got my new one delivered by registered mail in two days in Belfast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 "Compare to the American Embassy for example. My friend here is renewing his next week. 5000 baht in Bangkok, ready in 7 days !!" US passports are issued in the US. I think it's less than 5K baht. Terry They are issued in the US but the embassy sends application over their network to the US which reduces the time to get one. Cost is $110 or about 3300 baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinteln Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) "Compare to the American Embassy for example. My friend here is renewing his next week. 5000 baht in Bangkok, ready in 7 days !!" US passports are issued in the US. I think it's less than 5K baht. Terry They are issued in the US but the embassy sends application over their network to the US which reduces the time to get one. Cost is $110 or about 3300 baht. That's great. Really does beg the question then of why a British passport is more than double the price to make exactly the same thing with presumably the same process. Edited June 6, 2013 by rinteln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldgit Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Really does beg the question then of why a British passport is more than double the price to make exactly the same thing with presumably the same process. Of course it also begs the question as to why a passport produced in the UK and delivered to Thailand costs twice as much as a similar passport delivered to the UK, given that the applicant has to pay the courier fee for delivery to Thailand. The IPA do have plans to allow applicants to apply online thus cutting out the "need" for Hong Kong to be invoked, but they are well behind schedule. This subject has been done to death of late and it's probably not the correct forum, but I'm as guilty as anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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