Now is a good time to renew an UK passport

[slightlychilled]

I sent my application off on 1st March and received my new passport today 19th, very quick considering this includes international mailing times. I hate the feeling of being without a passport and was a bit worried after the fiasco last year with people having to wait literally months for theirs, with many horror stories of missed holidays etc.

Cost a juicy £110.86 mind you and it's a bit of a cheek since the damn thing remains the property of HM government. They do now however credit any validity you have on your old passport (up to 9 months) to your new one and at that price, so they should.

I think it should be free or at least pay me for looking after it since it doesn't belong to me

[Patsycat]

Here, in Switzerland, i just got notifiction that my new Irish Passport is here. It's taken 7 weeks. Cost -107 swiss francs. About the same in Euros. Cheaper than a Brit one. Which i could get as well, but can't be arsed. All the paperwork and the angst of who to sign the back of the photos has done me for the next ten years!!

And, i know Mossy -i should have sent the whole thing to you. In the end the lawyer who sorted out my dead husband's money did it for me!! For free!!

Edited March 19, 2015 by Patsycat

[smokie36]

Here, in Switzerland, i just got notifiction that my new Irish Passport is here. It's taken 7 weeks. Cost -107 swiss francs. About the same in Euros. Cheaper than a Brit one. Which i could get as well, but can't be arsed. All the paperwork and the angst of who to sign the back of the photos has done me for the next ten years!!

And, i know Mossy -i should have sent the whole thing to you. In the end the lawyer who sorted out my dead husband's money did it for me!! For free!!

You don't need the silly signing back of photos any more with UK passports.

Just ask your local mosque to send it off and its back in a week.

[Patsycat]

I can tell ya, i went around the banks, the police, the Population Office, even the post office. Nada. Then i thought of the lawyer. Otherwise i would have been passportless - great, with a mother who is 85 years of age and not in the best of health and lives overseas. She is now happy i can travel to see her in the Summer. Alive.

I did actually think about going to a Church.

It's not the signing - its the stamp. Anyone can sign it.

And i don't think they would have appreciated my local Irish Pub, either!! And thinking back ten years, i think the lawyer did the last one.

What's fun is you get the old one back, with all the visas etc. for memories and a brand new one to start again with.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Patsycat

[smokie36]

I can tell ya, i went around the banks, the police, the Population Office, even the post office. Nada. Then i thought of the lawyer. Otherwise i would have been passportless - great, with a mother who is 85 years of age and not in the best of health and lives overseas. She is now happy i can travel to see her in the Summer. Alive.

I did actually think about going to a Church.

It's not the signing - its the stamp. Anyone can sign it.

And i don't think they would have appreciated my local Irish Pub, either!!

I can't believe you've renounced your Scottishness.....nae free haggis for you at Hogmanay!

[slightlychilled]

The verification of the photo is not necessary as long as you don't look any different from your last photo - or at least obviously recogniseable. Like most people my passport photo was horrendous but rather than have to pay a solicitor to verify a new nice one, I took time and trouble to arrange hair etc etc to look the same. It worked but now I'm stuck for another 10 years with an even sillier photo

[Patsycat]

One thing that, i hope will get better, is the fact that i shall send a letter to the Irish Embassy in Berne to tell them that people cannot get their photos endorsed in the places that they put on their list. And i hope it helps others, and that they change their list that is dated 2001. Which includes the name Garda!! They seem to take the Irish list and think it works in other countries, which is <deleted>.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Patsycat

[Patsycat]

I can tell ya, i went around the banks, the police, the Population Office, even the post office. Nada. Then i thought of the lawyer. Otherwise i would have been passportless - great, with a mother who is 85 years of age and not in the best of health and lives overseas. She is now happy i can travel to see her in the Summer. Alive.

I did actually think about going to a Church.

It's not the signing - its the stamp. Anyone can sign it.

And i don't think they would have appreciated my local Irish Pub, either!!

I can't believe you've renounced your Scottishness.....nae free haggis for you at Hogmanay!

I haven't at all. But an Irish passport is better than a sassanach one.

[smokie36]

One thing that, i hope will get better, is the fact that i shall send a letter to the Irish Embassy in Berne to tell them that people cannot get their photos endorsed in the places that they put on their list. And i hope it helps others, and that they change their list that is dated 2001. Which includes the name Garda!! They seem to take the Irish list and think it works in other countries, which is <deleted>.

I'd ban you for a week for that kinda language....and for not buying me a large Jamesons on Paddy's Day!

[slightlychilled]

One thing that, i hope will get better, is the fact that i shall send a letter to the Irish Embassy in Berne to tell them that people cannot get their photos endorsed in the places that they put on their list. And i hope it helps others, and that they change their list that is dated 2001. Which includes the name Garda!! They seem to take the Irish list and think it works in other countries, which is <deleted>.

The English list is not any better. For example no policeman here in Germany will countersign a photo, they just send you to the public notary. In fact here in Germany I doubt you could get anyone to do it without charge.

[smokie36]

One thing that, i hope will get better, is the fact that i shall send a letter to the Irish Embassy in Berne to tell them that people cannot get their photos endorsed in the places that they put on their list. And i hope it helps others, and that they change their list that is dated 2001. Which includes the name Garda!! They seem to take the Irish list and think it works in other countries, which is <deleted>.

The English list is not any better. For example no policeman here in Germany will countersign a photo, they just send you to the public notary. In fact here in Germany I doubt you could get anyone to do it without charge.

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

[slightlychilled]

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

Only if you can be recognised from your old photo.... do keep up. Hair style alone can make a huge difference let alone 10 years of extra living !

[smokie36]

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

Only if you can be recognised from your old photo.... do keep up. Hair style alone can make a huge difference let alone 10 years of extra living !

Not in my case....I don't look a day over 18.

[Patsycat]

I am a woman, i change my hairstyles yearly. And as i could not smile in the photos i look sad. And old. And problably like one of my convict Australian cousins.

Who may be part of my family looking to have one!!!

Have i dug myself in yet...? Think so.

Anyway, 7 weeks in Europe.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Patsycat

[pitrevie]

Before you complain about obtaining passports you should read this account by a Canadian who appears to have been p***ed off by the procedure.

Passport Application

Dear Mr. Minister,I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a t.v. cable from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date. For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my social insurance card, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my health insurance card, my driver's license, on the last eight goddamn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times. Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!! SH*T! I apologize, Mr. Minister. I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my f**kin' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthal &lt;deleted&gt; workin' there! Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for sh*t sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach and would someone please tell me, why would you give a sh*t whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone! Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another f**kin' copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60!!! Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the f**kin' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some &lt;deleted&gt; to confirm that it's really me on the goddamn picture- you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (f**kin' morons) Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off! Signed - An Irate f**king Canadian Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 when one of my forefathers took up arms against the Americans. I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had security clearances up the yingyang.I was aide de camp to the lieutenant governor of our province for ten years and I have been doing volunteer work for the RCMP for about five years. However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN COMMUNIST f**king CHINA !!!

[nontabury]

I can tell ya, i went around the banks, the police, the Population Office, even the post office. Nada. Then i thought of the lawyer. Otherwise i would have been passportless - great, with a mother who is 85 years of age and not in the best of health and lives overseas. She is now happy i can travel to see her in the Summer. Alive.

I did actually think about going to a Church.

It's not the signing - its the stamp. Anyone can sign it.

And i don't think they would have appreciated my local Irish Pub, either!! And thinking back ten years, i think the lawyer did the last one.

What's fun is you get the old one back, with all the visas etc. for memories and a brand new one to start again with.

Regarding getting someone to countersign a British passport, for example when obtaining a renewal of child's passport, they say do not use a stamp.

Just get the person to state their profession, how they check I don't know.

[Neeranam]

I got mine back in 17 days in January at a cost of 106GBP - you've been had.

I actually look younger in my new passport than my old one as the photo shop "photo shopped" it.

You need theold one obviously to take to get your visa/extension transferred.

Also, don't listen to the British embassy - they told me to get it transferred in Bangok at Chaeng Wattana road and not where I got my extension.

[Baerboxer]

One thing that, i hope will get better, is the fact that i shall send a letter to the Irish Embassy in Berne to tell them that people cannot get their photos endorsed in the places that they put on their list. And i hope it helps others, and that they change their list that is dated 2001. Which includes the name Garda!! They seem to take the Irish list and think it works in other countries, which is <deleted>.

The English list is not any better. For example no policeman here in Germany will countersign a photo, they just send you to the public notary. In fact here in Germany I doubt you could get anyone to do it without charge.

It's not an English list.

If you have friends in the expat British community, with British passports, then it's much easier to get one of them to sign. A recognized professional qualification from a chartered body or post graduate degree from a UK university is fine.

[Baerboxer]

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

Only if you can be recognised from your old photo.... do keep up. Hair style alone can make a huge difference let alone 10 years of extra living !

Not in my case....I don't look a day over 18.

Hansum yung Man!

All the ladies tell you here eh?

[i claudius]

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

Only if you can be recognised from your old photo.... do keep up. Hair style alone can make a huge difference let alone 10 years of extra living !

My hair style hasnt changed for 30 years ,ime bald just give it a polish ,i am getting my new passport when i am in the UK 128 quid done the same day ,just checked the pics ,to be honest i have hardly changed at all ,luckily.

[CharlieH]

Wrong forum

MOVED

[northernphil]

Went to BKK Trendy House 0n 9th Feb. my wife went to pick up my passport back from Uk on 7th March . flights , hotels ,taxis and more ,passport cost 400 quid.

The only good thing is everyone says I look younger now then in the photo taken 10+ years ago. Could this be caused by no wife any longer in the Uk but one over here or a better diet of hairy clams ?

[robertson468]

Already said you don't need photos signing any more....do keep up!

Only if you can be recognised from your old photo.... do keep up. Hair style alone can make a huge difference let alone 10 years of extra living !

Not in my case....I don't look a day over 18.

Hansum yung Man!

All the ladies tell you here eh?

Is that the one where the gals say, "welcome handsome man, you buy me drink?" Not that they are biased or have any agenda at all! Maybe a little short sighted?

[gandalf12]

I hope it is quick as I need to renew mine when I get back to Thailand next month. I must see if it can be speeded up. I need mine for work not tourism

[dragonfly94]

how early can you apply for a new one, one year?

[JGV]

One query for UK renewals

Supporting documents to verify address

Is the 90 day address notification at Immigration recognized by UK passort office as valid supporting document

JGV

[theoldgit]

how early can you apply for a new one, one year?

You can apply as early as you like, I applied for my last one three years before my old one expired as it was full, they will credit you with up to nine months of any unexpired portion of your old passport.

[khundon]

Here, in Switzerland, i just got notifiction that my new Irish Passport is here. It's taken 7 weeks. Cost -107 swiss francs. About the same in Euros. Cheaper than a Brit one. Which i could get as well, but can't be arsed. All the paperwork and the angst of who to sign the back of the photos has done me for the next ten years!!

And, i know Mossy -i should have sent the whole thing to you. In the end the lawyer who sorted out my dead husband's money did it for me!! For free!!

You don't need the silly signing back of photos any more with UK passports.

Just ask your local mosque to send it off and its back in a week.

Just renewed our sons passport (5years old) and the passport pics DO need to be countersigned in the UK.

Maybe different if he was older.

[Patsycat]

I called them up - its in the mail. Happy Patsy on Monday or Tuesday.

And by the way - its an Irish passport that we were talking about. A whole other shebang.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Patsycat

[Jonmarleesco]

An improvement on the £170 it cost me in 2013 - granted for 48 pages (40 useable). But, so long as it you're not replacing it because it's full (you need at least 3 blank pages remaining) ... you can extend it, for 12 months, at no cost, at the embassy. You should apply no earlier than 3 months before it's due to expire, and within 6 months of it expiring - something that obviously shouldn't be the case overseas.