[AdSolar]

Thanks all for your advice and comments.
I traveled to London and went to HM Passport office at Victoria. I submitted the application and paid for the premium service. I received my second passport 4 hours later!
It was so straight forward.

[JamesBlonde]

It’s not a uniquely British privilege. I don’t know how many countries offer it but my Danish friend has 2 passports (legally)

[LuganoPirate]

I’ve just renewed my passport and how easy it was. First I could do it all online, with just a few questions asked. I paid by credit card then printed off the form, signed it, added photos (no need to have them certified anymore) and sent it off by registered post. I was given a user name and password so I can track the process on line. They say I should have it back in three weeks. We’ll see and I’ll let you know. On top, they’ve reduced the fee to reflect the savings made by sending everything to England instead of renewing through the local Embassy /Consul.

Two other things of interest. First you can apply up to nine months before the current passport expires and they add the unused time to the new passport.

Second, if you need to keep your passport because you live abroad and /or need it for travel, you need to send a letter of explanation and can hand in the old passport after you’ve received the new one. Great news and rules thought out carefully by the FCO.

[Annekedt]

I am facilitating an application for a second UK passport for a UK citizen. He is a actor and travels frequently to other countries due to shoots. He is not permanently employed with any company, as the industry is on a contract basis. Is there any other letter than the letter from your permanent employee that he can submit with his application? Will they accept a letter from his agent?

Kindly advise.

[JohnHarper]

Wouldn’t you be better asking the UKPA?

[Age_of_Reason]

Yes. In my experience, the lether must be on ‘business letterhead’, be signed in ink and have traceable contact details (a business phone no which will answer… they will). It must list specific countries to which application(s) are being contemplated. Make them credible. And you must now (as of 2012) provide the original or a good-quality copy of every page) of the first passport.

[Tokyogreen]

I just picked up my second passport last week, and it was very straightforward. The company letter is very important and must fulfil the requirements listed in Age_of_Reason’s message above. Maybe I can mention that you should use the normal Passport Application form. There is no specific mention in it (or the instructions) of a Second Passport, but I filled it in as if applying for a new passport. When I presented it at the window, I was told that I should not mention the number of my existing passport near the beginning of the form, otherwise it would automatically be cancelled!What you do is explain that you are applying for a second passport in the space provided later in the form for additional information. Anyway, the staff will show you what to do.

To cut a long story short, 4 hours later I had my second passport.

[Tokyogreen]

Annekedt – I guess a letter from the agent might work, provided the agent seems a reputable and reasonably sizeable organisation. As has been mentioned before here, it will be important to list up countries likely to be visited. It does seem that the individual staff members have a degree of discretion as to whether to accept the application or not, so you have to hope that you’re lucky. Additionally, I would have thought that, if possible, the actual passport holder should make the application (assuming that he is in the country – and since his original passport has to be shown, I guess he must be). Assuming that he looks reasonably presentable and “actor-like”, that could help the process.
If it doesn’t work, then maybe he could find a friend who runs a company and would be prepared to write a letter for him. I’m certain they don’t check whether someone is genuinely employed by the company writing the letter. Mine is in China, and even if they had made a phone call no-one would have answered in the middle of the night. Of course I’m not wanting to suggest anything underhand . . . .

[blooming_nicki]

@Tokyogreen:
On the gov.uk website I find the option “first passport” with the info that I can’t use premium services for that type of application, apart from that, I only find links for REnew-ing a passport, but that’s not what you did either. I haven’t seen the actual application form, is there a box for “new”?

Generally, I have a special case here. My colleague is born in Pakistan, has a UK passport, lives in Germany and now needs to travel to India. So getting the Visa takes months which we don’t have since he’s travelling all the time.

Applying online for a UK passport he has the options: Renewing, Applying for a first passport, or Replacing a lost or stolen passport. Nothing fits the bill. Applying for a first one is like opening pandora’s box, and you need all sorts of information about his background incl. family history, their passport details, etc., so this can’t be the right way to go about it.

Does anyone have advice, or has been in a similar situation?

[DavidGordon10]

I will try and remember exactly what I needed to do. I have done it twice.

The telephone helpline – number on the passport pages of the gov.uk website – will talk you through the process. I found them very helpful.

If your colleague already has a British passport, the form that he needs to complete is the same as for a first passport, and it will need two photos as with a first application, and it is important that these are fresh photographs. It is as well to get them countersigned, and to get the declaration on the form also countersigned by a suitable person. On one occasion I was told this was essential; on the other, that it was not.

It needs a letter from the most senior person available at his employer, explaining why a second passport is needed, and explaining which countries he is likely to visit and why the second passport is needed so he can carry on travelling while visa applications are being made. This needs to be spelled out very clearly – I had to take my supporting letter back on one occasion and get it rewritten.

A second passport is much more easily arranged if you use the fast track service: phone the Passport Adviceline to book an appointment at a Passport Customer Service Centre, make sure you have everything you need and go there and you talk to the official over the counter. It is worth the journey to the UK for your colleague even if he lives in Germany. I have been to the London centre four times, on three occasions they were just very helpful, and once they were a little iffy but OK.

The peace of mind that comes from knowing that you have a passport you can use while the other is away in a slow visa process is well worth while.

[Tokyogreen]

@blooming_nicki
I agree with DavidGordon; it is much better to do this in person, even if it means a trip to London, for several reasons. lf you apply in person by FastTrack – or, I guess Premier – (you have to use the Application Form you pick up at most Post Offices, which is different, I believe to the online form) the person you speak to can guide you if you have made a mistake. There is no “box to tick” if you are applying for a second passport, so I applied as if I was applying to renew my existing passport, and put that passport number on the first page of the form. However, I was told to delete that, otherwise my existing passport would have been cancelled. Secondly, they will be able to explain to you any reasons why the supporting letter is not acceptable, so you could wait a few days for a new one to be prepared and apply again.

Having said that, of course it costs a bit more (not much) and necessitates a trip to London, but in my experience it worked very well. It seems you can book appointments at pretty short notice (I got one within 4 days at the beginning of July, which would normally be a very busy time of year. 4 hours later I had a new second passport.

They don’t advertise the fact that you can get a second passport, and the form is not set up for it, but it can definitely be done. As has been mentioned before, the letter needs to look as official as possible, mention the reasons why you need the second passport, e.g. the risk of the original passport being kept for a week or so, while visas are being applied for, this preventing urgent travel elsewhere in the interim, also countries likely to be visited. I actually ‘wrote’ the letter myself and got my boss to sign it, but it did the job.Of course the letter needs to be the signed original.

Finally, I just took along 2 photos (correct size, of course) with no counter-signature required, as I was doing it in person.

Doing it by mail application seems fraught with risks and no guarantee of success.

[LuganoPirate]

You must apply as for a new passport, and it can be done by post as long as you explain fully in the letter the reasons etc. It is best to get the photo’s countersigned though not strictly needed, but if your application is being dealt with by a jobsworth he may ask for them to be countersigned and this will just add time.

In your covering letter it must be explained you’re requesting a second passport, not a replacement or renewal, less they cancel your existing passport.

It will take the current 6-8 weeks to process as for a renewal etc. and full checks will be made, including that of the employer who signs the letter, but it can be done without having to visit the passport office.

[Tokyogreen]

I’m not so sure about checking the employer – my letter was from my employer in Shanghai, and it was well after Chinese office hours when I had my FastTrack appointment. Someone just looked at the letter (which fulfilled all the requirements) and said OK. If you apply by post, of course it gives them much more time to check, so that would be another advantage of doing it in person.

[Hypertension]

Now when replacing a Passport when you have 2 or more you now fill in the form for a replacement not as before for a first passport.

[blooming_nicki]

Either something has changed or were just lucky. I called to make an appointment for a premium 1-day service end explained that I’m applying for a second passport. I was asked if this is the first time I’m applying for a 2nd one — well, yes — and so I was told that I can’t use the premier service for that. Someone else needs to submit the paperwork and they will receive the passport in around 1 week my mail.

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