UK Passport Renewals taking over 1 month.

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    Tete_de_cuvee
    Participant

    A heads up to alow plenty of time to renew UK passports, (especially if Visa’s are impacted) – the wait time is increasing.

    You can still pay £100 for the express service though.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160174/Passport-processing-delays-crippling-UK-economic-recovery.html


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    Tx for the heads up, TdC.

    I need to apply for a new passport soon, I’ll post how long it takes on here, since expats in Malta have to apply via Paris for a UK passport, believe it or not.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Regardless of where you live, you can get your passport issued in the UK while you are there. Express service, less than 24 hour turnround, and it’s cheaper than using the agencies that have been contracted to do it elsewhere.


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    Yeah, but add in the airfare and it isn’t.

    Also, attending personally isn’t a great use of my time, if I am there, the lost income would be several times greater than the savings.

    So, all in all, not practical.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Of course only practical if you have other reasons to be in the UK. Unfortunately, I have to be there frequently for other reasons.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Long gone are the days DoS when you could pop into the consulate in Geneva and enjoy a cup of tea while your passport was renewed. Like you we have to renew ours in Paris though in fairness it was a pretty efficient and painless process and certainly quicker than my brother in law’s passport renewal in London.

    I’m not sure where all the renewal centres are but for Africa it’s S. Africa and the Far East (including India) it’s Hong Kong so if called for an interview Paris is not to far to travel to and in my case (not that it’s happened) probably easier to reach than Geneva!

    Reading the article though, I’m amazed people leave it so long to renew their passports, and so only really have themselves to blame. You can apply up to six months (I think) in advance and if you’re a heavy business traveller it’s anyway a good idea to have a second passport – discussed elsewhere in this forum – so you can still travel while waiting for visas etc.


    Bucksnet
    Participant

    Indeed, yet another reason for regular travellers to have more than one passport.

    It would not surprise me at all if the cause of the problem was CP penetration of the IPS.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Just came across this.

    http://ukinsouthafrica.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/passports/

    From what it says it seems that in the future all passport renewals will be done from the UK. You will have to apply direct to the UK and passport and supporting documents will be returned in two mailings.

    I can see the savings for the FCO but I guess the “overseas clients” will have to pay for the extra mailings etc. and I dread to think how long the renewal will take or how long before the passport service collapses completely!


    Binman62
    Participant

    I thought 4 weeks was the norm at this time of year. In January it is around 5 days


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Last two passport renewals I have done same day at Victoria. Given the destruction of IRIS and the partial switching off of E-Pass I am wondering if the.express service will be scrapped. It does appear that qny quality service in the UK is being destoryed and replaced with incompetence. I presume this is to comply with EU regulations. How come the Dutch and the Germans are allowed to be competent but the Beits muat copy the Levels of service of France or Spain?


    Bucksnet
    Participant

    “It does appear that any quality service in the UK is being destroyed and replaced with incompetence”

    You are starting to wake up Rich! Keep it up mate and wake others up too while you’re at it.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    Very topical, as this is becoming a huge issue for us. With HK no longer issuing passports locally, and our older daughter in boarding school in the UK, we are starting to get panicky about how we are going to get her passport renewed. It takes four weeks processing plus delivery times if we apply here – the school holidays simply aren’t long enough for that with the exception of the summer holiday, but the point there is that we tend to travel during the holidays so there isn’t a time when she will be here for five weeks straight (four weeks plus delivery time) – even assuming the process doesn’t take much longer than normal because of the summer rush. If she applies while in the UK it will normally take “at least three weeks (not guaranteed)” – again, not enough time for her to do it safely during either half of the term (she comes back to HK for the half-term holidays). Because she is in school, she can’t go to an IPS Customer Service Centre, so the fast track services aren’t available. It’s a nightmare…


    BeckyBoop
    Participant

    Ian, dont you have any family in the UK that can go with her to the passport office on a weekend? You can contact the school in advance to give permission or cant your wife go a week early?


    BeckyBoop
    Participant

    Ian, try this.

    http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/howlongittakesandurgentappplications/DG_174149

    If you can’t attend your appointment or collect your passport
    If you’re unable to attend an appointment or collect your passport yourself, you can ask someone else to do this for you. However, IPS can only issue your passport if you’re in the UK at the time.

    If you can’t attend an appointment yourself, someone else may bring in the completed application form and supporting documents for you. They must also bring:

    •evidence of their identity, like their passport or driving licence (if they don’t have either of these, call the Passport Adviceline for help on 0300 222 0000)
    •a signed letter from you giving them permission to submit the application on your behalf
    However, if the application form is incorrectly completed or comes with the wrong supporting documents, IPS can’t process the application. This may mean you have to make another appointment.

    Someone else can also collect your passport for you, but they must bring:

    •evidence of their identity, as above
    •a signed letter from you, giving them permission to collect your passport
    If the application is for a child, the person who has signed section 9 of the form must sign the letter.

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