Passport renewal for a 15 yr old - advice

[Whoremoan]

DS 15 has a child passport that expired a year ago. We won't be going abroad any time soon and in fact he's only been abroad once in his life on a school trip and I've not been abroad for about 18 yrs, so it's all a bit confusing for me these days.

I'm not sure what we need to do to renew his passport - preferably before he's 16 in a couple of months time? I presume he needs a new photo as he was only 9 when he had the last photo done?

Who should countersign his photo? Do I send away his application and photo through the post office, as we did when he first went abroad,? Does I need to take him to the passport office - which is quite a long way away? He's British citizen.

Is it better to wait until he's 16 before renewing his passport as he won't be going abroad before then - nor in the near future? Or are there reasons to renew before he turns 16?

Hope someone can advise me as I'm not familiar with passports or foreign travel. TIA

Go to the post office and get a passport form. Get photos done too.

In the application form will be a step by step guide but it really is just a case of filling out his name and address, signing on his behalf and filling in his old passport number.

Do you know any teachers, I got a friend who is a teacher to do ds's?

It's really simple, honestly and you don't need the PO checker service, that's a rip off.

I don't like replying "why don't you look on the Passport Office website" but I do think that's best. Whenever there is a thread about passport renewals there seems to be a lot of conflicting posts based on what people think is the case, or was the case last time they did one, the rules and system do change quite often.

No you don't go to the passport office, it's all done by post.

If he is 16 soon, then you can apply for an adult passport online

www.gov.uk/renew-adult-passport

why would you re new if you haven't got any plans to go abroad?

I would wait until he is at least 16, I did my ds's one when he was 16 so it will last 10 years. His photo had to be countersigned because he has changed so much in 5 years.

Photos are always needed but if obviously the same person do not need counter signing. Unless he has significantly changed in that time you will be OK.You do not need to go to the passport office for a renewal. It's better to wait till he turns 16 then he gets the full 10 year passport.

If you do the online application it is quick and easy and very hard to make a mistake.

Everything you need will be explained in the booklet that comes with the application form.

I sent ds's off last week and it too 6 days to be returned! Amazing service.

Why does he need a passport , if he's not going anywhere I wouldn't bother until he needs one .

If you leave it until 3 weeks before he turns 16, then he can apply for an adult passport which is then valid for 10 years.

If he's recognisable from the photo in his old passport, you don't need a counter-signatory, but given he's 9 in the old photo I'd check with the Passport Office - give them a call on 0300 222 0000.

There's a list of acceptable professions for counter-signatory on the website: www.gov.uk/browse/abroad/passports

You can get the form from the Post Office, but it's easy enough to do it online as long as you have a printer as you need to print out a one-page form at the end and send that off with photos and old passport.

You will need a counter-signatory. Just did DS's and I didn't think he had changed much in 5 years, but the passport office did.

Thanks for the help. I'd heard from someone that if I waited till he was 16 and his previous child passport had expired, that he'd then need to be interviewed at the passport office. It sounds like that's not true?

He may need to go abroad next year when studying in the 6th Form for one of his subjects. So I didn't want to leave it till the last moment.

So I guess I could ask one of his teachers to countersign or think of someone we know personally who fits the criteria. I think he looks quite different from his photo aged 9 as he's now very much a young man - facial hair, spots, square jawline etc. But is it Ok to send off a photo that's not countersigned and then wait to see what the passport office make of it?

Many thanks.

Get it counter signed anyway as you will have to pay £6 to send the passport securely and you'll end up doing it twice if it's not right the first time. There's a big difference between a 9 and 15 year old.