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Original poster

Renewing UK Passport from overseas

43 replies

MEgirl · 21/08/2015 16:57

Has anyone done this recently? How long did it take? My brother is in Israel and hasn't had a new passport for many years. He wants to come to England soon but we don't know how long it will take for the passport office to turn the whole thing around.

OP posts:
Costacoffeeplease · 21/08/2015 17:15

I'm in Portugal and did mine a couple of months ago, got it back within 3 weeks, I don't know if it's different outside of the EU?

mmmminx · 21/08/2015 17:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wearyheadedlady · 21/08/2015 23:40

We did this in the USA - we had to send our passports with the renewal paperwork, photos etc to the British Consulate in Washington DC - they sent it onto the UK and then it came directly to our home when it was finished. We were told to expect a 6-8 week period but the passports came back within 3 weeks which seemed very fast. You need to check online with the British passport office for their policies per country of residence.

lulalullabye · 22/08/2015 00:06

I recently renewed mine from Australia. It took 13 days door to door to get it back, I was totally amazed!!

JellyTipisthebest · 22/08/2015 00:52

We did my husbands recently and it was 2 weeks including coming back from immigration nz with new visa. From NZ

LuubyLuu · 01/09/2015 11:56

Mine took about three weeks, also from NZ. Need to make sure you have your old passport though, if not that would definitely delay it.

SteveBrucesNose · 01/09/2015 11:59

5 days from UAE! Was completely shocked by that. His old passport (including residence visa for here) arrived back 1 week later.

mrsnec · 01/09/2015 12:10

3 weeks from Cyprus but it was a first passport for dd and I'm not sure if that makes a difference. It's about what I'd guessed though.

millionsmom · 07/09/2015 06:09

Normally they are pretty quick. As you can see from the pp. Does the embassy in Isreal do passport renewals? The one in Oman doesn't. We had to fly back to the UK to renew, but they hadn't expired just ran out of pages.
I can see problems for your brother though, they might want to interview him, find out why he let it expire.

Boleh · 07/09/2015 06:28

My understanding is that you can no longer do renewals through an embassy or consulate (since some time in the last year or so I think). I've been putting mine off until I visit the UK as I don't want to be abroad without an identification document - I can't even buy medicine from a pharmacy without it! The news of very quick turnarounds recently is good though.

Mistigri · 07/09/2015 06:36

It changed a couple of years ago so that applications can only be made in the UK and not at consulates.

From what I hear, turnaround times are very reasonable at the moment, and normally autumn is the best time to apply if you want a speedy turnaround (my last passport renewal took 4 days, but that was before the system changed).

hebihebi · 07/09/2015 06:42

Yes, the rules changed a while back so now all applications in the world are sent through the UK. I think it's a pot luck how long these things take. He's better to apply before booking flights.

SofiaAmes · 07/09/2015 06:45

You can complete the application form online and there are very clear instructions/information about how to do it and send it and how much it costs. If you are in the UK, he can send everything to you and you can mail it in for him (as long as you have a uk address for it to be sent back to).

ErnesttheBavarian · 07/09/2015 07:06

From Germany it took us 2 weeks. But if they haven't had a pp for years it may take longer? Eg Now if the person hasn't changed much you don't have to get the photo countersigned. But if 8ts been years I expect you'd have to.

hellokittymania · 07/09/2015 07:18

£450 at FCO Hong Kong?! I'm waiting on a work permit (Vietnam) and am in the UK. I might renew it here.

CherryLip · 08/09/2015 14:44

Just done mine from Spain. You apply and pay on line then print and sign the declaration and post it to Belfast. Mine was delivered back in under three weeks via DHL....it took a week to get there with MRW courier! This was for a renewal not first passport.

EmilyAlice · 26/09/2015 09:02

Can anyone tell me roughly how long the courier delivery takes? Mine was dispatched on Friday afternoon and we are in Northern France. Do you get any more tracking info or does the courier just phone?
Just trying to decide if I need to stay in for the whole of next week. Grin

Gotobloodysleep · 26/09/2015 09:13

I did mine and my husbands at the beginning of the year, we live in China. It took less than 3 weeks in total. Super impressed

StartingPistol · 27/09/2015 21:36

I renewed 2 of my DC in January this year from Canada. They took 3 weeks. Their passports had expired in 2010.
I also applied for U.K. passports at the same time for 2 of my DC that were born in Canada. They were returned in 4 weeks. All much quicker than I expected.

SofiaAmes · 28/09/2015 06:01

So, my dc's had their last passport at age 10 and are now renewing at age 15. The form says that if they are unrecognizable from their last photo you have to get signatures swearing that it's them. This is difficult when you are abroad. Anybody have any experience with this. Did you try to get it through without signatures on the photo, or did you just get the signatures?

Idefix · 28/09/2015 06:08

We have never bothered with the signatures, and never had a problem. I think even with a hair colour change dd pp was not questioned Sofia.

SofiaAmes · 28/09/2015 08:40

Thank you! I have been agonizing over that. Also, they don't seem to require both parents to sign. The usa ones do until age 16. Am I missing something on the UK one?

SofiaAmes · 06/11/2015 02:05

Just had ds' passport renewed from abroad. I mailed it from the USA on October 23 and had the new passport delivered back today, November 5. Wow! I am so impressed at how quickly it went.

alteredimages · 06/11/2015 11:24

That's great SofiaAmes!

I was just feeling very stupid and sheepish because I have let DD's passport expire, thus breaking the first rule of living abroad. I am an idiot.

No online applications from my country of residence, so it has to all be done with paper forms. It will also need a countersignature.

The FCO says at least six weeks, but your experience has given me hope.

ShanghaiDiva · 07/11/2015 03:47

Sent from China on 12th October and back on 26th.

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