Renewing UK Passport from overseas

[MEgirl]

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.

10 days from sending docs to getting passports back from HK but it was an online application. .

Good to know ShanghaiDiva and KeyserSophie. Thanks.

I am not sure if online vs paper application matters WRT processing times. I know when we waited four months for DS's first passport it was an online application and the papers were saying that online applications were taking longer.

Just out of interest, did you send in proof of address for your DCs? It seems a bit weird to require this for a five year old. I don't have any for me either as postal services here are rubbish and no one uses them! Passport isn't even sent to the house, we have to pick it up from the consulate.

My application was online (you still have to print it out and mail it with the old passport/documents).

alteredimages go online and look at the application. You can actually even fill it out for practice as if you don't pay for it, it disappears after a few days. The instructions are actually quite good, but complicated, so read carefully.

For proof of address I asked the school to provide a letter stating that ds was enrolled at the school and resided at .... China.

About 3 weeks but get it right the first time or its a lot longer.

Update: we decided not to do it at the moment as he wasn't sure that he wanted to travel anyway (mental health issues). We're going to work on getting it done so that he can visit in the summer (hopefully).

I have photocopied the front of DD's school book which has her photo, name, address, and the embassy and school logos on. Hope they take it, but if not can fedex a letter out later.

No online application system here at all Sofia, but we have finished the paper application and the payment form. I just need to colour photocopy all 52 pages of DD's other passport. Fun. I am feeling a bit smug because I got the application and 2 online visa applications done in one sitting. If only this were a job...

MEgirl, hope your brother is well enough to travel soon and changes his mind about visiting. I would recommend getting it done now so that when he is ready everything will be in place. First time passports (I know I keep going on about it, but four months for DS!) and renewals of long expired passports can take a while and they can and do ask for additional documentation. Good luck!

alteredimages ds had another passport too which I had to color copy. I copied a page and then recopied with a second page so I could fit 2 passport pages on a page and then recopied it all to make it double sided so that I could save paper and therefore postage sending it all.

I agree about getting it started. First time passports (at birth for ds and 2 months for dd) need extra signatures and take longer.

Also, I am sure the application didn't ask for proof of address for ds.

I don't have a colour copier at home so I did it at a print shop and the guy had enough trouble just doing normal colour copies so I left it. Shipping fees weren't too bad despite the 28 pages of copied passport. Next time I will just send them the original, as DD's other passport is useless for travel since you need a visa for pretty much everywhere anyway.

I think the proof of address is a very new requirement, I know that we didn't need to provide it for DS's first passport 18 months ago. I only noticed it in Table A of the supporting documents guide, where it asked for one photo ID and one document showing name and address within the last year. It is very annoying when they don't even deliver the new passport to your new address! No picking up at the consulate any more either. I have to go to the UK visa application centre during a four hour window at peak rush hour in the worst area for traffic jams in a city famed for its traffic jams.

I think you have to send it home for renewal. I think in Canada, they stopped renewing here.

DD's new passport is ready to collect, 18 days after sending the application and no more than 12 days after receipt of it in Durham. V impressed, as website says at least six weeks.

They obviously aren't too bothered about proof of address!

well done altered!

Zombie

Poster bumping to advertise

I would love a travel duck though

Dd's has just taken about 10 days from Toulouse in SW France. That was with a change of photo, too, as here 14-year old self was no longer recognisable.

This is a Zombie thread.

Anyway, anyone who is interested in an update. I didn't renew at the time of the original question but started the process this March. Did all the forms online then posted them when I returned to London. Unfortunately, the process is taking much longer than we wanted as I have had to apply for an adoption certificate. Hopefully that will come through this week and the passport will be issued. If I can't get the certificate then my brother won't get his passport. He can travel on his Israeli passport though having the UK one will make life much easier in getting through passport control at the airport this end.