UK passport

[Frank]

Hi everyone

Sorry if this has been covered before but............is it possible to make a postal application direct to the UK office for a passport renewal when you live in France???  The reason I ask is according to the Embassy site, they send your application to the UK for processing (unless I have read it wrong) and then return it to you via the Embassy, this costs 176 euro, however, an application in person in the UK via appointment cost justs £72, or a postal application if applicable would be £48!!!  Has anyone out there renewed their passport direct via post to the UK or am I stuck with the Embassy in Paris??? Any advice greatly appreciated[:)]

 

Jetlag

[Deimos]

To get you passport, send your details to the UK government.  They then publish those details openly on the internet together with anything else they can find about you.  If you are lucky they will burn your full details onto CDs and distribute them to "who knows where" .....

When I did mine a few years ago, it was all done by the British Embassy in Paris (they are the issuing thing in the passport I got back).  Was pretty quick (though they did need a bit of chasing).  Of course you are without your passport ID for a few days - there are ways to do it keeping your passport but they are a "pain" so I thought it was easier to just manage without mine (I have only ever had to use it when paying for things by cheque and even then only rarely and they have always accepted a photo drivers license.

Ian

[Tresco]

Jetlag, other than making a false declaration and getting someone to post your application and receive (and then send on) your passport for you, you have to use the Embassy.

I admit the difference in cost made me wince and I considered this route for about ten seconds.[:D]

You can get one issued if you are making a trip to England, but you have to have an appointment and go to one of the issuing offices.

[Hoddy]

You can't renew from abroad by post - it will have to be the embassy.

Hoddy

[Benjamin]

The isuing authority on our recently renewed British passports is shown as FCO which I guess stands for Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

If you get nervous about being without your passport simply take a photocopy together with your original passport to your Town Hall and ask them to stamp it before you send your old passport off.

[Frank]

Thanks everyone, thought as much about using the Embassy!  It would seem that everyone is tightening their security, when I last looked at the Embassy site for renewal, you could send a copy of your passport and then take your old one and collect the new one in person at your nearest consulate, but this is no longer available[:(]  Thanks again

Jetlag

[Will]

Also check the methods of payment - these too have changed recently.