David Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Probably a somewhat Dumb question but here goes.If we move to France and become Residents what happens regarding Passports?If our UK Passports run out whilst we are Resident in France, what do we do? Do we have to trudge back to the UK, especially now they will be introducing Personal Interviews?David Lovell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Hi David,The following threads should give you a starting point:http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/878351/ShowPost.aspxhttp://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/856922/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Hi David,We've not had to renew ours yet but as I understand it you send them to Paris for renewal. This may change when the new (interview before issue) comes into being.RegardsGary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 It was stated on the radio yesterday that the interview would only be necessary for initial aplications, not renewals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 I heard that too, but they are on about finger prints or eye scans etc for the future, so I cannot see that we will just be able to just send in the application in the future, or maybe they will be one offs as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoverfrog Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 at the moment you have to send off to Paris, and it costs sooo much more than if you were resident in the UK!I fully expect that sometime in the future we will have to go somewhere for the biometrics, but for now it's enough :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 It used to be just about the same price as those getting them in the UK, the reason being that the Home Office ued to run the service. It changed over to the Foreign Office and what happened the price nearly doubled. The embassy staff have to pay the same as us, apparently. We are suppoed to get our passports from the consulate if we are french residents. Although if we are back when they run out, then we can get them in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerise Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 You can, quite legally,renew your English passport in the UK whilst there on a visit. The same day service costs more than the postal service, but it does mean that you don't spend time without a passport. Several people have told me this is not legal, but both my husband and I have done it without any problems. We made the appointments from France, at the passport office we were asked for an address where we were staying (relatives) and I used my Carte de Séjour as one extra piece of identity so we did not try to pretend we were not French resident - in fact I had nice chat with the girl behind the desk about living in France. Dropped the paperwork off in the morning and picked passport up late afternoon. This may be more convenient for someone who has to return to UK regularly for work etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 I can see why we should get them in the country we live in. IF something happens then the consulate will have all our details won't they. As far as I know we couldn't send them back to the UK to get them renewed and timing a trip for a passport pick up is not always convenient. My husband's ran out the day after he got back to the UK last autumn, we had had all the forms ready to send it off in France and had forgotten, which is probably lucky as there was a sudden death in the family. We had a lovely trip through to that lovely city of Durham and got the new one there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 If you really want to keep your passport whilst renewing it and living in France it is possible (or was a couple of years ago when I did mine). Apparently you can visit your local consulate/consular office (and there are actually quite a lot around France so its not a trip to Paris). Here your current Passport will be verified (i.e. that it is you and you have the Passport). The application is then submitted and you keep your passport. Your new passport is sent to the local consular office from where you must pick it up (and presumably give in the old one - or allow them to invalidate it).I did not do this myself - just wandered around France for a week or to without any valid ID and I don't know if the same is still possible as its quite a few years now before I need another passport.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Paris currently charge 142€ for renewals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Have just done (renewed) ours by post via British Embassy in Paris - very straightforward and passports arrived in under 2 weeks. We were warned to make sure that the photo conforms to their very stringent requirements (this is becasue they are the new style recognition technology) - got our photos done in supermarket booth and no problems. We were also warned not to let one smidge of the signature go outside the box on the form,as this will cause it to be rejected.Our biggest headache was finding someone appropriate to sign the back of the photos - originally thought we would ask our notaire or our doctor, but it has to be a British citizen. Chrissie (81) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naps Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 We've renewed two recently and have one more to go next month - for both applications we simply took a digital photo, then made sure it corresponded to the guidelines given and printed it on photographic paper. No problems with either of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 They've changed the rules then have they? When my husband got his new passport it was with unendorsed photos last October. I think that if a person had changed radically then the photo would need endorsing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lautrec Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 If you were born before 1928, Paris Consulate will renew your passport free of charge. One of the advantages of growing old gracefully!Last year, when I changed my UK driving licence for a French 'meme chose' (pretentious, what moi!), they would not accept digital reproduced photos, so had to make a dash to the nearest Intermarche for 'proper ones'! I brought this subject up on the telephone when talking to a nice lady at the Consulate. She confirmed that they would not accept digital photos, even if they were on photographic paper!So in any event, it is best not to take the chance of having all your papers sent back and having to post it it all again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte3 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Hi there,Your photos can be signed by a citizen of any country, not just a British citizen, but they should be a professional person.Aly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 They can also be signed by a retired UK policeman.Living abroad we all know loads of them, don't we? [6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Or doctor. I do lots over the course of the year, and unlike the doctors, I don't charge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 [quote user="Lautrec"]If you were born before 1928, Paris Consulatewill renew your passport free of charge. One of the advantages ofgrowing old gracefully!Last year, when I changed my UK drivinglicence for a French 'meme chose' (pretentious, what moi!), they wouldnot accept digital reproduced photos, so had to make a dash to thenearest Intermarche for 'proper ones'! I brought this subject up on thetelephone when talking to a nice lady at the Consulate. She confirmedthat they would not accept digital photos, even if they were onphotographic paper!So in any event, it is best not to take the chance of having all your papers sent back and having to post it it all again! [/quote]How can they tell the difference? Our local LeClerc Photobooth - and Isuspect most are like this these days - actually takes digital photos(I know this because it allows you to see the photo before committingto print it). With high quality, megapixel cameras everywhere thesedays I defy anyone to be able to definitively say if a photo's originwas optical or digital once it's on good quality photo paper.p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Just to update this piece of information: Your photo cannot be countersigned by a citizen of any Country. They must have known you for at least two years, be living in the UK, hold a current British or Irish passport and submit their passport number on the application form. Countersignatories are frequently checked for verification. Any deviation will result in refusal. Also as a matter of interest renewals can be made by personal appontment in the UK even if the applicant lives abroad either by the Premium (4 hour service) or the Fast Track (One week service with the passport sent by secure courier, not Royal Mail, to a valid UK address). At the present time there is a rolling programme of face to face interviews for first time applicants, not all areas have an available office therefore some can still be dealt with by post only. If you are to be called in for interview you will be advised within 8 days of the initial application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I should point out that this information is, of course, for those in the UK. Applicants to various Embassies and Consulates abroad need to obtain guidance via the FCO web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Glad you added that Ceejay, as it is not quite the same if you are resident in France. We renewed ours in August of this year through the British Consulate in Paris. It cost 187 euros each [:-))] and we were able to get the photographs signed by our (French) neighbour who is a teacher (it has to be a professional person). My photo (taken in a booth) was sent back as they said it was too light, so I had to go and do it again, when I made sure I wore something darker that didn't pick up the flash! There is a British Consulate office in Bordeaux, which is nearer to us, but according to the information on the website you now have to apply to Paris. If we had realised how much it would cost we would have done it in the UK when we were back there last Christmas - isn't it always the way!EDIT: Not sure why the start of the second paragraph is in larger font, nothing to do with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 [quote user="Chrissie"]Have just done (renewed) ours by post via British Embassy in Paris - very straightforward and passports arrived in under 2 weeks. We were warned to make sure that the photo conforms to their very stringent requirements (this is becasue they are the new style recognition technology) - got our photos done in supermarket booth and no problems. We were also warned not to let one smidge of the signature go outside the box on the form,as this will cause it to be rejected.Our biggest headache was finding someone appropriate to sign the back of the photos - originally thought we would ask our notaire or our doctor, but it has to be a British citizen. Chrissie (81)[/quote]Do the British Embassy in Paris have a website (I can't find it)? Is there a downloadable form? I have three children's passports to renew (they run out so quickly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 [quote user="Cathy"]Do the British Embassy in Paris have a website (I can't find it)? Is there a downloadable form? [/quote]The website is here http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1059132495834I got a new passport them recently via downlaodable forms, but I have no children. However I'm sure all the options are there for you.I had my application for renewal denied for the first time on a technicality (to do with the photo) so be careful. I still can't say I agree with them for denying me (at the gate, as it were) but I complied with their bizarre/anal requirements and it was sorted out ver quickly.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Spot on, Tresco. All forms and the photograph requirements downloaded.Thank you so much everyone for this thread. My four children are educated in France and their passports were expiring during the school term. I was concerned about how to apply for their renewals during a short UK holiday. So you've solved my problem. I find this Forum SOOOOO useful for everyday living. [:)] And a bit of fun occasionally. [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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