Passport Interview - What Questions do they Ask?

My 16 year old son has an interview on Saturday for his first passport (he has never had a child one nor been on either mine or my husbands passports).

We had a look at the internet to see if he can get an idea of what sort of questions they might ask and the only website we can find is this one.

Passport Questions

If he was to go on these sample of questions he would only get three correct

Does that mean he would fail and not get a passport and have to reapply or is it more simple than that?

He needs a passport for a job he has a conditional offer for and is panicing that he'll get them all wrong and not only not get the passport but lose the job offer as well.
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  • sturll
    sturll Posts: 2,582
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    Anic wrote: »
    My 16 year old son has an interview on Saturday for his first passport (he has never had a child one nor been on either mine or my husbands passports).

    We had a look at the internet to see if he can get an idea of what sort of questions they might ask and the only website we can find is this one.

    Passport Questions

    If he was to go on these sample of questions he would only get three correct

    Does that mean he would fail and not get a passport and have to reapply or is it more simple than that?

    He needs a passport for a job he has a conditional offer for and is panicing that he'll get them all wrong and not only not get the passport but lose the job offer as well.

    If you are British i really don't see how you can be denied a passport.

    I would love to see on what grounds a UK citizen is denied a passport.

    That said i wasn't even aware you had to have an interview for one :cool:
  • Anic
    Anic Posts: 845
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    sturll wrote: »
    If you are British i really don't see how you can be denied a passport.

    I would love to see on what grounds a UK citizen is denied a passport.

    That said i wasn't even aware you had to have an interview for one :cool:

    Yes - I'm not sure when the rules changed but all first time adult applicants (not renewals) need to have an interview now and the application takes six weeks
  • pennylane99
    pennylane99 Posts: 5,783
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    All first time applicants have an interview now, to try and stop identity fraud, its just to prove you are who you say you are.
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535
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    sturll wrote: »
    If you are British i really don't see how you can be denied a passport.

    I would love to see on what grounds a UK citizen is denied a passport.

    That said i wasn't even aware you had to have an interview for one :cool:

    The grounds would be they are not convinced of the identity/nationality of the person appearing for interview and representing themselves as say John Smith.
  • mobby-2554
    mobby-2554 Posts: 1,661 Forumite
    Hi,

    Why is this being introduced now?
    The UK is rather slow off the mark on this. Most western countries (including Australia, the US, Japan and most of western Europe) are already in the habit of conducting face-to-face interviews for new passport applications. "One factor for us not having them in the UK is we don't have a national register of identity here and it has become traditional for us to get our passports by post," says an Identity and Passport Service (IPS) spokesperson. "We're tightening up the system now because passports have become a far more valuable document than something that just relates to travel and we need to ensure it stays respected."

    What if you don't know something they think you should, like your mother's full date of birth?
    People are expected to be nervous, even if they have nothing to hide, and you don't have to answer everything completely correctly. It's about building up an overall picture.

    Will they really stop identity theft?
    The Home Office is hoping the prospect of a face-to-face quiz will act as a major deterrent for criminals. The chances of being successful if you are pretending to be someone else are, they say, "very slim". "Identity fraud is not going to be completely stamped out with this," says James Hall, chief executive officer of the UK's identity and passport service. "It's a never-ending race, but our job is to keep raising the bar." It remains to be seen whether master criminals will be able to create crib sheets pre-empting potential questions, but it is hoped that biometric passports, containing applicants' fingerprints, will be provide a even higher hurdle when they are introduced at the end of 2009.

    Have a look at the link below;

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/jun/20/uk.travelnews

    Just tell him to answer all questions honestly & he'll be fine.

    Would they not let you go in with him, just for company.
  • rafter_2
    rafter_2 Posts: 242 Forumite
    Had my interview couple of weeks ago, the questions they asked me where mostly the details I put on the application form, parents details, did I put a telephone/email addy on the form, which method I used to pay. They asked if I had any bank accounts/creditcards, previous address, That was basically it.

    All they really want to do is check that the photo you sent is you and take a copy of your signature.
  • mobby-2554
    mobby-2554 Posts: 1,661 Forumite
    rafter wrote: »
    Had my interview couple of weeks ago, the questions they asked me where mostly the details I put on the application form, parents details, did I put a telephone/email addy on the form, which method I used to pay. They asked if I had any bank accounts/creditcards, previous address, That was basically it.

    All they really want to do is check that the photo you sent is you and take a copy of your signature.

    I thought that was it & I can understand why!
  • Wardy
    Wardy Posts: 261 Forumite
    My bfriend went 4 1 bout 4 wks ago - they asked him his mobile number, his e:mail addy & his doctors age (as he signed his form) all of which he couldn't ansa!!! he told them he never fones himself so y wud he no his numba, he asked me for his e:mail addy as he only uses it for things like insurance renewal etc and asked the girl interviewing him if she knew how old her doctor was??!!!

    She just smiled and signed it all off! Wot a farce, but he got it so I'm not complaining! Think its more to see if u seem to be the person u say u r.

    Don't worry bout it. U'll b fine
  • sturll wrote: »
    If you are British i really don't see how you can be denied a passport.

    I would love to see on what grounds a UK citizen is denied a passport.

    That said i wasn't even aware you had to have an interview for one :cool:
    you have absolutly no worries about a passport interview,i went for mine on tuesday and i recieved my passport on the thursday, the only questions that they asked me were to say my name and spell it out in full,my mums full name and her dob my dads full name and his dob,what kind of credit i have and the person who countersigned my application what his name was.If you are who you say you are you should have no problems what so ever
  • i had my passport interview last week. and have just recieved an email saying my passport has been cleared for printing and i should recieve it within 5 days.
    in the interview i was asked many questions. many of which i couldnt answer.
    my personal details D.O.B. national insurance number. who i bank with , my telephone numbers. my email addy. what documents i sent with the application.
    various questions about my parents which i had great difficulty answering.
    asked what credit if any i had applied for recently.

    i left the interview feeling very concerned that i had failed the interview because of my difficulty in answering so many questions.

    i also felt very aware that my body language was under scrutiny. as the woman never took her eyes off me except to look at her monitor.
    so yes i came away feeling very concerned.

    however it seems i was worried about nothing as my passport is being processed as of today.

    so. i really wouldnt worry to much i suggest you go with confidence and dont worry if you cant answer questions put to you.

    good luck
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