UK Passport service

hjb123

My Dad has just received a letter back saying that they cant process his application at the moment as his photograph isnt neutral enough - he must have been smiling or something! He has to have another taken and sent in!

Liz19

black-saturn wrote:

Do the childrens ones last 10 years too? I'm renewing my childrens this week.

Childrens passports only last 5 years.

nic82

Liz19 wrote:

Childrens passports only last 5 years.

I think you pay the fee for a 10 year one and then you renew it free after five years are up. I think this is because children change so much over the years.

Saying that, if you got a passport for your child when they were 1 year old, you'd next have to renew it when they were 6 years old. Think they'd look a bit different by the time they were 3 years old, let alone 6 years old!

hollydays

One of the post office clerks told me they might refuse to accept my photo cos i was smiling (more Mona Lisa than anything else) but i have just got it back accepted.Perhaps scowling or gurning would be less risky?

Searcher

black-saturn wrote:

And the passport fee has gone up too :mad:

I'm going to Aus in November and I hold dual citizenship (English/Australian)
I've just been in the situation of having to renew both Passports as I have to leave/enter the UK on a British Passport and enter/leave Aus on the Australian one.
The Standard renewal for an Aussie passport is AUS$172 which works out close to £70 which makes the £54 for a UK passport look like a bargain

Edit: On top of that we had to go to the Aussie consulate in London to lodge the application, luckily just a short hop on the tube but with the courier fees I think the whole thing came to around £78 + train fare

Searcher

iwanttosave wrote:

I didnt realise that you could do the passports online, I am renewing my 5 year olds this week and getting my 1 year old his first one ever. I have messed up 3 forms already by filling in the wrong boxes or putting the wrong details for one of them :rolleyes:

LMAO I know how you feel.
We've just gone through the process of applying for a (first ever) passport for my wife.
It was hard enough finding someone from the list to countersign the form but the first person signed outside of the box so that was no-good.
The second time she signed the form with a blue pen (who would have thought that when they say black they mean black)
We managed to get it right at the 3rd attempt :T

taxiphil

In response to the OP, yes it is an absolute disgrace. What's worse is the fact that the government pays Siemens £120 million to run this shambolic system, despite a huge string of failures going back over 6 years. That's £120 million of our money - petrol tax, income tax, etc. - nice to know it's being squandered in this appalling way. There was nothing wrong with the Passport Agency before they put it into the hands of a private company.

God help us all when they bring in the compulsory biometric ID card.

irnbru_2

Searcher wrote:

I've just been in the situation of having to renew both Passports as I have to leave/enter the UK on a British Passport and enter/leave Aus on the Australian one.

Is that for expediency?

surfcat

black-saturn wrote:

I've had to fill in one of my daughters ones twice because the teacher that signed it got it wrong. He's put his own middle name where her middle name should be and visa versa. So now I've got to go and ask him to do it again. Teachers :rolleyes:

Yeah all the bullsh!t they have to put up with from parents before they can actaully get on with the job of teaching :rolleyes:

Searcher

irnbru wrote:

Is that for expediency?

No .. Australian immigration say that as an Australian citizen I have to enter and leave Australia on an Australian passport. I assume the same would apply to any other country.
Expediency is an advantage though lol and does away with the need for visas.