Passport Rip off

jammybunn

Baileys_Babe wrote:

mah_jong wrote:

Also says mouth should be closed and a neutral expression (or somethingsimilar.... but I can remember thinking a smile would be rejected!)

A friend of mine had her photo rejected because her teeth were showing. Her teeth are proud of her mouth and her lips don't cover them:(

my fiancee had this problem (and we both work there) you just need to get here to write in saying that she has very prominent teeth and is unable to completely close her mouth and that is her "neutral expression" and they should accept that and use the photo

trigger_mike

Im a bit miffed as i've just got married and my wifes got to change her name in her passport which still has 8 years to run but to do this you have to pay again.
Seems like a con to me, only want to change her name.

surfcat

taxiphil wrote:

And I'm not sure what you mean by "subsidised by the taxpayer" - I was suggesting that British citizens should be able to move freely between European countries. How would that cost the taxpayer money?

Govt. can't win on this one. Move freely around Europe and millions bleat to the Daily Mail or other thick people's newspaper about 'immigrants'.

Alternatively ensure strong border control and you bleat about your divine right to go on a cheap foreign holdiay.

taxiphil

surfcat wrote:

Govt. can't win on this one. Move freely around Europe and millions bleat to the Daily Mail or other thick people's newspaper about 'immigrants'.

Alternatively ensure strong border control and you bleat about your divine right to go on a cheap foreign holdiay.

Oh, the poor old government. They work so hard for us. We should stop giving them such a hard time. Let's just send them a blank cheque with our passport applications shall we?

I think it trivialises the issue to describe it as a "divine right to go on a cheap foreign holiday" - it's actually a very important civil liberty question when you have to pay the British government £66 for the right to go to another European country. We are supposed to be European citizens and Europe is supposed to be a state where we call all move around freely without internal borders.

The third way, of course, would be to have a sensible and more affordable fee for a passport or other form of ID. Something like £20 maybe? But I'm just being silly now.

Stratford_Bill

It is disgraceful. They are trying to make it as difficult as possible to leave the country...like the Soviet Union. It's like Prince John said in the film: "Not too many, mind, or else we'll have no one left to till our land or pay the tax." They even have an Anglican bishop telling us that tourists are sinful because they are ruining the environment. Thank God I'm a Catholic!

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I'd always understood that a passport gave other countries the confidence to allow you in, not give the UK the confidence to let you out. Am I wrong?

Voyager2002

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

I'd always understood that a passport gave other countries the confidence to allow you in, not give the UK the confidence to let you out. Am I wrong?

You are absolutely right.

The legal status of a passport is simply that it guarantees that you will be allowed back into your country if you are deported from somewhere else.

Voyager2002

anewman wrote:

I think Voyager2002 believes low income = on benefits. However, I am more open minded and am aware this could mean only one person in household working min wage - kids expensive and so on.

But either way, what people do with their money is their own choice. Some spend it all on beer, some on cigs - I'm personally much more concerned about funding those as they go on to drain the already failing NHS. So if somone *does* happen to be on benefits and not spending it all on Beer and Cigs, 48" colour televisions - and they buying the cheaper morissons bettabuy instead of the overpriced kellogs, nescafe, marks and spencers etc etc who's to say you can't go on holiday?! Especially when holidays abroad are cheap compared with what they used to be and many places in britain.

Just to clarify, I was NOT talking about people on benefits, but about anyone who struggles to pay for what they want (including passports).

I dislike the argument that runs: X (budget flights, passports, etc) should be cheap so that poor people can afford it. Poverty is a problem, and there is a great deal that could and should be done about increasing the incomes of the lowest paid, while making the better-off contribute more.

At the same time, the services that government provides do cost money, whether that is healthcare, education, or the provision of passports. The great British public has made it clear that it is unwilling to pay sufficient tax to pay for the high-quality services that we rightly demand. As a result, we have an unrealistically low rate of income tax, and to compensate we face unrealistically high service charges for passports and for many other things.

boots_babe

trigger mike - same here. Got married in February and have 8 years left to run on passport so was shocked to find I have to pay full price in order to just change my name. Especially considering I will be able to do the same on my driving licence for free.Had my pictures rejected once - nobody really knew why either??? Asked at post office, spoken to Liverpool passport office on the phone, and they can't give me an answer. So have just sent some more off from different booth but how can I be sure they will accept them if they can't tell me the problem?!!

Dora_the_Explorer_5

"Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to offord the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary". Not bad value for 0.018p a day.