Passport Rip off

alijolly

There are places online where you can take a digital photo of yourself, upload it to the site and they send you back photos ensuring that your face is the right size for the current regulations. I used https://www.picturelizard.co.uk which charged £2.99 for 6 photos which I received by return. It was much easier than photobooths or even going to a photographers.

I had a bad experience with the online passport application system which they have now withdrawn whilst they fix it. The man I spoke to at the passport office said the online applications were a bit of a disaster they were expecting only a few hundred maybe a couple of thousand applications online and actually received 250,000 and they system could not cope. My personal experience was that the system said it was unable to process my application and froze, unfortunately it also took the fee out of my bank account 6 times so I was down £306 and still had no passport. SO now its back to online applications actually just printing out the standard form and sending it to you for returning with fee and photographs.

jamescredmond

alijolly wrote:

There are places online where you can take a digital photo of yourself, upload it to the site and they send you back photos ensuring that your face is the right size for the current regulations. I used https://www.picturelizard.co.uk which charged £2.99 for 6 photos which I received by return. It was much easier than photobooths or even going to a photographers.

I had a bad experience with the online passport application system which they have now withdrawn whilst they fix it. The man I spoke to at the passport office said the online applications were a bit of a disaster they were expecting only a few hundred maybe a couple of thousand applications online and actually received 250,000 and they system could not cope. My personal experience was that the system said it was unable to process my application and froze, unfortunately it also took the fee out of my bank account 6 times so I was down £306 and still had no passport. SO now its back to online applications actually just printing out the standard form and sending it to you for returning with fee and photographs.

thanx for alerting people. expect more trouble after recent events.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Thanks for this.

My passport expired last month and I want to renew my passport before prices go up but I'm getting married in October and so my surname will be changing. Does anybody know if I have to wait until after I'm married or is it possible to buy it now before the prices go up?

boots_babe

Yes you can get a new passport in your married name up to 3 months before your wedding. You just need a form from the post office.

Melissa22_Mum

Voyager2002 wrote:

If pennies are that tight, why not have a holiday in Britain? Foreign travel is a luxury, not something that should be subsidised by the taxpayer.

After hours of searching it's actually cheaper to go abroad!

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Arghhh forgot to order new passport - does anyone know when the deadline is? Do I still have time?

lisa_75

thehustler wrote:

my sister got married recently and sen the passport in to get her name changed on it.

£51 !! :O

You don't need to change the name on your passport, as long as you book tickets in your maiden name. Mine had 9 years left when I got married and there was no way I was paying out £51 just to have my name changed.

lisa_75

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote:

Arghhh forgot to order new passport - does anyone know when the deadline is? Do I still have time?

5th October, so plenty of time left.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/24/passport_fees/

jamescredmond

but wait............ a thought's just occurred. is a passport absolutely necessary if you're travelling to another eu country?
perhaps I'm dreaming after completing a heavy night shift, but I could've sworn I read something a few years ago that p/ports weren't strictly required, only a form of photo ID.
does anyone know if I'm right???

jamescredmond

see my previous post.
having just visited a specific site it appears that I was right but now I'm wrong.
the eu court of justice ruled in 1999 that passports ARE req'd, for security purposes.
between 92 and 99 it looks like certain forms of ID were acceptable.
sorry if I got anyone's hopes up.
meanwhile, plans are afoot to introduce an eu passport. probably a long way off, but we can be sure of even more expense if this happens.
finally, a word of warning for anyone planning a trip to the US: after the recent arrests of people suspected of blowing up US-bound aircraft, the Fed. gov'ment are re-examining the possibility of withdrawing from the visa waiver programme. should they go ahead this will mean a visit (in person) to the US embassy in grosvenor sq for all wishing to visit the US.
so, after queueing for hours ( and if you're travelling as a group the WHOLE group will be rquired to attend ) you will be charged a visa fee (which stood at £75 per person per visit the last time I looked, which would make the uk passprt fee look like a bargain.)
fingers crossed none of this happens.