Any way to get around passport renewal fees?

lucylucky

Louisdf wrote: »

What a ridiculous argument you are making! We shouldn't have to pay £77 for 35 pieces of paper allowing us to work. No wonder so many people are scrounging off the welfare state, when people are being robbed just so they can work!

As has been pointed out - we don't.

duchy

Louisdf wrote: »

Oh and if the passport fee ISN'T a rip off, then why can't the UK Border Clowns break down the cost of this £77.50? Oh wait, they need to pay themselves each a huge bonus because they have done such a great job! And of course they need to pay for their plush offices in Kensington/Mayfair.

Oh and any arguments about 'ensuring national security', are nullified by the fact that every week, thousands of illegal immigrants waltz in without any problems, passports are frequently NOT checked, people take banned items on planes all the time, drugs/guns get into this country realtively easy ect. But if you're in a wheel chair, don't worry the UK Border Clowns will search you and ask you to get out in case you are a terrorist.

Someone moved the passport office have they ? Victoria is neither Mayfair nor Kensington.

Ah I see-just an excuse for a racist rant. I've travelled with friends in wheelchairs internationally on several occassions and never experienced what you have described.

My brother works in UK immigration at a port of entry -It's interesting how the uninformed perception (ie yours) and what actually happens at airports varies. I've also worked at Heathrow myself in a non immigration role and what I've seen tallies far more closely with his experiences than yours. Have you actually ever flown in or out of the UK ?

Pollycat

Martin_Lewis_for_King wrote: »

Anyone know if there's a way to get around these fees? My passport's up for renewal but there's no rush for it or anything - jsut a standard renewal.

Do I really have to pay £77 for it????!!!

What a rip-off.

Anybody noticed that the OP has just posted this one thing and sat back to see what 'discussion' he can create?

His post is silly.
Yes he does have to pay the £77.50.
No, there is no way round this fee (assuming he wants his passport for foreign travel).
No, it's not a rip-off.

Troll?
Of course!

Louisdf

duchy wrote: »

Someone moved the passport office have they ? Victoria is neither Mayfair nor Kensington.

Ah I see-just an excuse for a racist rant. I've travelled with friends in wheelchairs internationally on several occassions and never experienced what you have described.

My brother works in UK immigration at a port of entry -It's interesting how the uninformed perception (ie yours) and what actually happens at airports varies. I've also worked at Heathrow myself in a non immigration role and what I've seen tallies far more closely with his experiences than yours. Have you actually ever flown in or out of the UK ?

It's not racist to say that the UK Border Clowns should stop illegal immigrants entering this country. And clearly people can take banned items on board, as this MP did:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1048639/MP-hits-airport-security-fails-spot-knife-hand-luggage.html

And are you sure the UK border clowns are providing value for money?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1185095/Home-Office-UK-Border-Agency-civil-servants-got-3-4m-bonuses-past-year.html

balletshoes

Ah the Daily Mail - isn't it a fabulous unbiased paper?

Doshwaster

Louisdf wrote: »

What a ridiculous argument you are making! We shouldn't have to pay £77 for 35 pieces of paper allowing us to work. No wonder so many people are scrounging off the welfare state, when people are being robbed just so they can work!

If a passport is necessary fro you to work then it's a business expense. I've just had to pay £120 for a visa to visit India for a 3 day meeting. Just for a stamp in my passport.

Louisdf

balletshoes wrote: »

Ah the Daily Mail - isn't it a fabulous unbiased paper?

The UK Border Clowns allowed an MP to take a knife on board a plane. FACT:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-11-04c.228.0
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23581868-gatwick-failed-to-spot-knife-in-bag-says-mp.do

I guess they're biased too, and the UK border clowns are geniuses. Live in the real world. They are so focused on whether our toothpaste is 100ml and not 150ml, whether we have the correct bags for liquids (so they can squeeze another £1 out of us to buy their bags) and the soles of our shoes that they can't stop people bringing guns and knives on the plane, inadverterly or not.

Running_On_Empty

The OP claims to be studying at the University of Birmingham!
I had no idea that such a prestigious institution allowed idiots in such as Louisdf.
Talk about devaluing the currency.
Note to self: hand in degree and demand a refund cos it now isn't worth the paper it's written on and therefore must have been a rip off :rotfl:

Moonchild

Louisdf wrote: »

The UK Border Clowns allowed an MP to take a knife on board a plane. FACT

Dictionary Definition of Allow:
to give permission to or for; permit: to allow a student to be absent; No swimming allowed.

They can only 'allow' it if they know about it. FACT.

Whereas the link for the ES Story is

Gatwick failed to spot knife in bag says MP

So, they didn't 'allow' it. It was a mistake. They never, in FACT, would have 'allowed' an MP to take a knife through security.

I only posted this as I saw the word 'FACT' in capitals, at which point I knew it was virtually guaranteed not, in fact, to be a 'FACT'.

Pollycat

Running_On_Empty wrote: »

The OP claims to be studying at the University of Birmingham!
I had no idea that such a prestigious institution allowed idiots in such as Louisdf.
Talk about devaluing the currency.
Note to self: hand in degree and demand a refund cos it now isn't worth the paper it's written on and therefore must have been a rip off :rotfl:

It might be me (and probably is) but I'm confused about this post.

The OP is 'Martin Lewis for King'.
So what does Louisdf have to do with the OP?
Where does it say anywhere that either the OP or Louisdf are studying at Birmingham Uni?