When to renew my passport?

Neil49

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Has anyone tried the "take your own photo" element of the on-line passport renewal?

How does this work in practice?. Do you have to take the photo, during the application, or can you have already taken one and uploaded to your computer first, in preparedness to upload it to your application. ?

I'm sure it'll take a few shots to get an "acceptable" one!!!

Any feedback on the process would be appreciated.

Take some photos first, following the guidelines on the website in terms of background colour, spectacles etc and upload them to your pc. Standing in front of a plain white or pale magnolia wall worked ok for me, just watch out for any shadow being cast onto the wall.

I can't remember if there are file size requirements etc but a free photo editing programme will resolve that issue.

It's almost a year since I did this but it went through without any problems.

zagfles

od244051 wrote: »

It expires March 2021 and past few years, including this year, I will be traveling in Europe in September.

I know I could use my existing passport on this holiday,

You might not be able to use it. See https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/check-a-passport

TheShape

od244051 wrote: »

.... someone I know, was treated like a criminal when she returned from a trip from the EU - she visited three countries there....

You can't currently return to the UK 'from' the EU. If she visited 'three countries there' (assuming all three countries were within the EU and there were no additional countries visited) her entire trip was within the EU.

peachyprice

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Has anyone tried the "take your own photo" element of the on-line passport renewal?

How does this work in practice?. Do you have to take the photo, during the application, or can you have already taken one and uploaded to your computer first, in preparedness to upload it to your application. ?

I'm sure it'll take a few shots to get an "acceptable" one!!!

Any feedback on the process would be appreciated.

Yes, been taking our own for years.

Once you're in the application you can upload it from the device you're using. I take ours with my phone then send them to my laptop.

Try to find a space with no/very little direct light to avoid shadows. I take ours in the porch if it's daytime of on the landing if it's dark. Before you start check the background/head/shoulder ratio and edit if necessary. Never had one refused yet.

Archergirl

The extra 6 months on your passport will no longer be valid for Europe however it only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay in the USA so you will need to check the regs for where you are going.