Online passport renewal - photos - easy?

howryoo

With regards to sending your old passport back, I assume you have to buy a delivery service such as RM Special Delivery, rather than them providing you with a pre-paid label?

If so, how have you sent yours back?  Physically visiting the Post Office, buying online (print own label) and post in postbox / print label & drop-off at local delivery office, or arranged collection from RM?

BooJewels

Special Delivery has to be either done at the PO or Royal Mail will collect it from you for an extra small fee if you buy it on-line and can print your own label (there may now be an option for them to bring a label for it if you don't have a printer?). 

I did the latter as I can't easily get to a PO.  It has to be scanned at the point of posting to get your tracking information - so you can't just drop it into a local postbox.

howryoo

Thanks BooJewels - makes sense regarding scan on collection.

DullGreyGuy

howryoo said:

With regards to sending your old passport back, I assume you have to buy a delivery service such as RM Special Delivery, rather than them providing you with a pre-paid label?

If so, how have you sent yours back?  Physically visiting the Post Office, buying online (print own label) and post in postbox / print label & drop-off at local delivery office, or arranged collection from RM?

No pre-paid label but just used a regular first class stamp, didnt see the value in a higher rate delivery and didnt want to have to argue over what the value of lapsed passport is etc.

MalMonroe

Hi, I took my daughter's passport photo for her on her iPhone. I'm no photographer and we took quite a few (so easy!) and then she submitted one online. It was accepted without any fuss. 

As for posting back your old passport, you can use the RM collection service. They give you a proof of postage by email and of course you can pay extra for it to be tracked, signed for, etc. if necessary. 

At the moment, and for the rest of this year, the collection service is free. 

And if you do want to organise collection, then the website advises you when the next collection is free (given that there are going to be some strikes). In my experience, it's usually been the next day. 

We use the collection service all the time and hope it will continue - RM want more people to use it, which is why it's free right now. 

Good luck!

MalMonroe

BooJewels said:

Special Delivery has to be either done at the PO or Royal Mail will collect it from you for an extra small fee if you buy it on-line and can print your own label (there may now be an option for them to bring a label for it if you don't have a printer?). 

I did the latter as I can't easily get to a PO.  It has to be scanned at the point of posting to get your tracking information - so you can't just drop it into a local postbox.

Hi, there's no fee now until the end of this year so home collection is even more appealing, especially for those of us who are not able to get out and about. They DO bring a label if you have no printer. Couldn't be easier.

howryoo

@MalMonroe - thanks for sharing your experiences.

@DullGreyGuy - so you just went with normal non-tracked postage; just posted in the postbox?

DullGreyGuy

howryoo said:

@DullGreyGuy - so you just went with normal non-tracked postage; just posted in the postbox?

Yes                                             

BooJewels

MalMonroe said:

BooJewels said:

Special Delivery has to be either done at the PO or Royal Mail will collect it from you for an extra small fee if you buy it on-line and can print your own label (there may now be an option for them to bring a label for it if you don't have a printer?). 

I did the latter as I can't easily get to a PO.  It has to be scanned at the point of posting to get your tracking information - so you can't just drop it into a local postbox.

Hi, there's no fee now until the end of this year so home collection is even more appealing, especially for those of us who are not able to get out and about. They DO bring a label if you have no printer. Couldn't be easier.

Ah thanks, I hadn't encountered that yet, the last couple of items I had collected were with pre-printed labels generated elsewhere.  It was something like 72p, then they reduced it to 60p, I think - so free now is even better.  

I only sent my passport and certificates by SD as they wanted my original birth and marriage certificates and due to recent bereavements, I wanted to protect them both for sentimental reasons.  I'd just missed the date for a straight renewal so effectively had to apply for a new one - hence needing certificates.  An expired passport on its own I probably would have just dropped in the normal post.  

brianposter

FWIW I had considerable difficulty getting a photograph that the computer would accept. Eventually successful inside with curtains drawn sufficiently to force a flash but leaving sufficient light to avoid shadows.