Need new passport..

FFCBOY · Post by **FFCBOY** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:25 pm

Hi my current passport has just run out and was just wondering whats the cost of a new one from the british embassy, and roughly how long it takes to come through. Also do i have to go in person with my old one in hand...
Thanks for any help

There is only one F in Fulham thank you Roy..

**Sponsor:**

Mook · Post by **Mook** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:17 pm

Didn't you find the info on the British embassy website..?

www.britishembassy.gov.uk/finland

FFCBOY · Post by **FFCBOY** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:44 pm

Thanks didnt think to look there

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Tue May 13, 2008 8:10 am

They say on the web site that they try to do passport renewals in 10 working days. I renewed mine a couple of weeks ago and in a covering letter I explained that I had some business trips that meant I needed it sooner. It came back virtually by return of post. Very good service.

TampereOwl · Post by **TampereOwl** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:19 pm

It's cheaper if you use the UK offices, but you need an address to send it to there.

Jahnny · Post by **Jahnny** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:41 pm

Hey I just got mine renewed, 158 Euros!! And I got to go on the pissy 3T tram on a really hot day.

And yes you have to go and show birth certificates and get someone who works in a respectable proffession to counter sign the form and one of the photos (though in reality , your partner can sign it),but very fast service, that's why it costs a bit extra compared to being in Britain, plus do you really want to be in a foreign country with out your passport for too long? like if you got it posted to a British address, (somehow signing for it) then forwarded through the mail without the post guys in Britain half inching it.

The "Biometric data" they are now collecting is just all the information normally contained in the passport but now on a wee machine readable chip for the benefit of our american friends or whoever.

Also, it was exciting to see the insane security at the US embassy across the street from the British one, American citizens being made to wait on the street while the marine guy shouted at them - good times.

There's a big mad photo of the queen as well in the passport renewal room.

BUT 18 Euros for 4 passport photos; I thought it was some kind of joke and to be honest I'm still expecting them to send 10 Euros back . 18 Euros. Seems a bit steep, no? 'ksake

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:11 am

Jahnny wrote:And yes you have to go and show birth certificates ...

You don't have to physically go there. I sent mine in the post. Of course you can go if you wish. Did you have to make an appointment or did you just turn up?

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:17 am

You can't just turn up at the Embassy/Consulate anymore. You must have an appointment.

I think the passports are outrageously expensive. Imagine a family of 5... how much it costs to renew the whole lot....

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:38 am

penelope wrote:I think the passports are outrageously expensive. Imagine a family of 5... how much it costs to renew the whole lot....

I agree. Also, they can't seem to make up their mind what the fees are for. On the web site it says "They are charged to cover the cost of processing an application" but on the passport application form it says "A consular premium is included in the fee to provide consular assistance to distressed British nationals". I guess it is like everything else - they charge as much as they think they can get away with.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:42 am

Well of course, the cost of processing includes the price of keeping someone available to process...

SteveS · Post by **SteveS** » Thu May 15, 2008 11:41 am

Is anyone else bothered by the fact the man on the gate takes away your phone when you go in the embassy? I always imagine him calling his mother in Morocco while I'm inside...

And what really bothers me is they charge so much for a passport, then change the rules every couple of years so you always have to buy another one at full price even though it has 5+ years left.

The first one ran out, then they one they gave (sold)! me one which barely lasted a year as the US started to refuse entry unless the passport was "machine readable", so I had to buy another one (at full price) and now they are again going to make me buy a biometric passport...

I gave up getting the kids British passports because of all the hassle and €€€€'s. They all have Finnish ones now.

bevanrl · Post by **bevanrl** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:31 pm

If you're visiting the UK you can get them done the same day, I think when I was there at Christmas it took 4 hours from handing the form in to collecting the new passport. I had mine done in Newport, there was just enough time to go shopping in Cardiff before picking it up again.
You have to make an appointment for this kind of service - there are details on the passport authority's page.

A while ago I had one done at the embassy in Helsinki and then realized a year later that it wasn't machine readable even though the UK issued ones had been machine readable for several years. That's when decided to get mine issued in the UK in the future to avoid this kind of problem.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:03 am

SteveS wrote: I gave up getting the kids British passports because of all the hassle and €€€€'s. They all have Finnish ones now.

We did exactly the same. The Consulate wanted to charge us a "search fee" for each of the kids when we tried to renew their passports because they don't have UK birth certificates, even though they did have valid UK passports when we made the application... (the consulate in Paris was happy to take French birth certificates). So what did they need to search....

I even had my old passport in which they had been originally added when they were born (before the rule changed about kids having their own). After the search fee we would then have to register their births (at a cost) and order UK birth certificates (extra). Altogether it worked out at over 200€ each

Stuff it.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Sat May 17, 2008 8:52 am

The Consulate wanted to charge us a "search fee" for each of the kids when we tried to renew their passports because they don't have UK birth certificates, even though they did have valid UK passports when we made the application...

The rules are very strange and seem to change with the wind. I vaguely remember my sister having some problems with her passport renewal because she was not born in the UK, but I was born in the same place and have had no problems. My last 2 renewals have been in Helsinki and were both straightforward.

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