Passport Renewal

Beverleyred

Beverleyred

Well-known member
Totally gobsmacked by the ease swiftness of renewing my passport last week.
I went to town on Wednesday morning and had my passport pictures taken at Max Spielmann, who e-mailed me a copy with an online code.
Returned home and applied online for passport renewal, entered the code from Spielmann’s, and paid the renewal costs.
Took my old passport to the post office in the afternoon, and returned it to the passport office. My new passport arrived on Saturday morning!
3 days, must be some kind of record.
Also, they kept me informed by text and email of each process as it happened.
They have really got their act together, and provide what appears to be a very good service.
 
No they haven’t.

My wife and friend are going to krakow in 2 weeks. Friend needed a new passport. Sent off for a new one 10 weeks ago lost that one blamed the PO which is normal bullsh*t for them. Still waiting for the 2nd one to be processed. Same old crap
 
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It's very easy just to do your own photos on your phone and upload when you apply. It will tell you if your photos are not up to standard. They will send you an an envelope to return your old passport. So you you can do it all from home.
Took me max 3 weeks when I renewed a few months back.
 
Kosovo said:
No they haven’t.

My wife and friend are going to krakow in 2 weeks. Friend needed a new passport. Sent off for a new one 10 weeks ago lost that one blamed the PO which is normal bullsh*t for them. Still waiting for the 2nd one to be processed. Same old crap
Click to expand...
Sounds like your experience was crap mate. I think people are still having problems that apply for passports using the the traditional method of applying by post.
All I can say is that applying online at the Gov.UK website was easy and hassle free.
 
Beverleyred said:
Totally gobsmacked by the ease swiftness of renewing my passport last week.
I went to town on Wednesday morning and had my passport pictures taken at Max Spielmann, who e-mailed me a copy with an online code.
Returned home and applied online for passport renewal, entered the code from Spielmann’s, and paid the renewal costs.
Took my old passport to the post office in the afternoon, and returned it to the passport office. My new passport arrived on Saturday morning!
3 days, must be some kind of record.
Also, they kept me informed by text and email of each process as it happened.
They have really got their act together, and provide what appears to be a very good service.
Click to expand...
Same, I had to renew mine mid October for a Netherlands trip 2 weeks back. I was very very sceptical that it would arrive on time. I did the photo at home and uploaded it, no issues at all, had it inside a week with the email and text alerts. I was impressed with the service.
 
It’s an absolute joke for people who live abroad.

18 weeks was the timeframe I was quoted as receiving a new passport here in Vietnam and I know it to be equally bad elsewhere.

There is a loophole which I had to exploit in order to avoid a scenario which could’ve seen me lose my job and risk infringing on immigration rules here. It also involved additional cost and the time of my parents who won’t always be capable of helping out with such tasks.

For comparison, an Irish colleague received his in under 10 days.
 
Big_Nothing said:
It’s an absolute joke for people who live abroad.

18 weeks was the timeframe I was quoted as receiving a new passport here in Vietnam and I know it to be equally bad elsewhere.

There is a loophole which I had to exploit in order to avoid a scenario which could’ve seen me lose my job and risk infringing on immigration rules here. It also involved additional cost and the time of my parents who won’t always be capable of helping out with such tasks.

For comparison, an Irish colleague received his in under 10 days.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a mare mate. Is your passport renewal not done through the British Embassy there in Vietnam? When I was based in Portugal in a NATO post, that’s how we renewed our passports when they needed renewing. Took about two weeks.
 
The only thing that held mine up was me sending my old passport back. Was a surprisingly quick service. Super easy to do my own photos instead of having to pay a machine or company to do them for me.

The delays being down to the post office / royal mail sounds plausible. We've had several times over the last few years where we haven't had a postman assigned to our area so we end up getting a bundle of post every couple of weeks instead of regular post.
 
I had a pretty good experience of renewing mine recently for the express service; the London office is just behind a Chinese restaurant at Customs House, so no need to go into Victoria any more.

It was fairly busy but I don't think I was in there more than 15 minutes from queuing up at security.
 
Kosovo said:
No they haven’t.

My wife and friend are going to krakow in 2 weeks. Friend needed a new passport. Sent off for a new one 10 weeks ago lost that one blamed the PO which is normal bullsh*t for them. Still waiting for the 2nd one to be processed. Same old crap
Click to expand...
That's unbelievable isn't it....
 
Beverleyred said:
Totally gobsmacked by the ease swiftness of renewing my passport last week.
I went to town on Wednesday morning and had my passport pictures taken at Max Spielmann, who e-mailed me a copy with an online code.
Returned home and applied online for passport renewal, entered the code from Spielmann’s, and paid the renewal costs.
Took my old passport to the post office in the afternoon, and returned it to the passport office. My new passport arrived on Saturday morning!
3 days, must be some kind of record.
Also, they kept me informed by text and email of each process as it happened.
They have really got their act together, and provide what appears to be a very good service.
Click to expand...
Max Spielmann sounds like a character from a John le Carre novel.
 
Beverleyred said:
Sounds like a mare mate. Is your passport renewal not done through the British Embassy there in Vietnam? When I was based in Portugal in a NATO post, that’s how we renewed our passports when they needed renewing. Took about two weeks.
Click to expand...
Aye the embassy take care of it but that’s the time quoted.

I skipped them and got my dad to go in my place with a signed letter from me saying I was under the weather. Involved posting my passport too and from the other side of the world though. Messy.
 
Big_Nothing said:
Aye the embassy take care of it but that’s the time quoted.

I skipped them and got my dad to go in my place with a signed letter from me saying I was under the weather. Involved posting my passport too and from the other side of the world though. Messy.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear that you got it sorted in the end.
 
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