IMPORTANT: renewing a UK passport!

[ScorpioPower]

A passport service ‘without let or hindrance’?

By Chelsea Girl in China

There’s nothing like being told by an officious woman in Scotland that it is going to cost you at least £6 to ask her questions that will save her colleagues in Hong Kong from dealing with an incorrect passport renewal from China. But if that seems taxing enough, news that all the passports held by Britons overseas will have to be renewed in the UK from next year, makes it seem like the tip of the iceberg. There was a time when Britons in mainland China could go to the British Consulates in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou to renew their passports. Until I lived abroad, I never imagined I would fill a 32-page passport within 10 years. But once you live away, the visas and regular trips add up and most people, especially those who travel a lot with work, find themselves needing to renew their travel documents. First the service was changed so that passports from mainland China were renewed in Beijing. Since May this year they have had to be sent to Hong Kong, the new ‘regional processing centre’. The British Consulates in mainland China have washed their hands of the service; hence it falls to someone at a call centre in the UK working for the ironically named Careline Services Limited, to offer assistance… at a price. Incidentally, one useful piece of information that you will not find explicitly stated on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website is that those living in China do not have to surrender their existing passports when they apply for a new one. Failing to know this would not only put you in jeopardy of losing your identification and visa in the post, but also of breaking Chinese law. It is a requirement that all foreigners carry their passports with them at all times. On October 9, the FCO announced that from April 2011 the Identity & Passport Service (IPS), an agency of the Home Office, will assume responsibility for the provision of all regular British passports. The website says, “The reason for this change is that, from October 2010, new, more secure passports are being introduced in the United Kingdom, and it is simply not economical for these new documents to be produced overseas.” The FCO implies that the UK is behind the times with what was an antiquated but convenient service: “The UK remains one of the few countries still printing passports in Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates overseas. This is expensive to do and transferring blank passports around the world presents great security risks.” Never mind the risk of identity theft for expats awaiting their new passports. Time will tell how the centralised system will work, but if you are running out of pages or know that your passport will expire next year, you may be well advised to renew it now.

http://my.telegraph.co.uk/members/chels ... _in_china/

http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... /passports

http://ukinchina.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?vi ... d=22983485

[Tafia]

But if that seems taxing enough, news that all the passports held by Britons overseas will have to be renewed in the UK from next year,

This is no more than scaremongering further comments from others on the same site have already disclosed this.
The FCO site is quite explicit....

Applying for a UK passport from countries in South East Asia
Passports services for British nationals in South East Asian countries are issued at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. This is part of a global initiative to rationalise passport services and reduce administration costs while ensuring that the quality of service remains high.

[ScorpioPower]

I'm not scaremongering, mate.

Maybe I'm missing something though!

Can you click on the links and copy and paste the definitive statement on this, please?

Thanks.

[BobHelm]

Changes to passport service in Bangkok

From 9 August onwards, we will not be accepting applications to renew British Passports at this Embassy.

In line with other British Embassies across Asia these applications will be processed by our Regional Processing Centre in Hong Kong. This will not affect the present four week turn-around time expected.

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... passports/

This has been in effect for a while now...Good reading!!
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/r ... 17890.html
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/h ... 17725.html

[Tafia]

Im not suggesting you are, but you have copied this from another site. If you read the full link on Thaivisa you will see a number of replies pointing out that the poster is not reporting the full facts.
I have already indicated what the FCO site says, it certainly does not say that to apply for a new passport you need to go to the UK.
Posts of this kind are misleading to say the least and may cause confusion to many who have difficulty understanding the system as it is.

Bob has just beating me to it and as he says the policy has been in place for some time and nowhere does it say we have to travel to the UK for a renewal of passport as the post suggests.
The FCO site clearly stipulates the changes........

Applying for a UK passport from countries in South East Asia
Passports services for British nationals in South East Asian countries are issued at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. This is part of a global initiative to rationalise passport services and reduce administration costs while ensuring that the quality of service remains high.

[Tafia]

...or send it there

[ScorpioPower]

Well, thank fuff for that!!!

The wording of what I posted was misleading to say the least!

Phew!