Re: Passport renewal
 

Maybe they have just moved them back to Canberra then; certainly when Aus Post started dealing with the applications they were all going to NZ, that was about 3 years ago, as I did mine then and it came from NZ.
Then they said a few months back that everything would be processed in the UK in future - that was when all the website was redesigned, about 6 months back I think.

Re: Passport renewal
 

How did you track it to Canberra?

Australia Post forward the applications. It may be a similar approach to applying for a UK visa in Australia - applications are sent to Sydney, then forwarded to Manila. With passports they may go to Canberra and then forwarded to the UK for issuing (and probably processing now too).

Re: Passport renewal
 

The gov.uk website is one of the most annoying government websites. The Tories announced they would reduce the number of websites, and they seem to be aiming for one website for everything. It's difficult to get information, it's poorly designed, when things are updated it seems to take longer for this website to be updated to reflect the changes, and it's just ridiculous that different departments can't have their own website with a design that better reflects what is required of it. The gov.uk website should really be a portal rather than a one size fits all approach.

Re: Passport renewal
 

Thats what I thought, I was sure the passports were now actually issued from the UK, not from Canberra.

Re: Passport renewal
 

As I stated above, we got ours in 13 days.
Definitely shipped from the UK, although initially I think Auspost sends them to Canberra. - arrived via DHL in an envelope with London Heathrow - Darwin flight sticker on it.

Re: Passport renewal
 

Thats pretty good service really :)

Re: Passport renewal
 

Applications for Australian residents are processed at the High Commission in Wellington but the passports themselves are printed in the UK and then couriered to the customer's postal address in Australia. The FCO is in the final stages of winding down its role in passport processing and by April next year all applicants worldwide will need to send their applications directly to the UK for processing. AFAIK HMPO is maintaining the Auspost application option however.

Re: Passport renewal
 

Thanks for the clarification :)

Re: Passport renewal
 

No worries. HMG tend to try and make things as clear as mud if they can help it.

Re: Passport renewal
 

Taking lessons from the Aussies :D

Re: Passport renewal
 

Hi there

We renewed ours this year. albeit we are in NZ, but we actually had our news passports from the UK in less than 7 days. Service was outstanding and so much better than we expected - that was in January.

Fingers crossed :fingerscrossed:

Re: Passport renewal
 

Mine took 2 weeks when I renewed last year. Application was sent by Aus. Post to British High Commission in Wellington, NZ for processing and then the new passport was sent from a secure printing facility in the UK.

The cancelled passport and new passport arrived within a day of each other. A quick (but expensive) process!
Current fees for renewal of a burgundy British passport from AU are:

AUD 282.21 for an adult 32 page passport
AUD 325.81 for an adult 48 page passport
AUD 205.81 for a child passport

Re: Passport renewal
 

Can anyone confirm whether expired passports (2 years +) are still classed as renewal?

Re: British Passports when in Australia
 

Threads merged :thumbup:

Re: Passport renewal
 

Generally speaking, providing a passport expired less than ten years, it would be counted as a renewal.