dwaindibley

Were renewing our (UK) passports at the moment here in Australia (Ballarat), has anyone any idea what the photo procedure is?

The Post office insist we have the photo signed by someone who has known us for 2 years!

As we have only been here 18 months that’s a little bit of a problem.

Regards

Robert

dfjordan

From what I have read, the 2 year requirement is important as it seems the Uk government is tightening up a lot on passports because of fraud. However, I noticed that the British Consul in Orlando Florida makes posts in the USA section of this website, and I emailed him about the same thing and he replied that if it´s a member of a recognized profession who is signing then knowing you for only 6 months is OK. So take your pick as to which opinion you use. I don´t know what the procedures are in Aussie but in the Americas wwhere I live, we have to send the forms to the USA and it costs US$235- a lot of money. My worry is that the UK govt webpage says that if you don´t provide the correct documentation then your application will be rejected and you will be charged anyway as the fee is for the application and not the issue of a passport! In my case, there is a phone number in the Uk that I can call with any doubts but they charge 67p +VAT per minute which I think is disgusting but maybe better than losing US$235. I still haven´t made up my mind about phoning

dwaindibley

Thanks

I found the following

http://ukinnewzealand.fco.gov.uk/en/...lia/checklists

it says that the photos dont need to be verified unless you have changed substantially from the previous one, as you can clearly tell its the same person on the photos i dont think we need them signing, and it says that for less than 2 years we can have a police officer sign without doing the 2 year knowledge statement and simply explain the reason on the form!

Would be a lot better if the postoffice who you are forced to pay to do this check actually knew what they were talking about!

canadaeh

Auspost don't have a clue about most things, they even get the Aussie passports wrong.

dfjordan

Great! I´m glad you managed to get the answer you were looking for. It´s weird that the info given for people living in Aus/NZ is different from those say in the Americas, but who are we to question how the passport people think!!

JAJ

There are some clear instructions on countersignature at:
http://ukinnewzealand.fco.gov.uk/res...newingPassport

If post office doesn't know the process insist to speak to a supervisor/manager (show them relevant printout etc) and failing that, make a formal complaint.

dfjordan

Sorry, maybe I didn´t make it clear but I live in the Americas not Aus/NZ and the instructions are different