we have lived in canada for 8 months and our passports are running out, so we have emailed a number of different people at the ottawa british embassy to ask them questions but all we got back was to ring a $2.80 a minute phone number. The questions were we have only been in canada 8 months do we have to get someone to countersign our photos, has it says you have to know them for 2 years, how much will it be for 2 passports including postage and packing.

Straightforward renewals do not normally need countersignature.

The helpline is expensive but by all accounts they just read from the website so you might want to save time and money by looking at that directly.

Beg to differ - sorry JAJ, but you DO need a countersignature. I've just been through the process to renew my daughter's passport. I had to send it back to the UK first for the form to be countersigned and the photograph to be signed too. Then back to me and off to Ottawa with the previous passport and payment etc etc etc.

If you want anymore info, feel free to pm/email me.

hi nicola thanks for that, do we need to send our birth certificates and if so does it have to be a full one

If you go to the 'UK in Canada' website, you can download all the forms you need. I didn't need to send a birth cert for my daughter - I called the local consulate that explained that it was only needed if the passport has lapsed. You can also download the credit card form that allows the High Commission to charge your credit card. All the fees are listed on the site. Seems pricey, but when you convert it back, it's not that bad really. Also, very very speedy!! Sent the renewal to Ottawa on 30th July, had it back in my hand on 13th August!

When Mr Y-C-D's passport needed renewing earlier this year (in Ottawa) we got a Canadian family friend (teacher) to sign our photos. We also included a letter stating since we had only been in NS for 15 months, that was the maximum time our friend had known him.

His passport was renewed.

we dont have a credit card which other way can we pay for it

This is obviously a rogue policy in Ottawa as it is generally not needed.

Another example of third class treatment of British citizens overseas.

By money order. It says so on the website.

Hi everyone,I've searched through some of the recent threads on renewing UK passports but I can't seem to find the answer to my question.We've been PR's for just over a year(June)and our UK passports expire in January of next year.Now I'm not sure if this is true or if I just dreamt it but I vaguely recall someone saying that we could return them to a UK passport office for renewal as long as they were being posted back to a UK address.Reason I'm asking is we have family visiting soon and I was thinking I could get them to bring the application forms with them so as I could fill them out and then post it all back to the UK,then get the new passports posted to a relatives address and then get them to post them registered mail to us(hope this makes sense).Does anyone know if this is true??or does it seem a bit risky having such important docs floating around in the mail??

Doh,just found the answer to my question on the UK passport website Sure I've looked there before and not found that out but just went straight to it!!!!sounds as though we can only apply at a UK office in person.