levi194

Hi I've just looked at my passport and it expires in April 2014 and I'm meant to be going to france in the next few days to start work so I can start my surinder singh route for me and my husband to be together in the uk I am planning to apply for the family eea permit in france in January but need to be aware of how long it takes for us to receive it as my passport will be running out but the fee to get it done quicker here is a lot so I don't know weather I should just go or renew it but that means I will miss a whole month that i should be working in france.....any help will be sooooo greatful

BritInParis

Generally speaking it would be recommendable to be working and living with your husband in France for at least six months in order for you to qualify for the Surinder Singh route.

The processing time for an EEA Family Permit in Paris is currently a maximum of ten days.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/co...e=UK%20English

dmu

Hi, you could renew your Passport in one of the British Consulates in France but it'd be more expensive than doing it in the UK. You'd also be without ID for the duration, which would not be a good thing in your situation.
IMHO you should renew it in the UK, as you can't guarantee that you'll be able to return to the UK with your husband before next April.
That is, if you haven't signed a work contract to start work next week....

BritInParis

The Regional Passport Processing Centre in Paris has now closed. Any person wishing to apply for a British passport whilst residing in France now needs to apply directly to the Durham Passport Office. The cost of doing so is currently £147.86.

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passport...wing_new/adult

The Passport Office offers a premium four hour same day service and a fast track one week service in the UK which still works out cheaper than renewing from France so the OP may want to consider that. The cost of this is currently £128 for the same day service and £103 for the one week service.

https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

dmu

Thanks for that. In the past, I've always renewed my Passport in the rue d'Anjou, and this has come as a surprise. So, fore-warned is fore-armed for me, too!

roaringmouse

With the processing of all overseas passport applications moving/moved to the UK, the differences in price is ridiculous.

In the UK the cost is £72.50
Applications from most countries seem to be £128.00 plus courier.
From Australia & New Zealand the cost is in the region of £170-£180.

If processing and production of passports are to all be done in the UK, then the cost should be the same - no difference between overseas countries, and no different to applications made in the UK. The only difference being the postal/courier charge.

The £128.00 is about 77% higher than for those made in the UK - and applications in Australia/New Zealand more than double at 135% higher.

BritInParis

Previously HMG did have a legitimate excuse for the higher prices due to the increased cost of expensive small volume production overseas - passports were literally hand-made by consular staff in embassies scattered across the world - compared to the industrial scale production facilities in the UK. That excuse will disappear in April when the Dublin office closes and all British passport production worldwide will have been repatriated to the UK. One of the big selling points to overseas applicants of the ending of the overseas service was that prices would fall to UK levels adding only the extra courier costs involved.

Let's see if that actually happens.