PSG2014

FANTASTIC !!!

Fingers and other things crossed

PSG

ononno

Ditto.

pugliese

I got a message today from HMPO

We've approved your application. We'll let you know when your passport is ready to dispatch.

Now I wonder when that will be .....?

Lorna at Vicenza

Hopefully in a day or two.
I've had a message from DHL about a delivery today so I'm staying in the house until Alex's passport is in my hands.

pugliese

Just thought I'd update you about my passport! I finally received it on 17th November, exactly 3 months after applying! It was issued in my married name after all and delivered to my work place. There was no reason for all this delay ..... in my eyes.

HMPO recommend you apply early for your passport and not wait until it expires which is what silly me did and missed my cruise (my old passport expired on 22nd January 2022 and the ship sailed from Civitavecchia on 17th November - the irony of it all!). They also say that the time left on your old passport to expiry date will be added to your new one. This is not true - my new passport expires in exactly 10 years on 17th November 2031 instead of 10 years plus 5 months from the old one, i.e. 22nd January 2032.

They should also state on the application form that proof is needed should you require your passport to be sent to an address other than that of residency.

I don't think it is such a great service after all .....

jonwel

It's my turn for renewal! One thing that I want to find out is how much it's going to cost me, but looking at Google entries is a real frustration with wildly varying prices and then you find you're looking at old entries that haven't been cancelled etc. etc.

So I thought the best way was probably to ask those of you who have recently renewed their passports how much it cost you, inclusive of sending, receiving and whatever else.
Another mystery is that there seems to be a system, organisation or whatever called "mybritishpassport", but I can't work out whether it's just a name given to the system in general or an option for a more efficient (and expensive) service.

Thanks for any clarification!

philat98

Go directly to the government website. The cost is £86 plus a courier fee of £20.
https://www.gov.uk/renew-adult-passport/renew

Red_Wine_Fairy

Basically a company - one of many - set up to do what you can do yourself on the gov't site (provided above by philat98), and charging an extra fee on top. No extra efficiency - you will get your passport as quickly as the passport office processes it, not a day sooner. Seriously, my 18 year old did her own renewal, it's not rocket science or a 100 page document. Take your photo against a plain background, check it meets the criteria (explained on the gov't site), add your old passport number on the form and send this off with the forms you just printed out. It probably takes less time than it does to post here, so why would you pay someone a fee for that? From our experience, overseas passports to Europe (West Europe at least) are currently being turned around in three to four weeks.

Geordieborn

Use Google with great care, better still use another search engine..

philat98

What other search engine?

modicasa

Try Ecosia - they plant trees when you search for something.

I found the online application - direct on the gov.uk website very easy, except that the system wouldnt accept my photos - it kept warning me to take more. I tried about 3 versions before it accepted one of me looking like I was on a mortuary slab, and which (I hope) looks nothing like me...
Apart from that, it was fine. I had to send mine to Durham, and the PO tried to deliver it at 7 am on a Saturday, when obviously noone is there. So it got put in a redelivery pool which I didnt realise for two weeks and arranged a second delivery. The website wont update so you will assume your application has been lost but then you get an email telling you its on its way home.

Geordieborn

Search (Google if you like) for Google alternatives, I've used Duckduckgo for a number of years now, but there are many others.

Pica

Spot on! My new blue pp arrived within 12 weeks. Courier phoned re the packet. Collected it from a local bar. All done and dusted for another 10 years (if I survive!)

jonwel

Thanks a lot, everyone, for the information and suggestions. It's at times like this that a forum is really needed.

Lorna at Vicenza

Top Tip: wear something coloured when you take your DIY photo. My son was wearing a black and white Adidas tee-shirt, standing against the white bathroom door with his pale skin and blonde hair. That photo was refused on the grounds that ....... this photo looks like it is black and white. He changed into a yellow t-shirt and all went well.

Top Tip 2: Poste Italiane charge an absolute fortune for international recorded delivery and your envelope could well be sitting in Milan or somewhere for 10 days before even leaving the country. Use UPS pick up from home for about €18, cheaper and ten times faster.