Yacoub

Greetings:

This year, my wife and I must renew our passports. My wife’s passport expires in July, 2011 and my passport expires in August, 2011. We were planning to renew our passports home but when we made our reservations for our summer vacation, our airline asked for our passport expiry dates. I haven’t supply them yet because now I am a little nervous. We are leaving in June and at home, we should be able to renew our passports easily before our respective expiry dates. However, does our airline (i.e. GulfAir) understand this? Would they object to people flying out on old passport and then coming back on new passports? Also, we are renewing our iqamas (or residency permits) in Saudi Arabia this year, probably in April or May this year. My employer will staple my exit/re-entry visa into my old passport but we will return to the Kingdom with our new and old passports. Basically, based on all of the above, should we renew our passports in Saudi Arabia or at home? What is our most logical course of action? Please note we live 500 kilometers from Riyadh and we can only there on weekends which might make getting a new passport there a little difficult but I am not sure about this. Any information or advice given is greatly appreciated.

Bob

If you're flying to the UK, there's no requirement for amount of time left on a passport, you could still enter the UK on an expired passport, if the carrier let you on the flight

Bijilo123

Home - cheaper and more reliable.

When you go somewhere and the immig form asks '...placw od issue...'

..do you really want to say Saudi?

hnd

Depends on nationality and OP doesn't mention this. If OP has British passport it will be renewed in Dusseldorf so "place of issue" not an 'issue'. Anyway, why would, say, a British passport (if this is indeed the case) issued by an Embassy or Consulate in KSA be regarded as any different from a passport issued in the UK or by any other UK passport office?

My passport, renewed last year in Dubai before the requirement to renew in Dusseldorf simple states place of issue as 'FCO'.

Johnnyboy11

Hi, I had a similar experience late last year when travelling to the UK and back from Qatar, with less than the required 6-months on my 10yr passport remaining. No problems leaving Qatar or entering the UK, as usual. The risk is on the return trip.

On advice from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/l), I renewed my 10yr passport in the UK using the pre-booked 4 hour service (£130, ouch) in Glasgow - Did some shopping and collected my new passport that day. You get your old passport back with the corner of the last (photo) page cut off, along with the corner of both front and back cover. Fortunately the page on which my Residency Permit is glued was intact. Your new passport will have a new passport number, but don't worry. I was asked by the Qatar Immigration desk to show both passports, new and old, to get back into the country. No problem.

My Sponsor (employer) then arranged for a new Residency Permit to be added to my new passport. This was straightforward, but took a week. I have another trip to the UK planned in March and will take both old an new passports, just in case.

I'd follow this process again, rather than trying to renew my passport in the Middle-East, in case it got lost.

Hope this helps.

Bijilo123

I have one issued in Kuwai which says FCO and one issued in the UK which says UKPA. I don't know why (vitually) every country asks for date and place of issue of passport on the immigration form but it makes a difference to some. It invitesthe question - where did you live and why.....I guess America would be one of those who would be inquisitive and by the time it matters you have waived your right to appeal.

typical

I wouldn't want to be in the Middle East without my passport right now.

My passport issued at the Victoria office says "IPS" and the one issued by the Dubai consulate says "FCO". Other countries put more details here.

The dates are probably for the immigration department of the country you are visiting, rather than the airline themselves.

CeeBee

Yep i've also got an FCO passport. Some online forms (flight bookings etc) don't give the option of an FCO passport so i just click on UK.

Haven't had a problem yet though. I just wish i'd gone for the bigger book as this new one is nearly full already.

typical

Wow, I've never been asked the place of issue of my passport online, ever.

They're well worth it. I have two on the go, and they still only last me about two years each, on average.

Bijilo123

I had this once. Because I changed my pp frequently the UKPA gave me an extra 6 months free - the sht I got in Cote d'Ivoire on the basis that - and in French too - it is a 10 year pp so why is its duration 10.5 years.

typical

It's standard for the IPS to add any remaining time from an old passport to the validity of a replacement, up to nine months.

Nobody has ever commented on the fact my passport is valid for ten years and nine months...

Bijilo123

Bless you - for you have never met the geniuses at Abijan airport - I think they were just after an excuse to steal and then sell my passport - because one of them said that mine was a valuable document because it had many stamps. I've had the same - well similar - in Lagos too.

Perhaps I should get a real passport.