British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Hi all,

I apologise if this has already been asked, I'm new here.

I'm living in Houston on an E2 Visa and my UK passport is due to expire in April. Can anyone give me some advise on the best/easiest methods for renewing it without traveling home?

What have peoples experiences been like of doing this?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Hi Mike,

The UK Consulate is on Fannin Street in downtown, you can submit your application there and either pay the standard or expedited fee. I'm guessing in person would be the easiest option ;)

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Follow the questions here:
https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

You will need to get UK-size passport photos, as the US uses different dimensions to most of the rest of the world, though I have heard some reports of the UK accepting US-size photos. This can be done fairly easily. CVS and other stores supposedly can take non-standard passport photos, though their staff sometimes don't know this. Alternatively, find an online website or instructions for creating your own set of photos, that you can just print out yourself anywhere that prints photos. I did this, total cost was something like 20 cents.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

I suspect BritInParis will be along soon, but the Houston consulate does not renew UK passports any more. I don't know if it ever did, or if the main site in Washington DC was the only place for renewals in the US. About three years ago, renewals were moved back to the UK.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Thanks for the information that's good to know, It was 5 years a go that I renewed my passport!

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

So is the only option to send the forms back to the UK? Do you know if I send the current passport also?

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Yes must go back to the UK. The current passport goes back to.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Follow the link given by Owen778 above and you will get answers to all your questions.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

When I had an E-2 visa, many moons ago, it was a stamp in my passport. If this is still the case then I'm not sure how it transfers to the new passport.

Whenever I needed a new visa (I had 2 E-2's and an H-1B?) I used to have to leave the country and get the new visa stamped into my passport at a US embassy or consulate abroad.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

I can only speak for my L-1B, but you just carry the out-of-date passport with the still-in-date visa, as well as the new passport. You're confusing visas and passports going out of date.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Thanks Owen, as I said, I wasn't sure how it transfers, so it is good to hear that there is no need to transfer it.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

Owen778 has given you the right link. All passport renewals go via the UK now and have done for some time. You'll need to submit your old passport as well although this will be returned. You should be able to carry both in order to travel in and out of the US providing the visa in your old passport has not expired.

Re: British Passport Renewal from the US
 

This is my first post here. Hello.

I also live in Houston and renewed my, and my son's UK passports a month ago.

They do have to be sent back to the UK. I am not sure what the point of the UK embassy in Houston really is.

I found getting the photos a real pain. Neither Walgreens nor CVS can do them and even a professional portrait outfit in a shopping mall did not have a suitable background. I ended up going to a place in China town, I can't remember the name, but it comes up on Google searches for British passport photos in Houston. However, when I came to posting the application off to the UK, I learned that the mail center I used (Westheimer and San Fellipe) could have done them (one of the ones that sends via any postal carrier).

An even bigger pain for me was that I had to get my son's photo countersigned. Imagine, I have been in the US for 16 months, but have to find someone that has known me for over 2 years, fulfills the criteria set out by the passport office and knows what my son looks like. I managed to get a senior manager who had shaken my hand on a previous visit to our UK office to do it, but that was the only option and if he had not met me on that visit, I would have had to send the whole application to a counter-signatory in the UK who would have had to then send it on, with their countersignature, to the passport office.

The good news is that once the application is recieved, it really doesn't take long at all. I had mine back within 2 weeks.

Andrew