Re: Passport Delays
 

And not be direct family I thought too, which complicates things :)

Re: Passport Delays
 

If you take the oath and become a USC before your trip, you are required to use a US passport anyway.

Re: Passport Delays
 

"You will need a US passport to return to the USA on.. once you become a citizen you are required to exit and enter the US on your US passport.."


Ok, so the best option is to take my oath and then get the expedited service for a US passport in Los Angeles as soon as I take the oath.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Hey everyone..... After many sleepless nights and day dreaming about my passport it finally arrived on the Thur. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: The UPS guy must have wondered why I was so happy.... :D

So here's my time line... guess i was one of the lucky ones according to the posts....

Received Apr 21st
CC charged May 26th
Call to careline - June 10th - CC problem
Call to careline - June 12th - successful
Left msg at consulate June 14th
Passport arrived June 16th - Yippee :thumbsup:

Thanks so much for your support Dean. Many thanks also to everyone who posted on the forum that helped getting so much useful info. Hope the backlog will clear soon and everyone's life can go back to normal.

Re: Passport Delays
 

No need to lie. You decide whether it's an emergency or not - all you need to do is request an Emergency Travel Document from your nearest British Consulate (phone first to get an appointment). Our staff will issue you with one providing you meet the criteria* and pay the correct fee. You can have up to two issued in any twelve month period.

Outside normal working hours, calls are answered at our Global Response Centre in London, and they will determine whether they need to call a member of staff into the Consulate to issue the document, but that's really the only time we decide whether your emergency is really an emergency.

*you have already been issued with a full British passport that has expired recently (and we can still access the passport record electronically; we can't for any of the old blue passports), is about to expire, or is still valid but is lost, stolen, or unavailable.

Dean

Re: Passport Delays
 

Mark,

Is this a first time application?

Dean

Re: Passport Delays
 

For curiosities sake, what's the definition of "expired recently" with regards to the passport? Within a few months, year, couple years?

As the forms indicate recently expired for a renewal but it can be done as long as the passport is within 10 years before being treated as a new, first time application.

Is it any different here for a ETD?

Re: Passport Delays
 

So is there ANY remedy for a person who needs an ETD due to renewing an old expired blue passport that has not completed processing, and for whom there is no existing electronic record?

Re: Passport Delays
 

Bob,

Generally speaking, we can do it for passports that have expired in the last 10 years but it depends on whether we can access the electronic record, which in turn, depends on where and when the passport was originally issued and what type it is (BC, BOTC, BNO etc). If we can't access the electronic record, we'll try and get access to the archive paper record but that can take time and we may need to do further checks.

Dean

Re: Passport Delays
 

In exceptional circumstances an ETD can be issued to first time applicants (we've done it, for example, for seriously ill new borns who have been airlifted into the USA for urgent medical treatment from elsewhere in the Americas or Caribbean). More generally, the onus is on the passport holder to maintain their passport record - they've got 10 years to do it after the passport expires.

Dean

Re: Passport Delays
 

Well, in my case I'm renewing an expired 'Blue' passport, issued in London 1990, which has been in DC since March 24, started processing Apr 15. If there is no electronic record (you said not for old blue PP), can an ETD be issued? If access to paper records is required, does the consulate need to be contacted further ahead of time to ensure travel date can be met?

Thanks

Malcolm.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Apologies, but we can't issue an ETD to you. You've done the correct thing in applying for a replacement from the UK Passport Service.

Dean

Re: Passport Delays
 

I have not applied for renewal in the UK as I am resident in the US. I applied for renewal of my expired Blue PP in the US (Washington DC) in March. I obtained the original blue PP in the UK in 1990 before coming to the US in 1990. I am a green card holder (permanent US resident).

I am wanting to travel the the UK middle of July. Can an ETD be issued to me if my passport is not ready by the middle of July?

Thanks

Malcolm

Re: Passport Delays
 

If you look at the IATA requirements through Delta's website, an expired British citizen passport is acceptable for travel to the United Kingdom.
http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

And coming back to the USA, a green card on its own may be enough.

In hindsight, might it have been a good idea to have become a US citizen?

As you may not get your passport in time, I'd suggest you start talking to your airline now and get a confirmation in writing from them that this is all the documentation you need - you don't want to have that discussion at check-in.

In hindsight, might it have been worthwhile to have become a US citizen?

Re: Passport Delays
 

Yes, I suppose if I had US Citizenship this would not be a problem (if I had a US Passport).

It may be true in theory that you can get into the UK with an expired UK passport, but practically speaking I suspect its going to be next to impossible to board a plane in the US without a valid passport of some kind, and that goes double for re-entry into the US. Especially since 9/11

Fingers crossed that DC passport office can get the job done in 12 weeks from the point payment taken, in which case I will be OK... but its the uncertainty that is the killer...