Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

Hi there, I'm a new member to this site and this is my first post. I have a few questions related to renewing a British passport in Arizona, USA. My current passport expires in April 2016. I visted the UK 2 weeks ago to see family and while I was there I got passport photos taken as I know that the British photograph size requirmenet is different than the American one for passports.
The questions that I have are:
1) How recent does the passport pictures need to be? I plan on renewing my passport in about 6 months from now. Would the pictures that I had taken in Scotland 2 weeks ago still be ok to send?
2) Do I need to have a British citizen who is a proffessional sign my photographs for a passport renewal? I haven't really changed much since I got my old passport 9 years ago.
3) How much does it cost to renew passport in the USA including additional fees?
4) Would it be easier to get a passprt extension for one year? We plan on visiting Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand next year. Not sure if those countries accept passport extensions.
Thanks
Gerry

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

Just about everything you need to know is here: https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

I believe photos have to be more recent than you are proposing, but I doubt if it is a big deal and how will they know when they were taken? Passport photos meeting the requirements for just about any nationality can be done at Walgreens.

If it is just a straightforward renewal nothing needs to be countersigned.

I renewed mine a few months ago and it was perfectly straightforward.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

Unless the photos have a date stamp on them who will know when they were taken. I believe they are meant to be within the last 6 months so those you have will be OK ( even if a few weeks over the 6 months)

As long as your appearance has changed much you do not need a counter signatory. They need to be able to see the new photo is the person in the current passport photo.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

Just sent off my son's renewal with photos taken at Walgreens - they have UK specs on their machine and yes, I checked them with a ruler. The photo is supposed to be less than a month old, though how would they check?

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

The whole process of form filling can be done on line, including payment. Then send passport, photos and signed form(s) to UK via a courier. We went to UPS, but they found a cheaper way of sending. Sent Monday, arrived Wednesday, returned new passport early following week, with old passport arriving day after. I was gobsmacked.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

I believe those extensions were only offered for a short time due to the backlog in 2014, there is no backlog now, and even from outside the UK renewals are taking less than a month.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

The official advice states "recent" but does not specify what that means. It used to be six months. As others have said though, unless the photos are date stamped on the back, you shouldn't have any problems.

If your appearance hasn't changed much and you can be easily recognised as the same person in both photographs then that's not necessary. If you do need your photograph countersigned then a US professional can do this for you.

£102.86 for a standard 32 page passport.

Passport extensions are no longer available - they were a temporary measure to cope with the huge passport backlog last summer.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

I did an extension last week in Miami.
The renewal times have been much better lately though.
I would just renew now and get 10 years and 9 months on the new one.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

Obviously the Miami people were not aware that it had finished, BinP is the man in the know, and if he says it's finished then the extension should not have been granted.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

just get USA sized passport photos AND DO NOT cut them. The facial dimensions and ratios are the same (as its a worldwide regulation) and the UK will cut down to the size they want (as US photos are wider with spare background on).

It used to specifically say this on the renewal site - (ie dont cut). ive done this with at LEAST 5 passport renewals in the last 8 years - one as recently as 2 months ago. No issues with any of the renewals whatsoever. i typically go to wlagreens or CVS type places.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

I was lucky as I had an appointment well in advance.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

As I understand it the scheme has now ended however existing appointments are being honoured which would explain the discrepancy.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

I am planning to renew my British passport and I just found out that non of the local British embassies do passport renewal locally anymore you have to send it all the way to UK and looks like they are bottlenecked there. I was shocked that they have done this to British expats.

Can anyone share their renewal experiences and process? and what was your experience with dual nationality as they are now asking for that?

Is it possible toget the passport sameday in uk as it no longer available in any of the consulates? I am thinking of flying there and get it done sameday if thats possible.. has anyone done it?

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

no bottlenecks, they were some in 2014, but they have all cleared, some people on here are saying they got theirs back within 2 weeks. No need to spend megabucks flying to the UK, just apply from where you are and it should be no problem.

Re: Renewing British Passport from the USA
 

The system works fine. I renewed mine recently and it was extremely quick. Just go to the link I gave in #2 above and it takes you through the process.