General Chat

My passport has just expired and I need to renew it .
Has anyone ever used the online passport service ?
Just wondering if it is easier to renew online or use the Post Office check and send.

thank you

At this time of year if you need yr passport in a hurry you will need to visit in person. Allow all day. Otherwise the online system works OK.

Thanks Rollo,
Need it for September, so will try the online system I think.

Good luck with that.

I used the system in the spring. You'd never believe the fuss & bother for producing & submitting an 'acceptable' photo. Eyes closed (no they weren't) faint background shadows, wisps of hair blurring the silhouette (you'd need a magnifying glass to spot them). About 6 different versions were automatically rejected.

We packed the expensive camera away & used a mobile phone. That photo was acceptable.

Have got over that hurdle, all went smoothly with updates on when they'd received the old passport & how far along the system the new one was. It came back within 5 days.

We used and were very pleased with the Post office check and send. That way it avoids touing and froing with things not acceptable. And the service was very quick at a time when there were published delays.

I may have been confused by the "save" instruction you still, I believe, have to printout your downloaded application, and post it off.............

No you don't need to print off the online version, Bob. It can all be done electronically.
You do need to mail your old passport. You're given a reference number which is incorporated into the address.

Use the official government site, some of the private ones charge extra fees.

We renewed ours earlier this year online, even with submitting new photos we received the passports 8 days after sending off the paperwork and old passports for cancellation.

Sue

Thank you all very much for your input.

I think I will go to the Post Office ,(sorry Rollo, changed my mind .)

After having a word with a couple of friends who tried the online way and said it was too much effort with photo's not being accepted etc , but thank you all anyway.

Just to add the best way to get a passport photo is to go to a photographic shop. They will take your picture, if its not good they will take another.

Well worth the money.

First find your photographic shop ;-)

Some supermarkets still have the photo booths where r you can get passport photos done and you see yourself in the mirror and can adjust your stance before the photo is taken
I did my mine in the photo booth of my local Sainsbury

My daughter got the forms from the postoffice and I did the check and send service last year in May for our Aug/ sept holiday

I got my new passport in 10 days

Having looked at the on-line version and discovered that I had to return my old passport anyway, I decided to get the forms from the Post office and send the whole lot together.

I live in a village, near a small town and there are at least 3 places where you can get a passport/driving licence photo. One is a supermarket booth and the others are shops where they do it for you. Both are cheaper than the booth, which was unexpected.

I renewed mid about three months ago but the on-line system had a glitch as you were unable to upload your photo, and it re-directed you to the print and send option.

I printed off the form, got a photo at the local co-op machine (absolutely awful picture, but met all the rules.....!) and sent in in the post. Back within a week.

If you need to renew for this summer's holiday then you have really left it rather late. You should really renew six months before expiry as the new expiry is then carried forward from the old date.

P.S. just noticed Sept - you should just be O.K.

I hadn't realised the unexpired time would 'carry forward'. Mine had run out in Dec.
OH wanted to know why I wanted to renew it when I did. Well, you can dream, can't you? ;-)

One thing I've since discovered- the PP photo can be used for the card style driving licence. I don't have one of those new fangled things but might get round to it eventually.

If you need to drive elsewhere in the EU, inc R.O.I., you must have the photo type driving licence the old paper licences are no longer valid.

Border Agency are very unreliable if you have visa stamps in the old passport and/or hold more than one passport. In that case online or by post is not the best option.

The quality of the photo is not important. Key features are read off and converted to a digital format which can be used in facial recognition systems. A smart phone is fine if you are filing on line. Some quite large towns no longer have full service post offices!

I have just had to update my driving licence from the paper one because I am close to 70. It was such a palaver getting a suitable photo for my passport renewal in 2011 (I had it done at a Timpson's shoe repair shop) that I couldn't face going through that again so I used the online service for driving licence renewal and they will access my passport details, and retrieve the photograph, thus confirming I am who I say I am but using a photo that is 6 years old.

I don't much like the photo but I can be recognised from it so it will have to do for my photo licence.

Hope you get your passport renewed soon, Jean

Lizxx

I sent off a set of photos for my photocard licence, and got them back intact with a note saying they had been scanned and were no longer needed by them.
I offer the same set of photos when agencies require a photo... recent, I think is the keyword...younger peoples' appearance changes very quickly at time whereas us oldies seem to be much the same...

It does not matter what age you are once fully grown, around 16, the data points used for facial recognition remain the same. Wrinkles , face and head hair etc are ignored.

Computerised face recognition systems can pick out a face from the crowd in seconds. As the use of the technology spreads it is going to make life very difficut for some. Otoh not everybody wants high levels of surveillance.

Rec reading "Minority Report" Philip K Dick