Passport Application

[becky070]

i have previously held a passport which expired in January this year. i now hope to be going away in september and am sorting out a new one but do i apply as a renewal or new? and will i still need my photo counter signing.....confused!!!

[rockyracoon]

It'll be a renewal and as far as I know you only need the picture signed if your appearance has changed.

[theshedman]

I let one of my old ones expire and it was 10 years before I got it renewed and they still did it without photo having to be counter signed. As Rocky says as long as you still look similar it should be fine.

[treetops68]

Yes, as above, and it is very simple and easy to do online.

[sherrardk]

If the news is correct then there is a terrible backlog at the moment so get it done sooner rath than later.

[sherrardk]

Rather ^

[ChillDoubt]

Might be a good idea to get on with it ASAP:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10885195/Passport-backlog-threatens-summer-holiday-chaos-for-thousands.html

[tamborine]

Renewal & enclose old pport with Application

[black_cat51]

ps you cant do it online as such

[mikey4444]

I know its months away but I would apply right now if I were you ! :::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27789916

Usual balls up it would seem.

[dzug2]

But the Minister has denied there is a problem........

[murraymints]

Renewal..but do it NOW ! Huge backload !

[mikey4444]

dzug2...to paraphrase Mandy Rice Davies, he would, wouldn't he !

[Blackiequine]

"You can renew or replace your passport at any time. It costs £72.50, or £81.25 through the Post Office’s Passport Check and Send."
This speeds up the process as it ensures it's all correct and I suspect gets fast tracked at the other end.

[rockyracoon]

Blackequine, I don't think it does get fast tracked the other end, the passport service have their own expensive system for that. The forms are easy if you follow the instructions, no need to pay the PO extra.

[mikey4444]

I would echo blakies point here. I have used the Post Office check and send facility and its definitely quicker and safer...well worth the extra money.

But I would still not hang about !

[Blackiequine]

Rocky, I don't mean fast tracked so much as will go straight through knowing there's no mistakes. We did ours on Monday and had a couple of niggly little pensioner-type errors. This announcement will also cause people to apply sooner than perhaps they had otherwise intended.

[whiskeryron]

I am not sure but I think that if you take your application to the passport office instead of sending it you may get it straight away. Does anyone know if this is true ?

[mikey4444]

WR...I am not quite sure here but if there are hundreds of thousands of passports waiting to be processed, mainly due to massive staff cutbacks, would turning up be effective ? Not sure if it still possible.

There may be a few people would need passports urgently but surely the majority of us know when ours expires and makes an application in plenty of time ? Why leave it to the last minute if you have a choice ?

[buildersmate]

A pity, Mikey, that you preceded your profoundly accurate statement of your second paragraph, with the first.
Sure there's a lot of passports in the system being processed - about 500k of them. But they are being processed at a rate of 150k per week and that looks like a "backlog" of just over three weeks to me. Precisely what the Agency says it will achieve. Union claims that the job reductions have caused this are the all utter tripe. High time these people understood that there is not a direct correlation between outputs and the quality of input resource. The difference is called efficiency or productivity improvement.

[factor-fiction]

I think I pretty much agree with buildersmate. Of course the government minister is very unlikely to admit to backlog issues so I take the government's claims with a pinch of salt. However the unions are claiming serious backlogs because it suits their campaign against job cuts- you can't blame them but we need to take their claims with a pinch of salt too.
Nevertheless, just as at any other time, I'd encourage anyone to submit applications as early as possible