Passport renewal

I read in one of the local English papers today that to renew a British passport in Spain costs €185. I checked this info on the British embassy website, and it is correct. To renew a British passport in the UK costs £66. Too bad the Foreign Office doesn't do currency exchange. At DOUBLE the normal rate, I see an opportunity!

Any thoughts?

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That's right Roberto, but in October this year, the cost is rising to £72

I think this outrageous to re-new a passport.............this is the same cost as getting a first time one.

Surely, if you have been checked out security wise once, then to re-new a passport should not be a big deal.

Another example of being ripped off me thinks!

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Yes you are right it is disgusting the price you have to pay my daughter has just renewed two of her children's passports over a £100 pound and that is only for 5years.   Which going back in my day we could get them a 10year passport but just change their picture.   They are determined to squeeze every ounce of flesh they can.   Regards Pat 

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Guess thats why so many people pissed off with rip off Britain

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Yes, same here in Dubai as Spain - about 125 GBP.  It's about 80 GBP for our son!

Why should a UK citizen, anywhere in the world, have to pay double if applying for a passport renewal outside the UK?  I don't believe "administration costs" can really double!!

Rip off is right!

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Thinking about this, and especially the fact that they have introduced the biometric passports, when you really think about it, paying about 10 pounds a year for a ten year passport (unless you travel quite a lot and have to get a new one issued each year because you've run out of pages!!) really isn't a lot of money!

But I do still think that British citizens abroad having to renew their passports should not be subjected to paying nearly twice the fee of that charged to those resident in the UK - because I simply don't believe it's justified!  I know we can get a new passport issued within ten days maximum here.  No problem at all - and could get it sooner if required.  So why are non UK residents paying double???  How long do you have to wait in the UK?  Is there that much more admin from outside the UK to justify the wait and increase in price?

Just interested!!

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If you travel a lot, you can still get a 48 page passport instead of the standard 32. These used to be the old blue cover, hardback documents that look very impressive but are very inconvenient, since they don't fit snuggly in the back pocket of your Levi's. Don't know if they still are? Oh, for the days when even 48 pages weren't enough for 10 years! Still, at £77, or a staggering €223, I'll bet there's not many takers?

Incidentally, from the information I can find with a quick "Google", it would appear that a Spanish passport costs €16.90. Can anyone confirm this? And I wonder how much it costs if you renew it in London, for example?

Just checked cost of US passports: $97 - about 50 quid at today's rate?


This message was last edited by Roberto on 6/20/2007.

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Hi Roberto

How long ago are we talking for a blue passport in UK?? You need to do a lot of travelling outwith the EU to fill a 48 page passport really? My husband works outwith the EU and fills his passport in a few years,so has to keep renewing it in between times, but thats the way to go?

As far as I am aware you can make an online appointment in the UK, or phone them! go to the City you have chosen, at the designated time and pick up your passport after 4 hours? but that was in Glasgow, but think it's pretty much the same all over the UK?

No doubt I will learn different??

PITBY: I'm sure by now you'll have realised that they will only stamp a page once and then go to another, so if you have visas every time you go in and out of Dubai, it all adds up? We were filling our passports when we lived in Qatar as we were non-resident and had to go outside the country every 3 months? (what a chore ha!ha! Dubai was nice and so was Abu Dhabi, went on the Big Red bus tour and it was very windy and wet!! but did see all the building works ha! ha!............) So, like I say ,all these things add up on your passport?

 


his message was last edited by MaggieB on 6/20/2007.

This message was last edited by MaggieB on 6/20/2007.

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MaggieB, actually we have three year visas as residents in Dubai.  And now (surprise, surprise!), for the past few years, we don't get our passport stamped when exiting or entering Dubai, as residents, as we have an e-gate card, which we simply put in a machine and then the machine reads our fingerprint.  So, I'm okay for a while and so is my son for a few years, but my husband travels quite a bit and gets his passport stamped in other countries, so at the moment he has to travel with two passports, one which holds his UAE visa (which is full) and a new one.

Talking about that, I recall many years ago that, because I am a Scot, my passport application was sent to Glasgow from London (even though I lived in London!) and I had to wait ages to receive it!!  I specifically recall as I was travelling and had my air tickets and all and I was chasing up the passport office.  You would think that it wouldn't make any difference, so long as you are British!!

Maybe it's changed now though.

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Maggie, the last time I got a big blue book was, I think, in 1989, in New Zealand. On arriving in the country I was given a right dressing down, because they had no room to stamp my passport, and I was told in no uncertain terms that unless I renewed it while I was there, I would not be allowed in! Dutifully I proceeded to Wellington, looking forward to getting one of the "new" EU style passports, which would be more convenient in my faded Levi's. Having decided it would be wise to go for a 48-pager, imagine my shock when I got another, thicker, blue hardback passport?! Sadly, it expired 10 years later, a little frayed around the edges, but by no means full of visa stamps.

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I have using my Us passport and this is very styyle model and thinking this will take to filled up 1yr.  How many times you are being going out side then the no of times your passports will stamp.  Everybody knows what role a passport plays in travel matter. So there is no need to say why you need passport renewal.

 

 

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Expresspassport

 

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Hello

I have been doing some research as our passports will need renewing shortly.

If I check the Direct Gov website it states that renewals do not need countersignatory or certification of photographs if there is no major difference from the photo on your old passport. The consular website however states the countersignature and certification are required for renewals.

I sent an email to the Passport Service who simply referred me back to the consular site. Needless to say I am not satisfied with this, especially when the premium rate telephone number is the equivalent of £1 per minute from a landline.

I have therefore emailed again and asked for a definitive answer.

I await the result with bated breath- NOT.

Does anyone else have experience of this discrepancy?

Jean

 

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Hi Jean, yes you do need new photographs. I renewed my passport this year and it meant new photos and we asked our school children's teacher to sign the backs etc. We had them couriered when complete to Madrid, it wasn't expensive ( compared to the actual renewal fee of the passport) and the whole thing took I think under 2 weeks to sort out. I used a photo booth located next to the local police station, quality was awful but it was accepted.

 

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Hello

Yes I know we need new photos but I do not see why we in Spain need them certified and our renewal appln countersigned when UK residents do not.

It is bad enough that it costs us almost double to renew a passpot without what seems to me to be discrimination.

I can get my forms countersigned easily  but it is the principle that upsets me.

Jean

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Hi, This topic is very interesting, but i have a big question, I have a friend who is terrified of being deported, After reading these posts someone may be able to give me advice so I can help her. Ill explain. My friend was self employed and when the credit crunch hit here her work suffered and she has no rights to unemployment benefit.She has registered with the social services for help but 12 months later she still has not received any payment. Her passport has expired and of course she has no money to renew it, she has a NIE and Social security number. She does not see the need for a passport, as she never leaves Spain, however she can not apply for a residencia unless she has a valid passport. She has even thought of obtaining a Spanish passport if possible as the charges are less then half of a UK one. I know she has contacted the consulate, but they offer no advice what so ever. She is terrified that she will be asked one day for ID by the police and be arrested. So we have the chicken and the egg syndrome. She will have to renew her and her daughters passports which is very expensive, and no way viable by any means, she is living day by day in fear. Any ideas?

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Living in Spain without a passport is not a problem.

I was without one for months. It was my own fault I should have left Spain to renew it but I let it expire.

But in terms of tax or social welfare you do need one if you intend being part of the system.

I had a case once where I needed to apply for an NIE for an individual residing in UK who had no intention of ever setting foot outside the UK (elderly person) and certainly never entering into Spain and I could not get one. I found another way around my problem but not how to get an NIE when you don't have and don't want a passport.

Examples of such cases would be probate or registering foreign judgments against Spanish property.

I keep meaning to discuss problem with Spanish Consulate General becuase I'm sure there must be some way around this problem.

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 Thanks for the reply.

My friend has a Social Security Number and an NIE.In fact she  owns a property in Spain and has worked in in the country for 12 years now. She still has a UK driving licence which is the old type so she has nothing with her photo on as the passport is over 10 years old. This is where the problem lays.

She heard that Europeans no longer need a passport but can not get her residencia without one, it all seems rather stupid to pay for something she does not need. Just to gain something she does. Seems that the bureaucrats that create the laws are just looking for money.

Well if any ideas come up please let me know, I would like to help her.

Thanks all the same

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 She heard that Europeans no longer need a passport but can not get her residencia without one, it all seems rather stupid to pay for something she does not need. Just to gain something she does. Seems that the bureaucrats that create the laws are just looking for money.

 

I'm sorry but she does need a passport.  The reason most Europeans do not need a passport is because they have ID cards and have signed an agreement that they can transit each others countries using that.  As your friend is a UK citizen, which didn't sign up to the agreement nor issues ID cards, the only proof of ID is the passport.  The driving licence, even if she had one with a photo on it, would not be proof as it has a UK address on it, not a Spanish one.

I find it very difficult to see how anyone can exist without the passports and no ID cards.  I'm asked for mine every time I go to a bank, every time I use a credit card in a shop (although some do accept a photo driving licence, but not all), if I want to buy a mobile phone or just a SIM card.  I even had to show it when I bought a gas fire, for goodness sake..  As the passport is also required when taking out residence, it would be impossible to go down that route.  Even if she took Spanish nationality, she would have to be, at least, a resident first.  

I agree, the cost of passports nowadays is a disgrace, especially if applying for one in Spain.  But it is something that will have to be done.

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She has a social security number, but never applied for residencia ? Lived and worked in Spain 12 years, without applying for residencia ? Ever driven in Spain, as a defacto resident (which clearly she is) ? 12 years ago, a UK licence wasn't even valid for a Spanish resident. She owns a property, has a dependent, but cannot find the money for a passport ?

I agree with Bobaol, the cost of a passport is scandalous but unavoidable; she should have got her affairs in order 12 years ago, instead of leaving things until they became a big headache. Maybe a lesson to others who think they can ignore the system and get away with it ?

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My daughter, that I inherited  by my second marriage, is at university in Germany.

Her Spanish Passport and DNI needed renewing. She came to us for a week, during which time we had some new photos taken for biometric purposes.

I drove her to Cartagena Police station, arriving at 7.30am.

She renewed both items, which included a biometric Passport, in one hour, at a cost of less than 30 Euro.

I renewed my British Passport some two months ago, at a cost of 174 Euro, if I remember correctly and it took a week.

There was a pamphlet enclosed that tried to justify the existence of Consulates and how my fees contributed to the duties they performed!!

Still proud to be English but love Spain.

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