Renewal of British Passport whilst residing in the USA

[francisr]

What is the process of actually turning up in person to the embassy in Washington for a passport renewal.

Is it like the process in the UK.

Wait, pay, wait, named called and then you can walk away the same day with your passport?

Can I do this in person to renew the passports of a my family (wife/son/daughter).

Any idea on how it it takes?

Regards Francis

[lostinmex]

I have applied for my two daughters British passports via the British Washington Consulate (you can no longer apply via the British consulate in Mexico) they received my application on the 19th Jan via UPS and took the fee (via credit card) around 10 days later. Nearly 5 weeks have passed and still no sign of the passports. I would hate to apply when it's a peak travel time seeing that they are so slow off peak.

The British Mexican consulate used to take no longer than 1-4 working days to have a chip passport ready. So why is the British Washington consulate soooooooo........ slow? I can only guess they haven't got enough staff to process all passports applications for all the Americas and Caribbean on a decent time scale.

It's useless calling that over priced number to "Careline Services" as they don't have a clue to the information on every individual application.

[francisr]

In the end, I went in person.

They do renewals in person for extreme emergencies or when they are not overloaded.

With the snowmageddon, they told me they managed to get the wait to 5 days, but it has crept back up.

My CC was debited the same day I handed my forms in, and with a travel date of 03/11/10, the officer said there was a good change of it being returned within two weeks, especially since they were handed over in person and checked by their staff.

F

[byjove]

finally got mine after posting it in Jan

[Gormen]

I managed to speak to a person who works at the embassy. He says that with the snow and almost a week out of work as really screwed them over as they have thousands of applications. HE says that they are trying really hard to get turn this around. If there are taking too much time then the best solution is to contact careline and make sure that send an enquiry to washington.

[BritAmerican]

Originally Posted by British Consul

Except that's the old website address and it won't work from the end of this year (Ron's post was accurate in 2006). The new website address is www.UKinUSA.fco.gov.uk

Dean

Hello,

I am trying to renew my UK passport (it recently expired) and discovered that I can't even speak with someone when I call through to the British Consulate in Los Angeles (and the UK Embassy in D.C. as well) and that renewing passports has apparently been outsourced (and that one has to pay a fee just to talk with someone). I am trying to confirm which sections need to be filled out on the C1 form. It is the same form that one uses if they have never applied for a passport so I would like to know which sections I can skip since all that info at the beginning is already on file (as I will be including my expired passport as well). It seemed so much easier ten years ago when I could at least talk with someone on the telephone without having to pay through the nose to do so (it is already outrageous enough having to pay over 200 US dollars for the renewal fee).

[peter gold]

Outsourced and outpriced why renew your passport if u r a US citizen wait if and till u need it

[BritAmerican]

Originally Posted by peter gold

Outsourced and outpriced why renew your passport if u r a US citizen wait if and till u need it

I am traveling to the UK soon and would like to have it with me for possible travel elsewhere in the EU as well (it facilitates such as I am sure you already know!).

[chris]

BritAmerican,
As forms go, the passport form is very easy to complete and has Yes/No arrows for completions of the relevant sections. I'm not sure why you're having problems. If the the line says complete it, then complete it. Do make the assumption of 'why give them that information, they already have it on file'. If you worked on that basis, you'd mail in the passport with a cover letter saying 'renew it please!'.

[Snorky]

Hi All,

I sent my Passport to be renewed on Feb 17th 210, thats the date it was signed for. Then nothing till the 8th of March when money was finally taken out of my account. Any body have experiance of how long it should take now? I said on the form that I was traveling on the 21st of March. I'm now travelling on the 25th. Whats the likelihood that I get it back in time? And is there anything I can do? I have a family wedding I am ment to be taking part in. Thank you

[Sharon]

Originally Posted by Snorky

Hi All,

I sent my Passport to be renewed on Feb 17th 210, thats the date it was signed for. Then nothing till the 8th of March when money was finally taken out of my account. Any body have experiance of how long it should take now? I said on the form that I was traveling on the 21st of March. I'm now travelling on the 25th. Whats the likelihood that I get it back in time? And is there anything I can do? I have a family wedding I am ment to be taking part in. Thank you

hope your passport comes soon. when we renewed it took around 2 weeks from posting to getting them back

[Snorky]

Hi Sharon,

When did you renew your passport?

[AlexT]

We recently submitted my passport for renewal.
We calculate from the day that it was sent that we will have enough time for our April 2nd departure. We sent it mid February.

Then we realize the processing dates commences when the Credit Card is actually charged. It was charged on 17 of March. Now we're cutting it really close.

Is there a way to expedite the process, even if we need to pay an extra fee? Are there other methods or processes so that we can go on this trip on 4/2?

Thanks!

[Snorky]

does any one have expreriance of the Passport careline? can they tell you anything on your actuall aplication?

[AlexT]

They do. They can pull up your file. They told us to call back within 5 days of our departure and they'll THEN email an email to DC and they will expedite our application.

We'll see what'll happen, we're crossing our fingers.

[Tintinbrett]

Originally Posted by AlexT

They do. They can pull up your file. They told us to call back within 5 days of our departure and they'll THEN email an email to DC and they will expedite our application.

We'll see what'll happen, we're crossing our fingers.

Hi, New to this, and I suspect, a bit technologically challenged (I fully expect this to turn up as a reply, rather than a post), but here goes:

I have to renew my passport this year, and my green card. Both would seem to be annoying. I am a little confused about the passport fees. I just went to the UKinUSA site, and find that they charge $217 including postage, whereas, other application sites seem to require Embassy fees of $205 (and just what is this? I don't remember paying that last time I renewed a decade ago, though I do remember a lot of annoyance - changed the fees after I had already paid, and refused to release my passport, that sort of thing), $49 for processing, and then around $25 for shipping. Anybody got any advice/answers?

[irdabrit]

I sent mine off to DC March 11th with my old passport. It was signed for March 15th. Nothing yet. Getting a little worried.

[byjove]

mine took a while, just wait, it could take 4 weeks at least

[crocog]

I sent my renewal application off (with my old passport) to DC on 24 March via FedEx - nothing taken off my credit card yet either... so am also getting worried

Does anyone know how to chase a renewal application _before_ they take your fee? The Passport Helpline has told me (twice now) that there's nothing they can do until that happens, as I'm just not in their systems.

If the initial processing is going to take as long as the actual passport renewal itself, it'd be kinda nice if the helpline could at least confirm my old passport hasn't been appropriated by someone for a hit in Dubai!

[Carl]

Is there anything stopping you having a relative send the forms after you have filled them out and signed it, could you have a relative do it in the UK for you and mail you your passport back over? If that makes sense.

Carl.