Guest Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I know if you have an Australian passport you must use it to enter or leave Australia but if you are living in the UK with no plans to visit is there any benefit in renewing it? Is it cheaper/easier to keep it up to date or would it just be a case of renewing if/when we decided to visit? Would we need someone who is an Australian citizen to sign anything if we were to renew it in say 10 years time? Would you be able to travel to NZ on a British passport? My British passport has a PR visa for NZ stamped in it but I presume that is superseded by an Australian passport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 We had no plans to return to Australia when we left in 1995. 15 years later we did. You never know what lies ahead in life. 10 years from now who knows what the rules or cost will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 We had no plans to return to Australia when we left in 1995. 15 years later we did. You never know what lies ahead in life. 10 years from now who knows what the rules or cost will be? On the other hand paying for passports for a family of three on the off chance we may want a two week holiday doesn't seem money well spent. I wouldn't bother renewing our British passports if we had no intention of travelling abroad. Did you keep your passports valid? If not, how hard was it to renew them once they had expired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Fair enough. We renewed ours but I don't think it's too much of a problem to get a new one when it's over 3 years after your last one expires, providing that you have all the required paperwork to go with the application. I'm pretty sure the cost is the same as well. You will need an Australian to sign the form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Fair enough. We renewed ours but I don't think it's too much of a problem to get a new one when it's over 3 years after your last one expires, providing that you have all the required paperwork to go with the application. I'm pretty sure the cost is the same as well. You will need an Australian to sign the form. It's that last sentence that could make it problematic! We have people we have kept in touch with but we never had proper friends as such and we wouldn't be in Australia to ask them to sign it anyway. I may well go for renewing it after 2.5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooba Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 On the other hand paying for passports for a family of three on the off chance we may want a two week holiday doesn't seem money well spent. I wouldn't bother renewing our British passports if we had no intention of travelling abroad. Did you keep your passports valid? If not, how hard was it to renew them once they had expired. I am not sure what the steps are for Australian passports, but for a Canadian passport renewing is easy. Get new pictures and that's it. If it expires before I renew then I have to go through the entire process of getting the pictures signed but someone from a certain occupation. I would want to avoid that hassle if I could. Additionally, you never know when having that passport might come in handy. My spouse is from Brazil and Canadians require a visa to visit there. Britons don't, so I was able to use my UK passport to avoid that. Imo, a couple hundred dollars every ten years is worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherry Allen Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 It doesnt have to be an Australian person signing it. It can be a British person as long as they are in a job like a teacher, doctor etc. Plus all passports have to be lodged in person if its not a standard renewal at Australia House in London (they occasionally travel elsewhere for those who live further away) and all passports applied for in UK have an extra £50 charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 It doesnt have to be an Australian person signing it. It can be a British person as long as they are in a job like a teacher, doctor etc. Plus all passports have to be lodged in person if its not a standard renewal at Australia House in London (they occasionally travel elsewhere for those who live further away) and all passports applied for in UK have an extra £50 charge. Can they not be lodged at the Australian Consulate in Edinburgh? Having to travel to London makes it very cost prohibitive if all three of us have to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherry Allen Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Can they not be lodged at the Australian Consulate in Edinburgh? Having to travel to London makes it very cost prohibitive if all three of us have to go! Not in Edinburgh any more, it closed. I live near Aviemore in Scotland so know what you mean about the cost, my 4 children all need doing. Add on the extra £50 per adult/£25 per cost for lodging in the UK and it becomes very expensive. Apparently occasionally they travel to the North of England (maybe Scotland?) as well as the West for the odd day per year, to help those who live further away lodge their passports, however this isnt very often and you would need to check their website frequently to see when they are doing the next one. Appointments only of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We won't bother renewing our Brit ones, unless we ever have to. We won't be visiting often so a bit of a queue won't make a difference. I don't think aid bother if it was the other way around either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Just be aware they can get shitty at immigration if you are british and travel on an australian passport. They will let you in but can be unpleasant when they do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Just be aware they can get shitty at immigration if you are british and travel on an australian passport. They will let you in but can be unpleasant when they do How would they know? Australian citizens are entitled to travel to UK on their Australian passports and I cannot see on what grounds there would be any reason to complain if it were for a holiday that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Just be aware they can get shitty at immigration if you are british and travel on an australian passport. They will let you in but can be unpleasant when they do How would they even know you were British? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Because on your landing card you have to tell them your place of birth. I travelled in and out of the UK for 10 years on an Aus passport. Heathrow were the worst for attitude but it happened at a number of other ones too. Seriously out of order when they were giving me grief for the kids not having British passports. After a 24 hour flight you really dont need it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Because on your landing card you have to tell them your place of birth.I travelled in and out of the UK for 10 years on an Aus passport. Heathrow were the worst for attitude but it happened at a number of other ones too. Seriously out of order when they were giving me grief for the kids not having British passports. After a 24 hour flight you really dont need it Your place of birth does not make you a citizen of that place. Conversely, I am a citizen of Australia but I was born in northern England. Australian citizens, including dual citizens, are perfectly entitled to travel to UK on their Australian passport. There is no reason for anyone to be upset about it, particularly as British citizens have no obligation to travel on their British passport if they have another. You must have been very unlucky, as I have never heard if anyone having any trouble like this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 You don't fill out a landing card if you're a British Cotizen! To land in Britain .Well we didn't when we went back in September, maybe that's where the confusion came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 You don't fill out a landing card if you're a British Cotizen! Well we didn't when we went back in September, maybe that's where the confusion came. Well, if you were travelling on an Australian passport you would need to I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Your place of birth does not make you a citizen of that place. Conversely, I am a citizen of Australia but I was born in northern England. Australian citizens, including dual citizens, are perfectly entitled to travel to UK on their Australian passport. There is no reason for anyone to be upset about it, particularly as British citizens have no obligation to travel on their British passport if they have another. You must have been very unlucky, as I have never heard if anyone having any trouble like this before. Not here to argue - just sharing my experience. Glad this hasnt happened to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Well, if you were travelling on an Australian passport you would need to I think. Ah maybe, that's why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Well, if you were travelling on an Australian passport you would need to I think. Correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 All very confusing, maybe I will keep the Brit ones too. So much for trying to save a few bob .:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 All very confusing, maybe I will keep the Brit ones too. So much for trying to save a few bob .:laugh: There honestly should not be any problem whatsoever. You are an Australian citizen and are allowed to travel on your Australian passport. But you would need to fill on a landing card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackToLife Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 If you renew your Australian passport within two years of its expiry date, you don't need a face-to-face interview, and can do everything through the post. If however, you go past the two years, then it really is a farce, as I found out the hard way. My GP couldn't sign my passport renewal application (surgery policy), so in the end I got the vet to do it, and thought I was good to go. But when I turned up for my appointment, they needed another form of ID. I didn't have a driving licence (suspended for medical reasons), but I did have the foresight (so I thought) to bring all my old Australian passports with me, but that cut no ice with them. Even though they had issued me with every single one of them, from 1980 onwards! They were insistent that an Australian citizen in a position of authority had to sign a form (which had my photo) declaring I was indeed that person. I hadn't lived in Australia for the best part of 40 years, and I no longer knew anyone in a position of authority. Or at least, those I did know when I was a kid - doctor, dentist, butcher, baker - had long since met their maker. I wish I could say the High Commission saw sense, but they stuck to their guns. Finally, I managed to track my teacher friends down in the Philippines, where they were taking long service leave, and got it signed. But before that happened, there were tears at bedtime for quite a few weeks, and I dread to think what would have happened if I didn't have that particular friend. So my advice is: keep your Australian passport current (within the two year deadline) and you shouldn't hit any of the hurdles you might otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loula5 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Countersignatory does not need to be an Australian citizen if you live abroad, but does need to be of one the approved professions (I think there's 36 job titles, which are listed on the application form or in the notes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm renewing my australian passport, expires in sept, and there is no countersign, just face to face. Am I missing something? I haven't bothered renewing my kids, I'll cross that bridge when it comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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