do I renew a passport

[neilo]

hi daughters passport runs out in july thinking of a holiday in england in june! how does the passport validity work? it is a uk passport would she be ok to go or would this mean she would have problems on returning?

thanks:wacko:

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi

You would probably be best renewing it before you leave (some airlines require you to have ex amount of months left on passport before travel) you can do this at any Post Office. Lodge your United Kingdom/British passport application at Australia Post

 

Hope this helps

Kate

[neilo]

thanks for that-could we renew it while we are there seems easier! she will have about 5 weeks left on the passport before we fly- are there restritions if you have uk passport + you are flying to the uk with a passport which has about 5 weeks validity on it?

[Guest The Pom Queen]

The best person to ask would be Nigel but I am not sure where he is at the moment. You could always ask the flight company direct.

[Jo_uktooz]

As far as I am aware (I used to work in travel in the UK) the UK still has a 6 month validity on passport rule which means that you could well have difficulty ,also many airlines will refuse to carry passengers presenting passports with less than 6 months validity left,Nigel is due to ring me very soon so I can ask him and get back to you later but my advice is don't risk it.

[neilo]

thanks for that will look for your post later-thanks again.

[Jo_uktooz]

Ok,This is Nigel's opinion.

The problem wouldn't necessarily be at the UK end as a UK national can be immigration cleared on the strength of presenting a passport that had expired by up to 12 months,however the difficulty could come about on return to Australia as Australia also requires that passports be valid for 6 months after the date of entry .

Also there is a very good chance that the airline would deny you boarding when departing Australia anyway as the airlines can be subject to large fines if they carry passengers with incomplete documentation so they do tend to be fairly strict on the 6 month rule.

You could probably get away with it but his advice is renew anyway,if you renew now then the remaining validity on the passport will be added to the new one.

It does cost a bit extra to renew a British passport in Australia but he reckons it's not worth the risk of being denied boarding or re-entry-even though that (denied re-entry) is unlikely.

 

Edited to add: Of course if you are going to renew whilst in the UK the problem of re-entry denial doesn't arise but you would need to leave yourself enough time to renew it whilst in the UK,if you want to risk it you could ring the airline you plan to fly with and ask them whether they will carry her in those circumstances.

[neilo]

thanks for all that advice!! will ring airline first then decide if to renew it before we go.

did look for this information + couldnt find it so thanks to you both!

[Happy Lass]

I've just been reading up on passport renewal too and it seems if you want to do it in the UK you have to make an appointment to see them in-person:

 

From: http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/renewing-your-passport/

If you live overseas – you can apply for a passport at many British embassies, consulates and high commissions. You can also apply to renew your passport while you are visiting the UK. To do this, you need to make an appointment with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) in person. You must also provide an address in the UK, to enable us to post the passport to you. You will have to be available at this address to sign for your passport.

The Home Office's Identity and Passport Web site is here: http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/rde/xchg/ips_live/hs.xsl/index.htm[url=http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/rde/xchg/ips_live/hs.xsl/index.htm][/url]