Passport Renewal - Should I Let it Expire?

Soldato
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Wetherspoons
You jsut remining me actually I need to do my british one, it expired 20th June.

I tell you what Ill give it a go now and let you know how much hassle it is.

EDIT:

It asks your gender, either male or female.

Isnt that like well racist now?

What if I was one of those ladyboy hermaphrodites?

EDIT: 2

Process is pretty straightforward to be honest, only slightly odd thing I have an Irisk passport I need to send that to them also..... bit weird, but otherwise pretty easy to renew anyway,.
 
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Soldato
Joined
31 May 2005
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2,772
Just renewed my son passport he had a child's 5 year due to expire end of the year but looked so young on the pic he wanted a more mature picture due to him applying for apprenticeships :p

Just filled the online form uploaded a picture taken with my mobile and sent off his old passport that was 7days ago new passport posted out on Saturday

No signing of the picture faff
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
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12,348
If I let it expire, is it more hassle to renew than it would be while it is still active? For example, if it expires do I have to have photos signed and prove I am who I am?

Makes absolutely no difference.

It's still classed as a renewal, so will be the same as if you renewed it whilst your current one hasn't expired.

I'm not sure how long the window is mind! But i did this last year after my passport has expired just as covid hit, and decided there was no point renewing it whilst everything was shut down. I renewed it about 9 months after it had expired and it was just the same as if i were to do whilst it was active - although it was a bit of a waste of time as we couldn't go anywhere anyway.
 
Soldato
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5 Mar 2010
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12,348
yes I didn't think there were any ramifications if you let it run out, as I did last year,
hadn't they changed/reduced pricing a few years back following review of profits ? if they were about to put price up soon, I might get it done.

They did, if you do an online application i think it's about £15-20 cheaper than a paper one.
 
Commissario
Joined
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In the radio shack
Renewed mine very recently, I used a photo that’s a couple of years old because I’ve not shaved since last September and I didn’t want to use a lockdown beard picture.

It took eleven days from start to finish, I was very impressed.
 
Soldato
Joined
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7,750
The one thing I willl say is its pretty quick to go through at the moment barely a week in my case, the downside is the cost if you go to the PO and have photo taken and have it sent to you via secure delivery its not far short of £100. It is useful for proving who you are though its about the only thing I'm using it for currently
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
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45,279
So how you going to get it signed?
AFAIk if you can not find a counter signature you can still get a passport but you need an interview.

it was a real pain for me, GP wouldn't do it, managed to get the head teacher at my kids school to sign it even though she's never met me before...

Does an expired passport really need a countersig?
surely they can tell if it's the same person or two separate photos with AI
I thought your face is basically mapped anyway?

you can look totally different to your passport but go through the auto gates fine?
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jan 2013
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140
I did mine online last year after it had expired. I have never needed to counter sign a photo at renewal before and this is the first time it had actually expired. I even did the photo myself with my phone which was not as easy as it sounds - it took a few goes to get it right. I think if you do it online it checks your new photo with the old one and if it doesn't look ok you may have to do extra checks.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
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45,279
I couldn't imagine not having a passport.
yea even if you don't go abroad it's good ID for 10 years.

I don't drive so have no other ID, I think if you have a passport it makes it easier to get a photo id driving license too? you can just do it all online.
I'm sure I looked one time thinking about getting a motorbike.


probably far easier for people to get a passport counter signed earlier in their life too, sucks too be an adult with no passport cos your parents never went abroad
 
Man of Honour
Joined
12 Jul 2005
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Aberlour, NE Scotland
I haven't had a passport since I left the RAF in 2002 as I have no interest in going abroad. I do have a driving licence though and recently had to have a new one as it was 10 years old. As I didn't have a passport I had to go through the post office who took my picture and processed everything electronically. I got my new licence in four days which really surprised me. I don't know if the way the show the photo on a passport has changed but it certainly seems to have changed on a driving licence. The photo is a bit smaller and very poor quality. It's so poor you can barely make out it's me. I thought it must have been the photo booth at the post office at first but if the picture wasn't up to scratch then surely the DVLA would have rejected it in which case it must be down to how it's mounted on the licence.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2014
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18,637
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Aberdeen
If I let it expire, is it more hassle to renew than it would be while it is still active? For example, if it expires do I have to have photos signed and prove I am who I am?

Make it easy for yourself and get it done now.

When I renewed my passport after the previous one had expired not only did I have to get the photos signed but I had to get a responsible person to sign to say that I was who I said I was. (This was over a decade ago, BTW.) When I last renewed my passport a couple of years ago I didn't have to go through any of that rigamarole. I had to send them a code from the photo booth after they rejected my webcam and mobile phone photos. All very easy. Make it easy for yourself.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
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45,279
Nope but he's one of those people who never goes anywhere unless his bus pass can take him there and he also still lives at home with his parents.

No drive or ambition to do anything with his life.
The only ambition that matters is to seek a mate, produce offspring if that's your thing.
if not enjoy the world sharing your life with another.


everyone doesn't have to seek money, fame or power, some people can be happy with very little.

all the more power to them, the rest of us are zombie consumers taught that to find love you need to be the magpie, be the magpie
 
Soldato
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Not here
The only ambition that matters is to seek a mate, produce offspring if that's your thing.
if not enjoy the world sharing your life with another.


everyone doesn't have to seek money, fame or power, some people can be happy with very little.

all the more power to them, the rest of us are zombie consumers taught that to find love you need to be the magpie, be the magpie

Trust me, he's not happy but that's a different subject all together :D

But when I get married, I cant pick him to be the best man because he's never left the UK or been on a plane.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2010
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21,923
Other than travelling not sure when a passport would be useful as an ID ... I'm just going to use my photocard driving license
... and wouldn't mind if we had an ID card like france.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Jun 2006
Posts
12,371
Location
Not here
Other than travelling not sure when a passport would be useful as an ID ... I'm just going to use my photocard driving license
... and wouldn't mind if we had an ID card like france.

Some places ask for two forms of photo ID for verification. The passport is an easy one.

Had to collect an parcel yesterday and they would only accept my passport. My driving license wasn't accepted by them :confused:
 
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