Best way to send a passport back to the UK?
Discussion
I need to renew my UK Passport whislt residing in the US. Easy to do via the web, just need to get the photos done and send it off. Question is, how should I send it as so far, everything I've looked at seems extortionately expensive! UK Passport office want an equivalent $15 fee to send back to me by courier, but here prices are from $50 - $85 to send it? Surely there's a cheaper way. No particular hurry, but I do want it to be secure, and it weighs barely nothing...
Any recommendations?
Any recommendations?
Graham,
Why do you not use the Washington D.C Office?
Here are the instructions:
British citizens in the United States can only renew their passports by mail via the British embassy in Washington D.C. Your new passport will be issued in the United Kingdom and returned to you by international courier, typically within five weeks. If you need a new passport to travel back to the U.K. urgently, contact the consular office closest to you to have emergency documents issued.
Step 1
Download and complete Form C1, available from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. Use black ink and write in capital letters. Take time to read the guidance notes carefully – the embassy states that one in every five applications has to be returned because the form has been completed incorrectly. Ensure you complete all the relevant sections and that your signature on the final page fits entirely within the box.
Step 2
Get two passport-sized photographs taken within a month of making your application. Each photo must measure 1.3 by 1.7 inches and be in color. It must show you facing the camera against a light background, with your face unobscured and wearing no head covering except that worn for religious reasons. Check the Identity and Passport Guidelines before sending your application.
Step 3
Ask an acceptable person to endorse the back of one of your photographs to confirm it is a true likeness of you. This should be a professional person, such as a policeman, religious minister, doctor, teacher or engineer, and that person must have known you for at least two years. Ideally, he also will be a British citizen. The same person will have to countersign Section 9 of your application form.
Step 4
Arrange to pay for your passport. At the time of publication, the charge was $211, plus an additional fee of $33 to cover courier charges. The British Embassy only accepts payment by credit card, money order or cashier's or banker's check. Complete the authorization form on the embassy website to pay by credit card, or enclose your check or money order made payable to “British Embassy Government Account.”
Step 5
Send your application form, photographs and your old passport, to the Regional Passport Processing Center at the British embassy by courier. The embassy's address is 19 Observatory Circle N.W., Washington, DC 20008.
Why do you not use the Washington D.C Office?
Here are the instructions:
British citizens in the United States can only renew their passports by mail via the British embassy in Washington D.C. Your new passport will be issued in the United Kingdom and returned to you by international courier, typically within five weeks. If you need a new passport to travel back to the U.K. urgently, contact the consular office closest to you to have emergency documents issued.
Step 1
Download and complete Form C1, available from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. Use black ink and write in capital letters. Take time to read the guidance notes carefully – the embassy states that one in every five applications has to be returned because the form has been completed incorrectly. Ensure you complete all the relevant sections and that your signature on the final page fits entirely within the box.
Step 2
Get two passport-sized photographs taken within a month of making your application. Each photo must measure 1.3 by 1.7 inches and be in color. It must show you facing the camera against a light background, with your face unobscured and wearing no head covering except that worn for religious reasons. Check the Identity and Passport Guidelines before sending your application.
Step 3
Ask an acceptable person to endorse the back of one of your photographs to confirm it is a true likeness of you. This should be a professional person, such as a policeman, religious minister, doctor, teacher or engineer, and that person must have known you for at least two years. Ideally, he also will be a British citizen. The same person will have to countersign Section 9 of your application form.
Step 4
Arrange to pay for your passport. At the time of publication, the charge was $211, plus an additional fee of $33 to cover courier charges. The British Embassy only accepts payment by credit card, money order or cashier's or banker's check. Complete the authorization form on the embassy website to pay by credit card, or enclose your check or money order made payable to “British Embassy Government Account.”
Step 5
Send your application form, photographs and your old passport, to the Regional Passport Processing Center at the British embassy by courier. The embassy's address is 19 Observatory Circle N.W., Washington, DC 20008.
Graham,
Why do you not use the Washington D.C Office?
Here are the instructions:
British citizens in the United States can only renew their passports by mail via the British embassy in Washington D.C. Your new passport will be issued in the United Kingdom and returned to you by international courier, typically within five weeks. If you need a new passport to travel back to the U.K. urgently, contact the consular office closest to you to have emergency documents issued.
Step 1
Download and complete Form C1, available from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. Use black ink and write in capital letters. Take time to read the guidance notes carefully – the embassy states that one in every five applications has to be returned because the form has been completed incorrectly. Ensure you complete all the relevant sections and that your signature on the final page fits entirely within the box.
Step 2
Get two passport-sized photographs taken within a month of making your application. Each photo must measure 1.3 by 1.7 inches and be in color. It must show you facing the camera against a light background, with your face unobscured and wearing no head covering except that worn for religious reasons. Check the Identity and Passport Guidelines before sending your application.
Step 3
Ask an acceptable person to endorse the back of one of your photographs to confirm it is a true likeness of you. This should be a professional person, such as a policeman, religious minister, doctor, teacher or engineer, and that person must have known you for at least two years. Ideally, he also will be a British citizen. The same person will have to countersign Section 9 of your application form.
Step 4
Arrange to pay for your passport. At the time of publication, the charge was $211, plus an additional fee of $33 to cover courier charges. The British Embassy only accepts payment by credit card, money order or cashier's or banker's check. Complete the authorization form on the embassy website to pay by credit card, or enclose your check or money order made payable to “British Embassy Government Account.”
Step 5
Send your application form, photographs and your old passport, to the Regional Passport Processing Center at the British embassy by courier. The embassy's address is 19 Observatory Circle N.W., Washington, DC 20008.
Why do you not use the Washington D.C Office?
Here are the instructions:
British citizens in the United States can only renew their passports by mail via the British embassy in Washington D.C. Your new passport will be issued in the United Kingdom and returned to you by international courier, typically within five weeks. If you need a new passport to travel back to the U.K. urgently, contact the consular office closest to you to have emergency documents issued.
Step 1
Download and complete Form C1, available from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. Use black ink and write in capital letters. Take time to read the guidance notes carefully – the embassy states that one in every five applications has to be returned because the form has been completed incorrectly. Ensure you complete all the relevant sections and that your signature on the final page fits entirely within the box.
Step 2
Get two passport-sized photographs taken within a month of making your application. Each photo must measure 1.3 by 1.7 inches and be in color. It must show you facing the camera against a light background, with your face unobscured and wearing no head covering except that worn for religious reasons. Check the Identity and Passport Guidelines before sending your application.
Step 3
Ask an acceptable person to endorse the back of one of your photographs to confirm it is a true likeness of you. This should be a professional person, such as a policeman, religious minister, doctor, teacher or engineer, and that person must have known you for at least two years. Ideally, he also will be a British citizen. The same person will have to countersign Section 9 of your application form.
Step 4
Arrange to pay for your passport. At the time of publication, the charge was $211, plus an additional fee of $33 to cover courier charges. The British Embassy only accepts payment by credit card, money order or cashier's or banker's check. Complete the authorization form on the embassy website to pay by credit card, or enclose your check or money order made payable to “British Embassy Government Account.”
Step 5
Send your application form, photographs and your old passport, to the Regional Passport Processing Center at the British embassy by courier. The embassy's address is 19 Observatory Circle N.W., Washington, DC 20008.
I've been using the British Passport's online service:
https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports
SHould I not use this? Looks like it's a new way to renew from abroad?
https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports
SHould I not use this? Looks like it's a new way to renew from abroad?
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