View Full Version : Passport price for ExPats rises again!
IB4138
28th Mar 2007, 08:48
The UK Government have decided to raise the price for obtaining a passport at an EU Consulate to €185 with effect from 1st April, it has been announced today.
Another rip off from UKG !
IB
Yes, I heard about this. Their explanation is that's how much it actually costs to process an application in an Embassy or Consulate and the entire charge is passed onto the applicant. This is reflected in other services they provide.
They also have some other 'non-official' comments, for example, a good number of people obtaining passports in other countries are not paying tax in the UK so why should other tax payers subsidise them ? Another one is that non-residents tend to be more wealthy and can afford it.
Basically, they don't care. They are just looking for ways to raise revenues, they also say their, Embassy and Consulate, budgets are contsantly being cut.
I got my one renewed in December and I thought it was steep then.
Time to see what the regulations are regarding citizenship through residency...
Final 3 Greens
28th Mar 2007, 15:50
840
Just bear in mind that gaining a second nationality does not cause you to lose the original, so if ID cards become compulsory, you may not escape.
I believe that you can renounce nationality, however.
malagajohn
28th Mar 2007, 16:10
Time to become a Johnny Foreigner , I think:8 :8
Rwy in Sight
28th Mar 2007, 16:29
If you want a really top rip off forget the new price of consulate issued UK passports.
The absolutely top one is the one done by the Greek goverment: it cancelled every single passport issued before Jan 01 2006, while issuing full five-year ones until December 31 2005. And obviously no refunds for credit given for the unused time. A handsome profit..
So please don't complain.
Rwy in Sight
A2QFI
28th Mar 2007, 16:41
Certainly sounds a bit drastic but how much money is involved? What is the cost a 5 year Greek passport?
Rwy in Sight
28th Mar 2007, 22:09
The cost is in the area upwards of 100 €, but the issue goes that people were paying around 60 € until late 2005 for a 5 year passport only to expire on December 31 2006.
It is even worst because lines are long and since the passports are issued by the police, they use the opportunity to run a background check in case there is a pending sentence for traffic violations or debts to the government etc. And it takes ages to have the passport deliver if the paperwork is ok..
At least in the UK you have a much more "decent" goverment w/o dirty little trick to dishonestly increase revenue.
Rwy in Sight
At the start, they legalised sodomy.
Now, it's mandatory.
BOFH
knobbygb
29th Mar 2007, 06:32
Important: If you're renewing abroad please also note that the FAQ section on some of the British embassy websites abroad (I'm thinking Greece here) clearly states that you do NOT need to have your application countersigned if you are just renewing and your appearance hasn't significantly changed, BUT YOU DO. My friend arrived in Athens without a countersigned application and could not get his passport. He had to make another trip the following week at a cost of 150 euro! VERY expensive passport indeed. Countersigning can be a problem abroad because there is obviously less liklehood of people having known you personally for the several years required.
I raised this with the embassy and they totally deny that such advice is given on their website. I then sent them a printed copy of the page and they didn't reply. The errornous advice is still there 6 months later!
Me? I posted my passport to a freind in the UK, had him post it off to Livepool and then he returned the new one to me 10 days later. All done at the standard UK cost. Which is still a rip off.
A2QFI
29th Mar 2007, 07:01
I see you you don't live in UK - lucky you. The most spied upon population in the Western World (CCTV cameras) Shortly a passport application is going to involve travel at your own expense to a centre where you will be grilled, fingerprinted, iris scanned and charged thru the nose for a passport and an ID card, whether you want the latter or not. If ID cards ever come in they will not be compulsory but you will have to pay for the biometrics anyway. Government running out of money for anything important like Health Service, military equipment for futile wars but plenty for their own pensions and useless Olympic projects. Rant off!
skydriller
29th Mar 2007, 12:17
Odd the difference in charges UK/Abroad.
"Residence" means different things in different countries. I have an address in the UK aswell as one abroad, anything to stop me just using the UK service and paying less?
I ask because my childs passport needs renewing this year and we initially got it from a consulate abroad. Where as my passports (more than one required for work) have always been renewed in the UK, through my company too.....I had never even thought about this issue until seeing this thread!!
Regards, SD..
knobbygb
29th Mar 2007, 13:40
It's nothing to do with where you are "resident" and I agree the term can be difficult to define. All the passport renewal application (in the UK) requires is that you are "in the UK at the time you make the application". So yes, you can simply visit in order to get a new passport. The address you use doesn't have to be your permanent place of residence. Likewise, you could get your UK passport renewed in another country if you were simply abroad on holiday or business, without having to be a resident of that country.
The forms for either can be downloaded online and this makes it all a bit clearer.
A2QFI says: "I see you you don't live in UK - lucky you". Not sure if you mean me or the others, probably both. Thing is, there's no luck involved whatsoever - a concious decision made exactly for the reasons you mention and the many others one could rant about indefinately.
A2QFI
29th Mar 2007, 19:15
A more correct word would have been "Fortunate"
A2
shortly a passport application is going to involve travel at your own expense to a centre where you will be grilled, fingerprinted, iris scanned and charged thru the nose for a passportIn most other European countries it's normal to pay a personal visit to obtain a passport or a renewal.
I see you you don't live in UK - lucky youAs knobbygb says, luck has nothing to do with it, life on the continent is better. Was in London a few days ago with the wife, had an average dinner in a restaurant on Frith Street, £124 plus an 'optional ' 12.5% service charge, filled in the breakfast card in the hotel for 9.00am and it was delivered at 6.45am. My wife was also called a French c*nt by some drunken idiots in a pub in Newman St. Fortunately she didn't understand that word.
Bangkokeasy
30th Mar 2007, 08:35
I am another of the fortunate ones.
Here in Thailand, like in other areas, they now issue "biometric" passports. The scam is that the price has gone up by around 30%, but also, instead of my usual 48 pager, they now only issue 32 page passports. So that is 30% more for a third less. Thieving :mad: s! I am also forced to visit the embassy more frequently to renew, thus adding to the congestion. AND it now takes 16 working days, instead of the previous 5! :ugh: :ugh: :ugh:
The "biometric" consists of what I think is a small RFID, onto which are encrypted information that is already available on the previous details page. Something that a nerd with a laptop can duplicate in a few seconds.
Every time I see something like this I can't help thinking Bin Laden has already won.