Applying to renew a passport online

[Katrine]

I need to renew my mother's expired UK passport. This is for ID purposes, not for travel.

There is a new online renewal service where you can upload a digital photo taken on a camera or phone (who knew?!). Provided it meets their photo rules they will crop it to size. https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/renew
You can only use this service if your passport expired after 2012, presumably because they hold a digital photograph and signature on file.

I am posting here to ask if anyone has tried this? I would like to avoid the complications of signing on her behalf (Yes, it can be done) or getting a hard copy photo done that needs countersigning. I would have to pay a professional photographer to come to the house because she is housebound.

I have guardianship so am entitled to act on my mother's behalf, but wouldn't want to get into trouble with the authorities. The difficulty is that the online application process doesn't tell me what the further questions and evidence required will be once I have cleared Step 1, which is the photo.

Any relevant experience will be most gratefully received!

 

[cragmaid]

https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

This says that a renewal does not have to be signed by the passport holder if disabled subject to certain criteria
When I last had mine renewed, I didn't need to get the photos or the form countersigned, because I hadn't changed from the previous ones.

"you must get your form and one of your 2 photos signed if you’re applying for a:
renewal of a passport if your appearance has changed and you can’t be recognised from your existing passport[/QUOTE]

If you can take a photo, bear in mind it must be a plain white background (Sheet or tablecloth). You can size it down and trim them as you print.

 

[Katrine]

Thanks Maureen. I can do the plain white background. Getting her to look straight ahead with her eyes open and mouth closed will be a bigger challenge, but I'm going to give it a go tomorrow.

With this new service you don't crop or digitally alter the image, you just send them the file and they do the cropping. They will also have to decide whether the new photo shows 'normal ageing' compared to her old photo. If they want a countersigned photo no doubt they will write and say so.

I suppose what I meant was - if I have to get a hard copy photo, I would have to summon a photographer because it needs to be printed to an exact specification, and if I went to all that trouble I might as well get it countersigned, to avoid the risk of it being rejected. The digital option seems to be more straightforward.

I'm just hoping someone on TP has used this new service. There is no example shown, so you start your application in ignorance of the potential hurdles. I don't know whether they copy in the signature from her old passport, or whether you print off a form that has to be signed, or whether it can be signed on her behalf as with a hard copy form. She is entitled to a free passport, but this option may not be available. I might have to pay, then claim the fee back via a different form. Somehow I feel this new Beta Test service is not aimed at disabled people in their 90's.

 

[anamarija]

Passport

Hi. We managed to do this at the nursing home. It was urgent and we could not get a photographer. Our neighbour lent us his camera and we took a sheet to hang behind her. Normally Mum won't smile. This time, however, she decided she would smile for the camera! She wanted to sit in her blue armchair for it. We had a complicated form to fill in at the post office as it was one for an LOS to fill. It was extra complicated because we did not know what had happened to the ancient passport. The two ladies in the post office recognised Mum from the photos. One of them filled in the form and the other one countersigned. There was no fee to pay.

They needed to track the old passport and lovely man rang for information. After two weeks he rang to say he had located the information and the new passport was in the post.

I met with a lot of kindness.

We were getting a passport so we could move my Mum to be near us in a vastly superior home in Slovenia. The day before we headed to the airport, the SW slapped a court I injunction on me and I was served papers in a very public place. The SW did not want my Mum in a foreign place and was rather racist. The complaint continues. The new social worker thinks Mum should go to Slovenia as does the DoLS assessor as they feel she is neglected. They are now reassessing and maybe it will happen. Mum is self-funding and I have power of attorney for finance and legal and health and welfare. The complaints officer and the LA are supportive now of the move. Maybe it will happen now......

Good luck with the photo. If she smiles or grimaced, don't worry. The ladies in the PO told me that they will accept this if the person has disabilities.

Best wishes.

 

[Katrine]

Thank you for sharing that Anamarija. I am so sorry you've had that horrid experience with the SW. It is reassuring to hear that you met with help and kindness with the passport application.

My need for a current passport for my mum concerns my potential application to go on the Irish foreign births register as a grandchild of a person born in Ireland. For this I will also need my grandparents marriage certificate. They were married in Singapore. It looks as if that country does not provide marriage certificates for marriages before 1961. I have written to the Diocese of Singapore to ask if they can help.

At least I don't need my mother's passport for travel, as you did. I really hope you achieve your goal to get your mum to Slovenia for better care. Thanks again for your helpful post.

 

[jugglingmum]

I looked at an online application for myself. I read through and it said you needed to print something off and post it still so decided against it. I assumed, maybe wrongly, that the print off would be the page to be signed.

I am thinking of looking into the Irish thing. I know my grandfather's place of birth but suspect the paper trail maybe too hard, and kids and OH wouldn't qualify anyway. I nearly did it back in the late 80s early 90s for other reasons.

 

[marionq]

John and I each have a great grandfather born in Ireland. Is that too far back to get an Irish/EU passport?

 

[Katrine]

John and I each have a great grandfather born in Ireland. Is that too far back to get an Irish/EU passport?

Yes it's too far back. In order for a grandchild to get an Irish passport they must first apply to be entered on the Foreign Births Register:

https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citize...road/born-abroad-citizenship-by-descent-faqs/

Once accepted, their children will also be eligible to apply by descent, but ONLY if the children are born AFTER the parent has become a Irish citizen.

 

[Katrine]

I looked at an online application for myself. I read through and it said you needed to print something off and post it still so decided against it. I assumed, maybe wrongly, that the print off would be the page to be signed.

I am thinking of looking into the Irish thing. I know my grandfather's place of birth but suspect the paper trail maybe too hard, and kids and OH wouldn't qualify anyway. I nearly did it back in the late 80s early 90s for other reasons.

Yes, something has to be printed off and the old passport returned to them, but whether they take the digital signature from the old records I don't know. I'm going to try taking the photograph today and we'll see what happens next. I'll let you know how I get on!

I'm not the only one trying to get an EU passport at the moment. OH has applied for a form to apply for an Irish passport, but they've run out of forms so that may take months to even get the application form!

Other people I know whose grandparents were born in EU countries are now busily scouring the web to find out how to get a birth certificate for a person born probably 100 years ago or more.

So many people are still children of empire, with BMD records in far flung lands. I still don't know if I can evidence my grandparents wedding in Singapore but hope that a combination of the wedding report in the paper, something from the church, plus the corroborating names of both my mother's parents on her birth certificate will suffice.

 

[Katrine]

Update

So far so good. I've submitted the application online. I just have to mail the old passport.

For anyone planning to use the new service I would say that it's very straightforward, once you've passed the initial hurdle of getting the photo accepted. It's an automated service and the photo recognition software is very picky.

The photo I took today was not accepted, so I scanned one I already had. This was also rejected, but I rescanned it at a very high resolution then cropped it. I did not digitally alter it in any way other than by cropping. Magically the off white plain background was then accepted because I had cropped out the super white edges of the picture. It may still be rejected once a human being compares it with the old photo.

The photo is a true likeness, she is recognisably the same person as in the old photo. Her wonky eyebrow and eyes, lined forehead, and crooked mouth are what she looks like. I was asked if my mouth was open, were my eyebrows raised, was I frowning, and was I fully facing the camera. Having confirmed that I had done as asked, the picture was approved.

The questions on the form are simple. Old passport number, date of expiry. Name, former surname if any, date of birth, town and country of birth, current address, email and mobile phone number for queries.

The existing signature on file will be used. There was no charge because the system saw from her DOB that she was entitled to a free passport.

I was not asked anything that required me to struggle with my conscience, other than that the photo uploaded must have been taken in the last month. For example, I was not asked if I was the person concerned, or if my signature had changed.

To be continued as things progress.

 

[Beate]

Thanks for starting this thread, it's very useful.

 

[Katrine]

All going well

Timeline:

Thursday 28 July (evening) - submitted application online

Friday 29 July
- posted old passport
- email acknowledgement of online application, with link to online progress checker

Monday 1 August - email acknowledgement of receipt of old passport; application now in queue to be checked

Sunday 7 August - email to confirm application approved and new passport in production

Monday 8 August - email to confirm postage of new passport, and postage of old passport under separate cover

I'll post again when they arrive!

 

[luci5]

Hi Katrine

I hope you don't mind me joining the discussion, but like you, I have been searching for the procedure for applying for a passport online using the new method. I have found your thread invaluable.

I have a couple of questions regarding sending the old passport to the Passport Office.

1. What did you need to enclosed with the old passport so that they could match it to the online application? Did you need to print anything off or just enclose a note of the application number?

2. Where did you send the old passport to?

3. How did you post it, was it Signed For Special Delivery, Recorded Delivery or regular mail?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

 

[Katrine]

The old passport goes to an address in Belfast. The details are supplied when you complete the online application. You can enclose a covering letter but do not need to as they link the passport to the application by its number. I sent it by signed for special delivery, to arrive the next working day. You can send it by normal post but you're taking more of a risk that it could get lost IMO.

 

[luci5]

Many thanks for your reply, it was very helpful.

You said that you had to crop the photo before it was accepted. How do you crop a photo?

Can you abandon the online application at any time? I don't need to apply for a few months yet, but wanted to check if the photo would be accepted.

 

[Katrine]

You crop a photo with photoshop software. Your PC may have a package loaded that can do this. You don't have to crop a digital image for the online passport service. The system zooms in on the face and automatically crops it.

Yes you can abandon the application at any time before submission. The photo is the first step. If you can't get it accepted you can't progress the application by that service and will need to complete a form online or on paper, and have hard copy photographs to enclose with a postal application.

 

[luci5]

Thanks again.

Did you just hold the camera normally and take the photo landscape or did you turn it and take the photo portrait?


Sorry for all the questions, but I'm stressing already.

 

[Katrine]

It doesn't matter whether it is portrait or landscape, but zoom in, or crop later, to cut out background objects. I took some photos with my camera, but even the best of those images wasn't accepted. There was a slight halo shadow on the wall behind her, and I couldn't get her to pose correctly: mouth closed, eyes wide open, looking directly forward with chin level.

If you can't get the image right at home, you could take your photo in a photo booth, then scan it on your PC and upload it. The photo I uploaded was taken in a photo booth. I won't tell you when, but it was not recently. She's been housebound for quite a while. I feel guilty about that, but needs must. She's not going to be using it to travel. It's just for ID.

 

[luci5]

Thanks again for all your help.

I never thought about getting a photo done in a booth then scanning it so that is very useful.

I hope your passport arrives soon.

ETA - If the photo is rejected, does it tell you the reason?

 

[Katrine]

Yes, it tells you each and every reason for rejection. Very clever software!