Renewing your UK passport from Spain may be easier than you think

AS passports often need to have at least six months validity it is important to update and renewing your UK passport from Spain may be easier than you think.

Whilst there have been horror stories of people waiting months for a new passport and even the UK Gov website warns that it could take up to 11 weeks, the reality is much better at the moment.

There are a number of ways of applying for a new passport and many large towns have businesses which for a reasonable fee will facilitate the renewal on your behalf, but if you are computer savvy, then it is also possible to renew online.

Provided that you are a British National and want to simply renew your expiring passport, then visit https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports.

You will be asked a number of short qualifying questions and then taken to the actual application form where you will be required to answer further questions and submit an acceptable digital photograph (which you can either take yourself or obtain from a local photographer).

There are very clear rules about what is acceptable and you can even check if the photo you have is ok on the same site and it will either be accepted or you will be told what is wrong with it.

Once you have completed all of the documentation and submitted your photo, you need to pay the current fee of £ 86.00 + £19.86 return courier fee for a standard adult passport if submitted online (paper applications may cost more).

Once all of that is done, you will receive a confirmation that the order has been accepted and a UK address to which to return the passport being replaced which includes the reference number of your application.

To be on the safe side, it is best to send the passport to the UK via some form of registered postal delivery or courier.

Once that is received by the passport office, they will check that you are entitled to a replacement and issue the new passport.

At all times, they will keep you updated on developments and from recent personal experience, from the date of applying for the passport to actual receipt, just three weeks elapsed.

This speed of turnaround is not unusual, although what is unusual is to see any Government Office act so efficiently!

The only downside is that the new black passport appears very flimsy even compared to the previous red ones and the front cover started to bow within a matter of hours of receipt.

There are slightly different requirements for the replacement of lost passports, first time passports and children’s passports but all are clearly explained on the website and it is even possible, although expensive, to obtain a temporary, one use only, passport for emergencies.

Thank you for reading ‘Renewing your UK passport from Spain may be easier than you think.’