I have just filled out the application to renew my passport which runs out next month so it is still valid, OR IS IT???
Try getting a holiday overseas and you will be told your passport must be valid for at least the next 6 months.
Maybe someone here can answer why because it beats me. Even if I wanted to go abroad for a week my betting is I would not be allowed
And the cost of renewal with secured return postage is almost £90,that is for the passport with less pages
Renewed mine recently, ok for the Channel Islands, anywhere else you need to follow the rules. Go on gov website to check but think they add remaining time from your old passport to the new one. The cost is high but no other choice, doing it online is bit of a palaver, if you wear spectacles, had to remove them before system would accept new photograph. Peace of mind sending it secured.
The hardest part was setting up my camera and do it yourself was a bit of a pain and getting it right as a Jpeg.
Oh that’s reminded me that mine runs out in August. How depressing. Do we get our money back for the covid years?
In a perfect world this would still be a NO.
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It’s so annoying. We were not allowed to travel and the state just rips us off with probably a hiked up price too. All that nonsense having to get witness signatures, surely they could do away with so much wasted bureaucracy. Hope we can do this online now. The whole thing with having to get the letters just right in the boxes and having to pay the post office to check the form is correctly filled in. Just recalling the pain ten years ago. (grumble grumble)
Allow plenty of time, best advice.
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Apply on line very easy
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is this one of those .gov sites where you have to take a (really awful) photo with your phone which you don’t see until it’s uploaded?
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At least the British Passport gets the 6 months added to the life of the passport. When you renew an Australian passport because of this 6 month requirement you only get a 10 year passport so in effect they are only valid for 9.5 years.
I wrote and complained when Gilliard was PM but there has been no change as far as I know. Thieving bast@rds
Applied for a new passport last year on line.
Went to a photographer who took my picture, cost £6.95
He put that picture on line with a number attached(lasts a month)
Put the number in my on line passport application
Got new passport with in 5 days.
I think it takes a bit longer now.
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That’s the one.
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I have just taken Sues photo and it was accepted via the on line application form so the photo cost nothing. All one has to do is take the unedited photo and put it on the computer. Going through the application form you get to the photo page and just put the photo in. nothing could be more simple. After the photo has gone through their system you get accepted or not accepted, it even resizes to the requirements. The painful part is paying
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I think when you renew a British Passport now, it has a maximum 10 years validity now, too.
I think the old system of adding on any unused time from your old passport when you renewed it was stopped a few years ago.
Those who still have the older passports with a longer validity period can still use them for some countries but they need to check the rules of the country they are going to.
If travelling to an EU country, in addition to needing an expiry date of at least 3 months longer than the date you plan to leave, they also have rules about the Issue Date - the passport must have been issued within 10 years of the date you enter the country - so if a Brit has an old Passport with a 10 year and 6 months validity period, they may not be able to rely on using it for travel in the EU in those last six months.
How many hoops are you expected to jump through, I wonder. 
These additional taxes are a convenient way to raise extra revenue.imo
My friend is from Tanzania and went to visit her family a couple of years ago. She bought tickets, got to airport and was refused travel as she only had 5 months left on her passport. She was everso upset and showed them her return ticket but they wouldn’t give up and she cried all the way home.
Certain Post Offices (see online) offer a service where they take your photo, complete online forms for you, send it all off and then you get regular messages updating you on when they receive the application and how it’s moving along. We found this excellent last year and we received ours back within 7 days.
So it doesn’t have to be verified by a “professional” or is that because they already have a photofit database of us all somewhere for facial recognition at the airports?
there is a section on the on line application that asks if you are providing a photo taken by your self or not. if you click on the taken be ones self then no professional verication necessary.
At the end of the online application you have to tick a box saying something like your confirming the above information is correct
Offical passport quote
5 1. If required, get someone to confirm your identity
We’ll tell you if we need someone to confirm your identity. They can confirm your identity online without a printed photo.
At an airport in the UK all you have to do is place your passport face down on a self check in machine which reads your passport information. It is all automatic now
taking your own photo they say the camera must be 5ft away and the photo showing upper body and face, no glasses to be worn. Also the photo megapixels are specified.
Believe me unless you are a complete moron doing it on line is so easy. Saves having to book to have your picture taken and time and travel costs. Even I can do it which is proof enough, just need your old passport handy for information on it like passport number etc
I am not sure if that is good news or bad news. 
When I looked at getting a British passport (I thought it might be cheaper) I was told I would have to apply as if it was my first passport because my last one had been expired for so long. I have no idea what that actually means but I am saving up for a dinghy if it is too complicated - Dymchurch has nice flat beaches as I recall.
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They have that here too - absolutely useless if you have a beard, just can’t cope with that.