Dear LPG,

I have not been on holiday for about ten years now but decided that this year would be a good one to visit an old friend that emigrated to the USA quite a few years ago.  As part of my preparation I took a look at my passport.  Isn’t it funny how they just go right out of date while you are not looking?

I read that getting it renewed takes about a month so that was the first part of making my holiday a reality and I set to work.  I am not sure if readers are aware of the difficulty that was attached to getting your first British passport or renewing those that are going out of date recently.   Getting a new passport is one of the many processes that can all be done on line now, and that was how I planned to renew mine, although during March 2019, the original Brexit cut-off date sent everyone into passport panic mode resulting in the application website crashing.  But the initial rush is all over now and with the help of a friend that is more IT savvy than me the online form is reasonably strait forward.

One of the things that can be forgotten until you get to it, is the need to have an up to date picture and when we got to that bit I thought we would have to leave it until I could get to one of those little booths or a photographers studio but, although there are a few rules about how, it is really easy to take an acceptable picture with a smart phone these days.  We were successful; the picture didn’t even need to be printed for an online application, although uploading it was a lesson that I was glad to have my friend helping me with.  In all, the passport really was not that difficult to apply for online, it was also a little cheaper, and now I am planning that holiday.

 While making the application we found a lot of information about taking the definitive passport picture and thought it might be a good idea to pass it on in case there are any other readers who need to update a passport at the moment.  It is also worth remembering that a passport is a really good way of proving identity even if you are not planning to leave the country. 

KF, Forest Hill

KF has shared some information on this subject including an easy to follow video…

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LPG also offers the online link to the application form…

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