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British passports must now be renewed in UK

Owain Johnston-Barnes
Updated: Aug 09, 2013 08:01 AM
I recently lost my passport and re-applied 2 days ago on the UK "1 week fast track" service. I was expecting my application to take a little time as lost passports generally take longer than standard replacements and I originally had an Isle of Man passport rather than a UK one. So, imagine my surprise when a courier dropped off my shiny new British passport at lunchtime today, less than 48 hours after I'd applied!The new style passports are really nice and a lot more graphically rich than they used to be. There also seem to be a lot more counterfeit protections (such as having two photo pages with one being woven into the paper) and a lot more colour inside (it's very green rather than the previous white). However, the best thing is that it's an "e-passport" which means it has an RFID chip inside which can be used at certain immigration gates. I can verify this by putting my Nexus S against it which has an NFC reader - as soon as they come into contact the Nexus S detects an "unknown tag" the same as it does when I use an Oyster card. Both types are encrypted so it's not very useful but still kind of cool!

British passport applications must be sent to Durham, UK, instead of Washington DC as of Monday.Persons wanting to renew their passports must include the old passport with their application, Government House announced yesterday.Applicants were previously able to send a copy of their passport during hurricane season.The changes are intended to improve security and “consistency in decision making”, a spokesman said.“On August 12 the application process will be centralised and British citizens in Bermuda will need to submit their passport application to Her Majesty’s Passport Office in the UK,” the spokesman said. “There should be no change in processing times.“British Overseas Territory Citizen passport holders should continue to submit their passport applications and renewals for BOTC passports through the Bermuda Department of Immigration.”British passports can be renewed up to nine months ahead of the expiry date with no loss of validity, meaning a new passport can be valid for ten years and nine months.Those applying for UK passports should send their documents by secure courier to:Her Majesty’s Passport OfficeOVS-DMillburngate House ,Millburngate,Durham.DH97 1PAUseful website: www.gov.uk/overseas-passports.