Passport

[pne]

My UK passport will be expiring early next year, and so I started thinking about what I'll need to do to renew it.

My number one concern was whom to get to countersign it; you're supposed to get a Member of Parliament, Justice of the Peace, Minister of Religion, Bank Officer, Established Civil Servant, or professionally qualified person, e.g. Lawyer, Engineer, Doctor, School Teacher, Police Officer or a person of similar standing who has known me personally for at least two years and is, preferably, a British citizen, other British national or Commonwealth citizen (a citizen of the country in which I am residing will do in a pinch if I know no British/Commonwealth person, provided he/she has a similar standing in that country… and the Consul considers his/her signature to be acceptable).

For my previous two passports, I used my school's headmaster, who was Australian, but I'm not at school any more and neither is he. And I thought that I don't really know that many people personally, at least not, people who are Respected Local Dignitaries. I wondered whether my bishop or stake president would work or whether "Minister of Religion" meant one or more of (a) full-time job and (b) big or state religion, neither of which applies. But Stella said I could try asking Bettina, who's a civil servant (Beamte) and also has some kind of veterinary degree IIRC, so that might work out.

The other main concern I have is the paperwork I need to submit along with the application: the notes page said that if I was born outside the UK before 1 January 1983 that I'd need

8. Your consular birth certificate: and/or
9. Your full local, High Commission or British Forces birth certificate showing parents' names: plus
10. Evidence of your father's# citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies if this is not shown on the consular birth certificate: plus
11. Your parents' full marriage certificate, evidence of termination of previous marriages, your father's# full birth certificate, naturalisation or registration document, or other evidence of your father's# national status.

Phew! On the other hand, the note says that Documents are not normally needed if you are surrendering a recently expired, unrestricted British passport showing your national status as British citizen […] and all other details are the same, which I hope applies to me. I may have to phone the general consulate in Düsseldorf to inquire.

Comments

Butting in from my */friendsfriends list...

[lyssiae.livejournal.com]

I recently applied for a passport renewal for my passport (I'm a Brit living in the Netherlands). As I've only lived here for a few months, I went down to the consulate in Amsterdam and applied in person - then the need for counter signatories etc is waived.

I'm not sure if the Consulates and Embassy in Germany would do the same, or if it's practical for you, but it might be worth checking out.

Going down to the consulate

[pne.livejournal.com]

Not really practical, since AFAIK the only place in Germany that processes passport applications is Düsseldorf (3½–4 hours one way by train, and about €120 for a full-price return ticket).

Re: Going down to the consulate

[lyssiae.livejournal.com]

...eeek. The joys of living in a country where you're at most two and a half hours away from the capital :) Hope you find a solution though.

Renewing my passport

[pne.livejournal.com]

Well, if things work out the way I hope, I won't need any supporting documentation since I can turn in my current passport, and I can ask Bettina to countersign my photo and the application, so I'll be fine. I'll just have to pay the €88 (or thereabouts) fee.

Passport fees

[lyssiae.livejournal.com]

Hmpf, I paid €94 for mine!

Re: Passport fees

[pne.livejournal.com]

Well, it's currently (http://www.britische-botschaft.de/en/consular/passports/#fees) €88 + €5 postage/admin fee, which comes out to about €93 as well. But the page says that it's really £56.50 + €5 and that the total in euros will depend on the exchange rate.