PHUKET: British passport-holders on Phuket and around Asia have become increasingly concerned about longer delays in having their documents replaced or renewed.
The reason? All passport operations have moved back to Britain. In Hong Kong, one newspaper has speculated that as many as 24 staff there will lose their jobs.
What it means is that British passport-holders on Phuket need to plan their renewals with greater care.
British Ambassador Asif Ahmad - one of the most approachable envoys in Bangkok - has reponded on the issue to readers' questions in 'The Nation' today.
Her'es how he replied to two questioners:
Andrew Cherry: I have had to, recently, renew my passport as it is full. Previously I renewed it at the Embassy in Bangkok. This process took 10 days and in effect the Consular officer called me after seven days to say it was ready. Now I have to send it by DHL to Hong Kong, which ''processes'' the paperwork and then forwards for printing to UK before it is returned to me by DHL. I accept that with new security measures implanted in the passport it is probably better to have the passports produced in UK. However I query the time - four weeks. My company wanted me to urgently go to Egypt for a week. This was not possible. They emailed me the Passport agency web site that stated I could obtain a passport in one day if I called into a UK regional Passport office. Does this mean that in future, if I need a passport urgently I will have to purchase a return ticket to London and pay the expensive fee for the passport? I note that my American colleagues can have additional pages added to their passports at the embassy if required.
Ambassador Ahmad: I can understand the time it takes to get a passport renewed is inconvenient. A number of business people and Chambers of Commerce have also expressed their concern and we have sent the feedback to London. The Identity and Passport Service agency is centralising printing and distribution in the UK and that will address the inexorable rising costs of producing the document overseas. As the process beds down, the focus can shift to reducing the time lines. If you are able to apply in a period when you are unlikely to need to travel, you can send in your documents earlier than the expiry date and the validity will not be shortened. Those who are frequent travellers can apply for a second passport. As you have said, it is possible to renew your passport in the UK if you are there in person. An Emergency Travel Document (ETD) is available for any urgent travel requirements. My understanding is that it is no longer possible for American citizens to have additional pages added to their passports.
Duncan Bergin: The cost of a passport also baffles me, the cost of secured delivery should not result in the passport cost being nearly double the cost of in the UK
Ambassador Ahmad: The cost of producing a passport abroad has always been expensive. Part of the rationale of concentrating all passport production in the UK is to stop the inexorable rise in costs. There still remain a number of checks that are conducted abroad and our aim is to handle much of this in the UK in future. Courier costs apart, the fact that different processes are needed to deal with overseas passports add costs to the document.
Ambassador Ahmad also answers a range of other issues in 'The Nation' today.
The reason? All passport operations have moved back to Britain. In Hong Kong, one newspaper has speculated that as many as 24 staff there will lose their jobs.
What it means is that British passport-holders on Phuket need to plan their renewals with greater care.
British Ambassador Asif Ahmad - one of the most approachable envoys in Bangkok - has reponded on the issue to readers' questions in 'The Nation' today.
Her'es how he replied to two questioners:
Andrew Cherry: I have had to, recently, renew my passport as it is full. Previously I renewed it at the Embassy in Bangkok. This process took 10 days and in effect the Consular officer called me after seven days to say it was ready. Now I have to send it by DHL to Hong Kong, which ''processes'' the paperwork and then forwards for printing to UK before it is returned to me by DHL. I accept that with new security measures implanted in the passport it is probably better to have the passports produced in UK. However I query the time - four weeks. My company wanted me to urgently go to Egypt for a week. This was not possible. They emailed me the Passport agency web site that stated I could obtain a passport in one day if I called into a UK regional Passport office. Does this mean that in future, if I need a passport urgently I will have to purchase a return ticket to London and pay the expensive fee for the passport? I note that my American colleagues can have additional pages added to their passports at the embassy if required.
Ambassador Ahmad: I can understand the time it takes to get a passport renewed is inconvenient. A number of business people and Chambers of Commerce have also expressed their concern and we have sent the feedback to London. The Identity and Passport Service agency is centralising printing and distribution in the UK and that will address the inexorable rising costs of producing the document overseas. As the process beds down, the focus can shift to reducing the time lines. If you are able to apply in a period when you are unlikely to need to travel, you can send in your documents earlier than the expiry date and the validity will not be shortened. Those who are frequent travellers can apply for a second passport. As you have said, it is possible to renew your passport in the UK if you are there in person. An Emergency Travel Document (ETD) is available for any urgent travel requirements. My understanding is that it is no longer possible for American citizens to have additional pages added to their passports.
Duncan Bergin: The cost of a passport also baffles me, the cost of secured delivery should not result in the passport cost being nearly double the cost of in the UK
Ambassador Ahmad: The cost of producing a passport abroad has always been expensive. Part of the rationale of concentrating all passport production in the UK is to stop the inexorable rise in costs. There still remain a number of checks that are conducted abroad and our aim is to handle much of this in the UK in future. Courier costs apart, the fact that different processes are needed to deal with overseas passports add costs to the document.
Ambassador Ahmad also answers a range of other issues in 'The Nation' today.
Americans still can add additional pages in their passports. I did it two months ago in Bangkok. The US DOS website states you still can http://travel.state.gov/passport/correcting/add/add_850.html.
Posted by Billy on December 23, 2011 10:55