This young lad has something my daughter doesn’t; a valid passport.
Although a brief day trip to France can hopefully still go ahead, the result was a hurriedly arranged break up in Scotland. This was not mummy and daddy’s finest hour.
So what can you do if you find yourself in our position? Are there ways to avoid the lengthy delays that have been the subject of recent newspaper headlines?
The good news is that you can renew a child’s passport in a week using the Fast Track service. It would involve visiting a Passports Office in person and paying a fee (there are offices in London, Newport, Peterborough, Liverpool, Durham, Glasgow and Belfast). This applies to first time applications, renewals and replacements of lost or stolen passports.
Just be advised that a ‘one day’ service is no longer available. This was discontinued in February 2014.
A query the Passports Office often faces from parents is about whether a birth certificate is required when applying for a child’s travel document. It turns out birth certificates are only needed for first time applications (must be the original, not a copy). When it comes to renewals or replacing lost or stolen passports, a birth certificate in not required.
Wherever you’re travelling to this summer, have a great break. Think of us up in Scotland.
More information about children’s passports can be found by following this link.
This post was written in association with the Passport Office.
Photo credit: Image sourced from Home Office Flikr page, photographer unknown. Reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0 agreement. For more information and a link to the agreement, please visit my disclosure page.
Paul Wandason says
July 30, 2014 at 9:59 amI must admit I spend too much energy on remembering to pack the passports than to check whether they are still valid…a fact not helped by the fact that I’ve got accustomed the photo of a 1 year old being ridiculously different to the 4 year old I have in the back seat!
I’ll think of you guys in Scotland…if you think of an English expat in Holland who needs to send passports to France so the Dutch British Embassy (yes…they’re in France) can send them to the UK for renewal. At more than twice the price!
John Adams says
July 30, 2014 at 2:48 pmI think, Paul, you may have to explore the option of obtaining Dutch citizenship! Interestingly, I had heard that all diplomatic passports are processed in Paris for some reason. No idea what the logic is there, but I assume it is cost cutting!
I know what you mean, I was very used to a baby-faced Helen staring at me from the last page of her passport. It desperately needed updating in fairness.
Tom @Ideas4Dads (and Mums Too!) says
July 30, 2014 at 3:10 pmEek. I have certainly done this myself and almost lost a holiday to ibiza in the process. We have yet to take the kids abroad so havnt had to go through the process but good to know that 1 day turnarounds dont exist any more as I would have fallen fowl of this most def!
John Adams says
July 30, 2014 at 3:13 pmGlad to be of service Tom! I just hope you aren’t thinking of taking the kids to Ibiza. Try the Algarve instead. Much more family friendly.