Just a heads up

I've done mine online too and it was so easy. Had my photo taken at Timpsons, who gave me the photos, a digital code and a USB thingy. Went on line, entered the code when asked and up pops your photo like magic! Submitted it and got almost daily updates by text and email about progress. Received new passport 9 days later, but that did include two weekends, so more like 5 working days.

I didn’t even do the timpson thing just took the photo on my phone during the process which is even easier

Can you do it that way if it's also a change of name?

I think you have to send it away phoenix - not sure, so please check and don't take my word for it.

Be warned - don't take it to the local post office and pay for a check - they may well say the photo is not suitable, you must use their booth, yet, if sent away, the photo is perfectly acceptable to the Passport Office.

Everyone I know who has used the Post Office service has had difficulty (including me, who apparently has a misshaped head!)

Just done mine too. Had photos done at Timpsons on Tuesday, applied online same evening, Sent off old passports on Wednesday..mine to Belfast and GS's to Glasgow. Got emails when they arrived. On Friday the applications are in a queue waiting to be dealt with.
So far so good

My Dh did this last year, with a photo I took at home. Passport back in five days, though it was longer before the old one was returned.

Do beware, though, that you no longer get the unexpired time on your old passport, attached to the new one.

Hi, I just renewed mine too. Not due until November, but I thought the same as you BlueBelle - get it done before Brexit!!
It was very easy. I got my photo taken at Max Speilmans and they give you a code to put on the form, so you don't even have to attach it.
I don't know about Post Offices saying photos aren't acceptable when they are, but I know they often do the opposite. I have a friend who works in the passport office and she says they reject almost as many applications that have been 'checked' by the Post Office as those sent by individuals.
BTW my new passport arrived in 10 days! (Don't know who the old bat in the photo is though !)

There have been warnings about no deal and pasport with less than 6 months on them so be prepared.

I may be a bit dim, but why would you have a passport with less than 6 months left on it anyway?

Well, I sent mine off anyway (this was 11 years ago) and it was fine, misshaped head and all!

Yes I think you can Phoenixas one of the pages asked if you have had a name change I didn’t read more as mine hasn’t changed in the last ten years so I went straight to the next page you could google it I was surprised at how simple it was just ten mins and a selfie
I don’t understand Izabella ?
The first photo I took on my phone said unacceptable misshapen head I think there was a bit of a shadow very slight I could barely see it but I took another with a brighter light and it said your picture is acceptable
I know what you mean about the old bat looking at you GrandmaKT she’s on mine too she gets around

A word of advice. Check that all details on your passport are correct. My husband and I (No, I`m not the Queen) renewed our passports online, received them about 4 or 5 months before we were to go away, but then 3 weeks before our holiday I was idly looking at them, and realised that our details had been reversed, his had mine and vice versa! When I contacted them I was told that if it turned out to be my fault I`d have to pay all over again! Luckily it turned out to be theirs, and we got the replacements just a few days before going away.

Izabella why would you renew a passport if you're not planning on going abroad for a while?

As I said upthread, the rules have changed and you now lose any unexpired portion of your passport. Pay for ten years, get 9.5 years.

I may be a bit dim but why would you have a passport with less than six months on it anyway
I have read this a few times and still don’t know what you mean
My passport runs out in August I would normally send it for renewal about June but I thought I d forgo 6 months and do it now to have it done and dusted before bloody brexit takes place

BlueBelle to go to some countries they like you to have more than six months left on your passport.

Beechnut but if you aren’t intending to go to any of those countries why would it matter if you only have six months left? Mine runs out in September I’ll probably renew in May just before the Summer rush.
I don’t understand Izabellas comet either.

tanith I agree with you, but sometimes going to a country at a particular time may not have been something you intended to do (family death) so keeping your passport with at least six months could be one less thing to worry about.

Phoenix, my daughter has just done this and changed to her married name and she did it all on line; she had to send her marriage certificate off. I had my photo done at a shop because if I did it myself I wouldn't know how to upload it onto the computer! And Timpsons just give you a code to enter.

We did ours on line a couple of months ago and too our own photos on the iPad. Getting the photo accepted by the computer was the hardest bit. We found a nice bit of plain magnolia wall but the sun was shining and any hint of shadow meant rejection. Your eyes have to both be perfectly visible too. But the site was very patient and didn't time out!

I read in our local paper what is possibly a scare rumour as I've not seen it anywhere else, that some countries will require 18 months left on a passport. Has anyone heard this?

Too? Took!

Beechnut I do know about the six month rule for some countries but as I had no travel plans after August I wasn’t concerned I still don’t understand Izabellas comment perhaps it was just the way she worded it but hey ho we ve moved on from it and most people who have used this procedure seem satisfied I was just thrilled with how simple the whole process was I had my first uploaded picture rejected Nfkdumpling but the second was fine I honestly couldn’t see the difference but I think there may have been a very very slight shadow in the first one
After having the most complex, consuming time the day before with a problem on eBay I was really nervous it would be so much more complicated

I just wanted to post this if anyone was thinking of doing it and was a bit nervous to try I wanted to reassure them

I’ve sent for a copy of my Irish grandfather’s birth certificate. He was born in 1890 so not sure if records exist for him as there can be problems with Irish documentation as those of you who are amateur geneolgist will know.

My intention is to get an Irish passport.

As mentioned in the other threads on thos subject, I was equally fortunate with my renewal and had my passport back from Liverpool in just over a week, and I live in Germany.

Normally I would leave it till just before it expired to renew it, but we are flying to the States in April and, of course, there is Brexit on the horizon.

The joke is, as I said on the other thread, that passports issued now (and for the next few weeks) say that it is a European Union paasport.

Here’s another one of those ‘ might/ maybe/ could’ articles I saw at the weekend ;

inews.co.uk/news/brexit/travel-brexit-no-deal-eu-uk-passport-time-europe-advice/