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New British Passport

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Butts

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I have just received my new Passport and it is quite different from the old Burgundy one both inside and being Navy/Black in colour.

A seamless process all completed online in a matter of days.

You complete the application online and send it with a digital photo which is checked for suitability when attached. I don't have a smartphone and managed to take an acceptable one on my Laptop.

Then you send your old one off (To Durham in my case - live in Falkirk).

They received it last Thursday, checked and processed my new one on Friday despatching it the same day. All progress can be checked online,

It dropped through the letterbox today - most impressive service.

Having to sign my new one was a novelty.

I renewed my existing one prior to it's August Expiry Date due to the new 6 Month "Validity Rule" for EU Travel. You don't get the "remaining time" added onto the new one like you used to.

All I need now is somewhere I am allowed to travel to !!!
 
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alex397

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My EU passport runs out in February, but I applied for the new passport back in November, just in case I was able to book something for Jan/Feb (I think I had a glimmer of hope back then!), so I’ve wasted 3/4 months of it, but I’m glad I’ve got it now so I’m ready to book something as soon as it’s possible and safe.
It was £75 as well.

Not sure I see the fuss of it being blue, it’s just a passport. Hopefully I’ll actually be able to use it before it runs out!
 

oldman

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A seamless process all completed online in a matter of days.
The online system was in use back in 2016 when I last renewed mine. Nothing to do with it no longer being an EU passport.
 

Butts

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The online system was in use back in 2016 when I last renewed mine. Nothing to do with it no longer being an EU passport.

Well it's the first time I've applied for 10 Years and I didn't suggest it was anything to do with Brexit.

Not sure it was in operation 6 years before your last application.
 

edwin_m

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When I did mine I didn't have to submit a photo, as the one they already had on file for my driving license was recent enough.
 

gordonthemoron

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you'll get more stamps now, I got a stamp last week coming back from Sweden. So it may be worth getting a passport with more pages, I think you get 32 pages in a standard passport and 48 in the big one
 

70014IronDuke

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I got mine last Friday. I have to say, it does look very handsome. Not that I'm a Brexiteer.
And I agree - they only received it on the Monday previously. Excellent service.
Now all they've got to do is reduce the price to the former £10 :)
 

SS4

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I did mine a few years ago to make sure it was burgundy but it's good to hear those French men and women are doing a fine job manufacturing them.

Now all I need is a light blue one so I can have a claret and blue passport ;)
 

takno

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I did mine a few years ago to make sure it was burgundy but it's good to hear those French men and women are doing a fine job manufacturing them.

Now all I need is a light blue one so I can have a claret and blue passport ;)
The company is French, but I thought they were made in Poland
 

Butts

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you'll get more stamps now, I got a stamp last week coming back from Sweden. So it may be worth getting a passport with more pages, I think you get 32 pages in a standard passport and 48 in the big one

Good point that it's only a tenner more for the "big daddy"
The company is French, but I thought they were made in Poland

Are they printed over here - ie Durham in my case ?
 
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superalbs

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They're really poor quality. The cover is so fragile, mine is already folded lol.
 

Mojo

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you'll get more stamps now, I got a stamp last week coming back from Sweden. So it may be worth getting a passport with more pages, I think you get 32 pages in a standard passport and 48 in the big one
That's good to hear, one of the things I've been looking forward to!
 

37424

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They're really poor quality. The cover is so fragile, mine is already folded lol.
I thought you were talking about about the government and the country as whole for a minute!

Mine doesn't run out until 2026 and of course it still says EU on which is fine by me.

I'm surprised about passports being stamped i didn't think they bothered with that these days, I've been to the US a few times and they didn't seem to bother with stamps.
 

Mojo

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I'm surprised about passports being stamped i didn't think they bothered with that these days, I've been to the US a few times and they didn't seem to bother with stamps.
Never been not stamped in America. I think the only non-EU places I didn't have my passport stamped were Hong Kong & Macau, which gave me a little ticket that I suppose I could have glued into the passport if I wanted; and Albania (which I entered and left via boat from Greece) who didn't check my passport whatsoever.
 

ainsworth74

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The only thing that I'm not really a fan of (apart from the obvious lack of it being an EU passport but there's a separate thread for that :lol:) is that the wording at the top "BRITISH PASSPORT" feels a bit naff to me? A little self-important perhaps? I believe historically that was the wording that was applied before we joined the EU but I'd much rather have gone for the approach of somewhere like Australia or Canada where it just says at the top "Canada/Australia" then the relevant crest for the country and "Passport" underneath (in English and French in the case of Canada):

Australian_Passport_(_P__Series).jpgCanadian_ePassport_Cover_(2013).jpg

Even the United States (them of "land of the free, home of the brave, we're number one!" fame) goes for the fairly subdued "Passport" at the top, crest in the middle, "United States of America" at the bottom:

550px-Us_passport_medium_res_transparent.jpg


It's a small thing I know but every time I see the new ones (apart from thinking "that's clearly black", the Australian shade of blue above is more what I had in mind!) I just find it a bit naff.

(all images via Wikipedia)
 

37424

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Never been not stamped in America. I think the only non-EU places I didn't have my passport stamped were Hong Kong & Macau, which gave me a little ticket that I suppose I could have glued into the passport if I wanted; and Albania (which I entered and left via boat from Greece) who didn't check my passport whatsoever.
Well admittedly the only place outside the EU I have been is the US 3 times between 2014 and 2018 and defo no stamp from any of those trips, maybe the Americans didn't want to admit they let me in to their country!

As for the passport cover it still has the look of though we are the most important country in the world which of course we are not except maybe in the eyes of some Brexiteers.
 

Mojo

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Well admittedly the only place outside the EU I have been is the US 3 times between 2014 and 2018 and defo no stamp from any of those trips, maybe the Americans didn't want to admit they let me in to their country!
How strange. I've got US stamps from 2013 (San Fransisco), 2018 (Shannon, Ireland), and 2019 (New Orleans).
 

DelW

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This prompted me to dig out my old passports, including an old "blue" (actually black) one with "BRITISH PASSPORT" on the cover.

On seven trips to the US between 1986 and 2015, I was always stamped in, but never stamped out.

Hong Kong and Macau, always stamped in and out, even though Macau was just a day trip on the hydrofoil.

Thailand and Malaysia, always stamped in and out, including on the train between the two (disembark, queue to exit one country, queue to enter the other country, queue for baggage inspections, reboard the same train).

South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, all stamped in and out.

They're a good record of exact dates and durations of my trips.
 

37424

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How strange. I've got US stamps from 2013 (San Fransisco), 2018 (Shannon, Ireland), and 2019 (New Orleans).
So I have been and double checked my passport my apologies it would seem there is a stamp for my 2018 (San Fran) visit which I didn't notice as its just randomly on a page in the middle of the passport, however there is definitely no stamp for my Orlando visit in 2016 maybe that was an oversight and I carn't check my first visit as I don't have my old passport anymore. Blimey I thought stamping passports was something you did in the eighties but obviously not.
 

Mojo

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So I have been and double checked my passport my apologies it would seem there is a stamp for my 2018 (San Fran) visit which I didn't notice as its just randomly on a page in the middle of the passport, however there is definitely no stamp for my Orlando visit in 2016 maybe that was an oversight and I carn't check my first visit as I don't have my old passport anymore. Blimey I thought stamping passports was something you did in the eighties but obviously not.
Fortunately not. I try to avoid going to EU countries as I usually don’t like them, but am looking forward to getting more stamps in my passport.
 

theironroad

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I've entered the US about 30 times in last 10 years and think only once I did not get a stamp (which I believe was an error as the immigration guy was distracted).

Don't think I've ever received an exit stamp in my passport leaving the US in 35 years of travelling there.

They did used to staple a I94 departure record card in your passport on arrival. This would then be removed by the airline at the gate as you boarded the flight that was leaving the US. They ended up with the immigration service. The US have a integrated electronic system now that means the data of your departure from the US when you board is electronically handed over to Immigration.
 

takno

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US have stamped my passport every time without fail, as did North Macedonia and Kosovo.
Japan stuck a sticker in and stamped it on departure.
Hong Kong was a slip of paper.

Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro didn't stamp, though in all cases they were looking at a bus-full of passports at once, so they may have decided it was too much bother
 

XAM2175

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The only thing that I'm not really a fan of ... is that the wording at the top "BRITISH PASSPORT" feels a bit naff to me? A little self-important perhaps? I believe historically that was the wording that was applied before we joined the EU ...
Yes, it dates to when the various British colonies and dominions didn't confer their own standalone citizenships so they issued passports to their nationals as British subjects:

rso1AE6ksdM-W5fdHQjYccmM6ell1zrhOl36mH6QquH2IfOdrwn_ieM4s0sB8EXK86PzfOHQnKg4DtgJRO1Rlk4LUaQGyFW3lzj58nCz-8J6BuEc7YuBPxoT
569px-Third_Type_of_New_Zealand_Passport_1950s_1960s.JPG


british-passport-newfoundland.jpg
416px-Gibraltar_old_passport.jpg


(images show British Passports marked respectively "AUSTRALIA", "NEW ZEALAND", "NEWFOUNDLAND", and "COLONY OF GIBRALTAR")

Incidentally, the previous N-series Australian passports were even more understated:

A8Ybyke.jpeg
 

DelW

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The two most impressive pages in my passports are the original multi coloured, almost full page, US visa stamp from 1986 (IIRC I had to send my passport to the US Embassy in London a few weeks before departure); and the full page stick-on Zimbabwe visa complete with hologram (though at something like US$50, payable only in cash at the airport on arrival, it should be!)
 

Tom

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I'm surprised about passports being stamped i didn't think they bothered with that these days, I've been to the US a few times and they didn't seem to bother with stamps.
If you are entering the US and have Global Entry, you will not receive a stamp regardless of your citizenship. I have not been stamped on entering the US since 2016, but I do get a paper receipt that acts as a point of reference during the visit if required. You should get a stamp if you are using the Automated Passport Control kiosks. The US does of course record all of your I94 entries that you can see at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/ and clicking 'View Travel History'.
 

ainsworth74

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Yes, it dates to when the various British colonies and dominions didn't confer their own standalone citizenships so they issued passports to their nationals as British subjects:

Aha very interesting! That does explain the wording on the old passports. Though considering those days are now long gone you'd have thought that they'd have taken the moment to update the wording for the new passport...
 

edwin_m

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Aha very interesting! That does explain the wording on the old passports. Though considering those days are now long gone you'd have thought that they'd have taken the moment to update the wording for the new passport...
As the burgundy one was so updated, they must consciously have put it back to the old wording on the blue one.
 
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