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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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 Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:04 pm Post subject: UK Passport Renewel |
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My UK passport runs out in Autumn and I would like to get it renewed sooner rather than later. I just went to check what papers I need, how much it costs etc and found out that the British Embassy no longer has anything to do with passports but everything is now sent to Dusseldorf!
Has anyone already used this new system? Is it really 145 Euro plus 30 euro postage to get a passport renewed?
Any info welcome! Thanks! |
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Silvia
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Joined: June 1, 2004
Posts: 4085
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds like it is cheaper to go home for a visit and do it.  |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Silvia wrote: | | Sounds like it is cheaper to go home for a visit and do it. |
Not when a flight to Cardiff costs 450 Euro....and if I went to London to do it I would have to pay for somewhere to stay etc....
I guess I have to pay up...we get Summer money this week. |
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Hollywood
VVN Citizen
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 373
Location: Beethoven's Heiligenstadt
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:13 am Post subject: Re: UK Passport Renewel |
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| Amber wrote: | ... found out that the British Embassy no longer has anything to do with passports but everything is now sent to Dusseldorf!
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Hey Amber, what was the reason given by the British Embassy for no longer dealing with passports? Geez, is it that they just can't be bothered? Is this happening in other EU countries or is the UK just picking on poor little Austria? 
I sure hope that this British Embassy idea doesn't become a "bee in the US Consulate's bonnet" and the USA ends up doing something similar.  |
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jno
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Joined: Jun 21, 2004
Posts: 546
Location: Austrian Customer Service - reliably unreliable
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:41 am Post subject: |
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No passports at British Embassy - WTF ?!
I have till 2014 and renewed my last one there in Vienna - so I will cmplain bitterly for the next 5 years to reinstate the service - poor poor poor!
I did find this on a website:
http://ukinaustria.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/
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Important Information: The British Embassy in Vienna ceased issuing UK passports with effect of 16th February 2009. All UK passport applications from customers living in Austria are now processed by the British Passport Processing Centre in Düsseldorf which is part of the British Consulate General in Düsseldorf, Germany
Applicants from Austria
For applicants in Austria, please call +44 208 082 4724 between the hours of 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM local time, Monday to Friday.
Calls will be handled by Careline Services. Calls will be charged at GBP 0.69 per minute + VAT for the duration of the call. (Telephone service providers will also charge for the cost of the international call)
Please ensure you have your credit card details ready before calling.
For customers with hearing difficulties, a Textphone service is available by contacting +44 1750 725368. This is a credit card payment service, charged at the same rates as above.
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Another poor service from the UK government. |
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Kinger
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Joined: Aug 09, 2007
Posts: 72
Location: 8th District
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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I have just renewed mine, i am still waiting for it to come back though, it has been just over 2 weeks now. I believe that all passport renewals outside of the UK (within EU) are to be sent to Germany for centralization of services. Emergency passports only in Vienna. Apparently this is to help with fraud etc.
Gutted really cos i was going to do it after Xmas and when i looked 2 months ago suddenly everything changed without too much notice either. I guess i should not have been so lazy but it is such a hassle, it is one of those things you always leave until the last minute.
You can download the forms etc from the Embassy web site i think, it is actually quite straight forward. Good luck.
Mark |
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jno
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Joined: Jun 21, 2004
Posts: 546
Location: Austrian Customer Service - reliably unreliable
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:08 am Post subject: |
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Just checked and you can still do this in Budapest, no problem.
I am currently waiting for a reply on whether they can do this "there and then" or within a 24 period if you could stay somewhere overnight. |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| jno wrote: | Just checked and you can still do this in Budapest, no problem.
I am currently waiting for a reply on whether they can do this "there and then" or within a 24 period if you could stay somewhere overnight. |
That would interest me...although it also depends on how much the actual renewel costs...may still end up costing the same amount. |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: Re: UK Passport Renewel |
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| Hollywood wrote: | | Amber wrote: | ... found out that the British Embassy no longer has anything to do with passports but everything is now sent to Dusseldorf!
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Hey Amber, what was the reason given by the British Embassy for no longer dealing with passports? Geez, is it that they just can't be bothered? Is this happening in other EU countries or is the UK just picking on poor little Austria?
I sure hope that this British Embassy idea doesn't become a "bee in the US Consulate's bonnet" and the USA ends up doing something similar. |
It seems it is all the EU countries...bloody idiots! |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| singapore75 wrote: | There are some places one should never have to visit.
Baghdad
North Korea
Mogadishu
and the Newport passport office.
One of the most godforsaken towns in the UK, that along with Port Talbot.
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Being Welsh this gave me a good laugh ;) |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Kinger wrote: | I have just renewed mine, i am still waiting for it to come back though, it has been just over 2 weeks now. I believe that all passport renewals outside of the UK (within EU) are to be sent to Germany for centralization of services. Emergency passports only in Vienna. Apparently this is to help with fraud etc.
Gutted really cos i was going to do it after Xmas and when i looked 2 months ago suddenly everything changed without too much notice either. I guess i should not have been so lazy but it is such a hassle, it is one of those things you always leave until the last minute.
You can download the forms etc from the Embassy web site i think, it is actually quite straight forward. Good luck.
Mark |
Good to hear that someone else has already used this 'new' system. What annoys me is the cost. It is a bloody rip-off. Then the fact that I will have no ID for weeks!!! I don't have any other ID except my passport which they suggest I photocopy! That won't help me when I need to get a package from the Post Office before they return it to the sender! |
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Hollywood
VVN Citizen
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 373
Location: Beethoven's Heiligenstadt
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| Amber wrote: | | Good to hear that someone else has already used this 'new' system. What annoys me is the cost. It is a bloody rip-off. Then the fact that I will have no ID for weeks!!! I don't have any other ID except my passport which they suggest I photocopy! That won't help me when I need to get a package from the Post Office before they return it to the sender! |
If you don't have an Austrian drivers license (which many here can use as a photo ID) you might want to get a Lichtbildausweis für Fremde which you can get from the police. Since I am a U.S. citizen I wanted some other form of a photo ID other than my passport which I do not want to carry around with me. I then found out from the police that I could get this Austrian photo ID from them that I, as a foreigner, could use as a legal ID in place of having to use my passport. The other reason for me having this police photo ID is that the U.S. Embassy and Consulate prefer that their citizens do not carry their U.S. passports with them but that they use a photocopy of their passports as ID here in Austria. But the police told me that Austria does not accept photo copies of passports as ID, so hence this is why I now have this police issued photo ID. A bit of a catch-22 situation...  |
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jno
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Joined: Jun 21, 2004
Posts: 546
Location: Austrian Customer Service - reliably unreliable
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:52 am Post subject: |
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Yes, so basically the UK government are causing at least 10 days worth of possible stress for all their citizens while they get their passports organised.
The only way around avoiding this stress is getting a Lichtbilausweis für Fremde or getting an optional UK identity card - to be honest, all of it is a rip off.
Official news from Budapest (Consular.Budapest@fco.gov.uk) is :
| Quote: | It takes 10 working days to issue a passport. Unfortunately we do not have a fast track service.
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Thank the lord I still have 5 years before I have to renew my passport. The Austrian Lichtbildausweis for Fremde does seem the easy option to solve this problem, but of course, that costs and is something that is only necessary because of the poor UK passport renewal service changes. |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| I hear alot about this Lichtbilausweis für Fremde but I have never seen one or found out how and where to get one. |
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Hollywood
VVN Citizen
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 373
Location: Beethoven's Heiligenstadt
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Amber wrote: | | I hear alot about this Lichtbilausweis für Fremde but I have never seen one or found out how and where to get one. |
I got mine at the main police headquarters for my district (Döbling). So you might want to check out the one in your district. |
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jno
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Location: Austrian Customer Service - reliably unreliable
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Kinger
VVN Residency Permit
Joined: Aug 09, 2007
Posts: 72
Location: 8th District
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:03 am Post subject: |
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| Kinger wrote: | I have just renewed mine, i am still waiting for it to come back though, it has been just over 2 weeks now. I believe that all passport renewals outside of the UK (within EU) are to be sent to Germany for centralization of services. Emergency passports only in Vienna. Apparently this is to help with fraud etc.
Gutted really cos i was going to do it after Xmas and when i looked 2 months ago suddenly everything changed without too much notice either. I guess i should not have been so lazy but it is such a hassle, it is one of those things you always leave until the last minute.
You can download the forms etc from the Embassy web site i think, it is actually quite straight forward. Good luck.
Mark |
Well it just arrived 5 mins ago by DHL exactly 21 days since sending from Vienna but i might add there were some delays posted on thie web site due to IT upgrades or similair. Anyway all is well that ends well shame about the 175 Euros. |
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Amber
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Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 1404
Location: Vienna 1100
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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Ok...what is this Anmeldebescheinigung thingy. I have looked it up and apparently only EU people who moved here after 2006 need one. Seeing as I have been here since 99 I don't have or need one. However I still need one to get the ausweis... |
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Hollywood
VVN Citizen
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 373
Location: Beethoven's Heiligenstadt
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 8:06 am Post subject: |
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| Amber wrote: | | Ok...what is this Anmeldebescheinigung thingy. I have looked it up and apparently only EU people who moved here after 2006 need one. Seeing as I have been here since 99 I don't have or need one. However I still need one to get the ausweis... |
As I mentioned earlier, I feel a Catch-22 coming on...    |
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jno
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Joined: Jun 21, 2004
Posts: 546
Location: Austrian Customer Service - reliably unreliable
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| Amber - yes, you need the Anmeldungsbescheinigung to get the Lichtbilausweis, or rather can apply for the two at the same time - I only have the first one though. When I asked the woman who gave it me why I should keep it safe (she had told me to do), she said that "hmm" and maybe the police could ask me for it one day - haha, all bullsh¤t of course - the whole thing is a money making scam here. |
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