Passport crisis: Automatic extensions for hundreds of thousands of expats

[admin]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10894610/Passport-crisis-Automatic-extensions-for-hundreds-of-thousands-of-expats-Theresa-May-says.html

Passport crisis: Automatic extensions for hundreds of thousands of expats, Theresa May says

Holidaymakers who had a "urgent need to travel" would have their passport applications speeded up free of charge, said Theresa May, Home Secretary

Hundreds of thousands of expat Britons who need to renew their passports will be given automatic one year extensions to alleviate the escalating crisis.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, also announced that children of overseas Britons who need passports will be issued with "emergency travel documents" for travel to the UK.
She added that Mrs May had considered offering extensions to UK residents but concluded it would be too costly and too complicated.
Holidaymakers who had a "urgent need to travel" would have their applications speeded up free of charge, she said.
Mrs May made the dramatic announcements in the House of Commons, as concerns about delays to passports deepened.

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Mrs May told MPs that she had agreed with William Hague, the foreign secretary, "that people applying to renew their passports overseas for travel to the UK will be given a 12 month extension to their existing passport".

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Mrs May also said: "We will put in place a process so that people applying for passports overseas for their children can be issued with emergency travel documents for travel to the UK."
She said that parents will still have to provide comprehensive proof that they are the parents of the children because there would be no compromise on child protection.

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more....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10894610/Passport-crisis-Automatic-extensions-for-hundreds-of-thousands-of-expats-Theresa-May-says.html

[woe10]

Do the Customs at Fuerteventura Airport know about this, just in case you have to fly to the UK next week, and your passport's in Ireland.

"Theresa May, the Home Secretary, also announced that children of overseas Britons who need passports will be issued with "emergency travel documents" for travel to the UK."

Issued by whom

[Jock719]

Tony Blairs doing two for a tenner at the Chinese shop....

[DaveW]

The passport office are useless. Our passports were due to expire in October so to avoid the summer rush I renewed them in April. When they were returned my new passport expires in April 2024 and the wife's November 2024. When I phoned the helpline they couldn't understand my problem. Not wanting to push my luck any further I didn't return them but will be a pain when they expire (if I am still alive) that we will have to renew them at different times.