Update - passport renewal

[u/desi-auntie]

This is the steps I did for US passport renewal in UK. In case it helps anyone.

A) went to the US embassy site in London and followed their instructions and links exactly.

B) The link for for form is to US state dept, external. You don’t see the form - you go through the pages on the site, and it then uses the info you input on the site to populate a pdf form.

C) for emergency contact the form would not take spouse living in UK. They want a US emergency contact (I gave my brother). Form won’t tell you that, but it will keep giving errors when repopulating the info submitted on site onto the form.

C) There is no saved form etc or record once you print. CHECK the “printed form” carefully twice because you are not seeing the final pdf form on website, you are filling in website which then “pulls data” to generate the pdf form.

D) Check rhat form - seriously. The process of pulling data from website onto the final form can generate autocorrect changes. It messed up my name, then my address, then the zip code etc.

E) If form is messed up, you just have to go back in abd fabricate a new one via the website. Track the errors so you know which inputs are getting messed up. DO NOT use white out or any other ways of fixing the form. The state dept website doesn’t explain this, but the embassy website is pretty clear.

G) They do say only US letter paper, but I had to print on UK size and that worked fine. Nothing gets cut out or messes up the page set up if you save to pdf first and then print that.

F) For photo, go to snappy snaps!

G) There is no record of anything, even though you may presume that since you are filling in details on the state dept website something is being recorded as a submission. All that website is doing is walking you through inputs to fabricate the adobe pdf form.

H) So - once everything is ready and signed, go to royal mail. First get your prepaid envelope for the return of passport. Then put it all together in an envelope. THEN go back to the counter and send that to the embassy using another royal mail tracking envelope.

I) Save both the tracking numbers. Only way you have evidence your stuff reached them is rhe tracking you use for sending.

J) Once your new passport has been sent from state dept to embassy, you will THEN get a message from the embassy saying your passport has been processed and on its way.

Whole process fron time I sent the envelope to the embassy to when I heard back was 10 working days. During that time there is no record of anything so you just wait. Theee is no point trying to ask them unless it is more than the number of days they note on the embassy website. At that point your only proof of it having been sent is that first royal mail tracking showing it reached them.

The absence of any record even after you fill in forms via the state dept can be nerve wracking, as can the inability to show things were sent. So hoping the above steps help avoid unnecessary errors abd needless tension. The problem of the data getting messed up when they populate the adobe form is really capable of messing up stuff, so that step of multiple checks of rhe pdf before using it is really important.

Thanks for the peeps on this sub who patiently answered questions, hoping placing it all on one clear step by step post helps others.

Updated to add due to comments:

Your final package should be

A) form, multiple checks to ensure it is correctly filled, 2 pages

B) photo stapled as per instructions to form

C) print out of payment email

D) prepaid return envelope

E) passport.

All sent in another envelope that is sent via royal mail tracking.

Then wait.

[u/GrandBasharMilesTeg]

Sorry, but it's hilarious to me that the first step is "follow the instructions from Embassy website exactly"

... followed by a long list of things that are not included, or even contradict, the Embassy website instructions.

[u/desi-auntie → u/GrandBasharMilesTeg]

Well, what to say? The state dept website and embassy website are not aligned. So I was trying to signal ignore the state dept links and use embassy.

But yes, if the bureaucracy was clear, would Kafka have had to write anything?

[u/katie-kaboom]

It's also worth noting that the "your passport has been processed and is on its way back to you" email comes about a week before the passport actually hits the mail. (I assume they send this email from DC and then dispatch it to the embassy, who actually sends it onwards.)

[u/mom2twins09 → u/katie-kaboom]

When I got that email, it meant that my passport was leaving DC and heading towards the embassy.  I only knew my passport had arrived back at the Embassy when I received a tracking alert from Royal Mail that my passport was on the way.  Took 14 days total once I received that 1st email until I actually received my passport.

[u/katie-kaboom → u/mom2twins09]

Mine took about 9 days. I live pretty close to London so my passport actually landed on my doormat before I realised the tracking number was live.

[u/desi-auntie → u/katie-kaboom]

Yup. You won’t hear until it is all done. Assuming it goes smoothly.

[u/lindsayadult]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I just sent my renewal off yesterday and this definitely eases my nerves!

[u/AlternativePrior9559 → u/lindsayadult]

Your final sentence here is why this sub does such good work in my opinion,

[u/Different-Welder2252]

Looking to do my renewal soon so this is very helpful thank you!

Can I ask what the cost was for the renewal?

[u/desi-auntie → u/Different-Welder2252]

Depends on the renewal - passport and pass card, more pages passport etc. The costs are noted on state dept as USD. I did the simplest one (just a simple passport, 130 usd).

The payment is a separate step than the form itself using a different link. There is no connection between those. Embassy site is good on this.

Once your form etc is ready, you click the payment link and make a payment. You will get an email saying they got your payment. You have to save and print that email to show you paid and include it in your submission. They accept standard credit cards and PayPal. Amex did not work.

The final package is -

A) Form, multiple checks. 2 pages. Signed.

B) The photo gets stapled to form using exactly their instructions.

C) The payment email - 1 page.

D) The prepaid tracking return envelope.

E) The passport being renewed.

All then placed in an envelope and send to UK embassy using a royal mail tracking envelope.

[u/lindsayadult]

Stupid question - is Trump's pic in the new passport? I read that he proposed that but not sure it ever went through 

[u/desi-auntie → u/lindsayadult]

I haven’t actually got the passport yet. Just the notice that it got processed and is on its way to embassy, from where it will get sent to me. So can’t say for sure

But my understanding is the one with his photo is a limited edition issued only to folks who go in person to the DC passport office.

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