Passport Update - I HAVE an identity again!!

Oh, yes...I have a passport...

The service in all fairness was very efficient, in all it took exactly 21 days. It would have taken less time if it wasn't for my inability to read ambiguous questions.

Now to get the visa renewed. A niggling feeling (based on previous experiences) tells me that getting the visa may take longer than getting the passport...


 

Passport update...I'm without an identity!

Well, I really did think it would be straightforward. I mean, efficiency and security must have been at the forefront of the Embassy Management’s mind when they implemented the new rule to send passport applications to the central office in Düsseldorf, Germany. Surely?

What is more secure than walking to your secure Embassy with one of the most important documents you will possess, in your OWN hand, handing it over YOURSELF along with the form and then being able to pick it up YOURSELF and walking out of the secure Embassy with your new very important personal document in your OWN hand and costing only the price of the renewal application?

Oh, ok…maybe handing to a courier representative (I’m not having a go at the courier here; it took about 36 hours for the application to get to Düsseldorf from their offices in Seeb) and winging it 3328 miles to Europe, not knowing whose hands the application is in and then to hopefully have it couriered back, is more secure and efficient.... Really?

Meanwhile, costs:

- COURIER - 20 OMR (£32.40) to Dusseldorf;

- ACTUAL FEE - I’m a little confused here… http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/howlongittakesandurgentappplications/DG_174109 quotes £77.50, http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/fees quotes £119.00.

- RETURN COURIER - quoted €22 (£18.62/11.500 OMR) return courier service.

- Minimum total = £128.52/79.200 OMR/€152.

So this is the general situation…I should let you know the progress I am making. I received an email last night from the Foreign Office in Dusseldorf saying thanks for my application, but before they can proceed they need the following:

“1) Fill in section 2 on page 2 of the C1 application form, if any one of your parents was born in the UK or,
2) Send us a copy of your naturalisation certificate.”

Both my parents are British and therefore a Naturalisation certificate was never required.

You may remember that the original issue was that I was not born in the UK. Oh, and I was not born after 31.12.1982. I read it as being born after that date whether in the UK or abroad. But it seems they are two separate criteria.
Lesson learned: fill in ALL sections of EVERY form and you might get somewhere.

So I think I need to complete that part of the form and the central office do not accept scanned copies then that’s at least another 15 OMR (£24.30) to send. It would be so much easier for me to discover this problem in my own Embassy here in Oman. I could recomplete the form and return it in a morning. Email correspondence (I'm currently waiting to hear back from Alan in FCO) and resending the form will add at least 3 days to this process.

I cannot go ANYWHERE until I get my passport and visa back.

I should pay attention to my own opening words of my blog: “a contemplative and thankful glance at the mountains, the sea or the blue sky and sanity is quickly restored!”

Watch this space….

Sources
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/howlongittakesandurgentappplications/DG_174109
http://ukingermany.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/passports/how-to-apply/oman#much

Passport Update

Well, I thought I was going mad when I was trying to fill in the application last time I read and reread the guidance notes and even got the Captain to look through and come up with a revelation as he does 9 times out of 10. But when he did it was always the blip of my birth place that kept cropping up and throwing us back to square one. So one last attempt and read-through, no progress and so I then felt I should have a final look on the web site. It guided me through to Dusseldorf’s main British Embassy site and the conclusion is that I only need to send my current passport.

Alhumdullilah ….it should have been obvious really as they will have already seen any documentation they need to issue me a passport in the first place. Jeez, that was hard work. So, now to get new photos done at Rusayl.

Or can I do them at home against a white background? My printer prints off passport size photos, I’m sure.

Has anyone had to renew their passport whilst here in Oman?

The British Embassy do not renew passports or issue them anymore; it is done centrally in Dusseldorf now. The turnaround is about 4-6 weeks which isn't bad I suppose. The issue I have is that I was born outside of the UK and it says I need to give evidence of my parents marriage along with my own birth certificate. I can't remember doing this last time? I'm in my thirties...when do you stop showing proof of your parents' marriage???!