Biometric British passports

Hello,

A warning for anyone that is about to renew their British Passport, I just got mine sent back to me, the reason is that from the end of this month they will only be processing Biometric passports. When pushed I found out that my initial application was fine and that they just needed me to pay an additonal €35...

Make sure that the photo is up to scratch, else there is no getting in the empire!

http://www.britischebotschaft.de/en/consular/passports/

Cheers,

Allan

I just stumbled over NO2ID.net again. They're asking people to renew their passports until the end of May either through the UK Passport Service or via the General Consulate in Düsseldorf (for residents in Germany).

Apparently, this will give you a 10-year passport and only cost you £51 as opposed to the new £93 biometric passports which will be standard by October 2006. Applying for a new passport now is supposed to keep you off the 'mother of all databases' for a while, too.

I'm going to follow their advice and get one now, since my current one will expire in November 2006 anyway.

How about you?

I'm in the process of renewing mine now, but when I phoned the consulate in Munich, they quoted me the price for the biometric passport Euros 142 adult, and Euros 92 for child. No mention of non-biometric. Thought it was bloody expensive!

The Liberal Democrats have staged a mass passport renewal, in protest at the imminent database.


Lib Dems stage mass passport renewal

Renew for Freedom

The only difference with the new passports is that they will have an electronic chip that stores a copy of all the printed data, much like the chip in your credit card. There is no extra data, the "biometric" bit refers to the fact that it stores data about your photo (which is already visible to anyone who looks at it).

They hope this will make it much harder (ie far more expensive) to produce a fake passport. Much like what chip & PIN did for fake credit cards. They already have a database of all UK passport holders, it won't make the slightest difference whether you delay a new one getting one or not.

Of course, do it to save a few bob

Although initially the only difference is the facial scan, by 2008 it is likely to include fingerprints as well. Also those applying for their first passport or a lost or stolen one will have to have a face to face interview too. Apparently, if they live further than an hour away from a Passport Office they will be able to do it online.

I understand that Düsseldorf have been issuing biometric passports since 20 March 2006. http://www.britischebotschaft.de/en/consul...c_passports.htm

Since I work for the information line of the BCG Duesseldorf I can only advise you guys not to renew your passport at the Duesseldorf office at the moment.
The office are extremely busy and have a huge backlog of applications.
If you need to travel this summer and your passport is still valid for the trip,
just take your time and dont jeopardise your trip just to get the "fancy" new passport...
Reduces my work and stress level as well then

Better work faster bhoy dd as two passport applications are coming your way! Only because mine's expired and I must - not to torment you further.

Thanks for that then,mate! No,seriously,I`d love to help you guys out there.
However,I`m only the guy telling you on the phone that your holidays spoilt..
But I`m looking forward to having you on the phone giving out to me

Don't worry on that score. That's where triple nationality comes in handy!!

What a relief! May I ask you what the other two nationalities are in your case?
Irish/Australian? German/Irish? I could keep on guessing as well

The other two are both commonwealth countries... and legal to avoid any doubt on your part.

the trouble with renewing to avoid the biometric passports is that at some point in the near future (can't remember the exact date off hand) visitors to the US will be required to have one. So if you plan on going there, you can't avoid them.

mine runs out in oktober thi year, as there is someone online here pretty close to the source what should i do wait untill september when the rush has died down or wait untill november? and this whole biometric thingie? how and where am i meant to geet that done? you lot being in dusseldof and me, well not.

Owain is absolutely correct. My passport had to be renewed in November but as I travel back and forward from the US from time to time it is likely that I may have to revnew it again shortly as a biometric one. Pain in the arse.

As for notoidcards - I am frankly mystefied by the public wailing and distress that goes on in the UK about ID cards. Yes, there are flaws in the legislation but much of the rather hysterical protests object to the principle in apocalyptic terms as if the provision of ID cards will herald a police state of extreme limitation.Sen from the perspective of Germany such fears look frankly absurd.

For the moment (until at least October 26th) you can travel to the US
on your ordinary machine readable passports.And since the US dont issue
Biometric passports themselves I dont see that they will request others to present them...
As I said before...if you can wait,avoid applying in summer.Just think of all the stolen British passports during the WC.
The Consulate will be snowed under with work!

I understood the bionmetric passports were only required for aliens entering the US and not US citizens - an antiterrorism measure.

Technically youre right there.However,if the US enforce such a law then the UK might do it as well and US citizens wont be able to enter the UK at all...

A bit naive, I'm afraid. Reciprocity is not exactly a concept the US authorities believe in.

My problem with ID cards is that they will cost a fortune - an absolute fortune - to implement but won't actually make any impact on their intended aim: namely to make Britain "more secure". I also find it extemely hypocritical of the government to be claiming, on the one hand, that they will not let terrorists succeed, while infringing our civil liberties on the other. ID cards are a waste of time and money; even New Labour knows this, but wants to be seen to be tough on terrorism.

If you think ID cards will be effective, perhaps consider the opinion of Frank Abagnale, the fraudster on whom the film Catch Me if You Can was based:


BBC News: Fighting back on ID theft

Very true STB. Also, the UK and the German systems are totally different. The UK system will store a huge amount of information which can be requested by any goverment department for any purpose, and the legislation allows for almost unlimited extensions.

The German system stores a very limited amount of info and is only allowed to be used for specified purposes - no fishing expeditions by law enforcement, for example.

And don't forget the ID scheme was in the manifesto as voluntary. It was obvious they were lying and would make it compulsory and that's exactly what happened.

Agreed. But that is a problem with the current proposals and NOT the principle itself.

Personally I think the secutrity aspects aere overplayed as the entitlement to services is probably the key reason and key benefit from an ID card.

I would also note that the current fiasco where the home office cannot trace foreign former prisoners would have been neatly sewn up if ID cards had been in place.


Hmmm. Actually The Home Office, Department of Health and Department of Education have all been pushing for ID cards for generations ever since Churchill rather foolishly abolished the last ID card. Accounting for and reimbursing education and health and monitoring offenders are each problematic without an ID/entitlement card in place. The UK civil service can only look in envy at all our nnear European neighbours including Germany. Any government that takes office has been aware of this civil service demand but has also been painfully aware that politically it is a nonstarter with the hysterically illinformed libertarian bent of the UK population. Until now that is, terrorsim isn't the reason it is being implemented but it does provide a political excuse to implement the card with a minimum of public hostility.


Depends what you want them to be effective for. Personally I don't think they will inconvenience terroirists greatly. But an ID card would in the long term generate considerable savings in benefit fraud, health reimbursement, education reimbursement and policing.

IO don't like the current proposal. The cost makes it undesirable and the scale and lack of secutrity of the central database is deeply worrying.

But I do think there is some confusion in the minds of people who harp on aboput the voluntary nature of the cards. Passports are voluntary but if you wish to cross borders itr is best to have one with you. As far as I can make out that is the extent of the ID card proposal. What may constrain this is the amount of services that may require the card for validation making it de facto necessary (but not compulsory) to own one. I believe the government have not actually changed on thsi point despite what some opponents believe although they have been making the case that it will not be compulsory to carry a card on one's person at all times (as was the case with the wartime card)

Come on, it's de facto compulsory. 80% of Brits have passports and if you get one after October you get an ID card, like it or not. I haven't tried crossing any borders without a passport but I doubt it would be easy. And as most of us live abroad we need passports.

You don't have to have a passport to cross a border from Germany to any other Schengen country but that's beside the point. The compulsory nature relates to the service you require and not to the passport itself. Nobody HAS to have a passport. But without one, you might find it hard to cross borders.

Actually the argument is specious. Having a bank card isn't compulsory but it is bloody handy for getting cash from a Geldautomat. A bank card is an ID card for one particular service - as is a passport, a health insurance card and a student card. All of them are useful and not compulsory. What is wrong with combining them into one card where the usefulness would go up exponentially.

Note, I am not defending the UK government's proposal. Just taking exception to some of the arguments against the principle itself.

Six months? Less than that in my opinion. The Dutch one was broken before it was introduced, if memory serves, read from a distance as well. Wikipedia will also tell you that the technology they are based on can be cracked. They don't tell you that you can do it with a flashgun, and nor will I, but the Smartcard Alliance and Google will. Of course, all your data will be in a nice big database, and we all know how good the British Government's track record is at implementing large IT projects.

For example because then all of the information required for ID theft, which is exactly what the British Government are trying to sell it on, is available in one place. There'll be no need to rummage around in bins, the fraudsters will just be able to collect your data as you walk past.

Incidentally, Britain is not in Schengen. You will need a passport if you want to go "home".