stupid **** process….

i can't apply within the UK as i am not resident thtere. so i don't pay £70. no, i pay 160€.

and every consulate you phone driects you to a nother number. for which the privilage of calling costs you 2€/**** minute. and hat's only if they're not on their **** lunch braek. and if you do happen to phone the Hamburg consulae it'll probably be some snotty scottish tart who'll talk to you in condecending tones.

and why the **** do i have to have a passport to travel to the uk when the res of **** europe can enter on their id cards?

see you next teusday's…..

when the res of **** europe can enter on their id cards

Can they?

And in any case do you have an ID card?

I had the same hassle in Spain. I had to call Ireland (?) every day to find out if it was ready. This department in Ireland exists solely to inform you if your passport is ready – it's their sole purpose in life, their one unique job, their calling and raison d'etre, they have nothing else to distract them so that when the anticipated moment arrives and your passport is actually ready to collect……THEY F*** IT UP AND TELL YOU IT'S NOT READY SO WHEN YOU GO TO THE CONSULATE TO COMPLAIN AND FIND YOUR PASSPORT WAITING FOR YOU, YOU CAN'T COLLECT IT BECAUSE YOU WERE TOLD IT WASN'T THERE AND SO DIDN'T BRING THE CORRECT DOCUMENTS WITH YOU!!!

when the res of **** europe can enter on their id cards

Can they?

yes

and why the **** do i have to have a passport to travel to the uk when the res of **** europe can enter on their id cards?

Because the right wing media would have a field day if anyone even suggested that we should relax our border control any further. The fact that it won't make any practical difference and that it won't result in any additional immigrants "stealing british jobs/benefits/housing" is not something that they are concerned about.

It's easy in the UK.

Why didn't you just pretend you were in the UK?

Haven't you had this rant before anyway?

At least you have a consulate in Germany…
They closed the British consulate in belgium so now I would have to go to Paris to get a renewal…

Ouch that's gone up! Thought mine was closer to €120 c/o the British Consulate in Düsseldorf. New passport was delivered within a week, too.

Have you got a local ID card? Can you not travel on that?

They closed the British consulate in belgium

what did the Belgians do wrong ?

Have you got a local ID card? Can you not travel on that?

I think it's strictly speaking you can. I think it's usually the carriers that insist you have a passport, not customs.

edit

link

When entering or leaving the EU at the external borders you will need a valid passport or an ID card.

The carriers require photo ID usually – I have seen quite a few EC nationals in UK without passports but legally.

Ah, I was glad to see this thread, having just walked in the office from a trip to Durham's passport & identity offices.

Did the check and send thing in time for a trip to the US tomorrow, phoned yesterday to see where it was – still awaiting processing – so had to pay for them to go and get it by courier and 'upgrade' to fast-track service. Then, as it missed the post, I had a little jaunt from Leeds to Durham this morning. Total cost of all that faff, plus a couple of pastries to make me feel better, just over £200! Luckily my ESTA went through in a couple of seconds – that was the next worry!

and why the **** do i have to have a passport to travel to the uk when the res of **** europe can enter on their id cards?

Isn't it just the Schengen countries where you have this freedom of movement?

eckinspain – Member

I had the same hassle in Spain. I had to call Ireland (?) every day to find out if it was ready.

Strange, I renewed mine at the beginning of the year. I went to the consulate to pick up the forms and photos to check size was ok, filled them in, took them back to the consulate with photos and money, waited a couple of weeks, returned to pick up new passport. No hassle, no problems.

I have a Belgian ID card & it is not valid (according to British Border Controls) for travel between EU member states…

Why they shut the passport office in Brussels?
God only knows. There are a lot of British people there due to the EU commission being there of course but someone clearly had a brain fart.

I thought the EU ID card was only valid for travel between Schengen member states? of which UK+IE are not members (only the policing part of Schengen, not borders).

Still find it ironic that my own country is the hardest one to get back in to, and almost always get questioned why I'm visiting, how long for etc. when the immigration bloke is holding and looking at my UK passport 🙄 I guess "FCO" as the place of issue must confuse them 😉

Strange, I renewed mine at the beginning of the year. I went to the consulate to pick up the forms and photos to check size was ok, filled them in, took them back to the consulate with photos and money, waited a couple of weeks, returned to pick up new passport. No hassle, no problems.

I was in a hurry to get hold of the passport (previous one stolen) as I was due to go to Norway a couple of days later. The people in the consulate were fine but you couldn't phone them to speak to them – you had to call this ridiculous, expensive (and finally useless) call centre.

Edit. Oh, and my wife travels everywhere in Europe with her Spanish ID card, never her passport.

Have you got a local ID card? Can you not travel on that?

no, only entitled to a german ID if i am a german citizen – which i'm not.

When entering or leaving the EU at the external borders you will need a valid passport or an ID card.

yup, IF your country issues ID cards then yes, you can enter the UK using it. but if your country doesn't issue ID cards then your student union membership card isn't going to cut it.

got to re-new my driving license in a month, too…..

You think this is a hassle and expensive? Try getting a work permit/visa in the UK. Getting ready to apply for my ILR next year after working in the UK for 5 years – it's only £940. Total fees over the 5 years for successful visa applications and renewals will be around the £2000 mark!

Germany changed something a couple of years back. So now instead of a residence permit piece of paper that fitted nicely in passport, you get a letter (on recycled paper like all other federal communication) stating that as an EU citizen you're entitled to reside & work there.

Only 2 words of advice… 1. keep the covering letter for that letter, as the residence "permit" doesn't have your address on it, so banks etc. won't accept it 🙄 and 2. when you post old passport to the consulate when applying for the replacement… make sure you have some other ID handy so that you can collect and sign for the new one at the post office 😉

If you could get on a flight I find it hard to believe that you'd be deported once you arrived in the UK. Or go by car, where there are no passport checks if you're lucky.