Getting new british passport/new pages in SG

[Singapore SAH]

I currently live in Singapore and have a british passport. Sadly I'm very close to running out of pages, and have a few trips abroad lined up over the next couple of months.

Does anyone know if it's possible to have additional passport pages added to a british passport in Singapore, or if not, if it's possible to expedite the process of getting a new passport?

Thank you!

[bgd]

I replaced mine last year, due to lack of pages. Took about 4 weeks. Go onto the HM website. You have to send it to the UK. Avoid holiday periods, it can add months to the wait.

[BBCWatcher]

You cannot add pages, unfortunately. Annoyingly the U.S. just discontinued this service at the end of 2015, so U.S. passport holders now have the same problem.

One option is to get on a plane to the U.K. and head to the Passport Customer Service Centre (with a prearranged appointment, which is required). You can get a new passport in 4 hours with "Premium service," and the fee isn't that much more. The plane ticket to the U.K. costs something, of course. Make sure you get a "jumbo" (48 page) passport. If you can manage to make a relatively quick stop in the U.K. as part of your next trip, great, that should solve the problem. Best of course if you're headed vaguely in that direction anyway on your next trip. London Heathrow is not exactly the most common connection airport when you're flying from Singapore Changi to Jakarta.

The U.K. can issue a second passport if you have a justification to have one -- and you very well might if you're filling up pages rapidly and traveling frequently for business. So after you get this immediate issue behind you, see if you can apply for a second passport. The second passport has a different passport number and is simultaneously valid -- or, more precisely, has its own validity period -- along with your first passport. Then you can manage across passports. You would always use the same passport with the same number to enter/leave Singapore (and any other country) -- try to make sure your entries and exits match up everywhere -- but the second passport would be most handy for those times when you're getting visas and the visa country holds your passport for a while. So you fill your second passport with visas (and entry/exit stamps for those visas) and your first passport with entry/exit stamps for visa waiver countries, basically -- at least, that's one approach. When one of them gets close to full, you renew it but still have the other. (Notify Singapore if you're switching your Singapore entry/exit to another passport number.)

[ScoobyDoes]

I replaced mine last year, due to lack of pages. Took about 4 weeks. Go onto the HM website. You have to send it to the UK. Avoid holiday periods, it can add months to the wait.

I just TNT'd my application to Liverpool on Tuesday and tracking it, it's only just arrived at East Midlands Airport an hour or two ago so I suppose it should arrive today......... the passport office officially declares 4wks from when it's received and they will courier back to SG (you will pay for it during the application process).

If you need to leave prior to the passport returning you'll need an Emergency Travel Document.

"An emergency travel document lets you leave another country if you can’t get a replacement British passport in time.

An emergency travel document allows you to leave the country you’re in and travel to your destination via a maximum of 5 countries. The emergency travel document can also cover a return journey if you’re resident in the country you’re applying from."

Whilst a passport is not available from the consulate here, an emergency travel document most likely should be but be warned........it's the same price as a passport.

[MikeJones]

On a slightly related question, I've got UK and NZ passports and the UK one is the one associated with my EP. When I come to renew the UK passport later this year can I change the EP details to the NZ passport? The update details form does mention changing nationality which I guess is what I'd be trying to do?

Mike

[BBCWatcher]

You can if you wish, yes.

Bear in mind that if you need to apply for a visa to visit another country, and you apply in Singapore, that particular country will usually want to see that your Singapore EP card and your passport have matching nationalities. So visas obtained in Singapore will start going into your New Zealand passport if you switch. That's probably not a problem, but I thought I'd mention it.

[curiousgeorge]

Ahhh the infamous "streamlining" of the IPS worldwide. All part of the introduction of the Identity Card Register debacle. I think they did issue passports for UK Citizens in Hong Kong as recently as 2010 or so.

I remember when I needed to renew mine in Singapore around 2011, you had to take your old passport and the application form to the local agent to have it checked and they would courier it to the UK. The local agent? Any Cheers shop. Yes, the convenience store. That grumpy lady who can barely manage an EZ-Link top-up was the local agent for the UK Identity and Passport Service. Even more scary, she was actually better than anyone employed by HMPO (Her Majesty's Piss-up Office).

Still took Her Maj's Pisspoor Orifice six weeks to chop my passport upon renunciation and reply to me so I could take citizenship here. The Filipino guy next to me at the ICA in Singapore had managed to go the Philippine embassy here in SG, renounce and was back in the ICA within an hour while I waited there for my appointment. And after that interview and oath taking I got my SG passport in six days. The UK is truly shit at red tape, which is saying something if you've ever had to deal with the Philippines...

[MikeJones]

Tell me about it When I applied for UK permanent residence (or indefinite leave to remain as they insist on calling it) a number of years ago I had to book an appointment to submit my paperwork. This involved ringing a phone number and being put on hold, if no one answered within 45 minutes they disconnected you. I think it was over 3 hours on hold before someone finally answered the bloody phone, got my appointment and rocked up to the passport office at the designated time to find it wasn't an appointment as such just an opportunity to sit and wait for a couple of hours for an available staff member who then took my paperwork looked at it for a couple of minutes stamped the passport and sent me on my way.

Mike

[nakatago]

if you've ever had to deal with the Philippines...

Personally, I try to avoid dealing with Philippine government agencies whenever feasible.

[ecureilx]

if you've ever had to deal with the Philippines...

Personally, I try to avoid dealing with Philippine government agencies whenever feasible.

Won't agree with that totally.

Off topic, but in Manila, nothing gets done if you don't have a fixed. Proper path - 3 months, fixer, 3 days.

But head out of Manila, like in North Luzon, things get done over the counter, with no fixer- eg: getting NSO print outs.