Hello, how do you renew a UK passport using just your mobile phone? I’m going to get a British passport for a child. There’s a link down below in the description so you can follow along step by step. You’ve probably been putting this off like we have, and it’s just started raining here, so we’d better get through this.
How to Renew UK passport
Accessing the UK Government Passport Office Website
This is the UK government’s passport office website, and if we scroll down the page right at the bottom, you can see this green button down here: “Renew Online.” At the time of recording, it costs £49 to renew one of these, so let’s hit renew online. By the way, it’s not going to look like this as well as you are probably aware—they’re now this colour.
Starting the Renewal Process
The first piece of advice we get is that you have to answer these questions as if you were the child. Do you live in the UK? Yes, we do—check it. Now it brings up a list of things that you’ll need and the steps that we’ll go through, but let’s just get through these. I’ll hit continue.
Providing Passport Holder Details
First up, we need to put in the passport holder’s date of birth. Next, it explains the process for getting a digital photo. You can do this one of two ways: you can either get a photo booth or photo shop to take the photo for you and that generates a code that you can put into the website, or…
Taking and Uploading the Digital Photo
The way that I’m going to try is to take the digital photo at home, so we’re going to hit continue. I’m going to take or upload a digital photo. As you’re probably aware, there are really strict rules about how you can look on your passport photo—whether or not you wear headgear, whether or not you’re smiling, all of those instructions are here.
Uploading and Reviewing Your Photo
So we’re going to hit continue now—no smiling, you’ve got to remember there’s no smiling, so let’s go and take this picture. Okay, your mum [LAUGHTER]—that was nice and straightforward. So let’s now upload your photo. I’m going to hit choose your photo. Now, don’t be freaked out: the passport office will give you a grade for your photo, and I’ve managed to score a “good”—high five! If it helps, the website crops it for you so don’t worry if you’ve got doors and furniture in the background.
Answering Further Questions
The next question is: do you want to submit this photo? So I’m going to hit yes. Have you had a UK passport before? Is your passport lost or stolen? When was your passport issued? Is your passport damaged? Do you have any passports from
other countries? By answering these questions, the passport office has deduced that I am renewing a child passport.
Reviewing Fees and Processing Times
The standard passport costs £49. If you’re interested, at the moment, at the time of recording, they advise 10 weeks to get the passport ordered and delivered. But if you need the passport more urgently for compassionate reasons, then you can call the passport advice line, and I’ll put their phone number down in the description below.
Continuing the Application
So I’ll just click on this big green continue button. You won’t be able to save this application, so we’ve got to do it all in one go. Let’s go for it. I am ready to continue.
Entering Details from the Old Passport
Firstly, we’ll need some details about the old passport. Now we need to put in the details that you want for the new passport. Have you ever used any other names? If you have, don’t worry—I’ve got you covered. There’s a link in the description below for my video about how to renew a child’s passport if the name has changed by deed poll.
Providing Parental Information
The passport office now wants to know your gender. You’d think they know already but… and some more details about where you were born. Now the passport office wants to know all the parents’ details—they want both parents’ details, even though it’s 2022. Let’s go along with this. First up is mother or parent 1, and next, second best obviously father or parent 2 [SONG: YOU’RE NUMBER 2!].
Marital Status of Parents
If you are in a parent two situation, I’d love to know how you decided who was parent 1 and who was parent 2 [SONG: YOU’RE NUMBER 2!]. Now, we need details about the mother or parent 1 and the father or parent 2, or you’ll need to send some extra documents. Now, the passport office needs to know your home address and your contact details.
Choosing Passport Size and Relationship
You can choose how you’d like to be notified of your passport’s progress. It now asks what size passport you want—we’re just going to go for the standard 34-page one. You can get a bigger one for a bit more money, and it wants to know what your relationship is to the applicant.
Confirming Identity
Now, this is a new one for me. It’s the last bit of work to do: “Confirm Your Identity.” You’ll need to ask someone to check this photo to confirm your identity. They don’t have to sign a printed photo, and there’s a question about how you’d like the passport office to send your documents back to you.
Payment and Finalizing the Application
Next, we get to pay for the passport. It’s £49 at the time of recording, but click the link below for more details. We need to tick this declaration to prove that everything we’ve said is correct. I have now paid the money and I’ve got to now get someone to confirm my child’s identity. It says to sign in—I need my application reference.
Confirming Identity with a Verifier
There’s a list of people who are acceptable for doing this. I’m going to ask my mate Rob because he’s very responsible and he’s known us for a very long time. He’s a journalist. “The mobile number you’ve called is currently unavailable.” See…
Troubleshooting and Final Steps
The trouble with asking journalists is that they’re actually doing work. Alright, I’ll ask my friend Jay. Jay is even more responsible. Uh, no… no, I’m still in the office, so… oh, so sorry. Okay, no problem. “The person you are calling is unable to take your call.”
Conclusion
I was just checking everything was okay. Oh yeah, no, everything’s fine. I’m just making a video about how to renew a child’s passport. They need to send an email to someone that you know who’s a journalist. Can I give them your address? Absolutely not a problem. Oh, thanks. I need to tell them the current address, place and date of birth including the year, and the parents’ names and years they were born. This is harder than getting them to sign a photo. Okay, so they’ve sent the email now to my friend Rob, so he can now look at the photo and answer some questions.
Finally, we’ve got the identity confirmed, and we’re good to go. I know you’ve got a hundred questions to ask. I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer them, but leave them in the comments below. I’ll leave all the links to all the places in the passport office where you can get the most up-to-date information. Say hi in the comments if you’re doing this, and good luck—you’re going to go on holiday! Yes!
