Job Discussion Forums

[richard ame]

Hi
My little red book comes up for renewal towards the end of the summer August to be exact,now there seems to be conflicting ideas about the best way to get it replaced . I have always thought that sending it back to a family member with the necessary forms filled using their address as your place of abode and then hopefully getting a nice new shiny one back through the post in a few short weeks was pushing your luck. On the other hand doing it in this country via the British Consulate means the word Ankara will be stamped in your passport and I have being led to believe that your pension benefits can be affected by this ,is this correct ?Has anyone done this recently?What is the best way to go about this ?Unless I really have to I do not want to set foot on English soil, is there some way around this? Comments and advice much appreciated .

[yaramaz]

Richard,

I got mine renewed this year in Ankara and I've heard nothing about it affecting pension benefits. Do you mean British or Turkish benefits? I really can't see how it would. My last passport was from South Africa, in Pretoria, but I was only there for a few months as a semi-tourist (working under the table for a friend). A teacher at my school had hers stolen in Paris so hers says Paris... The issuing location really should have no effect.

Email the British consulate or embassy or whoever, and ask them. I emailed the Canadian one a month before I needed to renew so they did all the paperwork before I got there. When I turned up it only took an hour to get a new passport.

[shmooj]

Mine was issued in Tokyo. I was told that, as I was non-resident in the UK they would not accept my application in the UK. I could have got around it in the way you suggested but I couldn't be bothered. It only took about four days by return post.

How could this affect pension rights? I've been paying voluntary contributions for years and my passport doesn't come into it.

[Roger]

It would seem to me that asking someone else to apply for my new passport was a pretty under-the-table sort of thing, besides fraught with risks that don't bear thinking out!
The very word "passport" means the bearer has to carry it when outside of his home country! It's supposed to open foreign doors ('porte" in French means "door").
Just supposing you get trapped in an Anatolian village by Kurdish rebels: no passport, no nationality?
This may sound like an exaggerated scenario, but as a foreigner you will need your passport more likely than any Turkish neighbour needs his!

[foster]

My is not up for renewal until 2006 but I am quickly running out of pages. Is getting new pages the same as getting a new passport?

For any Canadians in Hong Kong, any idea about this??

[FGT]

I renewed mine in Izmir last year. It was quick, painless and cheaper than it would have been in the UK.
Can't imagine why pension rights would be affected but if in doubt phone Willy or Deniz at the consulate.
Also I've been in and out of the country a couple of times since and can report that the new passport number now not tallying with that in the Ikamet doesn't seem to matter.

[naturegirl321]

[Louis]

Foster:

Yes, if you run out of pages, you have to apply for a new passport, complete with pictures, declaration of guarantor and of course the fee... If you request a 48-page passport, I believe it is only 5 or 10 dollars more, this might be a good idea in your case.

[foster]

Thanks Louis. I figured there was a catch for the Canadians!!

[Snoopy]

The last time I renewed mine, it was much easier to do it in Saudi, as getting visas transferred would have caused unimaginable difficulties in the UK. Issued by the British Embassy: problem? What problem?

[jud]

I'm not from the UK, but generally a consulate or embassy is considered an extension of the country,

so renewing my passport at the Consulate in Milan is the same as doing so in New York in terms of rights, etc.

I'd imagine the same would be true of any UK Consulate.

[Stephen Jones]

The passports issued abroad are now stamped FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office); the name of the country doesn't appear.

I can't think of any reason not to do it via the Embassy, Will be both safer and quicker.

Americancs can get extra pages for their passports. Brits have to renew, and they stopped issuing the 94 page passports a few years back; the best you can get now is 48 pages. My last 32 page passport lasted just under 4 years, and nearly all the space was taken up by Saudi stamps.

[richard ame]

Thank you every one for the responses,looks like the local consulate is going to get a visit some time this week ,have'nt seen Denis or Willie for a while ,any idea as to the cost these days ?

[scot47]

Pension benefits ? Where your passport was issued will have no effect on that. What isimportant is that you have the right national Insurance Contributions. I have actually met people who belived that reaching the magic age of 65 was enough to qualify for a State Retirement Pension under the UK National Insurance Regulations.

Where you MUST be careful is in choosing your domicile after retirement. In some countries (eg USA) you will get annual increase in State Retirement pension. In other countries (eg Canada) it will be frozen at the levl at which you first qualify.

[Ben Round de Bloc]