What will happen with my passport?
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
May 21, 2016 10:46am CST
As most people know, next month the UK will have a referendum on whether to exit the European Union or remain a member. There has been a great deal of discussion on many aspects of this recently, but no mention of passports.
Many moons ago I had a British passport, but now I hold a European passport issued in the UK. When we first joined the European Union we used our existing passports, which were changed to EU versions gradually as people began to renew their old ones.
Of course this may not be so simple if we leave the EU, since we will no longer qualify for such a passport.
The passport offices deal with new applications plus renewals of passports as they approach 10 years old. If they have to renew all passports immediately, this will create a massive workload and delays on the issues could easily run in excess of 6 months or greater
There is also the cost. I paid £85.50 for a passport renewal 12 months ago and do not want to pay that again so soon..
21 people like this
20 responses
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
22 May 16
I renewed mine a couple of years ago and it was around $100 and I believe it's $110. right now. Soon they will ask for blood as well.
3 people like this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
22 May 16
@Asylum I absolutely do. I see you are not in favor of staying in the EU. Why do you wish to leave?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 May 16
@Jeanniemaries Britain should decide the laws in Britain, not Germany or France etcetera.
@jobelbojel (34729)
• Philippines
22 May 16
Passport fee is very expensive over there. I hope though that you can get more updates on that referendum.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 May 16
@jobelbojel Obviously we will know nothing until the referendum on 23rd June.
1 person likes this
@jobelbojel (34729)
• Philippines
22 May 16
@Asylum I am hoping you get to see the outcome soon.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
22 May 16
That certainly is a consideration and no doubt will be a bit of a nightmare. I am in favor of leaving the EU but of course I don't get to vote. lol
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 May 16
@BelleStarr The referendum is scheduled for 23rd June, which is a Thursday. I only wear my dress at weekends.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
22 May 16
@Asylum Would you mind doning a dress and voting for me??? lol
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 May 16
I agree that most people have preconceived opinions and will not be swayed by facts, which is definitely a problem. Personally I think that we should withdraw from the EU, but I doubt whether that will happen.
My biggest concern is that we have millions of European residents in the UK, who will be entitled to vote and unlikely to vote for us to leave.
2 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6114)
• United Kingdom
22 May 16
Good point, but I would assume that they would still be valid.
I don't expect much to change immediately after the vote, should it favour the Leave campaign.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 May 16
@Orson_Kart Yes, they suggest that we would lose jobs, exports and vast monetary losses.
@Orson_Kart (6114)
• United Kingdom
22 May 16
@Asylum I read somewhere that there would be at least two years of negotiations if we decided to leave and possibly ten years before any major changes happened.
With all the scaremongering put about by the Remain campaign, I'd be surprised if we still existed! lol
1 person likes this
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
• Greece
24 Jun 16
I'm wondering about the agreement to cover health costs at present made through the NHS to expats in the EU. We have already lost the help with heating bills in November.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
24 Jun 16
@41CombedaleRoad We'll soon find out I suppose as the voting is done - we are out!
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
21 May 16
Actually, EU nationals other than those from UK or Ireland are not allowed to vote in the referendum.
Commonwealth citizens, eg Australia, Malaysia, etc, resident in the UK ARE allowed to vote.
UK nationals resident in the EU but outside of the UK for more than 15years also cannot vote in this referendum. It's a bit of a fiddle...
If you're worried about the passport, you'd better vote for the UK to remain in the EU on 23rd June... 
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
29 May 16
They will probably let them expire but the old passports were much better then these flimsy ones these days although I don't know how they would incorporate the biometrics in the former design. I guess it is not impossible!
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
29 May 16
@Asylum It would be a nice way of Sticking two fingers up at Herr Merkel!
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
30 May 16
Passports aren't cheap, and I wouldn't want to pay that again so soon either, if it were me. I hope they figure all this out ahead of time so there isn't a crunch in redoing them all en masse.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 May 16
The government wants us to remain, so the majority of information supplied is biased accordingly. Even the information contained in leaflets being distributed is abstract, such as references to losing jobs or government customer with no explanation as to why.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29126)
• United Kingdom
26 May 16
@blitzfrick Same here; at least not the government so much, but anyone who wants to push a new development of any sort that has some opposition claims it will create loads of jobs but they are mostly the sot that no-one would want if they had the choice.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
26 May 16
@Asylum The US govt, and every other huckster in the US, plays the "jobs" card whenever they want to force their program down our throats. The awful thing is, it quite often works and the player gets their way. The public generally finds out the "jobs" meant to be saved, aren't, or the "jobs" promised to be created either aren't created, are fewer than promised, are filled with employees from out of state, pay very little, or are temporary at best. Bah.
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
21 May 16
Decisions have unintended consequences. Many of them are not pleasant. But most people don't travel as much as you do, or do they?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 May 16
@ElizabethWallace The difference is the location. You can travel to New York and still be in the USA, whereas England is much smaller.
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
21 May 16
@Asylum Your people travel far more than mine. Americans tend to stay home, or work.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215492)
• Chile
21 May 16
In my country, the cost of passports went up to be twice as much as before. In your case the other problem makes it worse as you cannot get a new passport before it is known if the old passports will be useful.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49013)
• United States
27 May 16
I hope that you don't have to pay again.
1 person likes this
@thelme55 (76476)
• Germany
21 May 16
I have no idea. I hope UK will stay in EC. My friends and I are planning to visit London next year and I am their tourist guide as I have been there a few times. Maybe, I will get a visa stamp then when UK will quit. BTW, your passport is expensive. I only paid 59€ for my new passport a few weeks ago.
1 person likes this
