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Renewing a British passport when resident in Belgiium
Question
Has anyone else recently tried to renew their British passport via the RPPC in Paris? I have and they sat on it for 7 weeks until the office closed on 3 June then sent back saying they were unable to process it! I now have to go through the whole process again via HMPO in Durham. What a waste of time, energy & money!
Alternative is to apply to be a dual Belgian/British -- then you get a cheap ID card valid for travel throughout Europe that you renew at your local council.
Thank you all for your comments. You all appear to have had bad experiences apart from ANON. I obviously have tried the website, ringing the Paris office which according to the accompanying letter from the RPPC was closing. This a palpable lie as they have only 'closed' their doors to those British ex-pats living in Belgium: those resident in France may still submit their applications to Paris! I also rang London who were about as useless as a chocolate teapot and both refuse to answer queries by email. The FCO website is not that helpful either. I am now writing to William Hague - no illusions as ti how far that will getme BUT if youwish to get anywhere, go straight to the one responsible at the top. I take the point about the Consulate in Brussels as many years ago I accompanied a colleague whose passport was stolen. One of the 'local' employees pointed at me then at him and said 'What is your relationship?' I had to bite my lip!
Follow up. Just to say two weeks ago I sent off a new passport renewal application to Durham and hats off to them for speed and efficiency, I received the new one back last Monday. Complaints procedures: by phone well try getting past the push button 1, 2 etc or getting a human being on the other end of the phone! Or pay £2.50/min for the privelege if you ring LOndon. I filled in the email option for complaints about consulates/embassies and got an automatic reply back which frankly is a load of rubbish! Watch this space but don't hold your breath! Good luck ABC 125 at least I got mine sorted.
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