Beware longer wait for passport renewals

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12: Islanders should plan ahead and allow at least four weeks to renew their British passports.

The warning comes from a Bermudian businesswoman who fell foul of the renewal process that used to take just eight days, after her 10-year British passport expired last month.

The islander, who asked not to be named, did not realize the process was now handled in the UK and took at least a month to complete.

She told the Bermuda Sun: ‘I’d like to get the word out to other Bermudians who travel on British passports that it now takes a lot longer to renew these passports than it used to, so plan ahead.

“I’m probably one of the first, as when Bermudians were able to apply for British passports in 2002, I applied right away.

“My British passport was issued in August 2002 and was valid for 10 years.

“There must be many Bermudians whose British passports will expire soon if they also got theirs in 2002.”

Previously the renewal procedure was dealt with by Immigration in Bermuda and would be completed in just eight days.

But last year the British government centralized the process and recommends applicants allow four weeks.

The businesswoman added: “I travel frequently, and had called immigration to find out how long it would take me to renew my Bermuda/British passport.

“The Immigration clerk said it was just eight working days, which I was really impressed by.

“So I had allowed for at least eight days between two trips overseas to renew my passport.

“But when I went into Immigration to get the renewal forms, they said that the UK government has taken over processing of British passports worldwide, so Bermuda Immigration now has nothing to do with renewals of the British passports for Bermudians.

“They gave me a UK website to go to, which says it will take approximately four weeks to process once they’ve received all the documentation.

“The forms are much more complex and time consuming to decipher and complete compared to what I’ve done in the past via Bermuda Immigration.

“I wasn’t planning for a four week renewal process, so this has thrown a bit of a wrench in my business travel plans.”