child passport or visa?

[thumpertwinkle]

This is a repeat posting as i put it in the wrong oplace the first time!

We are going to Florida in Oct 05', i have checked our passports as i thought they may need renewing before we go and after reading about the new ones coming out this October i thought we may as well renew them before then but they only run out in Aug 06'.

The thing is our three children are on our passports, now according to what i have read they would need a visa to enter on our passports or their own machine readable passports.

One child will be 15, one 14 and the other one 10 when we travel. Is it worth getting the two eldest children their own passports?
How long will they last?
How do you obtain visa's and how much are childrens passports/visa's.

Thanks for any advice.

[steph_goodrum]

After Oct this year all children will have to have their own passports so the only choice is to get them now or wait until next summer and see if the biometric ones are available (passport office estimates summer next year but don't yet have the technology to issue them. If you leave it and then they aren't available then you will have to get a passport AND a visa next year it won't be either/or.
Personally I'd get them during the summer this year , up to 9 months credit will be added onto the new ones but you can renew at any time so you will only lose a few months but could save a lot of aggro later.

[steph_goodrum]

The childrens passports are valid for 5 years, the visas are around £70, but as I mentioned if you get their own passports before Oct this year then you will be covered and won't need visas but as you are going to have to get the passports before you travel, you are only going to lose 1 year of the old passport anyway.

[caz]

I've got a similar dilemma. My passport runs out towards the end of 2005, so I contacted the Passport office who have suggested that I renew my passport before Oct 04 since they are not sure when the new biometric passports will be available. As has been mentioned they will credit 9 months to your passport if it is renewed early, and it might be better to do that than risk having to get a visa every time I want to travel.
Try ringing the passport office, they were very helpful.

[thumpertwinkle]

Thanks for advice.
I will get the children their own passports then.

My husband and i don't need new ones as ours only run out in Aug 06', but will we still be eligable for the visa vaiver, if not can we renew two years before they run out?

[steph_goodrum]

You should still be ok Thumpertwinkle as it is only if you have a new passport issued after Oct 26th this year that doesn't have biometric data that will stop you being able to use the visa waiver.
You can renew 2 years before but they will only credit 9 months on the new one.

[thumpertwinkle]

Hi Steph,

This is what I have just found on the uk passport service website:

Machine Readable Passports (i.e. the current type of British passport) issued up to and including 25 October 2004 are valid for visa-free travel to the US until the passport expires.

Machine Readable Passports, issued from 26 October 2004 onwards will need a visa attached by the US Embassy to permit travel to the USA.

Biometric Machine Readable Passports, available from mid 2005 are valid for visa-free travel to the US.



I am I correct in assuming that my hubby and I won't need new passports? I see it also best to get the childrens before October of this year as if the biometric ones are not out after that they will need visa's. This is all very confusing isn't it.

I have also read that from 4th of May all new applicants will need the full long birth cert, I have only got one of my childrens long ones, think I will get the application sent off pretty sharpish!

[Carla]

When you get your children their passport, it will initially be valid for 5 years. Once that time is up you send it into the Passport Office with a new photo and they will add on the next 5 years, so they actually do get a 10 year passport, but in 2 stages.

[steph_goodrum]

Thumpertwinkle , that is correct that any machine readable passports will be valid until they expire but the new regulations mean that each person travelling must have their own passport as the machine code only carries the information for the main passenger in the code. So yours and hubbies should be ok although you will need to send yours off to be amended when you send the childrens applications.
This link takes you to the FAQs for the passport office
http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/search/search.asp?strsearch=extending+childs+passport&strSearchArea=&strTables=Area%5F320%2CArea%5F321%2CArea%5F250&intPage=3&strReferer=english


Reading through they are doing a 6 month trial run of the biometric ones but it doesn't say when that 6 months starts, of course once that is introduced we are no doubt going to have to go to the passport office for the information to be collected anyway.
I didn't realise you can apply online for your passport now, I didn't read it all so I don't know if you have to post anything at all.