Renewing US passport from UK - Form DS-82 phone number field

I need to renew my US passport from here in the UK but I'm not sure how to enter my UK phone number on form DS-82, since it has been designed for US phone numbers.

If I fill this form out online (where it generates a PDF at the end), it does not allow for special characters, so I'm unable to enter the '+' to include the UK country code part of my mobile number.

I have also tried to download the PDF file to do it myself manually, but the primary contact phone number field does not support entering enough characters to include the +44 (it provides space for 10 characters in total, 3+3+4 following standard US phone number format).

I am worried that someone processing the form won't be able to reach me if I just put my UK number as I normally would ('07xxxxxxxxx'). The last time I did this 10+ years ago, I used my US home number, but my parents don't bother picking up their landline for unknown numbers due to all the robocallers they receive.

I could enter a numerical dialling prefix, but it's unclear where someone trying to contact me would be calling from (e.g. from within the UK or from the US), so I'm not sure if I should do that.

Can anyone please advise how they have dealt with this successfully on their own US passport renewal form?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

My suggestion is to enter your number without the +44 prefix. The passport office will know that you're applying from the UK, so will insert the country code.

In all likelikhood, the passport office would  contact you by email.

FWIW, for anyone else applying for a passport renewal from within the UK, it is super fast. I sent my application on Dec 5. Got an email on the 9th saying they'd received it. Got a couple more updates by email and then received my new passport and the old one in the post on Dec 23 (less than 3 weeks later).

@TinaS I followed your advice and my application was accepted! they contacted me by email with updates, so the phone number was a non-starter. thank you!

Mine was set to expire Oct 28th 2025.  For question 7:  Primary contact phone number & #17: Additional contact phone numbers, I left them blank.  If you'd like, you can contact me via email & I'll send a screenshot with personal info redacted.

You need to choose the 'Both' option for passport & card. Yeah, it costs more, but if you don't already have the card, you'll need it for flying domestic flights as a driving license isn't enough now.

And go to a Max Speilmans for your picture. Tell them you need the US 2inch size. They've done enough of those, it won't be a problem.  You can't use the photo booths & those are set to UK size only.

Also, the Embassy's not using the courier service now. I used Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm & posted it on a Wednesday morning to make sure it didn't hang around in a warehouse. You'll need to buy 2 of those envelopes so you can track its return.

DON'T panic if you get an 'It's on its way to you' message when you know it's too soon, like I did. Turnaround time was about 3 WEEKS.... not the 3 DAYS it claimed. I called the embassy number because I didn't know where my passport was & it hadn't been processed yet. When the actual 'On its way' came, the tracking worked & it arrived like it was supposed to.