Renewing child's passport - possible to go to Edinburgh if you live in England

Hi,

Just what the topic suggests...  When my son was born, 3 years ago, we went to the consulate in Edinburgh to get his US passport.  My daughter's has expired and I was wondering if we can do the same thing to renew hers.  We are in Northern England and Edinburgh is a much easier option for our family.

Thanks for any insight anyone has, Shelly

Yes you can.  I believe you have to mail your paperwork in advance.

Unless things have changed, no need to mail things in advance. We did this in October 2014 with my son.  We live in Liverpool, was much easier.  Think this is the link, I remember emailing and an actual human replied, very helpful:

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-passports/


https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/edinburgh/us-citizen-services/

It didn't matter we lived in England.  Let me know what you find out, as need to go back in August with our daughter. 

Wait......We have to go to the embassy to renew our passports??? Can't we just mail it off?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Wait......We have to go to the embassy to renew our passports??? Can't we just mail it off?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

You only have to go to the Embassy to renew passports of children aged under 16: https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-passports/renew-a-childs-passport-under-the-age-of-16/

Adult passports can be renewed by mail as long as they meet the requirements: https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-passports/how-to-renew-a-passport/

Wait......We have to go to the embassy to renew our passports??? Can't we just mail it off?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

No you can mail them in , at least adult ones. There might be some special rule about kids' ones.

Well, that is stupid. Children should be mailed as well. I don't drive so that is one expensive passport. Do both parents have to go??

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Well, that is stupid. Children should be mailed as well. I don't drive so that is one expensive passport. Do both parents have to go??

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

The link I posted above gives you all the information, including what to do if one parent can't go.

Oops sorry didn't even notice the links. Will have a look. Thanks ksand

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I emailed them as suggested by kintheuk (thanks!) and a real human wrote back right away.  I couldn't believe it.  Find to use Edinburgh.  The wording on the website would lead one to believe otherwise so I'm glad I had it confirmed.

Yes, it is an expensive passport when you factor in the travel and time but I'm so relieved I can do it in Edinburgh (doable in a day) rather than London which would have involved an overnight trip and a lot more money.

Thanks for all the replies.  :)x

Shelly,

Thanks for posting what you found out-it is good to know we can go back there.

One word of caution, you have to bring photos showing how they've grown up.  My son's infant passport looks NOTHING like him aged 5 (now 6!), he really looks different from age 1 and 2, too,  and one of the photos they queried whether we had any other photos of him to show more of his growth between like the ages of 2-3.  You couldn't bring your phone in (it's kept in this small cubicle) but they seemed happy to accept it once we held up our son and he identified the two of us as his parents.

It was no big deal, I might have just been stressed as these things are stressful and we were soaked, but bring photos from each year of life, even if the webpage just says like 5-10 over the 5 years. I'll be doing it with my daughter!

Good luck!
Katherine

Sorry to jump on the post again. But it will be quicker asking here than waiting for a reply from consulate as it's a weekend. Can we resister a birth in Edinburgh if we live in England? We have friends from the US coming to Edinburgh in 3 weeks and we are going to visit. The consulate has appointments available, but the embassy page says if you live in England or Wales, you must register in London. Why do they make everything so difficult

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Yes you can but you do have to send the application in advance.  Have a look at the Consulates web page.

I'd seen you have to send in advance, and that is fine. It was just the wording in the embassy page saying if you live in England you must go to the embassy. Thanks kfdancer x

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk