Seriously thoughtful Price of a passport?

[RCR]

I renewed my 10 year UK passport last November and it cost me $283 Australian Dollars (157 Euros or 140 GBP).

I renewed my 10 year Australian passport five years ago and that cost me $148 Australian Dollars (83 Euros or 74 GBP).

Like a lot of Australians, I have dual citizenship. I make sure BOTH my passports are current despite the cost. A passport is worth a lot more to you than a few dollars.

As they say in the classics: "You can never have too many passports."

[RCR]

Originally Posted by columbus

I don't have mine to hand as it is away for renewal, but was there not a large 'who-ha' when the old front pagewas replaced with an eu symbol and red cover as the rest of Europe?

(has anybody a current British passport to hand as I think the wording inside the front cover also changed from; " Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of state . . . " which added to the who-ha)

Columbus - here are pix of my current British passport issued late last year:

[zelda_pinwheel]

so how easy is it to get double nationality with australia ? i wouldn't mind having an extra passport, i love them !

[columbus]

Originally Posted by RCR;

Columbus - here are pix of my current British passport issued late last year:

Thanks, as I said mine is with the Madrid consulate for renewal. I see from my visa account they have charged me £146.19. (£145 + c. card fee plus I have to pay an extra £12 for delivery).

So Harry, £72 is a bargain in comparison.

Not having it in front of me I could not remember the wording on the cover & inside. Though I do remember the kerfuffle over the EU's proposed changes.
I note the first heading on the cover & inside page is "European Union".
Hopefully mine will be back next week I feel naked without it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

so how easy is it to get double nationality with australia ? i wouldn't mind having an extra passport, i love them !

It's a case of getting dual nationality with Britain, rather than Australia. Britain is a country which doesn't "mind" you holding dual nationality; some other countries do. So if you're born in the UK and emigrate to Australia, you can still retain your British nationality (and passport) even after you become an Australian citizen. Does France permit its citizens to hold dual nationality?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's a case of getting dual nationality with Britain, rather than Australia. Britain is a country which doesn't "mind" you holding dual nationality; some other countries do. So if you're born in the UK and emigrate to Australia, you can still retain your British nationality (and passport) even after you become an Australian citizen. Does France permit its citizens to hold dual nationality?

yes it does.

but i think having dual nationality with australia would be more fun than britain.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's a case of getting dual nationality with Britain, rather than Australia. Britain is a country which doesn't "mind" you holding dual nationality; some other countries do.

Nor does Australia. My sister and one of my brothers hold British Passports. My other brother and myself do not. As a matter of trivia, the British Consulate here actively advertised to Australian same-sex couples who might qualify for such so that, at the Consulate, they could then register their "civil partnership" officially under British law.

So if you're born in the UK and emigrate to Australia, you can still retain your British nationality (and passport) even after you become an Australian citizen. Does France permit its citizens to hold dual nationality?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...al_Citizenship

"Dual citizenship has been permitted since 1973. The main exception has been concerning those countries which are signatories to the European Convention on Nationality."

The reference doesn't cite a source, though other Googling seems to affirm it (I'm sure it would be better sought in French, something beyond me).

Cheers,
Marc

[astra]

I think I have dual citizenship too. British and Israeli.

[cklammer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's correct - the UK and Ireland opted out of the part of the "Schengen Treaty" which abolished internal border controls within the EU. We still have them.

And boy, do you still have them !!!

I have have been through a lot of border controls mostly in Europe and Asia. The most unfriendly passport/immigration checks I personally experienced were in the UK - no contest at all. The very bottom of the barrel as far as I am concerned. I don't know why that is but it was consistent several times in the last few years - maybe because I always ended up at the counters with personnel of Jamaican extraction !?! My British friends (all colours there!) said not to bother aggravating myself since it was normal.

Anyway, I'd rather go through a passport check in Addis Ababa or Djibouti than in Heathrow.

cklammer

P.S.: And if want to remark on how I know about a person being Jamaicans: the accent is unmistakable.

[Edit]P.P.S: On second thoughts I should have posted this over in the "vent and rant" thread - sorry.

[Sweetpea]

Hmm, I only hopped that pond once... And as I arrived on London City Airport, there hardly was any border control.

We usually cross borders by car or train. Sometimes you'll see some border control in the train (they'll do it sample-wise), but the last border control I had was before Hungary signed the Shengen Treaty going from Hungary to Austria.

Switzerland was always 50/50. Sometimes you could drive on, sometimes you had to stop and show your passport. But as they also signed the Shengen Treaty, no more borders there either

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Switzerland was always 50/50. Sometimes you could drive on, sometimes you had to stop and show your passport. But as they also signed the Shengen Treaty, no more borders there either

I went from France into Switzerland a couple of weeks ago by road. Definitely still a border there!

[Viacheslav]

Russia has 2 kinds of passports "internal" (has the same function as an ID card) and "foreign" for outside travel. The second one is biometric and lasts for 5 years. Both are free, but nearly all natural and easy to reach destinations are inside the EU, which maintains a full-fledged iron curtain with nazi-style border police. There is also a prohibition to even approach the EU border (and Arctic sea coast!) closer than 20 km and citizens need special permits form FSB to travel into any near-the border towns.

Visas are always required and coupled with financial checks, obligatory invitations and myriad of rules all designed to make travel as difficult and expensive as possible. Embassies are located in Moscow and there are few consulates in other regions, so people from Siberia have to fly long distances (7h flight for some) just to apply for some visa with uncertain result and either wait a week in one of the world's most expensive cities or take a second flight to collect the damn visa.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I went from France into Switzerland a couple of weeks ago by road. Definitely still a border there!

I would try to keep the French out as well...

*runs*

Did you have to stop and show your passport? And were you driving a UK car?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I would try to keep the French out as well...

*runs*

Did you have to stop and show your passport? And were you driving a UK car?

I was on a coach going from France into Switzerland. A Swiss coach. We were just waved through the border, but the point is that the border is still there, with border guards, barriers, and all the rest of it, unlike "internal" EU borders which don't physically exist any more. The only way you know you've crossed the border is a road sign.

[HarryT]

Well, the passport office have impressed me! I sent off the application on Tuesday of last week, and got my new passport in this morning's post. They say that processing typically takes 3 weeks, but I've had mine back in under half that time. Very efficient.