Originally Posted by
DernierVirage
The moment that I have been dreading has arrived - my passport is nearly full and there is only one blank page left and so I have to go through the hassle of getting a new one. I have just looked through the UK Government site and it seems that the application procedure from overseas is even slower and more horrible than it used to be, so I have decided to use a fast track 3rd party agent.
Why leave it until there is one blank page?
A "fast-track 3rd party agent", if such a service even exists, is not going to be any faster than doing it yourself
I have decided that if I am not living in the UK 12 months before I expect my passport to become full / expire, the only way I am going to renew it is in person using the same day service in London
The backlog was quite horrible this time last year but I think the passport office has managed to become quite efficient now. Of course unless you have 2 passports / other travel docs you'd still be stuck in one country for 3 weeks or so.