Travelling without a passport

[Shaxiaoyu]

Ok so my UK passport (the one my EP is linked to) is chock-a-block and needs replacing but the UK embassy has outsourced everything to HK and it'll take 4 weeks to get a new passport leaving me with a bit of a problem as I MUST travel for work and play.

So I have my NZ passport which will get me in and out of other countries but I'm not sure how I get in and out of Singapore...I know I can come back in with a swipe of my EP pass but leaving I'm 99% sure I need to swipe my UK passport.

I was told there's some sort of card you can get that you swipe to get in and out of Singapore that means you don't have to use a passport but the details were basic...anyone know if this exists and if so what it's called?

Any other ideas on how to travel without my UK passport?

Thanks, appreciate the help!!

[BoD]

Go to JB on your UK passport, then come back in on your NZ passport- you will then have a white card. Apply for new UK passport. While waiting you can come and go on your NZ passport. When your new UK passport arrives( and before your svp on your nz ome expires) leave the country on your NZ passport and then come back in on your new UK one

If it doesn't work you will just be arrested, flogged and deported, so no drama

[Shaxiaoyu]

Hmm you might actually be on to something there! Leave country on UK passport and come back in on NZ one, given I'm travelling every week I'll never hit the limit of the visa...only one way to tell if it'll actually work I guess...if you don't hear from me assume the worst

[expat yorkshire]

There is a better solution . Just apply for second uk passport . This is very easy to do . This means you don't even send off your old passport . There is a procedure for this but as I recall its just a covering letter and you must photocopy all pages of your current passport . . Just speak to the British High Comm to clarify what to do

[BoD]

Well there is that.. but sometimes its more fun on the edge

[Fat Bob]

Do a trip to the UK, book a time at one of the passport offices and get your passport exchanged in a day. However, it is rather an expensive way of doing it.

(And don't get me started on why expats pay more for a far worse service than those in the UK).

[JJ]

Dont get me started on the UK passport as an expat dramas. Suffice to say, that from my research, we UK citizens are worse served by our High Commission than any banana republic 3rd world country. its top of the list of reasons I might apply for Singaporean citizenship. God knows what the hell that lot actually do in their big Singapore "office"...

Anyhooooo, my advice would be to apply right away for 2 passports... I only applied for one mid 2011 and now I have to go through the entire damned process again as I only have one page left on my current passport.

Angst. Annoyance. Expense. Being without a valid travel document for 4weeks. Having to check my cc statement for weeks on end to make sure its not been cloned given that i have just sent all the details along with my primary ID document into the ether. And having to deal with idiots. Thats about as much as being a UK citizen provides me with at the moment. Bah humbug

[Shaxiaoyu]

So leaving on the UK passport and coming back in on the NZ one seems to do the trick...those clever lads in the Singapore govt. have worked out how to link my two passports to my EP without me even having to present the NZ passport.

On the downside I'm now 3 weeks in to my UK passport renewal and no sign of life. I phoned the other day to make sure there's really someone there with a pulse and it's not just one big practical joke only to find myself having to hand over my credit card details. Seems they charge 79 pence a minute (on top of whatever your telecom is charging you for the non-toll free UK call!) just for the privilege of being informed they are indeed alive but it could be another two weeks before my application will be passed to an examination office for it's first review. 5 weeks. Oh and yes they do charge 79 pence for the minute it takes them to take and process the credit card details...well in for a penny in for a pound I guess...

[nev]

And here I thought 3 days to renew my Indonesian passport is way too long...

[Pinklepurr]

They charge you for calling them? I hope not too many other places cotton on to that idea.

[Tas]

So leaving on the UK passport and coming back in on the NZ one seems to do the trick...those clever lads in the Singapore govt. have worked out how to link my two passports to my EP without me even having to present the NZ passport.

On the downside I'm now 3 weeks in to my UK passport renewal and no sign of life. I phoned the other day to make sure there's really someone there with a pulse and it's not just one big practical joke only to find myself having to hand over my credit card details. Seems they charge 79 pence a minute (on top of whatever your telecom is charging you for the non-toll free UK call!) just for the privilege of being informed they are indeed alive but it could be another two weeks before my application will be passed to an examination office for it's first review. 5 weeks. Oh and yes they do charge 79 pence for the minute it takes them to take and process the credit card details...well in for a penny in for a pound I guess...

I thought the Australian PR system seemed a little bit galacial for some various friends that have applied at different times, all with the right sort of quantity points etc. But it's beginnging to look positively friendly to non citizens compared to how UK manages the paperwork of its' born and bred.