Getting a second passport...
 

...does anyone know where on the UK passport form i apply for a second passport as opposed to just renewing my current one.

I know its possible to get a second passport, but they were never mad keen on anyone having two....do i need to give them a call>

Joe, it is possible, just use to renew form and attach a letter explaining why you need it.
Type "second passport" in the search field, top right of page, there's plenty of info there.

HTH
Pete

passport stuff
 

the important thing is to stress that the passport is for business purposes- and ideally you have a back up letter from work stating this - I'm in the process of getting mine - I did phone up first, pretending to be the HR person at work, and so the passport office people told me how to phrase the letter - really helpful,I have heard through others that it might be a complete NO if you let them know it's for leisure travel.

good luck

"phoned up, pretending to be the HR person at work" to get hints on how to phrase the letter - brilliant! Why on earth didn't I think of that?!

I got a second one, but boy did I have to jump through some hoops to get it. Be careful how you use it, as well, if you're looking to leave one country on one and enter another with the other. Some countries (or maybe it's just the thick border guards) are very difficult about letting you in when you don't have an exit stamp in the same passport from the country you've just left.

Guys, can you expand on the above, what hoops did you jump through and do you have a draught of the letter.

Cheers
Pete

For me it was a bit difficult because I was taking a sabbatical from my job, so my employers didn't want to tell the Passport Agency that I needed a 2nd passport to travel for my work - and as I work in local government it was pushing it anyway!

I thought it was a bridge too far to try and forge anything, so what I did do was put together a letter saying I was going to be travelling for the purposes of writing (freelance) a travel book, and needed a 2nd passport as I would be travelling to 'incompatible countries'. In Passport Agency-speak this means Israel and other Arab countries ie countries that won't let you in if they see an offending stamp on your passport. If I can find a cc of this letter I will PM you.

I must say the Passport people were very helpful to me and they did assist me through the process, in terms of making suggestions about things I could do to bolster my claim. At their suggestion, for eg, I made some hotel bookings (and paid for them) in Israel. Luckily they weren't non-refundable!

Good trick Tiffany - and good point about borders Mark; they expect to see a stamp out from where you've just left, but if possible never let on you have 2 - they won't get it.

and ideally you have a back up letter from work stating this

I think it's a fact now, even when you're renewing a spare you've had for years, as I did recently. Needs to be your main employer too - or look like it - freelance may not wash.

Never used the Arab-Israel ploy. I say that some visas take weeks to issue and I need to keep travelling while my ppt is stuck with an agency. Often it's true ~ a spare ppt is dead handy.

Ch

Why do you want two?
 

I don’t know your motive for trying to get a second passport but personally I have visited more then 70 countries and I have never needed it when traveling overland

Two passports will not solve the Israel-problem, and quite a few officers will say it’s illegal to carry two passports.
If you use two passports you will have “holes” in your travel-route. That’s pretty hard to explain to a customs-officer. What do you answer when they ask “You entered Ethiopia by land and 3 months later you entered Zambia without exiting Kenya and without visiting Tanzania, how is that possible?”, or what if you exit Jordan at a borderpost that leads you to Israel? Yes, you don’t have the Israelian stamp but the passport proves that you have been there. And what about the carnet?

Three times (Chad, Egypt and Syria) I have walked through my entire travel-route in my passport, and God knows what they have done when I have left it at the embassies.

If you go by plane (or boat) they loose track of you, but as long as you travel overland the passport is your logbook so be careful…

blagging passport
 

Blagging is a good English word for those who aren't familiar with it - :innocent:

the wording I used was
a job role as overseas development officer
needing to travel extensively whilst also needing to apply for visas, therefore two passports required for business purposes.

Ali-wotsit- the only reason I have got a 2nd passport is because of the limited time available to get the Russian visa this would mean having to race through the 'Stans, and hey, I've got a feeling that I'm going to enjoy these countries so I'm just ensuring I can have the extra time, and have my passport with the russian visa in it sent out to me in Kazakhstan.

Good luck McGiggle

Re the Israeli stamp thing - in the event we didn't need 2 passports to resolve it. We parked the car at Allenby Bridge, BTW, so no carnet problem. We asked the Jordanians to put our Allenby Bridge exit stamp on a separate piece of paper - which they did - and for the Israelis to do the same with the the corresponding entry stamps. Coming back we repeated the process in reverse - all OK.

After leaving Israel, make sure you get rid of any Israeli coins, ATM slips, museum tickets, sweet wrappers etc etc though! Can't think why the hell the Arab countries get so upset about this anyway. They don't bar diplomats/government officials from entry if they've already been to Israel, and diplomats bear a lot more responsibility for the Middle East's problems than tourists do!

Re the holes in the itinerary issue, this was only really an issue for me when going to or from Thailand by surface and it could have been resolved anyway - see the overland travel tips section of my website overlandcruiser.net I was also warned it might be an issue entering Russia on passport 2 after being stamped out of Thailand on passport 1 but in the event the Russians didn't query it.

2nd passport
 

Here in the Netherlands it is sufficient if you declare in a letter that you are 'selfemployed' and that you need the second passport for business purposes, i.e. like said above, travelling while applying for other visa. Another argument could be that you have to visit countries for business which are banned by the USA. I did it for my visits to Lybia when it was still outlawed!

Maybe this works in the UK too, easy enough to check.

Cheers,

Noel
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